Remaking Elden Ring Sounds With Household Objects

[@MarshallMcGee]

Elden Ring is still my favorite game just saying.

[@RevRyukin7]

@MarshallMcGee it shouldnt be... its an objectively bad game outside of art direction

[@0num4]

Bloodborne is the best From Software has ever created. ER did some things really well, but it falls apart due to just being too damned repetitive. I'd honestly rather play a focused game for 20-40 hours, several times, than to need 100+ hours to finish a single playthrough.

[@swiwiws125]

@@RevRyukin7 "objectively" lmao

[@AidenR19]

Kinda sad how dunkey has to say that he finished the game 4 times just to criticize the game, or you have to say that you love it multiple times so the fanboys dont jump on you.

[@oldcowbb]

everyone has to be so diplomatic when it comes to fromsoft becuase the fanboys are so rabid

[@vaughnwagner4466]

I actually love how much fromsoft ignores game audio meta. Everything's so noisy, has a taiko hit, and some glassy verbed out magic. It's great. No punchy scifi impacts for them, I can get that anywhere else tho so its ok. Awesome explainers though, as always!

[@anthonyturi]

real

[@aesonone]

/watch?v=FbQqlZlqCQM this could have easily ended up super sci-fi sounding, and it does a little bit, but only to the extent that it triggers a cultural association with sonars and oldschoolish space fic sounds, while still keeping very in line with the theme . and all of this is quite subtly mixed in the actual fight. iunno i think they go for badass timbres first and foremost to enhance the mood rather than obsessing over punchiness or whatever

[@johnnykyr3403]

great video, I love to see the process of your sound design! the ice squeezy sounds made me wince tho

[@zacharynovak2180]

This is a problem I had with DS2. There was something about the sound of hitting (and especially being hit) that did not line up with the amount of damage being done either way. Even big hits felt like they lacked oomph until you looked at your hp and realized you were almost dead.

[@StinkoBrownTV]

9 times out of 10 when you hit an enemy it sounded like you hit a stone wall

[@empty5013]

from a game design angle the spells all use the same sting most likely because the player can often get attacked offscreen by a player or npc, and that sound is an alarm bell saying INCOMING SPELL.

[@jankbunky4279]

Agreed. Since all staves fundamentally use glintstone, the fact that all spells start with a sort of crystall-y magic sound does make a lot of sense. Though some more variety could've still been implemented I'm sure.

[@RadaSmada]

I just started a game sound design minor at my college and i'm so happy i found this channel. thank you for all of the information

[@milkyway8353]

I think you did great job. Love the process , thanks man

[@andrewa3825]

This is so interesting! Proving yourself again as one of the highest quality channels on KZbin.

[@FlamboyantJeering]

Very cool approach to the design! Thanks for sharing

[@jphelpz]

Love these videos, keep them coming!

[@romanpollmeier2711]

Wonderful video, sound design is such an interesting thing. Keep it up 👌

[@MyachiTipsandTricks]

I liked this video while the ad was still playing

[@User15275-g]

Don’t even do sound design but absolutely love this channel

[@Chaogardenx]

I love this!!!!! Need more videos in this category

[@HaydenCraig000]

I admit that I don't like the sci-fi phasey sound to your explosion. I prefer the original one. Although I agree with some of your criticism with the spell startup sounds, I do like that the fromsoft spell startup sound is a universal identifier for any player or NPC in the vicinity casting something, which I think helps.

[@DecontructRecreate]

Jackpot. The audio cues are made in such a way so its easy for a player to identify a spell being cast and being released just by sound alone. We can even go so far as identify what school of magic the spell belongs to just from the startup sound.

[@magni319]

I love these videos

[@SaintJames14]

Great video. I didn't even realize what the problem I had with DS sounds was until you said it. Idk why I couldn't think of the word but washed and similar to other sounds in game is spot on. I might remake some now just for fun. Cheers and be well

[@GreatFlamingEyebrows_]

Love these videos

[@SoundFireChannel]

Quality work 🔥

[@algernopkrieger7710]

Nice, I had similar thoughts to yours off the bat, especially with regards to the fire spells. I think they may have been going for signalling wind-up and damage by just having the button press and damage windows make sound, which I guess is good, but in a game that makes you feel so powerful, those huge spells really don't feel as big as they could. I'd love to see how you'd tackle some of the miracles as well, I might have played caster more if you did the sound design!

[@pikapomelo]

Thanks for the video. It would be nice to hear your design as you added the pieces together.

[@tailesque]

I definitely prefer the original SFX in the example compared to yours, but still a great video! Really enjoyed seeing and hearing the whole process of how you made your alternative.

[@BrackersProductions1]

Great video, would love to see your take on Death Stranding's sound design. The sounds they used for the UI has this interesting kick to it.

[@Indianaeverheart]

Bravo, awesome stuff

[@DommoDommo]

I like how yours sounded but it feels like youre having a hard time removing yourselves from the Destiny scifi style of sound design!

[@SophiaWoessner]

"Sanders on a roof" could be a band name

[@templarexemplar35]

coolest tutorial ever tyty

[@bashoh]

this is so cool

[@neuro7594]

Ok that's some actual oomph added

[@lightness7670]

Sounds like a jojo sound effect, What you have to have in mind is the signaling, all spells must have a clear start, cast and finish sounds that sound similar so the player is not overloaded with information. A great game in that aspect is Dota 2 with it's sound effects

[@chopov11]

I felt like there also wasn’t a lot of narration on the enemies, like the dogs running up or skulls incoming. There’s no earthy sound in the purple spell or even a sound when the lightning is starting only when the ground spikes come up.

[@Nolexyn]

He doesn’t miss

[@rolltimereal]

In the critique, sure, but the replacement sound is yikes.

[@moulinexish]

I personally think From Software recent works on sound design are not "underwhelming" but rather that most of recent action based games, in the last 10-15 years, had a way too unnecessary crunchy, compressed (I also really like the audio dynamic in Elden Ring) bassy, and yes, overwhelming sounds (I think it is even less appropriate when it comes to fantasy rpg type of games. Demon Souls remake is a good example :) ). These crunchy/bassy/compressy sounds works well for movies/shows but for a video game, you gotta take in account the hearing fatigue, again, in my opinion...And they probably were not taking this in account ? I mostly think most of japanese games has this "underwhelming" aspect when it comes to sound design ? Anyway, thanks for the video!

[@composerkirk]

I'm glad someone else thinks the Elden Ring SD is decent, but is way too samey. COmpletely agree with all points made about it, and am also eager for the next one to potentially push the boundaries a bit with the sound design. Great redesign too! I did my own a while back for the Radagon fight because of similar thoughts haha!

[@LindahlSound]

During the listening exercise in the beginning my sister who hasn't played the game reflected that the sound design mostly sounded like noise. She couldn't see the screen and had no idea what was going on in the gameplay. I generally like the aesthetic of Elden Ring's sound design but I think this unintelligibility is a big problem.

[@AlexHeisEngholm]

Hope this area of the game development gets a little more attention. I agree the sounds are small and the effects a big.

[@jachinseth3918]

You’re hired. I don’t even care 😂

[@DUHRIZEO]

"Maybe 9 more years until this is a solid game" -- Dang dude, it only took you two videos to become a full fledged game developer. 😂

[@jankbunky4279]

Your sound reminds me a lot of the Demon's Souls remake actually. Perhaps it'd be interesting to compare the sound design from classic Demon's Souls and its remake, and try to recreate the feel of both?🤔

[@gumlguml]

Paper Noise is so basic and good

[@SeanPorio]

I am a MASSIVE Bloodborne fan (and sound designer) and I have similar gripes with the sounds in that game. So many of the boss sounds are iconic and well done, but some of the other sounds like those described here are kind of same-y and hard to discern, but the worst in my opinion are the water footsteps… they vary in pitch far too much in my opinion and they are so incredibly loud that you often can’t hear any other sound effects if you’re walking, running, or rolling in an area with water on the ground, even worse if there are a lot of enemies walking in it too.

[@vincentjacobsmm]

The bloodborne footsteps! It's been a while, but I remember there being literally only two variations that alternated back and forth

[@LAxemann]

I have basically 0 knowledge about the "FromSoft engine", but I always felt that the audio aspect of it must be very underdeveloped. In particular, it seems the devs barely have control over anything resembling dynamic mixing, let alone some more dynamic DSP effects. It even seems as if there's no proper way to blend samples based on distance, as even "massive sounds" usually simply get attenuated and that's kinda it. The criticism you mentioned about your redesign aside, it's a nice redesign, but I feel the primary reason it works better is because you were able to have more control over the dynamics and general audio focus. I can see the default FromSoft sounds work just as well if the engine would allow them to dynamically be more in focus, rather than having to try to statically balance all sounds against each other SOMEHOW. (And maybe it does but the devs don't utilize it, no clue :D)

[@AidenR19]

It has nothing to do with the engine tbh.

[@gtortilla]

They use Audiokinetic Wwise for audio in Elden Ring so they definitely have the tools for everything you mentioned.

[@LAxemann]

@@gtortilla I never noticed they use WWise. That's crazy :D

[@gtortilla]

@@LAxemann I believe it was their 1st project using Wwise. In Sekiro they used Fmod. Btw, I really like your content ☺️🙏

[@LAxemann]

@@gtortilla appreciate it, thank you! :)

[@dealer8908]

finallyyy

[@olly123451]

I’d love to know what your recording setup for just “recording random items” is

[@aesonone]

yea i think the texture is too slimey and chorusy (like 100% wet on the fx) and more fitting for sci-fi, i hear this in enotria a lot as well, and i feel for both that and this game's settings, something more analogue feeling is still better. you already self-critiqued in advance, but i will add that this video's challenge would have been cooler to me if you attempted something more akin to their style and then beefed it up/made it more unique. unrelated, big boss swords and the likes swooshing around you in ER sound so insanely sick

[@vincentjacobsmm]

What's wrong with the gameplay footage, did you burn your hand or something?? Love your videos as always. I think you definitely have a point. There's something to be said for keeping things simple (personal struggle) but some of the sounds for sure could be more rewarding and powerful. Still, to be honest, barely anything bothered me from a sound perspective during non-analytical gameplay. They managed to create a world that's entirely unique to itself, also in sound

[@Cloud2KK]

Hey im wondering how you organize all of your sound effects you made like this or recorded in the past? Do you just put everything in one big UCS Folder Structure or did you have one "Swiffer Duster Session" folder? im currently struggling to find a good solution because sometimes i might only have two or three recordings for which i dont want to create a single folder for... :) thanks for the video

[@niklasnahl]

Really nice video as always, Marshall! :D I decided to create my own take on the magic sound design: kzbin.info/www/bejne/g5upmZaie5enmLMsi=0zkGrJkEK77bgr28 For a fun challenge, I avoided using any conventional explosion samples. The impact sound is primarily created by me kicking some wood pellets, combined with rock impacts. As for the 'dispersery' decay layer, if you can hear it, that's actually granular repetitions of rain on metal, recorded with a contact mic.

[@pepsicorp-se]

Agreed! The mood in the the Soulsborne games is phenomenal, but what bothers me is that there's just this extreme lack of of transient. Every attack sound has this ramp up attack that's like >0.5s. This makes the weapons feel heavy and like you need this crazy strength to wield them, even slowly. But, man. Punchyness goes so hard. And hits stop feeling satisfying :(

[@Iskra_Audio]

Always look forward to your videos and breakdowns! I really need to pick up Elden Ring and give it another try

[@fandegw]

Noooo... This is exactly the sort of sound design that I hate, and even the approach to really add punch to each sounds is exactly what is avoided successfully in Elden Ring. If you compare the original Demon soul sounds to the remastered one, they added a lot of punch to the sounds and it feels really weird in the context of the souls game. The fantasy aspect of the world that is needed to always remind you that you are living myths match very well the not overwhelming punchingness of the sounds. And the game design rules of always re-using some base of the sound to make it clear what type of attacks you are doing or the ennemies are doing remains a good tool in their game design toolbox

[@janugur2241]

I really like what you're saying here but I disagree on some points. I think the biggest flaw of your design is not even that it doesn't fit with the rest of the game but that it's too crisp, high-ended and way too in-your-face for a challenging REAL TIME combat. This type of sound design works much better with Turn-based games imo. You can check out Bladur's Gate 3's SFX work which sound pretty similar (Broad spectrum of frequencies, very long durations etc). With a game like Elden Ring that has a moderate-paced combat speed a bassy and reverberated soundscape both fits very well and also doesn't distract the players. In a game like DOOM Eternal in another instance though (amazing SFX work) where the gameplay feels like chugging 2 buckets full-of energy drinks, most sounds are very short and just the right amount of crisp so you can hear them within the chaos.

[@justintrout8740]

Is anyone aware of any spectral expanders that would accomplish what he mentions at 1:15?

[@justintrout8740]

Blending in the delta signal of soothe may work but I'm wondering if there are more dedicated tools for this

[@FrozenDozer]

What bothers me a lot at this point about modern sound design, especially in big productions, is how overcompressed everything sounds. Everything has this extreme oomph and crunch to it. It bothers me a lot, because even simple footsteps on wood sound way too overcompressed. Elden Rings sound design is surely not the greatest, and the sound engine seems to be archaic as hell as well but at least it doesn't drown in compression mud that every sound has at this point.

[@chazzhill-hayr6281]

Great video. I'm also really not a fan of the sound design in that game for those spells. Super harsh and flat feeling. Almost anime style. Very dated feeling. Liked your redesign a lot though.

[@le_fancy_squid]

It always disappoints me a bit to see when creators make something cool and then follow up with, "I know it's bad..." This was a legitimately cool sound that you made here and it felt very strange and otherworldly. Granted I know that not everyone will agree, and therefore some nasty comments will come up and you're just preparing for those, but still this was a very fun watch.

[@MonstaKecksOfficial]

can you make an equipment video with all the mics you use?

[@bensonratch8401]

Why does every sound redesign just turn it into hogwarts legacy sound effects

[@AlexGioada]

FIRST

[@MonstaKecksOfficial]

but yes the sound design isnt good

[@RevRyukin7]

Far better than their trash tier hitboxes.

[@rigby8701]

Gonna cry?

[@davinsosa1438]

You’re on crack