2026/03 - Designing believable audio for virtual worlds - Nick Wiswell (Turn 10 Studios)

In this Masterclass we look at how to define and create the soundscape of your virtual world, how to use spatial audio and advanced audio haptics to help you feel more immersed in it, and how to use real world audio principals to make it more believable. · Introduction Overview of topics being covered during the class. · Defining your world Brief overview of the creative process topics covered in the "EVOLUTION conversession" from Nov 2025 for those who didn’t attend. Deep dive into understanding your audience, both internally and externally and how to adapt your messaging to meet your audience. Conversation - Risk assessments and how to understand as many of the challenges as possible before they happen. Q&A · Perception is everything. Exercise - A study of different perspectives of what something should sound like, using video and audio examples. Conversation - How did the class perceive the examples and how to use this information to help define your direction. · Recording and sourcing sounds How to deconstruct and plan for the recording and sourcing of sounds you wish to design or recreate. Exercise - deconstruct a sound into component parts and create an asset list for all required source audio components. How to approach the recording of sounds to get the results you are looking for. When to call in the experts? Q&A · Using simulated acoustics to bring worlds to life How to make your sounds feel like they all exist in the same space. Real time vs prebaked acoustics. Demonstration - how the acoustics of Forza Motorsport were created Q&A · Using spatial audio for full immersion A brief introduction to spatial audio for those that need it. Spatial audio and headphones. Beds vs Objects vs Ambisonics. It’s not just for sound design, creating spatial music. Demonstration - mixing a music track for Spatial Audio Q&A · Using advanced haptics to feel what you hear and see Audio is the future of controller haptics. Using game sounds vs designed haptic sounds. Understanding the capabilities of the devices Demonstration - It’s an LFE in your hands, a chance to experience what sounds can feel like. Q&A · Simulation examples, advanced techniques for vehicle audio Understanding how a sound is created in the real world can help you recreate it, or something like it. Demonstration - A deep dive into vehicle audio used a reference for a complex layered sound Why does a car sound the way it does? What are the things that happen that can change the sound? How to record and design and implement sounds to recreate a vehicle in game. Conversation - How can we take these learnings and use them for things beyond vehicles. Q&A · Conclusion A look back at everything we learned Final Thoughts Q&A March 2nd 2026 in Paris and March 4th 2026 in Lyon.