Michael Taylor: Audio Design & Composition

Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath PSV and Munch’s Oddysee out now!

The fine folk at Just Add Water and Oddworld have released Stranger’s Wrath for PS Vita and Munch’s Oddysee for PS3 on the Playstation Network.

I was involved with the technical implementation of Stranger’s Wrath in the FMOD audio engine, and for Munch’s Oddysee I organised and recreated assets from the DirectMusic Producer interactive music system, as well as providing additional sound design.

Earlier this year, I also provided audio implementation support for the Eurogamer Expo 2012 demo of Abe’s Oddysee: New ‘n’ Tasty  

Mammoth summer update

Sorry I’ve been quiet for the last few months, but I have been incredibly busy, even more so than usual.

Firstly, after my brief stint at Liquid Violet (where I can now reveal that I was dialogue editing the FIGS localisations for Borderlands 2), I went to the Develop conference in Brighton, UK and got to meet some great game audio folk. I managed to convince a couple of people to contribute to Designing Sound, so hopefully those posts will materialise in the not too distant future.

Almost immediately after that, I began a 5 week in-house contract at Mind Candy in London, working as audio designer for Missions for the online children’s game ‘Moshi Monsters’. This was a fantastic opportunity for my professional and artistic growth, and so I was delighted when they offered me a full-time role as Junior Audio Designer (which I am starting today)!

And finally, last week I undertook an ultra-short contract with Just Add Water, doing the technical audio design for the demo of Abe’s Oddysee: New N Tasty that was unveiled yesterday at the Eurogamer Expo! I was working in the BitSquid engines audio tool ‘Timpani’. This particular contract which sadly saw me get stuck in Yorkshire for Tuesday evening, thanks to the flooding!

Min: A Space Adventure is released!

Today, Min: A Space Adventure finally launched onto the App Store after 9 months of hard work from the small team at Cwerki Studios! I wrote 7 original music tracks for the game, plus created all the sound design, and created the cues that playback the hundreds of sounds I created in the Unreal Development Kit.

The game is free, so download it to your iOS device (All models of iPad, and the iPhone 4s recommended), give it a review then head over the the Facebook page to tell us what you think, and get the news on upcoming content updates!

Min: A Space Adventure (Apple App Store link)

Check out the Launch trailer below!

Mammoth June 2012 Update

It’s been quite a while since I posted an update, so this is a bit of a bumper edition! First of all, I have begun working in London with post production services company Liquid Violet as a freelance dialogue editor - Yesterday I finished up my first project with them, and had a lot of fun working on one of the most anticipated releases of 2012. I’m looking forward to continue working with this great team, and helping out on the many exciting AAA projects they have coming up!

Next; Min: A Space Adventure by Cwerki Studios has been finished, and the launch trailer can be seen below! Once you’ve checked that out, head over to the Facebook page and Like us to stay up-to-date with our developments! The game will be released for iPad and iPhone 4s on the 18th of June for free, so be sure to check it out once it drops!

Also, Just Add Water demonstrated both Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath and Oddworld: Munch’s Oddysee running on PlayStation Vita at E3 last week, and are coming along nicely. The patch for the PS3 version of Stranger has also been submitted to Sony, and should fix a number of audio bugs as well as adding Move and 3DTV support.

Finally! Im heading off to the Develop conference next month for the audio track on Thursday 12th July. I’ll be there to soak up knowledge, network and maybe regurgitate some goodness for Designingsound.org, where I also recently posted exclusive interviews with Michael Bross and Andrew Quinn, among other updates.

And to finish on a non-audio note; I passed my driving test two weeks ago (1st attempt, only 3 minors!). Huzzah!

Showreel Update

Recently, I had noticed how poorly my sound-to-picture reel reflected my skills, so with work on MIn: A Space Adventure wrapping up (news on that soon…)  I decided to take action.

Embedded below is the first fruit of my labour; A sound replacement video of the Demon’s Souls attract movie. Featuring a lot of foley work, synthesis and creature sound design, it is quite an involved and detailed clip, and I hope I have done it (and myself) justice. Other videos will be incoming soon!

February 2012 Update

As always, its been a busy few weeks since my last update! As well as ongoing sound design and music composition for Cwerki’s debut title ‘Min: A Space Adventure’ , I’ve been tidying up a few pesky audio bugs that snuck into the December release of ‘Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath HD’. I’ve even begun work on a couple of projects I’m remaining quiet on for now…

I’ve also been working on some multimedia projects, including working with Nerdvice.com, The team behind ScrewAttack.com ‘s ‘Safety First’ and designing an audio branding for the University of Cumbria Students’ Union. Hopefully the fruits of these projects will be public rather soon!

In the meantime, I’ve joined the DesigningSound.org editorial team, taking over Game Audio duties from the almighty juggernaut of audio knowledge, Damian Kasterbauer, AKA lostlab. Once I’ve got into the groove of contributing to the site, I’ll be looking at creating some great features for game audio professionals! 

And on a personal note, i passed my driving theory test! Which means I’m one step closer to terrorising the roads of the UK!

New Showreel Video

With all the activity over the last year or so, my showreel has been a bit neglected as I’ve focused on completing active projects. While I’m preparing to create new reel material, I quickly edited a music/sound design only mix of the announce trailer for Cwerki’s ‘Min: A Space Adventure’, which is conveniently embedded below! 

All these videos, plus the rest of my audio design and implementation reels are available to view on my YouTube channel

The original version of the trailer, complete with voiceover, is embedded here too!

January 2012 Update

It’s been a hectic couple of months recently, Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath HD has finally been released worldwide to a fantastic reception, the ‘Play It Forward’ charity album I contributed to has been successfully raising money for Childs Play and the EFF and work on Cwerki’s debut title ‘Min: A Space Adventure’ is continuing at a steady pace.

I’m looking forward to an exciting 2012, and so I felt it would be appropriate to share my most exciting composition of the last year: the main theme of Min: A Space Adventure!

Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath HD is out now on PSN!

After almost a year since the PC ‘Oddbox’ release, Stranger has finally landed on the PlayStation Network to fantastic reviews. I was hired by Just Add Water to convert the audio from an Xbox-specific audio to a multi-platform system, and at the same time upgrading as much of the audio and dialogue as possible using the original assets from the Oddworld archives.

For more information on my involvement with Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath HD, check out the Developer Diary I wrote last year, or my interview with NerdVice in the summer!

Play It Forward Album Release!

I recently contributed a composition for the ‘Play It Forward’ album, a charity project by an ensemble of musicians who share a passion for video games!

All the proceeds from the album will be split between Child’s Play and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. There is no minimum donation for the album, but please give what you can to help out these fantastic organisations.

http://playitforwardalbum.bandcamp.com/

There are 13 phenomenal tracks on the album, most of which are instrumental and electronic based. There are a few great deviations from this though! Oh, and my track, ‘Astral Meltdown’ has the dark, energetic sci-fi genre covered!

Hope you enjoy it, and help us spread the word!