How Good Is The Sound Design In Starfield?

[@MarshallMcGee]

If you want to design stuff like this, check out the lesson video on Patreon! Tons of tips on how to make sounds like this with basic household recordings. www.patreon.com/marshallmcgee

[@tillRain]

I think it's crazy how you already hear the potential sound effect in a crumpling of a bag, while I'm still left sceptical on how could that ever be used in a sci-fi engine! I suppose that's the difference between someone who is a sound designer and someone who is not. Very interesting stuff!

[@LimabeanStudios]

My algorithm decided to not let me know you were back until now.

[@Topcatyo.]

Sound design is a really under appreciated art. It makes me really happy to see any review of any medium mention it. I really enjoyed the insight in this. There's a lot to think on in. Great video.

[@elshowdelwendigopixeliento4345]

I don't know nothing about sound design, but, I know it is fundamental for immersion. I thing it is very solid in this game at that level, but not at a technical one. Bethesda always was a mess if we talk about software development quality. Just take attention in New Atlantis City in this game, and try to heart your own footsteps (your character ones) and them lisen the NPC ones. You will notice that NPCs have solid and very realistic footstep sound, but your character has very quiet ones and sometimes you will no hear them at all. In that side, the game is a disaster and very far for a 2020s AAA standard. Is totally sad that sound artist's work get damaged for handicap programes. This issue disconnect you from the game atmosphere sadly. That important is to have a good sound quality and design. Bethesda is a disaster in these days. 1th, they have to fire Tom Hodward, he still being stuck in 2000s to 2010s game design, 2nd, they have to switch their graphic engine to something more updated, like UE5, and rehire programes. Creation Engine is a disaster in motion and animations as always it was. Well, sorry for the bible and the bad English.

[@dan_obie]

For one of my audio production courses I had to make a suite of sounds for a sci-fi weapon (firing variations, reloading, idle sounds). I chose to make a "tesla cannon", a weapon that would store up static electricity and discharge it violently in one direction kind of like the ARC gun from District 9. My classmates all went with super process-heavy philosophy but I went the other way. I used a plastic bag, an old CRT TV, a real jacob's ladder my dad built and cheapy plastic set of portable speakers. I let the raw sounds do the heavy lifting and used very minimal processing. My favorite sound was my dad (electrical engineer) using a high voltage probe on the CRT's anode - it made this otherworldly electrical screaming sound. I was amazed at how different my project sounded to my classmates. The professor said mine had a "cinematic quality" that no one else's had.

[@Jopter]

As an indie developer, I've recently come to the realization that we need to invest a lot more effort into the audio experience, rather than trying so hard on the visual front. It's simply too expensive or time-consuming if a big part of the experience is "existing within the virtual space", like an FPS often is. Sound is so damn under appreciated a lot of the time, and it can do such insane wonders to bring a world to life, and relatively cheaply at that. Sad part is that there seems to be a lack of experienced, available sound designers out there in the indie scene- so good connections is crucial. I might just be looking in the wrong places though, who knows. Anyway as always, awesome video!

[@charless9653]

Getting a good source recording is one of the biggest "hacks" to getting a good result. It seems obvious, but I didn't really get it until recently. I was spending a ton of time trying to get stuff sounding good at the mix stage (probably more in the end than time spent getting the original recording itself). It can feel more fun to tweak settings in effects than to re-tracking the same audio source for the 50th time, but re-tracking almost always pays off. The sound effects in this video are freakin' SWEET.

[@besknighter]

The final sound sounds SO DOPE OMG I got shivers from it! So coool

[@ACuriousTanuki]

0:22 I was thinking about this recently and I'd definitely argue touch is a factor as well. Whether as haptics or the tactile feel of thumbsticks, mouse whips, and button presses, touch definitely plays a role in my enjoyment of games and is part of why I'm partial to controller over K&M. It's also why I relish the opportunities to enjoy audio with a full speaker array vs gaming with a headset; audio _is_ tactile when the vibration hits your chest and body and not just your ears. Really, the more senses playing harmoniously together, the better.

[@Reggantal]

I was thinking about that too. Especially with the new haptic abilities of the ps5 controller, touch has become a bigger factor in gaming

[@PavleVA]

Hi! Found about you recently, this is the 6th time im coming back to this video to study some things! You are awesome and super inspirational man!

[@kateremington2021]

This was super interesting! I’m just getting started in game audio, and your breakdown of the different sounds and how they were recorded was really helpful. Thanks for the sound files, too!

[@zackregansounds]

The photon smasher is also a fun light to audio sensor, its a bit more focused on music but you can get a lot of great sounds with it

[@Bboreal88]

WOW! That doppler shift!!! GOD DAMN

[@Katherine_Tea]

babe wake up new marshall mcgee video just dropped

[@SeriousSnapes]

That was an incredible video! Love how you described the theory, and how you went about creating the sound for the ship. Amazing work. Not even a sound designer but followed anyway. Got me thinking about sound in a way I never have.

[@sailorkisser]

Always a good day when MarshallMcGee uploads

[@nofabe]

I think both music and sound design are a huge factor whether I like a game or not, it's wild they rarely get the credit they deserve, or the focus they need during development

[@BrunoHanstenreiter]

Marshall, at this point I see you like a really good friend. your videos are a sea of inspiration !

[@danielsoundsgood]

"Sports massage gun". yeah right! =D

[@tonirebello]

Really valuable content ❤ thank you!

[@gracespel529]

this video is great. excited to now have been introduced to your channel!

[@Turnaround_]

Loved this video and the breakdown, there are a lot of general sound design advice/career videos but these practical tips are great 🏆

[@ACuriousTanuki]

0:19 This continues to baffle me. Audio design is just as make-or-break for me as visual design, if not more so. Audio design is vital for so much emotion and tone, and the games that really stick with me are almost universally the games that give audio its due. Great video as always. That light tool is hella cool, and I'm definitely going to make a point to fiddle with the in-game audio balances to focus in on different aspects.

[@noxabellus]

This video is so insightful, concise, AND you give a great approachable and useful demonstration. Amazing work. Love this channel

[@hermando9537]

Hey man great video as always and well done on that effect it sounds so dope !

[@LukeBannon-e3r]

This is so funny - I literally used a plastic bag to make a rocket noise and two days later I see this video in my recommended.

[@mikaellacruz8011]

This guys videos are the best, “you guys know the drill of mine is going to make this video then we are gonna do it” LET HIM COOOOOK!! Your videos are the best I’m learning so much from just 1 video

[@3xBlast]

That microphone is sick!!! gonna check that out! 🙏

[@skyriminspace]

Baking trays & empty cereal packets. Fascinating! Not that the music is not good in starfield but i often (usually) play with it off. The sound effects from thrusters to weapons to just picking up a cred stick are excellent.

[@LearnTrainPlay]

Sounds great

[@Renjility111]

Love your Videos Marshall!

[@forff1111]

Marshall McGoat

[@kyleashley]

Thanks , your vids are inspiring!

[@iansavage1265]

This is a great breakdown on source driven design! Btw what doppler effect did you use for the initial thruster transient?

[@MarshallMcGee]

Video on how to do it from Paul! twitter.com/PaulStoughton/status/1442874242446495748

[@iansavage1265]

Thanks mate!@@MarshallMcGee

[@Cloud2KK]

that looks more complicated than it sounds, wouldnt a regular pitch envelope do the job aswell?@@MarshallMcGee

[@MarshallMcGee]

​@@Cloud2KK I'm not sure why, but you get a much more powerful transient when you use doppler than just automating pitch like on reaper item settings or something. Maybe has to do with actual playback speed change instead of pitch shifting which has the potential to be artifacty? Pitch shifting without retiming all starts to sound super weak above 12 st. The real benefit though doing it with a plugin is that workflow is way faster. You can just feed in a group track with tons of random layers then tune your doppler and attenuation settings at the same time. Can take 5 looping sounds and generate 100 transients in a couple minutes of work rather than drawing automation lines for a few hours.

[@pickelsvonbrine]

Your back!!!!

[@pyromaniacbridge]

You just sold a Lite2Sound PX! That thing is rad.

[@Solcius123123]

Great intro on how audio development should be showcased more

[@hyyyyl7903]

A little digression: in the introduction to the video you talk about how confining "realistic" soundscapes can be, and to a certain degree I would agree if it all boils down to how much you can transform a sound or how many plugins you can use, but at the same time, field recording and trying to precisely capture real sounds can be just as exciting and complex as transforming sound, imo. And the nuances in figuring what sounds to select and implement makes it feel endless, like w how Witcher 3 implements tree rustle some places and in Velen they have this massive chunky creaks and croaks from the trees whilst closer til Novigrad it is softer and calmer, and completely different in Toussaint. There's a lot of nuance there you might not have in a sci fi-game. (I am not trying to pin anything against eachother but I just feel there's often too much emphasis on transformation of sound and not enough on how to actually capture and record and find as precise sounds as possible, which can be just as hard and time consuming, especially for games)

[@MATroiano]

Yessssssss. I been waiting for this one.

[@Reggantal]

If you made some kind of audio mod for starfield I’d totally download it

[@juanestebanrivera5614]

Where do i buy one light microphone?!!! Dude your videos are awesome, i work in movies sound design and you give me a lot of ideas for the projects

[@MarshallMcGee]

link in description!

[@MasterTopHat42]

I hate how under appreciated sound design is like my god the way something sounds can change how something feels and looks it’s just god sound design needs more love

[@Neko_med]

You should do a video on Elite Dangerous, it has the best sound design for a space game by far in industry! And great video tho, never would I think a plastic bag can produce such sounds.

[@savagedregime8176]

Historically I've felt that Bethesda games have always been lagging behind the rest of the industry with their game audio. And having seemingly only 1 person on sound design duties as their games grew in scope was really stretching things thin. In fact I was so disappointed by the lack of variety in audio for Skyrim that's what personally got me into sound design as a serious discipline. For Starfield it seems they have finally adopted wwise so the engine's audio functionality is a lot more flexible than the barebones tech in their previous games.

[@RyanFelberbaum]

Paul is the GOAT

[@teake.tekkers2253]

Hey great video! what did you use for that little visual at 7:33 ?

[@contentuser8821]

If a game has bad sound, i cant play it.

[@胡博-d1i]

AWESOME

[@spencerchamp]

Insane

[@AbdelAziz-vs3qd]

so hard to get my hands on a Lite2sounds T_T

[@jasonshirrillmusic]

very cool

[@markozivanovic117]

Fantastic! What mic did you put into that cereal bag?

[@machadonoel3589]

Nice stuff the end

[@cs.casaSD]

Again thx

[@jarl-smart]

Hearing the final design made me audibly woop and laugh. It sounds so good and beefy!

[@ViRiXDreamcore]

What did you use to pitch the bag sound for that burst effect? Basic automation?

[@PrestOhNo]

Good video, but you didn't answer the question asked in the title.

[@MarshallMcGee]

Yeah it's a very fair criticism and I'm definitely guilty of some clickbait here. I do like the idea though of someone clicking the video without knowing much about audio, learning something new, and then having the ability to decide for themselves how they think the sound design is without me telling them what their opinion should be. Sound is completely subjective just like all other art forms, and my opinion doesn't mean much if anything haha. I could say "this game sounds good" and no matter how much evidence I give it would never become a fact it's still just one person's opinion. So the question in the title is actually an impossible one to really answer for anyone but myself.

[@HeyMaxNeal]

@@MarshallMcGee From one creator to another - I love this style of storytelling. Give viewers the background knowledge to be able to an informed part of the discussion and let them make up their own minds. Keep up for great work, dude - for real.

[@xsixinfantryx]

So I can download that and put it in the game? Is there any tutorial that shows you how to do that? Or is it a "if you have to ask" kinda thing, lol.

[@BlackAera]

How exactly did you accomplish the effect at 9:07 ??? What tools so I use to replicate this processing?

[@JoeZeller1337]

Can you make an ASMR video of just sci-fi noises

[@mattc7420]

7:05 Is that the *only* reason why it gets wet?

[@charlesyuen7071]

you are awesome

[@Lup0musicale]

Hey Marshall! Was gonna order a Tee off your site but the sizing feels a bit off and I just wanna make sure I get the right size. On your site, the shirt says the XL chest width is "24" but when I compare to some other XL shirts I have, their chest is 48-50 (also XL, from Old Navy) and the XS is 36. Any guidance you could provide for this?

[@CJMaestro]

Elite Dangerous has the best sound design

[@pakhyeoncheol]

The ending felt like a cop out for a second but I think it was actually a great choice. I’d have forgotten most of what I watched like every other video even though I liked it but now I’ll be actively curious and giving notice to the sound design when I play Also I think if you rated it too poorly I’d feel more cynical about the game

[@biomechanism1]

So you're doing foley, got it. Did you ever do a video on how to implement sounds into modern game engines?

[@NOLNV1]

I will say your idea of "very light" effects use is... Very not light compared to what I would do, I should probably be more bold

[@KamichamaTechstarify]

Well let's talk about "Gundsouds" in Starfield for a change: Worst gundsounds in a nowadays game ever which could exist... Honestly if Bethesda took that much effort to create the sound for an off setting spaceship like this, why the hell do weapons sound like cheap toy guns for kids which just shooting plastic balls, being evne more silent than talking and footsteps, if there is easily even a way to simply record real weapons even if just shooting blanks,- at least for the balistic weapons. Just simply adjust it a bit after that since a camera can't record the full sound of what you'd really hear with your ears of course, and finish... Maybe even add some deep less real sounding stuff to it since we all love "immersive powerful" sounds because they are futuristic non reallife based guns anway.

[@ColourBlueCj]

this game really cant run smooth in HDD drive = = you must play it in SSD

[@arthurgoldberg3283]

I'm sorry but if you'd name this video "How to make amazing spaceship sci-fi sound" I'd leave a like. But this is just cheap clickbait and Starfield SD is stitched with white strings. A ton of them Besides, if someone would be searching "How to make amazing spaceship sci-fi sound" it would be easier to find

[@RichelAudio]

@MarshallMcGee I would LOVE a dedicated discord community for us game sound designers!