Visualizing Audio in Games

Thus far, we have been primarily focused on using audio to enhance or as a response to game visuals or mechanics. Essentially, all the audio we have used has been the result of some action, activity, or visual, from the sound of the wind, background music, axe throwing, and other sound effects. We have layered audio on top of the game's activity, in order to enhance the player's experience, which is the traditional use of audio in games. Although, wouldn't it be interesting if it was the other way around and the audio drove the games graphics and/or game play? Of course, there already is an entire genre and sub-genres of games devoted to music-driven gameplay, classified as music games. However, audio-driven game play and visualizations can be extended beyond that. What we will look at in this chapter, is how audio can be used to drive...