Schools of Magic is a unique character-based shooter project that I worked on where I was in charge of the technical audio implementation (using Wwise), as well as the sounds that regard the Nature Wizard in the game.
The player can switch magic hats to adopt the personality of the corresponding wizard and this will change what gun and abilities are available to the player.
When organising the soundtrack for the game, some of my teammates created different tracks that had different instrumentation and timbres but followed the same chord structure so I could make the tracks transition smoothly with no dissonance.
Then I set up transitions between each of the tracks so that it jumps to the same time as currently playing track to create a smooth transition. After altering the fade-in and fade-out settings it allows for quick transitions which act as player feedback as to which character is currently selected.
As the player switches to specific characters is changes the current active state between: Metal, Nature and Blood. These state changes are what is used to change which soundtrack is active. I coded these changes myself alongside the head programmer to help me find specific parts in the code. These states are also used to change which footstep and shot sound will play as well.
When implementing audio like enemy sounds I created a script that contains a series of functions that post each separate event. These functions are then called using events on the animation for the enemy which allows for precise,accurate timings for the audio on the enemies by not using rough timers.
The sounds I created for the game were the ones associated with the Nature Wizard.
This consisted of a "Hat Switch" (as originally there was going to be an animation to show character switching). Footsteps, the Shot and Reload, a slicing sound for the characters Cactus ability and a noise indicated the wizards Passive was active.
The Hat Rustle:
Uses small fabric rustles to represent the hat moving
Because this is for the "Nature Wizard" the fabrics rustles were layered with leaves to add to the characterisation of the sound
Finally layered over the top is the sound of small metal clunking around. This was for the buckle on the hat itself.
Slice:
This sound was made by recording the sound of running a knife along a stone wall, I took multiple takes, chose the best and randomised it in a container for the game.
Shot:
The shot was made from a combination of explosions and lower frequency synths (for bass) and fire noises (for treble) and a lot of EQ and Distortion. This allowed the sound to feel as punchy as a shotgun shot (the weapon for the Nature Wizard) compared to an LMG and SMG that the player uses on the other wizards.
Footsteps:
The footsteps were recorded of me walking on grass because we decided on having individual footstep sounds for each of the wizards to help the player distinguish which wizard they are. The sound was then EQ'ed to remove and lower the sound of wind and other background noises.
Reload:
This was made by recording myself using a door handle to mimic the cock of a shotgun, alongside some EQ to shape the sound and remove some high pitched squeaks so it sounded like a pump-action shotgun.