Cozy Foley: Unpacking
Adaptive Audio

Jentery Sayers | jentery@uvic.ca
English and CSPT | University of Victoria
The Praxis Studio | "Player Stories" | 19 April 2022
Slides Online: jentery.github.io/unpacking

Acknowledgements

I acknowledge and respect the lək̓ʷəŋən peoples on whose
traditional territory the University of Victoria stands, and the
Songhees, Esquimalt, and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples whose historical
relationships with the land continue to this day. I am a visitor here and hope to one day become a proper guest.

"The hill here is called MEE-qan which means 'warmed by the sun'.
This seaward slope was a popular place for rest and play – a game
similar to field hockey, called Coqwialls, was played here. At the
bottom of the hill was a small, palisaded village that was occupied
intermittently from 1,000 until approximately 300 years ago. The
settlement was here for defence during times of war, and it was
also important for reef net fishing. The starchy bulbs of the wildflower, Camas, were an important food source gathered in this area.
The hill here is also known as Beacon Hill." -- Songhees Nation

The Next 40ish Minutes

Some Context for this Project

Introduce "Adaptive Audio"

Engage an Example: Unpacking (2021)

Via Media Aesthetics:
Mechanics / Interface + Narrative / Story + Accessibility / Audio

Arrive at the Politics + Aesthetics of the "Cozy" Genre

Some History and Context

Part of a Book Project for U. of Michigan P.

About Adaptive DX, SFX, BG, FOL + VO in Games (not MX)

Aims to Challenge Toxic Cultures in Games and Audio

Research Began with My Dissertation in 2009-11 (eeek!)

What's Adaptive Audio?

Reduces Repetition + "Canned" Feel of Soundscapes + Objects

Corresponds with Actions + Events + Conditions

Randomized, Probabilistic, Textured, Real-Time

Associated with Middleware + Engines such as FMOD + Wwise

Why Adaptive Audio?

Typically Overlooked, "Muted," or Deferred

A Point of Departure (if "minor") for Criticism

"Organized Sound": How Games + Genres Are Made + Experienced

Not Only about Listening or Hearing

Helps to Tell a Story (see Em Halberstadt)

About Unpacking

Made in Unity by Witch Beam (Brisbane) for consoles + PC

Published by Humble in 2021

Team includes Wren Brier (writing + design)
Tim Dawson (technical + design)
Annie VanderMeer (narrative assistance)
Angus Doolan (art)
Jeff van Dyck (sound design)
Angela van Dyck with Ella van Dyck (Foley)

Unpacking's
Interface and Mechanics

Puzzle + Simulation Game with Diagonal-Down Perspective

Practically Wordless; PC Is Not Seen or Heard until Ending

Most "Unpacking" Verbs Are "Point and Select"

Camera Traverses Domestic Spaces; Does Not Assume PC Position

Objects Snap to Grid; Cannot Be Placed Just Anywhere

Eight Time-Stamped Stages, with a Total of 35 Rooms

Unpacking's
Narrative and Story

Unnamed Character Is Bisexual, Disabled, and Jewish
Players Follow Her Story across Moves (see Deitz and Sylvester)

Brier Says the Game Is Semi-Autobiographical

Some Pixel-Art Objects (stuffed animal, D&D, menorah, cup)
Age yet Persist across Moves Set in Australia

Players Act as "Interior Designers" Shaping Character's Story

Narrative Arc Is Mostly Fixed from Teenage to Adult Years

No Cut Scenes, Voice-Over, or Dialogue

Completing a Stage Places It in Your Photo Album

Unpacking's Accessibility

Icon Size May Be Large; Swipe or Fade Room Swap Animation

Highly Visual; Practically Wordless; Audio Not Required

Vibration / Rumble Available (Audio Files for Haptics)

Puzzle Mode May Be Removed ("Items Everywhere").

"Unpacking is proud to be an accessible game." - official site

Unpacking's Audio

"[O]ver 14,000 foley wav files" by Angela and Ella van Dyck

Audio in Reaper + Wwise, Relying Heavily on "Switches"

Foley Contributes to an Object's Importance + Where It "Belongs"
Renders Objects Relational + Some "Interactive"

Ambient Sounds and "Noiseprints" Afford Sense of Place

Hi-fi Audio Contrasts with Low-Fi Pixel Art (Evocative?)

Amusing Audio "Signature" of Unpacking Process
Is Available with Stage Completion

Cozy Audio?

Inclusive Design: Lack of Intensity + Acousmatic Surprise, e.g.

No Score or Timer SFX; Practically All SFX Are Diegetic

Foley Reinforces the Familiar "Ritual" of a Chore
Treats Intermezzo ("Rest" / "Safe") as the Main Narrative

Audio Amplifies Player Agency over Pacing in Particular

See Howe et al. for More on "Coziness in Games."

Under What Assumptions?
To What Effects?

Audio Helps to Reproduce a Game's Norms

Cozy Game Aesthetics Are Not Apolitical
(Critique of Heteronormative Domesticity and
Default White Male PC, e.g.)

Audio Shapes Robustness + Relations
(Randomization; No Throwing or Breaking SFX, e.g.)

Even "Optional" / "Invisible" / "Muted" Audio
Can Be Influential / Affecting

Cozy Political Aims Are Distinct from "Rhythm"? (Thanks, Julie!)

Thanks Again

Especially to . . .
Samuel Adesubokan, Abby Fry, Julie Funk,
Braeden Hallman, Madyson Huck, and Asia Tyson
for a wonderful year of Praxis talks and discussion.