GameCODA is an audio

middleware Middleware is a type of computer software that provides services to software applications beyond those available from the operating system. It can be described as "software glue". Middleware makes it easier for software developers to implement co ...

product by

Sensaura Sensaura, a division of Creative Technology, was a company that provided 3D audio effect technology for the interactive entertainment industry. Sensaura technology was shipped on more than 24 million game consoles and 150 million PCs (on soundcards ...

designed for game developers to create realistic sound environments in

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

s. It allows development for the following platforms:

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the na ...

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

and

GameCube The is a home video game console developed and released by Nintendo in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, and in PAL territories in 2002. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 (1996), and predecessor of the Wii ...

. GameCODA incorporates several audio technologies that were developed by Sensaura, which includes Sensaura's HRTF algorithms, MacroFX™, ZoomFX™ and EnvironmentFX™.

History

On March 12th, 2002, GameCODA was announced. The middleware was intended to reduce the costs associated with implementing audio into video games. After

was acquired by

Creative Technology Creative Technology Ltd. is a Singaporean multinational technology company headquartered with overseas offices in Shanghai, Tokyo, Dublin, and Silicon Valley (where in the US it is known as Creative Labs). The principal activities of the compa ...

, Sensaura focused solely on GameCODA. Incorporating Sensaura's existing technologies, GameCODA brings 3D audio to multiple platforms in a streamlined way, having standardization through Sensaura's

Hardware Abstraction Layer Hardware abstractions are sets of routines in software that provide programs with access to hardware resources through programming interfaces. The programming interface allows all devices in a particular class ''C'' of hardware devices to be acce ...

(SAL), which was supported across all popular platforms at the time.

CAGE Producer

CAGE Producer is the central audio asset management tool which bundles the sound samples into sample banks, sound banks and reverb banks for the target console platforms. It cannot edit audio assets itself apart from sample rate, channels and size; an audio editor is needed for much more than that. It communicates with the CAGE plugins for positioning of sound and reverb environments on the basis of the 3D geometry. The CAGE plugins are available for

Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a populat ...

and

3D Studio Max Autodesk 3ds Max, formerly 3D Studio and 3D Studio Max, is a professional 3D computer graphics program for making 3D animations, models, games and images. It is developed and produced by Autodesk Media and Entertainment. It has modeling capabil ...

Audio technology

Sensaura 3D Positional Audio (S-3DPA)

Using

HRTF A head-related transfer function (HRTF), also known as anatomical transfer function (ATF), is a response that characterizes how an ear receives a sound from a point in space. As sound strikes the listener, the size and shape of the head, ears, ea ...

and detailed positioning of sound sources, GameCODA can create aurally accurate 3D audio environments. For more information, see Sensaura 3D Positional Audio

3D speaker technology

XTC (Transaural Crosstalk Cancellation)

XTC algorithm which tries to reduce acoustic crosstalk. It uses both the distance and angle of the loudspeakers to calculate precisely the transaural crosstalk level and then generates a very accurate cancellation signal. For more information, see Sensaura 3D speaker technology

Environmental audio technologies

Sensaura developed different technologies to create a more realistic audio environment for the listener:

MacroFX

MacroFX is an algorithm that tries to create realistic close-up effects.

ZoomFX

ZoomFX is a technology for simulating the sound of large emitters. This is achieved by creating each virtual sound area from several, similar, virtual point sources, rather than from a single point source, as is commonly done.

EnvironmentFX

EnvironmentFX technology models different acoustic environments allowing the generation of early reflections and reverberation, in order to produce an immersive 3D audio environment. Not just with sounds themselves, it also factors in the acoustic contribution of the environment

External links

* * * * *
Audio Middleware - The essential link from studio to game design
by

Alexander Brandon Alexander Brandon (also known as Siren in the demoscene and tracker community) is an American musician, former member of Straylight Productions, who composed music mostly for games produced by Epic Games, or games based on Epic technology, incl ...

(March 3, 2007)

References

{{Reflist Video game sound