Game Audio Programming 5: Principles and Practices

Welcome to the fifth volume of Game Audio Programming: Principles and Practices – the first series of its kind dedicated to the art, science, and craft of game audio programming. In this volume, some of the top game audio programmers in the industry delve into audio programming topics from low-level subjects like oscillator techniques to high-level topics such as automated testing, reverb, and music.

Game audio programmers at all skill levels will find something to learn in this book. The methods in these pages have been used in games of all sizes and shapes, from large AAA titles down to small indie games, so they are all tried and tested and ready for you to apply in your own game audio code. There are chapters about speech systems, asynchronous multithreaded audio engine architecture, impulse responses, and more.

This collection compiles topics from a vast body of advanced knowledge and wisdom about game audio programming. Whether you are a newly minted game audio programmer or an expert, or if you’re just the lucky soul who gets to do the work, this book is for you!

Guy Somberg has been programming audio engines for his entire career. From humble beginnings writing a low-level audio mixer for slot machines, he quickly transitioned to writing game audio engines for all manner of games. He has written audio engines that shipped AAA games like Hellgate: London, Bioshock 2, The Sims 4, and Torchlight 3, as well as smaller titles like Minion Master, Tales from the Borderlands, and Game of Thrones. Guy has also given several talks at the Game Developer Conference, the Audio Developer Conference, and CppCon. When he’s not programming or writing game audio programming books, he can be found at home reading, playing video games, and playing the flute.