Planet Coaster 2

( 2024 / Head of Audio Design / Frontier Developments)

Details

[GENRE]	CMS Content Management Simulation
[RELEASE]	2024
[ROLE]	Head of Audio Design
[DEVELOPER]	Frontier Developments
[PLATFORM]	PC, Xbox, Playstation

Websites:
Planet Coaster | Official Website
Frontier Developments | Official Website

Articles:

AudioKinetic Blog
Data Generated Dynamic Crowd Audio
The Crowd Soundbox System
Planet Additional Layers

Develop | Designing the audio for Planet Coaster.

Frontier | The Sound of Planet Coaster.

PCGames | A sound designer took over an entire theme park.

   "... Planet Coaster 1 - Nominated for Best Audio and Music at Develop Awards - Best Audio and Sound Design at Gang Awards - Best British Game Award at Bafta ... ..."

Using contextual impressions and data gathering to design crowd audio in Planet Coaster. My 2017 talk at the Develop: Conference audio track. Talking about the systems that enable very large crowds to have performant audio, using systems to tackle scaling implementation and of course coasters.

Thanks: Develop Conference | John Broomhall | Tandem Events | Hugh Edwards

Frontend Music
Menu music mix changes for navigation across different pages. Music transitions into Chorus for loading, then naturally transitions to an outro when loading completes. These transitions scale for faster and longer loading times.
Crowd
Planet Coaster crowds are described using a data driven, accurate representation of thousands of people. Decoupling a one to one relationship between emitter and sounds and using impressionism to convey moods and density.
Coaster
Over 20 layers combine to tell the story of a coaster. From car rattle to wind and track noises. Each layer is data driven using parameters such as speed, acceleration, downforce etc. to achieve a truly unique representation of the coaster that players have build.
In Game Music
Music is carefully mixed so that diegetic sources (rides, place-able speakers, shops) can overlap without resulting in a cacophony. Player engagement and activities are measured to spot the correct moment for non diegetic music to be started.

"... Let's begin with saying that this is probably one of the best games I've heard in a while. As you build your park, you navigate extensively through menus, selecting and manipulating objects to taste. These menus have their own flavor and intricacy that makes them satisfying to navigate. The level of detail and how clean everything sounds is incredible. The mix on Planet Coaster is phenomenal. Everything sits just right, not too loud and not too soft. If you were to crank the volume up, there isn't a single sound that is jarring or in your face; everything is where it should be ..."

Read the full review written by Derek Brown.

Rollercoasters in Planet Coaster are user created and as such, unpredictable in their their behaviour or how they unfold. Audio relies on real-time data and uses speed, acceleration, g-force and to manipulate the many layers that makes up a single ride. Combined the wind, track noises and environmental reflections tell the users coaster story in sound.
Watson Wu arranged a recording of a coaster for us, in a park closed for maintenance. I studied his recording, aligned it to an a on-ride video and recreated the original recording with my own sound design, always mimicing what the recorded coaster sounds like. The simulation informs audio of the angle of a coaster and combined with physics data it produces an accurate sound simulation of the clangs and bangs of mechanical couplings and car interactions while the track is turning, rolling or banking.
To support a wide range of player created coaster builds (from very mild to insanely exciting) we deployed a real time parameter data compressor/limiter (with coder Ian Hawkins) that will use a threshold and an ever increasing compression ratio to set the reported speed of a coaster in wwise. We set the compression curve from 25 to 32 m/s so that all coaster creations sound exciting even if a track is build to go really fast, all the time.

A swooshes and reflection system (created with coder Jon Ashby) is dynamically generating swoosh emitters along the track of a coaster. These emitters playback noise that is volume and pitch modeled on distance to listener. Creating the effect of a "woosh"-by when going past it fast or silence when hardly moving at all. Emitters are placed in real-time to accommodate user-generated content. A sphere test is executed at each side of the coaster, set to collide with terrain and physics meshes only.
Based on distance of intersection, RTPC's (real time parameter controls == data send from the game we can use to manipulate sounds) are used to send part of the coaster audio to specially prepared buses while dampening the direct (dry) signal to simulate reflections. The buses are hard panned to the correct side. This system is runs fast and is a good impressionistic compromise between ray-casting (expensive and more technically correct reflections) or not acknowledging the environment at all.

Larger objects, such as buildings and caves, contribute to the "reflection" system, while smaller object (such as scenery or struts) create swooshes audio. This relatively "simple" system of reflections and swooshes helps ground coasters in their environment and runs fast in a real-time, user generated environment.

Published June 27th 2017 - A detailed description of the crowd audio system created specifically for Planet Coaster. The main feature of the implementation is that it creates an impression of large crowds using a fixed amount of time per frame. A system that scales with the size of a park, without asking for more resources. We call this conextual mixing and using data to drive background to foreground layers.

Please note that this system forms the basis of Frontier Emitter Managment system, but has since been expanded upon greatly. See the article on Jurassic World Evolution and the 2022 GDC talk for a more recent breakdown.

Part 1. Scaling Ambition
Part 2. The Crowd Soundbox System
Part 3. Additional Layers

Published June 27th 2017 - A detailed description of the crowd audio system created specifically for Planet Coaster. The main feature of the implementation is that it creates an impression of large crowds using a fixed amount of time per frame. A system that scales with the size of a park, without asking for more resources. We call this conextual mixing and using data to drive background to foreground layers.

Please note that this system forms the basis of Frontier Emitter Managment system, but has since been expanded upon greatly. See the article on Jurassic World Evolution and the 2022 GDC talk for a more recent breakdown.

Part 1. Scaling Ambition
Part 2. The Crowd Soundbox System
Part 3. Additional Layers

Topics include: Dynamic music system which adapts to interaction, play-style and loading times. The Music system also 'knows' what the player is doing and will create a music playlist accordingly. Solutions for obstruction / occlusion in a user generated environment. Planet Coaster's context based mixing data that exchanges pre-placed emitters to drive audio with a more dynamic approach. Finally there is the sound of roller coasters in all their isolated layers!

While the stream was primary aimed at Planet Coaster's community, it does delve deeper into the technical and creative solutions of the audio.

Check out our latest Planet Coaster Dev Diary. This installment highlights the staggering detail that goes into making the Planet Coaster audio. Creating a rich and immersive environment that brings your park to life.

... a game crafted with care. The interface feels familiar yet modern. The graphics look promising. And there is this soothing soundtrack by Jim Guthrie and JJ Ypsen playing in the background which instills a sense of focus and calm ... Planet Coaster is also just a gorgeous game, which of course it isn't necessary for to the business side of things but it is a great plus for a 3d park like this.

The Sound design is also right on point, giving you all the screams, coaster whooshes, crowd chatter and rickety mechanical audio cues ones needs to suspend disbelief. You can also customize this further with ambient sound generates and music customisation. And yes this also lets you drop in your own music tracks to fine-tune your parks audio visual theme.

... one of my favourite things about the game, so far, that I have discovered is the sound design ... Joey on GameSpot's Planet Coaster Live Stream ...

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