Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab spacer
  CMS MIT
spacer New Entries Archives Links subheader placeholder
Updates
left edge
pinstripe
Looking Glass Studios Interview Series - Audio Podcast 7 - Eric Brosius

Part 7 of a continuing series, where I interview members of the now-defunct but highly influential Looking Glass Studios (1990-2000), which wrote the book on 3D first-person narrative game design throughout the 90s, in such games as Ultima Underworld, System Shock, and Thief.

This week it's Harmonix Audio Director Eric Brosius. Eric originally hails from Boston's music scene. He was in the band Tribe along with Greg LoPiccolo and came to Looking Glass as a sound designer around the same time, working first on Terra Nova before moving on to bigger projects. He was one of the few members who continued to work on Looking Glass properties even after the company closed, doing sound design both for System Shock 2 at Irrational and Thief: Deadly Shadows at Ion Storm. I talk with Eric mostly about his approach to sound design, how he dealt with things like music vs. ambience, and how such choices became an integral part of Looking Glass's aesthetic and legacy.

If you want to know why there is no "music" slider in Thief or why stealth "works" in System Shock 2, check it out!

Download the podcast here.

2 Comments

 

It's so fantastic to have these interviews!

Eric Brosius, and the emphasis on SOUND in games like Thief is what makes it so special!

I'm a musician too, and game designer, and I wish that there was more emphasis on sound design in more games.

I've built a Thief 2 level in DromED, and it was quite tricky to learn, but really quite a pleasure to use, and educational in itself!

I think SOUND in games is perhaps the one area that is LEAST binary. It can be very ambient, surreal, suggestive, evocative, in a way that the coding and art generally can't be.

So much of what Eric says here is special to me, about his vision of the audio in the game, of ALWAYS having audio playing, of having great tools to tweak the audio to perfection, etc. HOORAY!

Here's to Looking Glass, and their amazing and inspiring legacy!

- Murray
www.muzboz.com

 

MORE! MORE PODCASTS!

These podcasts have been my favorite thing released this year from anyone, in any format!

Better than any album, any film, or any game!

Looking Glass Interview Podcasts is my new favorite "thing". :)

How about Doug Church?

:)

I just always want to know more about the people involved in making these games, their stories, their ideologies, their reflections and anecdotes. Love it!

right edge
bottom curves