PREHISTORIC KINGDOM
Sound Design
On Prehistoric Kingdom, I designed and implemented over 4,500 assets for all aspects of the game.
We used FMOD to develop a robust soundscape that could deliver an authentic sounding world that changed with the time of day, weather and map biome. A number of custom systems were built to support sound for the environment and animals.
Special thanks to Maurizio Morosan and Seth Kelly who provided me with their amazing audio programming.
Development Insights
30+ Creatures
Every species in the game features unique vocalisations. Foley, breathing and miscellaneous audio is shared per family group or across all creatures. Some animals have over 100 unique vocalisation files to provide additional variation and personality.
Item Placement
To manage the hundreds of placable items, I designed dozens of material impact sounds at three varying sizes. These were combined into a Master Placement event that used RTPCs to decide which materials should be audible.
Artists on the project could assign materials when setting up new items and props.
Level Ambiences
In FMOD, I developed a “sandwich” approach to our Master Environment event. We used generic high and low frequency sounds (e.g. wind, grass) while leaving space in the mids to include distinct ambient beds for each of our levels (desert, tropical, temperate, and scrubland).
Using RTPCs, we set the biome and country on our Master Environment event to determine the audible wildlife and 2D ambient beds.
Dialogue Editing
I was fortunte enough to work with esteemed wildlife presenter, Nigel Marven. While most of our script was written by the lovely Lindsay Kastroll, I also provided additional writing and handled both the dialogue editing and subtitling.
Music
I wrote all of the original music included in Prehistoric Kingdom, contributing both to our in-game catalogue and promotional trailers. There’s roughly ~45 minutes of music currently in the game.
Volume 1 of the Prehistoric Kingdom soundtrack was made available on the 28th of March, 2024.
Later in development, I brought my friend Kurt Tomlinson onboard to write additional promotional music for some of the game’s Species Spotlight trailers. Thank you, Kurt!
Interviews & Deep Dives
For a deeper look at how I designed and built some of the FMOD systems for Prehistoric Kingdom, I explored the project in two videos hosted by Sergio Ronchetti.
DEVELOPER
Blue Meridian
GENRE
Simulation / Strategy
RELEASE DATE
April 28, 2022
ABOUT
Take control of limitless power in Prehistoric Kingdom to build, manage and grow the ultimate zoo for extinct animals.
ROLES
• Composer
• Dialogue Editing
• Sound Designer
• Technical Sound Designer
• UI Designer
• Game Designer
• Public Relations
• Writer
