Have you ever tried playing World of Tanks with the sound off? Not too fun, is it? There’s a certain magic when you hear the thunder of an IS-2’s gun, the crunch of a Maus’s tracks, and your tank drivers yelling at you in a foreign language that the engine’s on fire or you’re out of Pudding and Tea.
Sound creates the game’s atmosphere and makes players feel like they are right there in the battle. It’s also a key factor in delivering vital information to the player such as a vehicle’s condition, crew injuries, whether an enemy has been spotting and if your hits are accurate. All these factors are necessary for you to succeed in battle.
Great sound design should be almost unnoticeable and immerse you into the experience. However, few people know how the sound in World of Tanks is created. We decided to find out a few of secrets, which meant talking to one of the people behind the scenes: Aleksey Tomanov, World of Tanks and World of Tanks Blitz Sound Designer.
Secret 1
Sound in World of Tanks is achieved through 13 sound subsystems. Each of them deals with a certain functionality. Handled by a team of sound designers, the SFX for engines, tracks, shots, and explosions all have their own sound that forms a single audioscape.
This interaction process is similar to a large-scale orchestral production: musicians play different instruments, which combine to create a single composition. The role of conductor is fulfilled by the director, who sets the tempo, makes sure everything is clear, as well as listens critically to the performance, shaping the ensemble’s sound.
Secret 2
The unique roar of tank engines in World of Tanks Blitz is fully authentic. The team visited tank ranges in Belarus, Russia, the USA and Jordan to record the original sound of 16 American, Soviet, German and British military vehicles. Later on, the devs are planning to incorporate these sounds into World of Tanks.
Secret 3
Engines of different nations have their own distinguishing features. For example, the Soviet diesel engine is like a bubbling roar, while the sound of many American vehicles are like the growls of heavy trucks. German tanks, however, sound more like a muffled, ragged rumble because they work at lower rotational rates.
Secret 4
The sound of a tank engine is recorded with the help of eight microphones, which cost up to several thousand dollars each. The tank and the equipment are then taken to a range. This equipment is placed all around the vehicle at specific points that best capture the sound. However, you’ve got to be careful that when you’re driving around in the tank, you don’t accidentally crush thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment.
Secret 5
Only a year ago, a jack hammer was used as a surrogate for capturing the tank’s sound. At the time, the team found it very difficult to capture the right sound. This was because of several factors. Tank engines were simply too loud to be able to capture the audio clearly. However, Wargaming’s Sound Designers came to the rescue and developed a technology that enables the specialists to capture the sound clearly from all of that deafening noise. The team then combines the extracted piece with the sound of other tanks so they can create a limitless number of authentic tank effects.
Secret 6
Trying the record the boom of a tank’s gun is pretty much impossible. It’s unbearably loud and destroys the microphone’s membranes in a matter of seconds. It just won’t work. That’s why we use special equipment to recreate these sounds as close to the real thing as possible.
Secret 7
So, it’s not just the sound of a tank unleashing a giant round, but the location of the vehicle when it unleashes its payload. You could be crawling deep within the woods or in a destroyed city—your environment matters. How sounds bounces, what it bounces off, are all affected.
To create these sounds for the game, the dev team stocked up on explosives and visited special sites where they could record these effects in a controlled environment. These visits brought the players some of the great effects that you get to hear in game every time you make your assault.