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Guild Wars 2 audio team heads to nuclear power plant for sound recording
The ArenaNet sound team has been busy, with its latest project being a field trip to an inactive nuclear power plant. Yep, you read that correctly -- the team took a two-hour drive to the Satsop Nuclear Power Plant to record some audio for Guild Wars 2. Why? Well, while the new ArenaNet offices have some fantastic sound facilities, you can't beat a huge concrete-and-metal building complete with 450-foot-wide cooling towers for some great sound effects. Audio Director James Ackley took his team and a pile of gear to the plant to record all sorts of sounds, including "tone sweeps, train-bys, monster sounds, and even Maclaine's best Eddie Van Halen impression on Rob's guitar," all enhanced to make the most of the unusual acoustics. The new blog entry has plenty of details on the trip as well as a three-minute video showing off some of the highlights of the trip. Check it out at the ArenaNet blog!
The sounds of Guild Wars 2: a Q&A with ArenaNet's Audio Director
The members of the Guild Wars 2 Guru forums, just like all of us, are making the wait more bearable with loads of speculation and discussion about Guild Wars 2. A recent discussion has been going on regarding sound effects and ambient sounds, with everyone generally agreeing that those details are a wonderful addition to a game environment -- the more the better. Guild Wars is a game that already does this well, with details such as a change in the sound of footsteps depending on the surface one is walking on. Fans have the expectation and hope that things will be even better in Guild Wars 2. As it turns out, ArenaNet's Audio Director James Ackley was keeping an eye on the conversation, and jumped in via Community Manager Regina Buenaobra to give fans a behind-the-scenes look at what the foley team has been up to for GW2. Ackley went through the thread, and addressed each individual wish and suggestion that had come up, and then provided a handful of photos as a bonus. Take a look a the photos in the gallery below, and you can read the full Q & A here. We at Massively join the fans in thanking Ackley for taking the time to give a behind the scenes look at some of the production process!
