Sound Vision

Establish and maintain sonic coherence through systematic sound direction.

Three Pillars of Game Audio

1. Music - Emotional backbone, pacing, identity
2. SFX - Feedback, world-building, immersion
3. Voice - Narrative, character, instruction

When one dominates inappropriately, the soundscape fails.

Sonic Identity

Mix Priority Hierarchy

PRIORITY 1 (Never duck):
├── Player damage/death feedback
├── Critical gameplay cues
└── Dialogue (when present)

PRIORITY 2 (Light ducking):
├── Player action feedback
├── Immediate threats
└── Important UI

PRIORITY 3 (Duck for 1-2):
├── Ambient world sounds
├── Background music
└── Environmental effects

PRIORITY 4 (Most flexible):
├── Atmospheric layers
└── Distant sounds

Relative Loudness (Music = 0dB reference)

Audio Design Doc Sections

1. Audio Pillars - 3-5 sonic principles
2. Reference Audio - Games, films, genres
3. Frequency Allocation - Which elements own which ranges
4. Mix Priorities - Ducking hierarchy
5. Music Direction - Instrumentation, genre, adaptivity
6. SFX Language - Attack, decay, processing aesthetic

ZX Considerations

• 8 SFX channels max, 4 music typical
• Balance file size vs quality
• Plan for channel stealing

Store in .studio/sound-direction.md or .studio/creative-direction.md.

References

• references/mixing-techniques.md - Technical mixing
• references/adaptive-music.md - Dynamic music
• references/sound-categories.md - SFX categorization