Being back in my hometown of Galesburg has been great. Aside from seeing family and friends I’ve been able to get a lot of audio work done over this break. My work load toward the end of last semester brought my side projects to a halt, including Project Portal. With my free time back home, I’ve brought the project back to life.
I’m happy to say that I’ve made considerable progress on the mod. Galesburg has given me a lot of source material that I’ve already put to use in designing sound effects. I’ve made the choice to use 100% original sounds in the game. Every noise in the game is composed solely from my own recordings. It’s not the easiest route, but it’s sure the most fun. Nothing beats the feeling of having your own recordings, and putting them to work.
Recently, I took a break from designing individual SFX to design sound for the final “cutscene” moments in the game.
— Spoilers ahead for the 14 people on earth who haven’t played Portal —
Check out my work on the cutscene of GLaDOS being destroyed. Largely composed of sounds from a machinist’s workshop
Note: This is pre-captured gameplay. In-game, there are also scripted sounds triggered.
I was surprised how quickly this specific scene came together for me. Don’t get me wrong. I spent a lot of time on it, but compared to what it took for me to finish the two following scenes, it was a piece of cake (ha!).
3 Final Cutscenes
It’s not that the other scenes were more complicated. They’re relatively simple: outdoor ambience with fire, and swooshing through vents to find glorious cake. I’m starting to realize that overt sounds and environments are sometimes much easier to emulate than subtle ones.