Pulse
Kalamba Games: dynamic slots soundscaping
By Lewis - 6 January 2021
From reel spins and symbols to underscores and rewards, sound design plays a fundamental role in the experience of slot players. Stellita Loukas, Composer and Sound Designer at Kalamba Games, offers G3 insight into the types of challenges she faces when marrying sound with other game elements during a short and fast slot development process.
What’s your background as a game composer and how did you become involved in the gaming industry?
I initially set out to compose music for film and linear media but as soon as I discovered the beauty of dynamic soundtracks, which is music that is determined in part by a player’s input and decisions, I became hooked for life! I have been working professionally as a composer for a decade or so, but the last six years have been almost exclusively devoted to game projects.
What does a typical day look like for you?
Typical day? I don’t believe the word ‘typical’ exists in my dictionary. Each day is a new adventure. Given that slot games usually have a very short development cycle and turnarounds need to be lightning fast at times, what I end up doing in a day is often completely different to the work I set out to do. That being said, I usually divide my workday into two ‘blocks’ where mornings are devoted to creating new material, such as composing music or creating sound effects, and afternoon sessions are focused on fine-tuning and reworking sounds.
How significant is sound in games?
Massively! Sound in games is just as important as it is in movies. Try watching any thriller or horror movie with the audio muted and it loses its edge dramatically. Creating games is all about creating experiences and sound plays a major role in the whole process; it helps enhance the immersive qualities of any game environment and truly ‘transport’ the player to the game world. A pleasing soundtrack that evokes the appropriate emotional responses can greatly enhance player immersion, something which is even more important in slot games.
Carefully crafted and strategically placed sounds can also help guide the player by generating excitement and resolving tension where needed, providing cues as to what comes next or what the player needs to do next, among others. Sounds are also a big part of the reward in slot games nowadays, especially since online slots cannot dispense physical coins and win music has in a sense replaced the emotional high of hearing the “Ching-Ching-Ching” of coin after coin hitting the dispense tray after a big win.
Where do you find inspiration?
Great question! No matter how cliché it sounds, inspiration really does come from everywhere. But, if I were to try to pinpoint its ‘source’ when working on slot games, I would say that the graphics, the concept and background story really do play a very important role. Working with a great team of people is of major importance. Being able to bounce ideas off each other and exchange references from larger-scale games or movies goes a very long way. I find that inspiration is quite a tough beast to tame and you cannot really sit back and wait for it to knock on your door. You work and work and work and at some point, it decides to show up and work its magic.
What are the most important elements when developing sounds for slot games? Is there a science behind it?
Not so much of a science but rather a set of challenges that we need to overcome in our quest for putting out high-quality experiences. One such challenge is the very short development cycle of slot games. While game developers would all love to have time to try out new things, pay attention to the smallest detail and reinvent the wheel with each new game, the reality is that we need to be fast and efficient since there is not always time for experimentation and true artistic innovation.
Another big challenge is the lack of sophisticated means to manipulate sound files in-game. Due to the nature of slot games, where maths and stability are the first priority, and the platforms to which the games are deployed, we don’t have the luxury of using any audio middleware (such as FMOD, Wwise, etc.) that allows for elaborate handling of audio files. This means that the weight of implementing and fine-tuning the audio falls on the shoulders of the developers. The composer/sound designer has no way to adjust things directly.
Another challenge that is quite significant is file size restrictions. High quality audio means both large file sizes and large numbers of files, something that is a big no-no in slot games that need to be light and glitch-free. Add to that the fact that sounds need to be created in a way that plays nicely with each other, as at any given point you might end up having 10 different files being triggered in very quick succession or simultaneously, and it all becomes quite challenging. That being said, I have to admit that working in slot game audio has allowed me to grow significantly as a composer and as a professional because of these challenges.
At what stage in the development process is sound considered?
As early as possible would be ideal! Sounds are usually divided into batches based on whether they depend on animations or not. I almost always begin with the music because to me this is what sets the tone for every other audio asset.
What are the biggest challenges marrying the sound with the other game elements?
It comes down to the very short development cycles. This usually means that I need to begin working on sound effects long before I have access to any animations, presenting difficulties both inspiration-wise but also practically. For sounds that are independent of animations, life is much easier. But for sounds that will need to sync perfectly to in-game animations, you can never really be sure of how they will work unless you have some version of the animation – however primitive – to work with. Given that sounds and animations are often developed in parallel, you need some careful manoeuvring.
In my opinion, it all comes down to teamwork and synergy. I might be tucked away in my music ‘cave’, composing music like a mad artist and living on caffeine, but at the end of the day, what makes this job worthwhile is the people I am fortunate enough to work with inside the Kalamba family. That applies across the board: the C-level execs that set the tone and create an environment that fosters creativity; the creative team that push their own limits with each new game; the developers who implement the sounds; the quality assurance managers and quality testers that make sure everything is perfect; and of course the studio manager who goes to great lengths to orchestrate all the madness into a well-oiled machine!
What games are you particularly proud of?
In all honesty, I think that Kalamba’s content is becoming better and better with each game. Just when I say that ‘this’ is my favourite game, the next one turns out to be even better. It’s really hard to choose one or two but I have to say that Firedrake’s Fortune and our latest (which has not yet been released) Goblins and Gemstones are particular favourites.
