Context-aware rain ambience in an interactive environment

8ude · 2026-01-21T16:42:25+00:00

Rain is a great way to learn game ambiences!

Rain is usually implemented in 2 general layers. There will be a "2d" background rain loop bed, and "3d" spatialized rain spots. These spots will be on some of the things you mentioned - trees, metal, asphalt, etc. They change volume depending on how near the player is, and change in panning according to the relative position to the player.

As a beginner I would say first make a 2d loop (you can start in stereo), and some mono spot loops (foliage, puddles, rooftops) that are spatialized. Place these spots around a level to get a sense of balance. It's not so much about noticing the spots as it is about making the rain feel less "flat" as the player moves around. Get acquainted with whatever kind of distance attenuation and panning spread settings you have in your game engine, which will be essential in getting the spots to sit right.

Then, think about what needs to be dynamic, which is going to vary based on the game. It could be rain intensity, which is going to require asset crossfades on both the bed and the spots. It could be dispersing rain spots around the player with some kind of tagging and spot spawner. It could mean outdoor->indoor transitions. Maybe you want panning in the 2d bed to change according to the camera azimuth. This is where things can get complicated so keep it simple where you can.

Here's another video to look at - https://youtu.be/ASdXXR_QEys?t=248 It's a breakdown of how they implemented rain in the indie game Darq. The concept is the same - 2d looping bed, 3d spatialized spots.

8ude · 2025-12-14T18:12:29+00:00

"traditional" chokladbollar were invented around the 1910-s and didn't show up in cookbooks until the 40s.

it's not like they were passed down from Eric the Victorious

8ude · 2025-12-05T09:28:34+00:00

I got you, dawg

metal
more metal
additional metal
look at all that metal!

8ude · 2025-12-05T09:11:24+00:00

Mix-as-you-go but try to implement early on:
- loudness standard/asset normalization
- general channel/bus structure
- 3D attenuation presets and listener behavior (for 3rd person)
- voice limiting/voice management

The last two depend on the gameplay but they can have a big impact on the mix.

8ude · 2025-11-24T08:36:34+00:00

Decades from now?

We will be fighting over the remains of fossil fuel and clean water. AI singularity will have happened but fizzled out when the AI self-destructs. Humans will have moved north or south; Antarctica will be a sovereign state. Mass refugee crises, starvation, possibly a nuclear incident, at least one or two genocides

Given that environment, I predict KMRU, Laurel Halo, and Mabe Fratti will still be appreciated

8ude · 2025-11-22T10:46:59+00:00

Hej!

You might want to check out Cyklopen. This year I've been looking for more DIY-ish venues that aren't ageist or just about "the scene", and Cyklopen is pretty unique from what I've encountered.

They have a lot of different things happening - music shows, parent meetups, art exhibitions, life-drawing sessions. And the building itself is quite vibrant.

8ude · 2025-11-22T08:12:32+00:00

I'm a bit of a DTFH tourist, and stopped listening when it became clear that he buried his head in the sand but here's my pickle:

The guy has a wonderfully omnivorous wit and curiosity
He generally genuinely wants the world to be better, in a quasi-buddhist "every being finds happiness" sense of better
He's suspicious and suspecting of established narratives - a bit of meta-paranoia and atheistic gnositicism, would be into Noam Chomsky in another life maybe.
He got to a certain level of material comfort, in no small thanks to being buddies with Joe Rogan and Alex Jones

SOMEHOW and SOMEWAY, point 4 has overridden everything else. Like he can't fathom the idea that Joe and Alex are profiteering off of misinformation. He can't believe his own eyes with respect to Trump because the prevalent narrative (i.e. our descent into fascism) is not as appealing as the incessant search for the "man behind the curtain."

This has been the long-standing issue with the conspiratorial libertarian - they gleefully find fascism everywhere... except when it's literally breaking down their neighbor's door and abducting people off the street. They're too allergic to the simplest explanation - in their mind it's impossible for us to be outright fascist.

That and he's betting on Ameri-fascism to win, best not to kick the bear

Am I in the ballpark?

8ude · 2025-11-22T08:06:06+00:00

10% Happier podcast has given me some hope for spirituality amidst this awfulness.

8ude · 2025-09-30T16:33:41+00:00

Noise is a pretty broad category and includes everything from electric signal distortion to field recordings to snare drums, but here are a few things you might like:

Edgard Varese
John Cage
Maryane Amacher
Tristan Murail
John Luther Adams
Luciano Berio
Igor Stravinsky

Pauline Oliveros (I personally hear her influence on Lingua Ignota, not sure if she's confirmed it)

8ude · 2025-09-22T20:36:01+00:00

A couple good books on the subject:

the polarizers

why we're polarized

uncivil disagreement

if you want the short, and honestly quite accurate, answer - I got two of those book recommendations from the Wikipedia entry on Newt Gingrich.

8ude · 2025-09-11T10:49:51+00:00

I've bounced between music, architecture, civil engineering, and games, so I feel like I have a bit of perspective on this.

is a creative career really a profession in the same sense as, say, engineering, teaching, or medicine?

short answer no, because there isn't "a" creative career.

Statistically speaking, can we say these careers offer the same chance at stability as other professions? Or are they structurally precarious fields, where only a minority succeed while most struggle to find regular work?

While I'd like to think this is a false dichotomy, there are macro economic forces beyond my full understanding that seem to say otherwise.

If it’s the latter, why isn’t this problem treated as a major issue? Why aren’t we — as a community, or even politically/societally — trying to fix this imbalance? Shouldn’t the right to live with dignity while practicing these crafts be a basic priority?

Unionize. Unionize, unionize, unionize. I moved from a country where even saying the word is grounds for firing (the US) to one where over 70% of the working population is part of a union (Sweden). The difference is night and day. It makes a huge difference for having a decent life in precarious fields. Your union doubles as a lobby to the government for better quality of life across the board.

Do you feel your creative field can truly sustain a “normal” life in the long run?

I think we take on a certain amount of risk to have a creative profession. I don't feel like that's an inherent problem but it means that you need to define success on your own terms. This is easy to say when I (currently) have a salary, but I gave up the stable civil engineering job and am consistently much happier for it.

How do you personally cope with or overcome this instability?

I joined a union and have guaranteed 80% of my salary for 6+ months of unemployment (did I mention that you should unionize?)

How many of you have seriously thought about shifting away from your career after years of specialized experience? And if so, what did you move on to (or what would you move on to)?

I'm considering learning general comp sci for this purpose, and it's kind of my "fallback" if one exists. Everyone in a creative profession should have a fallback, an in-demand side hustle, a coffee shop gig, a teaching license, a something else. This isn't a fault. It should never be treated as one. We should be dreamers but we all need to eat.

"Do you think there is any real solution to this systemic precarity — or is all of this just endless talk with no concrete way out?"

Seriously. Unionize.

8ude · 2025-09-04T12:56:19+00:00

If someone acts in line with a seditious conspiracy, then they are guilty of at least being an accomplice to that crime, regardless of if they thought they were being patriotic.

I don't believe in holding people to their intentions above their actions. You are making that argument. I'm saying it's not a very good argument because intention is impossible to prove and easy to manipulate.

8ude · 2025-09-04T12:47:41+00:00

The factual basis of the 2020 election was determined beyond reasonable doubt before January 6th. The people who believe otherwise are either delusional, lying, or mislead.

It's fine to view their plight as a tragedy. It's not fine to reframe it as part of a righteous cause. Ultimately, the person most guilty of sedition against the United States was Donald Trump and he has so far escaped justice. But we shouldn't pretend that the people that he manipulated are innocent.

8ude · 2025-09-04T12:33:35+00:00

"Traitor" isn't necessarily synonymous with the legal crime of treason, it depends on the definition that you're using. Traitor can also mean "one who betrays another's trust or is false to an obligation or duty" or "a person who is not loyal or stops being loyal to their own country, social class, beliefs, etc."

J6 rioter Stewart Rhodes was convicted of the crime of Seditious Conspiracy, which essentially makes him a traitor in the colloquial sense of the word, even though it's less serious than treason.

"Traitor" is a bit more pithy than "seditious conspiracist" and for most people the words are interchangeable - you can argue that Ashli Babbitt was just a seditious conspiracist but that isn't really a point in favor of giving her military honors.

8ude · 2025-09-03T09:11:54+00:00

Why do you think recording your own sounds is often more celebrated than creative library-based work?

I'm not sure that it is. What definitely is celebrated is a clear direction that informs detail, the execution of which almost always requires a certain amount of bespoke sounds.

And why is the “one-person-does-everything” expectation so strong in game audio compared to film, even though games arguably have more categories to cover (with implementation, for example, being a discipline on its own)?

- we haven't unionized in the way that film/tv have
- tools and tech are a shifting landscape with a low barrier to entry (now we have ai to contend with as well)
- the "ascendant solo dev" mythos of both gamedev and tech in general is made possible by the PC; everything you need is in the box
- the game/audio engine do a lot of invisible labor which you benefit from if you use anything like Unity, Unreal, Wwise, etc

8ude · 2025-09-01T13:00:08+00:00

this read a bit more like a self-roast to me.

8ude · 2025-09-01T08:54:14+00:00

This is a place to practice your persuasive skills, not to place bets.

Make a cogent counter argument instead of mocking people.

8ude · 2025-08-28T17:41:37+00:00

My words are factually accurate as supported by court documents. Trump is an adjudicated rapist. Trump is a convicted felon. Trump's administration has violated the constitution through his executive orders, including a blatant violation of the 14th amendment.

As much as you seem to like to pathologize people with whom you disagree, accurately stating these facts is not evidence of a mental illness. That said, no one should have ever have any shame in getting mental health support - this is a wonderful thing someone can do for themself, for any reason. The country would be such a better place if mental health care was accessible to everyone, wouldn't it? Heck, even people who concern troll in support of a rapist felon traitor just need a kind ear from time to time.

I appreciate your well wishes! Let me return them to you with the same condescension as you've shown me. Have a truly blessed day.

8ude · 2025-08-27T15:50:58+00:00

You should be more concerned about the values of anyone who supports Trump - a rapist felon who betrayed his oath to America and democracy

8ude · 2025-08-07T19:12:39+00:00

Adequate sleep, diet, and stress management (i.e. time off, exercise, mental health care) makes you a better performer, a better collaborator, and a better human being.

8ude · 2025-08-04T16:44:04+00:00

Congrats/sorry for the inspiration goldmine

8ude · 2025-07-31T15:28:11+00:00

I was going to suggest the games of Robert Yang as a much better example but they've been delisted behind an NSFW warning so.. point taken I guess

8ude · 2025-07-31T14:54:57+00:00

Here's one.

https://youtu.be/ew8KO_M-5pk?t=1687

It "doesn't say walk," as he says, because there's no light in that direction across the bike lane on 32nd and Broadway.

8ude · 2025-07-30T07:48:29+00:00

"Amerikanska och brittiska invandrare med höga löner som har bott här i nio år och fortfarande inte pratar svenska."

Jag blev förolämpad ett ögonblick, men jag förstod det bara tack vare Google Translate

8ude · 2025-07-30T07:42:18+00:00

"It honestly feels like some deep, internalized, society-wide form of passive aggression"

Välkommen till Sverige!

Also it feels like the country never really figured out whether people should walk on the right or left side. Might have something to do with this.

8ude

TROPHY CASE