Unpacking
If you've played Unpacking, the zen and rather emotional puzzler from Witch Beam about moving between homes, you'll have already come to appreciate the domestic symphony that helps being each unique object to life.
As noted by composer and sound designer Jeff van Dyck, speaking at GDC 2022, the title leverages over 14,000 foley audio files to imbue each of Unpacking's inanimate objects with life.
That's a lot of sounds, but given Unpacking's core gameplay loops involves moving objects from one surface to another -- pulling them out of boxes and placing them on worktops, tables, bathroom counters, beds, and more -- it was important to use audio to chart each object's journey to its proper place.
According to Dyck, the team initially flirted with the idea of using chip-tune effects that would reflect the game's pixel art sensibilities, but after a bit of consideration decided to pursue a hyper-realistic style that would allow for the inclusion of detail.
Dyck felt that realistic sound effects would serve as a welcome contrast to Unpacking's impressionistic visuals, and noted how the sparse game world would allow the audio to take centre stage.
"Because there was so much space, there was so much time for us to sit there and appreciate the quality of the sounds," noted Dyck, who suggested the fact there "wasn't much going on" in Unpacking's world compared to other titles was actually a "big advantage" as far as audio was concerned.
As Unpacking progressed from prototype to full-blown production, Dyck explained the scope increased exponentially. The team had ambitions to let players move objects between multiple rooms, which meant Dyck would have to create more audio effects to facilitate the sprawling array of interactions
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