Welcome back to Part 2 of our deep dive into the Sound of the Outer Worlds!
- Oct 17, 2018.
- – 2019.2+ (download the other package at the top of the page for older versions) These versions of Wwise are known to be compatible with UE Unreal 4.23+ Trial License Key Generation.
- Wwise Launcher 2016.8.17.429 can be downloaded from our website for free. The software lies within Internet & Network Tools, more precisely Download Managers. This free program was originally developed by Audiokinetic Inc. This download was scanned by our built-in antivirus and was rated as clean.
In Part 1, we covered how we designed Creatures, the Music system, VO, Emitters, Ambience and Spatialization in the game. In Part 2, we’re going to look at some other areas: Weapons, Inventory and some of our Scripted Events, so strap in and enjoy!
Design
WWISE (World Wide Industrial & Systems Engineers) is an ISO consultancy, training,business solutions and systems development firm in South Africa that provides clients with effective business processes and quality management solutions in preparation for ISO and OHSAS compliance.
What did we consider Inventory in The Outer Worlds? 'Inventory items', were game objects that the player could pick up during gameplay, consume, or drag/drop anywhere in/out of the inventory screen. Some of the categories included:
- Weapons
- Armor
- Consumables
- Quest Items
- Weapon/Armor mods
The goal for inventory items was to immerse the player into the Halcyon colony to really feel like they are the unplanned variable, picking up and using all sorts of items in the various worlds that they travel to. These are items that become important for the player's journey, and it's important that we made each item sound as unique as they looked. The level of detail we went for allowed the world to come alive even more through the many objects that the player will come across. Our overall sound design philosophy for inventory items was to have them represent their respective objects as close as possible. If you pick up a can, we want the player to hear a can.
We recorded and designed for 9 parent categories for items, with a total of 48 sub-categories of items. We made a test level so that we could test every single unique pickup in the game.
Every prop we used for each sound had to match the texture and quality of the object. We took pictures of each individual item and printed them out to take to the studio for reference, to make sure that what we recorded would match the visual.
Here are some guidelines we followed for achieving this goal when recording and designing each sound:
1. Subtlety!
a. Transients had to be soft and subtle, not hard and sharp.
b. Picking them up as a player would naturally, with slow-ish speed and not too quickly.
2. Distinct
a. Every sound needed to give very clear feedback.
b. We also tried to incorporate some sort of memorable 'rhythm' to each sound.
3. Short
a. One exception was the music box.
i. They had to be no more than a second long.
b. Succinct to prevent unnecessary feedback.
a. Transients had to be soft and subtle, not hard and sharp.
b. Picking them up as a player would naturally, with slow-ish speed and not too quickly.
2. Distinct
a. Every sound needed to give very clear feedback.
b. We also tried to incorporate some sort of memorable 'rhythm' to each sound.
3. Short
a. One exception was the music box.
i. They had to be no more than a second long.
b. Succinct to prevent unnecessary feedback.
We recorded each object based on each sub-category. So for example, we'd have 2 different pieces of cloth for 'Armor Medium' and record each one by making various takes of grabbing/moving/wrinkling , with the guidelines above in mind. The transient points show a good estimate of how many variations were recorded: Tally erp 9 release 6.0 crack patch free download.
Here are pictures of the foley room, where various props were used and brought into the recording studio.
Here are pictures from the recording studio foley session:
Items included (but not limited to):
- Cans
- Doorknobs
- Chains
- Different types of clothing
- Plastic wraps
- A literal sword
- Wooden poles
- Floor tiles
- Water bottles
- Candy wrappers
- Boxes
- My messenger bag
- Door latches
- Metal springs
All of these items allowed for a huge variety of sounds for inventory SFX in The Outer Worlds. Here's an overall video of picking up various items in the test level.
Posters:
Tossball Cards:
Some items did require design magic, like this magic box, where we played the jingle Justin wrote for Spacer's Choice on a sampled celesta.
Overall, we succeeded in getting all objects in the game to have unique and distinct inventory sounds. Something that was great that we learned along the way was how creative you can be with simply making sounds for a very small item, like a card. A card never sounds the same when being picked up multiple times, and the kind of feedback it gives to the player can depend on how it's picked up. Picking an item up slowly and giving it a distinct 'rhythm' allows the sound to be both satisfying and to-the-point.
Getting to that point took a long time, though. On a lot of sounds, we made the variation takes play out too long. Instead of just picking up a card for half a second, We'd slowly pick it up for a full second while kind of wrinkling it. It makes the sound more distinct, but also made the sound pretty annoying when a card was picked up multiple times. While distinction is great to go for, subtlety can be a great attribute that can lead to more effect feedback, when picking up gameplay objects.
Inventory Implementation
All objects have a sound for picking it up/dragging it in the inventory (3 variations) and consuming it (1 variation, if applicable). Here's a Wwise example of what one of these sounds would look like.
To keep all of the sounds organized, we made sure every sound object followed a specified naming scheme and organized all the sounds into big specific categories, as seen here with the Consumables folder opened:
Here's an example of what variations sounded like for a single item, if the player picked up different types of cans, for instance:
One of the most difficult aspects of Inventory SFX was being able to organize all of it. Every item needed an assigned gameplay tag, some of which I needed to add, and then each tag needed to be assigned to a sound. In Unreal, gameplay tags were assigned in this kind of manner, where a gameplay tag was assigned to an Audio Event:
The variety we were able to have with this audio data tool was incredible, but organizing it just right took some time since it was difficult to search for a sound or tag if we needed to go back and change a sound assignment when fixing a bug.
Making such a large variety of Inventory SFX for The Outer Worlds will be something we'll always be proud of.
One of the decisions we made early on was to honor the player agency that is so core to the Outer Worlds. We wanted to this to extend to all aspects of the game, so we decided that cutscenes would playback based on the players' preferences: We would have audio follow their global sound settings for the game.
Whilst this simple to manage during gameplay, for cutscenes it presented the problem of how to manage the mix. During any cutscene, the player could for example have turned music off. This meant that we couldn't use a traditional linear production method (where everything is premixed to the video), and instead would have to use a real time solution of mixing the different submixes (Music, VO and SFX), based on player settings.
We used simply side-chaining on the music bus to account for this:
Emerald Vale Power Decision
Small Spoilers Ahead!
In our first explorable area, Emerald Vale, the player is essentially tasked with their first major decision. Their is a cannery which is the heart of industrial-worker life in the area, and there's also a small community that has broken away from the corporate life and started a greenhouse out in the wild. The player is tasked with redirecting a large amount of power from the local Geothermal Plant to either the Cannery, or the Greenhouse; which in turn sabotages the one that ends up with no power.
We wanted this choice to feel like it had some gravity to it, and actually reveal the repercussions of this choice through how the world sounds around you. We did this by turning on/off a large number of audio emitters based on the destination the player routed power to. For instance, if the player routed the power to the Greenhouse, a lot of the machinery in the cannery would now be turned off and silent, and you can hear the emergency alarms overhead as the cannery workers are panicking.
TTD Introduction Sequence
An example of this approach can be seen early on in the game's story when the Player is first introduced to their special time-manipulation ability, Tactical Time Dilation or TTD. After being cryogenically frozen for many years and abruptly revived by a mysterious scientist, the Player finds himself in an alien world with more questions than answers. Shortly after landing, the Player traverses through a cave where a strange mental episode spontaneously shocks him into awareness that his years in cryo-sleep have given him the ability to slow down time briefly.
When we set about to help create this moment we wanted to use sound to make the Player feel something akin to the confusion and disorientation of having your mind warped by time. At the same time, we wanted to allow the Player a degree of freedom to explore the space to both enhance suspense and create a sense of rising tension that peaks at the point where the Player finally loses control (mentally and in the game).
Several technical components combine to create this scripted sequence. The first is an Ak Ambient Sound emitter object that plays a unique looping drone based off of the in-game TTD sound and a looping exasperated Player breathing sound. These sounds work together to create the sensation that the Player is physically and mentally reacting to an unknown psychological stimulus nearby. Both the TTD drone and the Player breath have unique and relatively short attenuation radii such that they ramp up in volume rapidly when the Player is very close to the emitter. Implementing the sounds in this way allows the Player to back away from the experience or investigate it at their own pace.
Attenuation Shareset for scripted TTD drone sound
Attenuation Shareset for scripted Player breathing
The TTD drone retains some 3D positioning at distance by using Speaker Panning/3D Spatialization parameter whereas the Player breathing sound element uses a positioning override to play on the Player in 2D, relying only on a distance parameter to increase or decrease volume attenuation.
Speaker Panning/3D Spatialization parameter on TTD drone sound
The exasperated Player breathing loop is comprised of a Switch Container that uses a 'PlayerGender' State to set an appropriate Switch Group for male or female breathing sounds.
Scripted Player breathing Switch Container
These breathing sounds are housed in Blend Containers where we are using a Blend Track to crossfade between 'low intensity' and 'high intensity' breathing assets. Intensity ramps up based on distance such that the closer the Player gets to the emitter object, the faster and more exasperated the breathing becomes.
Player breathing intensity Blend Track
The second component of this sequence is controlled via a trigger volume placed just beneath the Ak Ambient Sound emitter object in the level. This trigger volume initiates the point of no return where the Player loses control and a scripted audio-visual sequence ramps up into the activation of the TTD mechanic for the first time. Using a combination of Delayed Callback, Remote Event and Post Sound at Location nodes, we are triggering a timed lead-in sound that ramps up into the TTD 'start' sound and deactivating the TTD drone emitter object.
Fly-through of sound emitter and trigger volume placement in UE4 level
UE4 Blueprint that conditionally deactivates scripted emitter object
UE4 Blueprint that initializes scripted lead-in sound upon entering trigger volume
Scripted TTD introduction sequence in-game
The sounds and implementation work in tandem in this sequence to produce an intense emotional response in the Player but also to provide them with just enough freedom to interact with the space on their terms. We feel that this approach reflects and supports the underlying narrative of a spontaneous psychological episode overcoming the Player while still retaining elements of the Player's agency in the world.
A mentioned in the last section, a core gameplay mechanic in The Outer Worlds is the Player's ability to slow down time for a short while. In addition to giving the Player an edge during fast-paced combat, Tactical Time Dilation or TTD, allows the Player to scan enemies for useful information about their faction, strengths and weaknesses. Successful attacks during TTD also cause extra damage to enemies by applying additional de-buff effects.
Several considerations were taken when approaching sound design and implementation for this mechanic. First and foremost, we wanted the audio for this ability to support the Player feeling special and empowered. The Player is the only character in the game that has access to this unique skill. Secondly, we wanted the mechanic to provide clear audio feedback so that the Player can focus on what he or she is doing and allow the audio to give information about the status of the ability. This involved messaging how much slow-motion time is l remaining and how much is currently being drained. Finally, in relation to providing informative game feedback, we wanted the mechanic to feel reactive to the Player's input. Depending on the interaction between the Player's skill tree attributes, active buffs and the actions a Player is currently performing, TTD can be active for a variable amount of time.
TTD active
The key visual feedback features of TTD are the purple meter in the upper left corner of the screen and the purple circle around the center reticle. The amount of TTD time remaining is represented visually by how full these two purple meters are. When draining, these meters will decay at variable rates. Sonically, we wanted to underscore this feedback.
When entering TTD an event is fired that triggers a one-shot 'start' sound as well as a looping 'bed' of spacey, stylized audio elements that persist and evolve over the course of TTD being active. When TTD is exited or depleted, an 'end' one-shot sound is triggered and all looping elements are faded and stopped.
TTD activated
The TTD 'Base'
One of our goals with the TTD soundscape was to convey a sense of rising tension in the gameplay and to underscore the lore of the ability that the Player character's mind is being progressively warped the longer that the Player is in an active TTD state. When TTD is full, the 'base' looping sound is spacey and textural but as TTD decays, this underlying 'base' becomes more chaotic, unstable and distorted. To accomplish this, we used a Blend Container with an active Blend Track to crossfade the looping 'base' element through 3 different intensity levels. We used a game-driven RTPC (TTDMeterPercent) to drive this transition inside of the Blend Track.
TTD 'base' loop Blend Container Track
We also used the TTDMeterPercent RTPC to dynamically increase the pitch and volume of the Blend Container as the TTD 'base' decays.
Using this Blend Container and RTPC implementation we were able to give TTD an affective and evolving soundscape that communicates to the Player how much TTD time remains as it decays during gameplay.
TTD 'base' intensity transitions
TTD 'Drain'
Another key aspect of the TTD mechanic is how the TTD meter drains. As mentioned above, two of our goals were to provide the Player with effective audio feedback about the state of TTD as well as to reactively represent the Player's gameplay input. Because TTD can drain at variable rates depending on a combination of factors, we needed to system that reflects, as closely as possible, that variability. If the Player activates TTD and performs no actions, the meter drains slowly and steadily, whereas if the Player is moving rapidly and performing actions such as jumping or shooting, the meter will drain faster and at higher values. To represent this sonically, we wanted to create a 'gate' style system that would effectively pass through more or less of the TTD 'drain' sound. To accomplish this, we created a looping sound object that is triggered when TTD is activated but has its Voice Volume set to -200 by default.
Simian we are your friends 2002 rar. The TTD 'drain' sound object reacts to several RTPCs (TTDMeterDrainRate and TTDMeterPercent) to:
A) allow more volume level to pass in
B) lower the pitch slightly as larger drains are triggered
C) open up the low-pass filter as larger drains are triggered
B) lower the pitch slightly as larger drains are triggered
C) open up the low-pass filter as larger drains are triggered
TTD 'drain' effects and implementation
Profiling the interaction of TTD parameters using the Game Sync Monitor
We also used the TTD parameter and state (TacticalTimeDilation) quite extensively to control various parameters to further craft the mix while TTD is active. We used these parameters to remove, filter and alter the pitch of sounds while TTD is active to enhance immersion and help make TTD feel like an impactful moment every time the Player engages it.
In combination, all implementation and sound design elements work together to empower the Player, provide useful audio feedback, and feel reactive as a gameplay mechanic.
In a game like The Outer Worlds the weapon systems can be very robust with hundreds of combinations of guns, gun modifications, environments, and perspectives. To account for all of these combinations we opted for a more modular approach with our weapons so they would sound appropriate and unique in all of these cases. This allows for us to keep the soundscape reactive to player input with the smallest set of quality sounds.
Base
This is the real meat and potatoes of the gun. It is unique for each gun, gives it flavor, and is recognizable to that weapon. For us, it was generally a pretty concise sound to still leave space for the various tail lengths while also having just enough room to get its point across. In Wwise we duplicated this layer into two separate actor mixers, one for the player character and one for non-player characters. This gave us very easy control the mix of one vs. the other. The base layer was setup as follows:
1. Firing sound of the gun
2. Firing sound is concise to leave room for the tail
3. Having an individual base sound creates uniqueness for each weapon
4. Split up by Player and Non-Player (same sound)
2. Firing sound is concise to leave room for the tail
3. Having an individual base sound creates uniqueness for each weapon
4. Split up by Player and Non-Player (same sound)
Exterior Tail
In The Outer Worlds, the exterior tail is a layer that will only play when the weapon is fired outdoors (controlled via state in Wwise). We created a bespoke exterior tail for each gun that represented what the reverb would sound like if that weapon was fired in an outdoor environment. For guns, this is just as important as the base layer, it’s part of what is going to make the gun sound big, feel loud, and invoke believability. Just like the base layer, these are duplicated out into separate actor mixers for player and non-player:
1. They only play when outside
2. They are unique for each weapon
3. Helps add illusion of loudness (or softness)
4. Enhances believability and grounds it in the world
5. Split up by Player and Non-Player (same sound)
2. They are unique for each weapon
3. Helps add illusion of loudness (or softness)
4. Enhances believability and grounds it in the world
5. Split up by Player and Non-Player (same sound)
Interior Tail
The interior tail layer is similar to the exterior tail, but it plays when indoors. We designed interior tails for the different sizes of room in our game, so if you’re in a small room and fire a gun, it will sound like a gun being fired in a small room. Unlike the exterior tail, these were global for all guns in the game. These tails play alongside of the gun firing and the size is controlled via state. These states were manually set on every interior room in the game (shout out to Dylan Hairston for setting all of these up):
1. Played only when inside
2. Global for all guns
3. Unique set for each room size
4. Uses a switch to change room size
2. Global for all guns
3. Unique set for each room size
4. Uses a switch to change room size
Damage Type
The Outer Worlds has a robust weapon mod system that allows you to change what type of damage your weapon does. In order to accommodate this level of player choice, we designed unique sounds for each of the four damage types that get layered onto the base and tail. These sounds are switched via RTPC that is then converted to a switch in Wwise. This layer was designed to be subtle and leave room for the regular weapon sound while still giving the player a sense of reactivity to their choices.
1. Layered on top of the base and tail
2. Global for all guns
3. Unique set for each damage type
4. Switches damage types based on an RTPC converted to a Switch
5. Enhances reactivity to player choice
2. Global for all guns
3. Unique set for each damage type
4. Switches damage types based on an RTPC converted to a Switch
5. Enhances reactivity to player choice
Distant
When NPCs are shooting at you from a distance we wanted to really create a believable environment and sell that they were far away from you while also cleaning up the mix for more immediate threats that may be closer to you. In order to achieve this we created a global distant firing sound that crossfades with the base/tail layers as the enemy becomes further away from the player. This version of the firing sound is concise and transient to leave room for those more immediate threats, while also quickly poking out in the mix to let the player know “Hey, I’m still here too!”
1. Only heard when the enemy is firing at a great distance
2. Crossfades with the base and tail layers
3. Crossfade is done directly on attenuation sharesets.
4. Short transient sound to briefly poke through the mix
2. Crossfades with the base and tail layers
3. Crossfade is done directly on attenuation sharesets.
4. Short transient sound to briefly poke through the mix
Shell Casings
Last but certainly not least is shell casings! Just like it sounds, this is the sound of the shell casings hitting the floor. These sounds were not based on any sort of physics system so we used delays in Wwise to simulate the drop time from the weapon to the floor. These sounds were triggered via switch container and actually used the same switch as our footstep system, so shells hitting the ground would sound different depending on what material you were currently standing on. These sounds may seem insignificant in comparison to the others but it’s small details like this that exponentially increase believability and help your sounds feel grounded within the world.
1. Only added to weapons that expel shell casings
2. Heavily voice limited to reduce spam
3. Different sounds for each material the player can stand on
2. Heavily voice limited to reduce spam
3. Different sounds for each material the player can stand on
Tactical Time Dilation
Tactical Time Dilation (TTD) allows the player to slow down time to better line up those perfect shots. In this mode we completely swap out the regular weapon sound in favor of a more stylized version. The goal was to retain the original spirit of the sound while also behaving like it was slowed down to match the time warping effect of TTD. We achieved this by using a grain pitch shift (paul stretch) to get that slowed effect without the typical fidelity loss associated with standard pitch shifting methods. This sound always plays alongside the standard gun sound but will get instantly virtualized and killed by Wwise if the player isn’t currently in TTD. This happens due to it being below the volume threshold. (NOTE: In order to kill a voice that falls below the volume threshold it must be set to “Use virtual voice settings” when the voice limit is reached. Then set the virtual voice behavior to “Kill Voice”.)
1. Only heard while TTD is active (voice gets killed via virtual voice settings when not)2. A lightly paul stretched version of the base layer
TTD Sweetener
This one is fairly simple. Due to the way that grain pitch shifting works the transience of the base layer after running it through paul stretch becomes somewhat “smeared” and less impactful. It’s still a gun, even in slow motion, and we don’t want to lose punch. This is a global layer that adds back in the oomph that the gun needs, even when in TTD.
1. Only heard while TTD is active (voice gets killed via virtual voice settings when not)
2. Simple transient low end heavy layer to make up what we lost when creating the TTD layer.
2. Simple transient low end heavy layer to make up what we lost when creating the TTD layer.
Now that we have all of our layers we add them to the firing event for the weapon. This is what it looks like.
Lastly, here is a video example of each of these layers within the game.
We are really proud of the work that we were able to do for the Outer Worlds. We learned many lessons and did make mistakes along the way, however we were able to use Wwise in ways that we hadn't done at Obsidian before, which helped push our craft forwards. Creating multiple worlds was certainly a challenge, especially when the player can make so many different decisions in our game, however we feel that we were able to craft a coherent soundscape for our players to explore.
We hope that our blog has been informative and helpful, and can give an insight into the process that we went through. Thanks for your time and we hope you enjoy Halcyon and the Outer Worlds!
The audio team would like to thank the following people and teams for their help bringing Halcyon to life. Audio is only one piece of the puzzle and it wouldn’t be possible without your support and talent.
- Outer Worlds QA, Narrative, Programming, Production, Game Design, VFX and Animation Teams
- Noiseworks
The Obsidian Audio Team:
Justin Bell - Audio Director: Composer, Pipelines and System Design, Implementation and Mixing
Wwise 2017
https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinbellaudio/
Tony Blackwell - Audio Producer: Production and Communication, Implementation and Additional Music
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tony-blackwell/
Zachary Simon - Sound Designer: Weapons, Scripting, Optimization and Mixing
https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachary-simon-05b75b55/
Scott Gilmore - Sound Designer: Creatures, Gameplay, VO Post-Processing, Scripting and Mixing
https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottvgilmore/
Ali Mohsini - Sound Designer: Cutscenes, Character Foley, UI, Scripting
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ali-mohsini-048883161/
Dylan Hairston - Associate Sound Designer: Ambience, Emitters, Scripting, Optimization
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylan-hairston-97032295/
Renzo Heredia - Associate Sound Designer: Inventory, Scripting
https://www.linkedin.com/in/renzogheredia/
Jerrick Flores - Technical Designer: Spatialization, System Design, Tools, VO & Chatter, Optimization, Scripting
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jerrick-flores/
Mark Rios - Assistant Sound Designer - Spatialization, VO & Chatter, Ambient Animations
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-anthony-rios-8600684a/
Microsoft XBox Game Pass
The Outer Worlds is available on multiple platforms, now:
Wwise - Audio Modding (TWR2)
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IMPORTANT NOTICE - Update From Patch 17 forward
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From Total War: ROME II – Emperor Edition Patch 17 forward, it is now possible to mod music using Wwise version 2014.1.3. Any previous music mods created in Wwise version 2013.1.1 will no longer be compatible with the game from Patch 17 forward. To update existing music mods, the project needs to be opened in this version which will prompt you to convert it. Once this process has completed, you can build the sound banks and create the mod pack using the same process as before.The AUDIOKINETIC End-User License Agreement (“EULA” or “Agreement”) for Wwise®, Wwise Motion™, SoundSeed® and/or Wwise Convolution™ terms and conditions below still apply to Wwise version 2014.1.3.
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It is now possible to mod the music in Total War: ROME II.
By using AudioKinetic’s Wwise 2013.1.1 you will be able to create music mods, include them in your game and share them with other Total War players via the Steam Workshop.
AudioKinetic have kindly allowed gamers to use Wwise 2013.1.1 for this purpose free of charge. In order to download a pack which includes the software and a tutorial guide for beginners to audio modding, please read the EULA below and click the link indicating that you agree with the Terms & Conditions laid out for the use of this software.
Please remember that you can only modify the game with content that you own the copyright to and must not include any material that infringes the IP property or copyright of any other company or individual – as per the terms set out by the ROME II EULA you accepted on installation of the game.
If you have modified the game with your own music and would like to be featured on Total War social media channels, we’d love to hear from you, please send a mail to [email protected].
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2. LICENSE GRANT
2.1 AUDIOKINETIC grants Licensee one or more of the following licenses, subject to the payment of the appropriate fees, as applicable:
2.2 Evaluation License. Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, AUDIOKINETIC hereby grants to Licensee a worldwide, paid-up, nonexclusive, non-transferable (subject to Section 10.5), right and license, on the Licensee Platform(s), and in object code only, to install, use and operate the AUDIOKINETIC Wwise Technology in accordance with the Documentation for the purposes of evaluation, prototyping and testing the AUDIOKINETIC Wwise Technology for Licensee’s internal use only with Licensee Developed Games and for a limited period of time determined by AUDIOKINETIC. Licensee acknowledges that some of the functionalities of the AUDIOKINETIC Wwise Technology may not be available as part of the Evaluation License. Licensee may also use, reproduce and display the AUDIOKINETIC Deployment Software as contained in such evaluations or demonstrations for the purposes of displaying functionality of such evaluation Licensee Developed Games. This Evaluation License does not grant any right to distribute the AUDIOKINETIC Deployment Software or any Licensee Developed Games containing the AUDIOKINETIC Wwise Technology.
2.3 Development License. Pursuant to this Agreement and subject to the payment of the appropriate Fees as set forth in the applicable PO(s), AUDIOKINETIC hereby grants to Licensee a worldwide, paid-up, nonexclusive, non-transferable (subject to Section 10.5), non-sublicensable, non-refundable right and license pursuant to which Licensee may (a) install, use and operate the AUDIOKINETIC Wwise Technology in accordance with the Documentation, (b) modify the Modifiable Source Code, and (c) make a reasonable number of copies of the AUDIOKINETIC Wwise Technology for the purposes described above, all of the foregoing (i) for Licensee’s internal use only, (ii) solely for the purposes of developing the Licensee Developed Game, and (iii) in the case of Level Two Source Code and the Level Three Source Code, solely for the purposes of debugging the AUDIOKINETIC Wwise Technology, performance balancing, code optimization, timing analysis and identifying Bugs and bottlenecks.
2.4 Integration and Distribution License. Pursuant to this Agreement and subject to the payment of the appropriate Fees as set forth in the applicable PO(s), AUDIOKINETIC hereby grants to Licensee a worldwide, paid-up, nonexclusive, non-transferable (subject to Section 10.5), non-sublicensable, non-refundable right and license, on the Licensee Platform, and in object code only, to: (a) use and reproduce the AUDIOKINETIC Deployment Software for the purpose of and to the extent required to develop, test, demonstrate and support the Licensee Developed Game and Add-ons; and (b) make, have manufactured (by third party contractors), reproduce, promote, display, advertise, provide previews and reviews on all media, publish, distribute, license and offer to license the Licensee Developed Game to End Users either as a stand-alone game or bundled with other software or hardware. The AUDIOKINETIC Deployment Software is licensed for distribution as part of the Licensee Developed Game only and Licensee is not entitled to distribute the AUDIOKINETIC Wwise Technology, or any portion thereof, in stand-alone form.
2.5 Non-Commercial License. Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, AUDIOKINETIC hereby grants to Licensee a Non-Commercial License. A Non-Commercial License does not grant any right to use the AUDIOKINETIC Wwise Technology in any commercial enterprise nor for any commercial production or sub-contracting.
3. OWNERSHIP
3.1 Ownership. Notwithstanding anything else in this Agreement, AUDIOKINETIC and its third party licensors retain (a) all title to, and, except as expressly licensed herein, all rights to the AUDIOKINETIC Wwise Technology, all copies and derivative works thereof (by whomever developed) and all related documentation and materials, and (b) all copyrights, patent rights, trade secret rights and other proprietary rights in the AUDIOKINETIC Wwise Technology. Except for AUDIOKINETIC’s retained rights in the underlying AUDIOKINETIC Wwise Technology (including without limitation the AUDIOKINETIC Deployment Software) as set forth and licensed to Licensee herein, Licensee shall own the copyright and all other intellectual property rights to the Licensee Developed Game(s) and any updates thereto.
3.2 Open Source Components. The AUDIOKINETIC Wwise Technology may contain certain open source components (“Open Source Components”) which are not licensed under the terms of this Agreement, but instead are licensed under the terms of their respective licenses. Such open source components are provided “as is” without warranty of any kind. AUDIOKINETIC grants Licensee no right to receive source code to Open Source Components; however, in some cases, rights and access to source code for the Open Source Components may be available directly from their owners, licensors and/or suppliers. Licensee’ use of each Open Source Component is subject to the terms of its applicable license.
3.3 AUDIOKINETIC informs Licensee that the Ogg, Vorbis and Tremor Open Source libraries provided by the Xiph.Org Foundation (the “Ogg Vorbis Libraries”) are included as part of the Wwise Technology as an option to Licensee. If Licensee decides to use this option, in accordance with the terms of the open source license for the Ogg Vorbis Libraries:
(a) “© year, Xiph.Org Foundation”
(b) “Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
(c) Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer;
(d) Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution; and
(e) Neither the name of the Xiph.org Foundation nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission.
3.4 THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS “AS IS” AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE FOUNDATION OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE. “
3.5 To avoid any presence of the Vorbis code in your Licensee Developed Game, you should not link to the AkVorbisDecoder.lib. AUDIOKINETIC guarantees that this will ensure no element of the open source library is embodied in the AUDIOKINETIC Deployment Software.
4. LICENSEE OBLIGATIONS
4.1 Restrictions on Use. Except as expressly provided herein, Licensee agrees not to (a) produce hard copy printed output of data from the AUDIOKINETIC Wwise Technology and/or Third Party Software for reports and notes for purposes other than solely for reference purposes in connection with its own internal business, and which may not be published or supplied to any third party; (b) expose any underlying programming interfaces of the AUDIOKINETIC Wwise Technology and/or Third Party Software in the Licensee Developed Game; (c) include any documentation relating to the AUDIOKINETIC Wwise Technology and/or Third Party Software and sample application elements of the AUDIOKINETIC Wwise Technology with the Licensee Developed Game; and (d) remove or alter any copyright or other proprietary notice from the AUDIOKINETIC Wwise Technology and the Documentation and/or Third Party Software; (e) disassemble, decompile or otherwise reverse engineer the AUDIOKINETIC Wwise Technology or otherwise attempt to learn the source code (to the extent not provided by AUDIOKINETIC), or algorithms underlying the AUDIOKINETIC Wwise Technology, to the maximum extent allowed under applicable law; (f) rent, lease or otherwise provide temporary access to the AUDIOKINETIC Wwise Technology and/or Third Party Software otherwise than as specifically authorized herein; (g) copy, alter or modify the AUDIOKINETIC Wwise Technology otherwise than as specifically authorized herein, or (h) authorize or allow others to do any of the foregoing.
4.2 Notice. Licensee agrees to promptly notify AUDIOKINETIC if the Licensee becomes aware of any unauthorized use of the whole or any part of the AUDIOKINETIC Wwise Technology by any third party.
5. TRADEMARK LICENSE
5.1 Each of AUDIOKINETIC and Licensee owns the trademarks, logos and trade names (collectively, “Marks”) for their respective products and/or services, including, but not limited to the Licensee Developed Game and the AUDIOKINETIC Wwise Technology. No licence to use the Marks is granted under this Agreement.
6. PROPRIETARY INFORMATION
6.1 Proprietary information. Licensee acknowledges that pursuant to this Agreement it will be receiving information which is proprietary and confidential to AUDIOKINETIC and/or to the owner(s) of the Third Party Software as applicable and, in the case of the AUDIOKINETIC Wwise Technology, is a confidential trade secret and valuable asset of AUDIOKINETIC which may (i) be the subject of one or more patent applications , which AUDIOKINETIC wishes to protect from public disclosure (“Proprietary Information”). “Proprietary Information” shall also include (i) any information designated as confidential by AUDIOKINETIC, (ii) the economic terms of this Agreement and (iii) any information relating to AUDIOKINETIC’s products, plans, product designs, product costs, product prices, product names, finances, marketing plans, business opportunities, business plan, personnel, research, development, or know-how.
6.2 Exclusions. Each party acknowledges that the following will not be considered “Proprietary Information” for the purposes of this Agreement: (a) information which is publicly available in the public domain at the time it is communicated to Licensee by AUDIOKINETIC; (b) information which is or becomes publicly available or public domain information through no fault of Licensee subsequent to the time it is communicated to Licensee by AUDIOKINETIC; (c) information which is in Licensee’s possession free of any obligation of confidence to AUDIOKINETIC at the time it is communicated to Licensee by AUDIOKINETIC; (d) information which is rightfully communicated to Licensee free of any obligation of confidence subsequent to the time it is communicated to Licensee by AUDIOKINETIC; (e) information which was independently developed by Licensee without use of the other party’s Proprietary Information; or (f) information which is required to be disclosed pursuant to law or to the order, requirement or request of a court of government authority.
6.3 Restrictive Use Conditions. Licensee (i) will hold such Proprietary Information in confidence and will not disclose it, except to its employees, officers or authorized representatives and those of its authorized sub-licensees with a need to know for purposes of performing their duties, who are similarly bound to hold the Proprietary Information in confidence and, with respect to the AUDIOKINETIC Wwise Technology, who have been given an individual access code by AUDIOKINETIC, (ii) shall prevent inadvertent or unauthorized disclosure or dissemination of any Proprietary Information, and (iii) agrees to take appropriate action with its employees, officers and authorized representatives and those of its authorized sub-licensees to satisfy its obligations under this Agreement with respect to the use, copying, modification, protection and security of the Proprietary Information.
6.4 Notice and Return of Information. Licensee shall notify AUDIOKINETIC immediately upon discovery of any unauthorized use or disclosure of Proprietary Information, and will cooperate with AUDIOKINETIC in every reasonable way to help AUDIOKINETIC regain possession of the Proprietary Information and prevent its further unauthorized use. Licensee shall return all originals, copies, reproductions and summaries of Proprietary Information at AUDIOKINETIC’s request or, at AUDIOKINETIC’s option, certify destruction of the same with the sworn statement of one of its officers, except where same is required for the exercise of Licensee’s rights under this Agreement.
Wwise Extract
6.5 Rights and Remedies. Licensee acknowledges that monetary damages may not be a sufficient remedy for unauthorized disclosure of Proprietary Information and that AUDIOKINETIC shall be entitled, without waiving any other rights or remedies, to such injunctive or equitable relief as may be deemed proper by a court of competent jurisdiction.
7. DISCLAIMER
7.1 DISCLAIMER. THE AUDIOKINETIC WWISE TECHNOLOGY IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “WHERE IS” BY AUDIOKINETIC AND IS ACCEPTED AS SUCH BY LICENSEE. AUDIOKINETIC DISCLAIMS ALL EXPRESS AND IMPLIED WARRANTIES RELATING TO THE AUDIOKINETIC WWISE TECHNOLOGY AND DOCUMENTATION, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. AUDIOKINETIC DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE AUDIOKINETIC WWISE TECHNOLOGY OR DOCUMENTATION WILL MEET LICENSEE’S REQUIREMENTS, OR THAT THE OPERATION OF THE AUDIOKINETIC WWISE TECHNOLOGY AND THE DOCUMENTATION WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR FREE. LICENSEE AGREES THAT AUDIOKINETIC WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES THAT LICENSEE OR ITS END USERS OR ITS GAME PLAYERS MAY INCUR ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE AUDIOKINETIC WWISE TECHNOLOGY OR LICENSEE DEVELOPED GAME.
8. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
8.1 EXCEPT AS SPECIFICALLY PROVIDED IN THIS AGREEMENT, AND EXCEPT IN RELATION TO BREACHES OF AUDIOKINETIC’S INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS, IN NO EVENT SHALL AUDIOKINETIC BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, RELIANCE OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, WHETHER FORESEEABLE OR NOT, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGE OR LOSS OF PROPERTY, EQUIPMENT, INFORMATION OR DATA, LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE OR GOODWILL OR COST OF REPLACEMENT SERVICES OCCASIONED BY ANY DEFECT IN THE AUDIOKINETIC WWISE TECHNOLOGY, THE INABILITY TO USE SERVICES PROVIDED HEREUNDER OR ANY OTHER CAUSE WHATSOEVER WITH RESPECT TO THE AUDIOKINETIC WWISE TECHNOLOGY OR THIS AGREEMENT, REGARDLESS OF THEORY OF LIABILITY. THIS LIMITATION WILL APPLY EVEN IF THE OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OR IS AWARE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
8.2 IN NO EVENT SHALL AUDIOKINETIC’S LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM ARISING OUT OF THIS AGREEMENT EXCEED THE AMOUNT OF FEES DUE FROM LICENSEE TO AUDIOKINETIC FOR THE RELEVANT LICENSEE DEVELOPED GAME, AS APPLICABLE, DURING THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS PRIOR TO THE OCCURRENCE GIVING RISE TO SUCH CLAIM.
9. TERM AND TERMINATION
9.1 Term. Unless terminated earlier as provided herein, this Agreement shall commence upon acceptance of this agreement and shall continue: (a) with respect to the Evaluation License, for a period of 30 days, which may be extended; and (b) with respect to all other licenses, perpetually once such licenses are granted.
Wwise Fmod
9.2 Termination. AUDIOKINETIC may terminate this Agreement if the Licensee materially breaches this Agreement and such material breach is not cured within thirty (30) days of written notice describing the breach.
9.3 Effect of Termination/Expiration. Upon the expiration or termination of this Agreement or any of the licenses granted hereunder: (a) all of Licensee’s rights hereunder shall terminate; and (b) within fifteen (15) days of the expiration or termination date Licensee shall, at its own expense, and at AUDIOKINETIC’s sole option, either return all copies of the AUDIOKINETIC Wwise Technology in its possession or control, or, shall destroy all copies of the AUDIOKINETIC Wwise Technology in its possession or control.
9.4 Survival. Section 1 (Definitions), Section 3 (Ownership), Section 4.1 (Restrictions on use), 5 (Trademark License), Section 6 (Proprietary Information), Section 7 (Disclaimer), Section 8 (Limitation of Liability), Section 9.3 (Effect of Termination), this Section 9.4 (Survival) and Section 10.8 (Governing Law) shall survive the termination or expiration of this Agreement in accordance with their terms.
10. MISCELLANEOUS
10.1 Recitals. The recitals form an integral part of this Agreement.
10.2 New EULA. The text of this Agreement may be amended from time to time by AUDIOKINETIC. Such amendments will become effective and enforceable against Licensee upon express acceptance of same either through the execution of a written instrument to that effect or the acceptance of the new terms through AUDIOKINETIC Wwise Technology’s installation process. This EULA replaces and supercedes any previous EULA(s) which may have been entered into by Licensee for the AUDIOKINETIC Wwise Technology.
10.3 Waiver. Any failure to enforce by either party of any term or condition of this Agreement or any breach thereof, in any one instance, shall not be deemed or construed to be a waiver of such term or condition or any subsequent breach thereof.
10.4 Notices. Any notice under this Agreement will be in writing and will be personally delivered, sent by a reputable overnight mail service (e.g. Federal Express) or by registered mail, or by facsimile confirmed by registered mail, to the other party. Notices will be deemed effective (a) three (3) working days after deposit, postage prepaid, if mailed, (b) the next day if sent by overnight mail, or (c) the same day if sent by facsimile and confirmed as set forth above.
A copy of any notice will be sent to the following:
Notice to AUDIOKINETIC: 409 Saint-Nicolas St. Suite 300, Montreal, Quebec H2Y 2P4 Fax: (514) 499-9109 Attention: President and Chief Executive Officer
Notice to Licensee: at the address provided by the Licensee to Audiokinetic.
10.5 Assignment. This Agreement or any licenses granted hereunder may not be assigned or sublicensed by Licensee in whole or in part other than as provided hereunder (by contract, merger, operation of law or otherwise) without the prior written consent of AUDIOKINETIC, such consent not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed. AUDIOKINETIC may assign this Agreement with notice to Licensee in the event of a merger, acquisition or similar corporate activity provided that the surviving entity agrees to be bound by the terms of this Agreement. This Agreement shall be binding upon and inure for the benefit of the successors in title of the parties hereto.
10.6 Export. Licensee agrees to comply with all export laws, restrictions, national security controls and regulations of the United States or other applicable national or foreign agency or authority, and not to export or re-export, or allow the export or re-export of any proprietary information or any copy or direct product thereof in violation of any such restrictions, laws or regulations.
10.7 Independent Contractors. Each party will act at all times as an independent contractor and will have no right or authority to act on behalf of, create any obligation for, or bind the other party in any way. Nothing in this Agreement will be deemed to create a partnership or joint venture between the parties.
10.8 Governing Law. This Agreement shall not be modified or amended except in writing and signed by both parties. This Agreement will be governed by and construed under the laws of the province of Quebec and the laws of Canada applicable therein and the parties hereto submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Province of Quebec, District of Montreal.
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