Photics.com

So there I was, making clacking sounds with two halves of a coconut. I was able to get the rhythm right, but it didn’t sound like a horse. It sounded like a guy with a coconut. Even though I spent time and money to recreate a horse galloping sound effect, the final result was not added to the collection. I think that highlights the quality of the 500 sound effects. It’s not just about what was included in the collection, it’s what I left out.

I was able to salvage one coconut sound effect that I did like. That’s this week’s freebie.

• coconut-hit-1.wav

If a character in your game is clonked with a coconut, this sound effect might be suitable. With GameSalad, it’s really easy to play sound effects when an actor collides with another actor.

With GameSalad’s “Rule” and “Play Sound” behaviors, you can make sound effects play when certain conditions have been met. In the above example, when the “Coconut” actor “overlaps or collides” with the actor, the “coconut-hit-1.ogg” file will play.

I might reattempt this project one day, but that largely depends on future success. The feedback for the sound effects collection has been wonderful, but it still bothers me that I wasn’t able to recreate such a basic sound. Even as I write this, I imagine how satisfying it would be to slice open a coconut with an angle grinder. But not only is that beyond the budget for my sound effects, it might not work out the way I envision it. Will I get the perfect coconut split, or will I accidentally harm myself with a power tool? I don’t know and I’m not sure if I will find out.

If you don’t want to wait for the next edition of “Free .WAV Wednesday”, if you want to read more about GameSalad right now, you can buy a copy of The Unofficial GameSalad Textbook. If you want more sound effects, you can purchase a license to the complete Sound Effects — By Photics collection. The free sound effect file is provided under the same license as the full sound effects collection.

After creating 500 sound effects, available for the mere price of $10, do I just kick back and relax? Do I become instantly rich? Do I get to retire to my private island? HA… no! Instead, the tedious part of game development begins — marketing. Just because I created an amazing product, it means nothing if the world doesn’t know about it. That’s the idea behind a new Photics.com  series — Free .Wav Wednesdays. At least for the immediate future, I’m planning to add a free sound effect to this website every Wednesday.

Continue reading “Free .WAV Wednesday — Heart Monitor”