Designing Sound for the Centuries in ‘Civilization VII’ – with the Firaxis Sound Team

[The_J]

Jennier Walden from "A Sound Effect" has interviewed the Firaxis sound team (incl. Geoff Knorr and Roland Rizzo) about their work for Civ7, in the article called "Designing Sound for the Centuries in ‘Civilization VII’ – with the Firaxis Sound Team".
They talk about the sound effects which were necessary for the user interface, that extra sound variations are necessary for often repeating actions such like moving units, balancing how big vs small military units sound, and more.

An excert:

Scouts involved some fun sound designing. I started work on the Scout Dog a while back and shared it with the wider team, and a member from the Unit’s team, Erika Ward, asked if we could record her dog. Her dog Kaiya Bear Gilchrist was trained to bark on command, so we got her in our foley room and proceeded with a pretty fun recording session. In the game credits, we made sure to include Kaiya’s excellent voice acting work!

You can read the full article here.

 

[sonicmyst]

Hagia Sophia mentioned!

"Early on we considered using different narrators for each Age, but her range and presence made it clear she could carry the whole journey through the Ages. I believe Gwendoline elevated the narration for everything from Tech and Civic quotes to the awe of discovering Natural and World Wonders. Whether it’s the Grand Canyon or the Hagia Sophia, Gwendoline makes you feel like you’ve uncovered something truly monumental. Gwendoline didn’t just read the lines, she brought them to life, and helped turn those moments into something truly special. Not to mention she played a huge role in the live action narrator reveal trailer."

 

[moondog385]

I love the sounds that have been added for each individual tech and civic.

 

[Maiq]

I am so tired of hearing about the damn scout dog when the game is such a mess

 

[Daigotsu Max]

Hagia Sophia mentioned!

"Early on we considered using different narrators for each Age, but her range and presence made it clear she could carry the whole journey through the Ages. I believe Gwendoline elevated the narration for everything from Tech and Civic quotes to the awe of discovering Natural and World Wonders. Whether it’s the Grand Canyon or the Hagia Sophia, Gwendoline makes you feel like you’ve uncovered something truly monumental. Gwendoline didn’t just read the lines, she brought them to life, and helped turn those moments into something truly special. Not to mention she played a huge role in the live action narrator reveal trailer."

Gwendolyn has been such an inspired choice for the game, I agree she elevates everything she says.

 

[Foulweather]

Safe to say that this was coming with Nalanda in the game, but confirmation of an upcoming Maghadan?

 

[Siptah]

Safe to say that this was coming with Nalanda in the game, but confirmation of an upcoming Maghadan?

Maghada in conjunction with Maurya makes not much sense. It's like having archaic (=/= Mycenaean) and classical Greece as separate civs in Antiquity. Or imperial and republic Rome.
If we ever see another antiquity civ from India, Gupta would be the obvious choice.

 

[Ryansinbela]

Maghada in conjunction with Maurya makes not much sense. It's like having archaic (=/= Mycenaean) and classical Greece as separate civs in Antiquity. Or imperial and republic Rome.
If we ever see another antiquity civ from India, Gupta would be the obvious choice.

Magadhan are an IP interestingly enough

Though that is still a weird choice to have them instead of Gupta

 

[Menocchio]

Gupta would definitely be better, I'm not sure exactly what they're going for with Maghada (assuming it's not a goof by the interviewer, which is extremely possible).

 

[Ryansinbela]

Gupta would definitely be better, I'm not sure exactly what they're going for with Maghada (assuming it's not a goof by the interviewer, which is extremely possible).

I thought they originally meant Maurya but why are they mentioning Nalanda with it instead of Sanchi Stupa

 

[GeneralZift]

How is Civilization VII's sound design compared with Humankind? The ambience in that game was unmatched if I recall correctly.

 

[Siptah]

How is Civilization VII's sound design compared with Humankind? The ambience in that game was unmatched if I recall correctly.

Humankind > civ imho. Hearing the nature sounds, or the wind howl over the desert in Humankind is indeed unmatched in any other strategy game.

Click sounds etc. are more a matter of taste, I guess.

 

[Menocchio]

I thought they originally meant Maurya but why are they mentioning Nalanda with it instead of Sanchi Stupa

It's strange, which is why I'm more inclined to say it's a slip-up rather than a leak or tease. Nalanda incidentally makes no sense as a Maghada wonder, but is definitive for a Gupta civ - so we'll see.