Designing Audio Settings

Author: Shemaiah Nelson

Posted on: 1/9/2024 

During this week's development phase, a significant discrepancy was discovered between the visual representation of the audio settings in the user interface and the actual levels of audio output within the game. Despite the UI indicating a full audio volume, the corresponding audio levels would only reach around 40% of the expected intensity during gameplay. This mismatch between the UI's portrayal and the actual audio output presents a critical usability problem for the end user. Imagine a player adjusting the volume settings to maximize their in-game experience, only to find that despite the UI indicating maximum volume, the audio output remains significantly lower, resulting in a lack of immersion and potentially causing frustration. Addressing this discrepancy is of utmost importance as it directly impacts the player's perception and enjoyment of the game, affecting their overall experience and satisfaction.

First Design

After a bit of trial and error the discrepancy between the UI's indicated audio levels and the actual in-game audio output stemmed from a misconfigured audio scaling system. The UI was incorrectly calibrated to reflect the full volume range, while the game's audio settings were not properly synced with this scale. To fix this issue, I began implementing a solution by recalibrating the UI's audio level indicators to accurately correspond with the game's audio output levels. This involved revisiting the code responsible for translating the UI's visual representation to the actual audio output and adjusting the scaling mechanism to ensure a one-to-one correlation. By synchronizing these elements, the UI now accurately reflects the true audio levels, allowing players to adjust settings with confidence, thereby significantly enhancing their immersive experience within the game.