sound-designer posts

Earthrise sound effects designer discusses influences and approach

by James Egan Aug 21st 2008 at 7:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Interviews, New titles, Earthrise

Earthrise is the upcoming post-apocalyptic MMO being developed in Bulgaria by Masthead Studios. We've been keeping an eye on this title at Massively, but admittedly it hasn't been that difficult so far. Although Masthead Studios is a comparative newcomer to the MMO industry, the company has been doing a good job of raising awareness of Earthrise through the press, while fostering an active community which is eagerly awaiting beta.

Their latest media coverage comes to us through Massimo Villa's interview with Earthrise's Kamen Atanasov, Sound Effects Designer for the title. The interview touches on how Atanasov progressed from being a freelance sound designer to working on the audio backdrop of Earthrise. If you're curious about the development of this title, check out this Q&A with Kamen Atanasov.

[Thanks, Nolvadex.]

Tags: alterego-online, alterego-online-network, alteregonline, atanas-atanasov, audio, bulgaria, community, earthrise, interviews, kamen-atanasov, massimo-villa, masthead-studios, post-apocalyptic, sci-fi, sofia, sound, sound-design, sound-designer, sound-effects

Stargate Worlds reaches 200k beta signups, dev chat on Friday

by Samuel Axon Aug 20th 2008 at 11:00AM

Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, New titles, Stargate Worlds, News items

The Stargate Worlds team announced yesterday that 200,000 people have signed up for the game's beta test. That's not an unimpressive number, although both Age of Conan and Warhammer Online reported a lot more (but at later stages in development). Of course, history has shown that the number of beta applicants doesn't necessarily reflect on a game's post-launch popularity.

In other Stargate Worlds-related news, the game's sound designer (Nick LaMartina) will be participating in a live dev chat that will be open to all on Friday the 22nd at 11:00 AM Pacific time. Head over to the Stargate Worlds website for details and links on reaching the IRC chat room where it will take place.

When we visited Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment just over a month ago, a representative told us that the company was hoping to start the closed beta phase before the end of the summer. We've been a bit skeptical. Time's a-tickin'!

Tags: age-of-conan, applications, audio, beta, chat, cheyenne-mountain, cheyenne-mountain-entertainment, cme, developer, firesky, nick-lamartina, sgw, sign-ups, signups, sound, sound-designer, stargate, stargate-worlds, warhammer-online

Listen to exclusive Stargate Worlds audio content

by William Dobson Jun 21st 2008 at 6:30PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, New titles, Stargate Worlds

Music can be a really important part of MMOs, if the developer decides that they want it to be. In some games you'll almost immediately turn the audio down to zero and resume listening to your own stuff, but other games like Age of Conan have a musical score that demands to be heard. It is clear that Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment is aiming for the latter with Stargate Worlds, and they have offered followers of the game a chance to listen to some short clips at their community forums.

You'll need to be a registered forum user to be able to listen, but if you take the plunge you can download two short clips, composed by SGW sound designer Nick LaMartina. They are both fairly epic and atmospheric, and leave you wanting to hear more. If you do check them out, you can use the links in the article to leave feedback for each piece in the forums.

Tags: audio, cheyenne-mountain, cheyenne-mountain-entertainment, composer, music, nick-lamartina, sgw, sound-designer, stargate-worlds, themes