Audio, is more noticeable when it is slightly off or not present than when it is good. Audio can help set the mood for a certain level, it can change the pace the player has, add emphasis to an action, bring attention to something like pickup up an item or hitting an enemy. Audio in games is typically in the form of a sound effect, a recording of dialogue or a song/piece of music Because audio can be so important to creating a polished and complete experience more attention should be placed on this otherwise overlooked area.

Recently Unity updated their audio system, apart from all the configurations you can make to certain audio files; such as defining the way it is loaded into the game, if it is mono or stereo, etc. the introduction of the new audio mixer allows for much more customization and control. Like creating certain groups for different audio files to be played under a specific configuration/setting, the blending between different mixers, and since it is a component it can be accessed and edited through script.

In our project the audio component of it will be quite important, as it will help to create more feedback for the player after performing certain actions, and bringing attention to others. We will have to play audio for: when the player is performing different actions in the game, when the different enemies are going to or are currently perform an action (attacking, fleeing, dyeing) to help translate this information to the player, provide some atmosphere with music for the menus and the boss battles, and smaller things like sounds for navigating the inventory or menu system or even some small sound effect to help notify the player that he has collected a gem or equipped a piece of armour.

Our progress on our project has been quite poor and there are already some issues we have been facing earlier that have not been fixed, and some of our work has not been merged yet. This week is our last before we fully transition to the production stage. I am slightly concerned on the progress the animation students have as I have asked for a schedule on their expected deadlines and I have not received one yet. Adding to that one of our group members has been assigned tasks and has not completed a single one or shown any progress in them so I am preparing for the worst case in order to avoid failing to complete the project. No audio has been implemented into our actual project but, on a separate project, I was able to create multiple audio mixers and switch between them through code and change the different settings on them with things like pitch, reverb, distortion, etc. as well as adding some effects to the audio.