Sound Effects — By Photics

Photics

Good news everyone — 500 sound effects, for use in your GameSalad games is now available for the mere price of $10. That's only 2¢ per sound. I worked hard to complete this collection. I think if you liked The Unofficial GameSalad Textbook, then you might appreciate this sound effects collection. Together they're great resources for getting started on GameSalad game development.

If you're interested in learning more about the "Sound Effects — By Photics" collection, you can visit my website... http://photics.com/sound-effects

I researched Hollywood and classic radio sound production techniques to create many of these sounds. I also used some of my own creative techniques to add a certain uniqueness to the project. I'm impressed with the way these sound files turned out. All of the sound files are .wav, mono, 44100Hz... which is great for GameSalad game development.

These sounds are not limited to just games. You can use them in movies, songs and website. (They are not permitted to be standalone... like with a soundboard app... nor is it permitted to redistribute the files.) The license agreement is very developer friendly. You don't even have to mention "Photics" in your app.

If you do use these sounds in your app, and you want to list the source of these files on your credits, you can put "Sound Effects By Photics" in your game. If you do, you might want to send me a promo code too. I might mention it on my website.

juzcook

Just purchased and awaiting email Dw TSB I'll be getting yours aswell as I'm sure you'll both be offering a different range of samples!

Photics

tshirtbooth said:
not as good as 1000 sounds for 10 bucks, but i can sure see how hard it would have been to even get to 500. Well done dude 2 cents a sound is cheap!

I am disappointed that I didn't hit 1000. Yet, I am surprised by the quality of many of the sounds. I worked much longer than I thought I would on this project. I think $10 is a tremendous value for this collection.

juzcook said:
Just purchased and awaiting email Dw TSB I'll be getting yours aswell as I'm sure you'll both be offering a different range of samples!

All orders are up-to-date. I think the sounds are great, but will others agree?

To review all the sounds, I recommend opening them up in iTunes or some similar audio player. I like to listen to them straight through. It gives a good idea of how the sounds can be used. I especially like the "stomp" and "bass" collection.

I think the names are descriptive. There's no more than nine .WAV files under a single heading, so I think it's fairly easy to navigate through the different sound files. The list is on page two of the official page...

http://photics.com/sound-effects

TouchTiltGames

If there was a preview of the sounds I might be more inclined to buy...

Rob2

TouchTiltGames said:
If there was a preview of the sounds I might be more inclined to buy...

or details of the tools/mic used to record...:)

Photics

TouchTiltGames said:
If there was a preview of the sounds I might be more inclined to buy...

The plan is to release a free sample sound from the collection every Wednesday. (Although, the theme is more of a tutorial on how to use sounds rather than promoting the collection.) It's OK if you wait, but that does give the other more daring developers a head start.

Rob2 said:
or details of the tools/mic used to record...:)

That's a secret. I used a variety of methods to record/create the sounds.

scitunes

Just purchased. After seeing the quality of the textbook I am hoping the sounds are of the same quality. Plus, it's $10. I wouldn't spend $100 without samples but for $10 it's not much of a risk. I also figure that if it is complete crap photics will have tarnished his rep in this community which I doubt he is willing to do.

I don't always see eye to eye with photics, but he is not a con man (or he's just really good and he's got me fooled LOL!)

Rob2

just wanna know if you used a decent mic

butterbean

This was a no brainer purchase for me! Thanks Photics for providing these at such a dirt cheap cost!

Photics

scitunes said:
I don't always see eye to eye with photics, but he is not a con man (or he's just really good and he's got me fooled LOL!)

Actually, I'm honored that you bought the sound effects. You're one of the better developers around here. I'm looking forward to see what you create.

Rob2 said:
just wanna know if you used a decent mic

While in college, I was studying to be a photojournalist, but I took a course in Radio production. The school had their own FM radio station. Was that sound gear better for recording than what I used for this project? Maybe... or maybe not.

I am tempted to go into specifics on how and what I used to create the sounds, but it's a secret. The biggest challenge of this project was thinking of new ways to create great sound effects.

gyroscope

Is there a list of file names please?

Photics

butterbean said:
This was a no brainer purchase for me! Thanks Photics for providing these at such a dirt cheap cost!

Hey, I'm glad to see that you're a customer too! You're popular around here.

gyroscope said:
Is there a list of file names please?

Yes, it's on the second page.
http://photics.com/sound-effects

scitunes

I went through the files and sampled about 50 of them. While I was not jumping for joy, I definitely felt like I got my money's worth. Actually, it was only $10 so I got more than my money's worth. I will certainly put a number of these good use.

I am a musician and have done a lot of recording over the years. Taking a sound that you hear with your ear (which is an incredible piece of audio equipment when coupled with the brain) and getting an accurate representation of that sound using a microphone (even a really good one) is incredibly hard. So you may look at these sounds and think "I could just prop up my macbook with its internal mic and record myself chopping food for my next cooking game." Trust me, it will be very difficult to get even a decent sound that way. So for $10 I'd just go for it - you'll get your $10 out of it over the course a few games (if not 1).

gyroscope

gyroscope said:
Is there a list of file names please?

Photics said:
Yes, it's on the second page.
http://photics.com/sound-effects

Whoops, didn't look past the end of my nose; thanks Photics. :-)

Photics

scitunes said:
I definitely felt like I got my money's worth. Actually, it was only $10 so I got more than my money's worth. I will certainly put a number of these good use.

I believe that is a fair critique. I don't expect everyone to love every sound. The idea is that game developers would pick their favorites and then use them in their games. I'm happy that you like the sounds and that you feel that you got a good value for your money.

I look forward to seeing what you create!

juzcook

The thing I noticed most in this collection was there were alot of obscure kind of spacey sounds. That's not a bad thing, but it already gave me ideas on how I can work my next major project... so thanks for the ideas Photics! haha.

I agree with scitunes, for $10 you'll find enough in there to get your money's worth easily, especially considering most people pay wayyyy more than that just for artwork. So why not back up your artwork with some proper sound? For anyone wondering, the samples that were recorded with a mic are very clean and clear. I'm a musician with a fairly extensive background in recording so I can appreciate the work that went into this, and can recommend getting a copy.

A good idea if you intend on making more would be to do a cartoony set for all the people making more "cute" games. My current project is a platformer (somewhat 16-bit to a point), and I found it hard to find a proper balloon pop and spring noise (yes I know they're in this collection :P). But some voices and cartoony things like hits and boings would be pretty handy, aswell as some environmental effects. Just some thoughts anyway! Sound samples are one thing I can never have too many of, so thanks for the hard work!

butterbean

Thanks for the sounds again Photics! I was testing out some of them, and they're are sooo many to choose from. This will be a great addition, and I was in need of some new sounds, so thanks again!

Photics

juzcook said:I'm a musician with a fairly extensive background in recording so I can appreciate the work that went into this, and can recommend getting a copy.

I'm glad that you like the collection. I got worried when I saw the guitar in your avatar. I thought that you might be highly critical of my sound effects. I'm happy to see that you recommend the sound effects.

butterbean said:
Thanks for the sounds again Photics! I was testing out some of them, and they're are sooo many to choose from. This will be a great addition, and I was in need of some new sounds, so thanks again!

I wasn't sure if people would like the sounds as much as I do. Thank you for your kind words.

I'm looking forward to seeing what great games people create with these sound effects. I'm thinking that I'll be using the sound effects in my future GameSalad projects too.

beefy_clyro

Good work dude, i know you came down to 500 but still, what value for money. Thanks, i have just purchased and look forward to recieving my donwload link.

Photics

Hi! Good morning!

All orders are up-to-date. If you ordered the sound effects collection, you should have received an email with download information.

StormyStudio

Just ordered...

An actual real life bargain at £6.28

1.2 english pennies...per sound

...Cheers...(also still getting value out of the Unofficial GameSalad text book...so again thanks for that too.)

StormyStudio

Just received thanks...

And having quickly zipped through loads of them...

I can honestly say they are superb. Lots of suitable button and event noises, all trimmed so they will take up the minimum amount of memory. Good selection that will be perfect for my up n coming game....

Definately worth the $10, and although I might not have paid it cause I'm pretty skint as we near Christmas but its certainly worth $100....as making the sounds in this that I will end up using would have taken me hours...

gyroscope

Well, i'm skint as well but stormy's comment has just swung it for me; off to order them now. :-)

StormyStudio

@Gyroscope.... So now all the pressure is on me for you to like them.... eeeeek....

Photics

Ha ha... great comments. All orders are up-to-date. If you need help with your order, you can contact me through Google Checkout.

gyroscope

No worries, stormy; there's some really useful sounds in the collection; all professionally recorded to my ear; congrats Photics, and what a bargain! :-)

Moto

I just placed my order! Even if I only use 3-4 sounds at $10 it's well worth it. Not to mention we are helping out a fellow member of the community.

Photics keep up the good work your textbook was a big help in getting started with GS and I'm hoping these sounds help me out as well. Thanks!

Photics

All orders are up-to-date. If you ordered the Sound Effects - By Photics collection, you should have received an email with download information. If not, you can contact me through Google Checkout.

The feedback has been great. It's nice to see so many people pleased with the quality of my work.

tshirtbooth said:
If you make a collection 2 i will be first in line.

A second collection depends on the success of the original. I think this could become a regular thing. I'm tired today, still resting up from the hard work on this project, but it was fun making these sounds. Maybe I'll do it again.

Moto said:
Photics keep up the good work your textbook was a big help in getting started with GS and I'm hoping these sounds help me out as well. Thanks!

That's good to know. I consider The Unofficial GameSalad Textbook a companion to the sound effects project. Together they're supposed to make it even easier to make GameSalad games.

Photics

GOOD NEWS EVERYONE... the first part of the "Free .WAV Wednesday" series is complete. I have entered the article into my website and it is scheduled to appear on http://photics.com at 12:01 AM (New York time) this Wednesday.

I think it's a great read for GameSalad developers... as it's a free sound effect combined a basic GameSalad sound effect tutorial.

iDeveloper

@Photics:

Actually, it's "Eastern Standard Time". It's just my opinion to call time zones by their "official" name.

I may purchase them this or next week, need to apply for the PayPal debit card. (obvious reason; use PayPal anywhere)

Photics

iDeveloper said:
Actually, it's "Eastern Standard Time". It's just my opinion to call time zones by their "official" name.

Well, there are two reasons why I used "New York"

1) It's part of my campaign to encourage East Coast game development. HA!
2) We just switched the clocks... I wasn't sure if it was Eastern Daylight Time or Eastern Standard Time.

iDeveloper said:
I may purchase them this or next week, need to apply for the PayPal debit card. (obvious reason; use PayPal anywhere)

I know Google Checkout is a concern for people, but I think that can be fixed with one of those Visa or American Express gift cards. I have been looking at PayPal, but I haven't figured out an alternative. New York State tax really complicates the matter. I like Google Checkout because it calculates the tax automatically.

----

Also, the article is online. I think it's a nice introductory article...
http://photics.com/free-wav-wednesday-heart-monitor

The timer worked perfectly. The article appeared automatically. I didn't have to fuss with it. That means I can create a bunch of these articles ahead of the publishing date.

The article is also a nice introductory tutorial to using sound effects with GameSalad. I thought about animating this tutorial, but it was too much work. Heh, I've been really busy since GameSalad 0.9.0 was released.