Crysis Monthly Update #15 - July 2009

WarpSpeed 01. August 2009

Welcome to the “Crysis Monthly Update #15", the monthly report for our world-wide community.

This month we cover some latest news including the announcement that we are now on Facebook and Twitter, the 3 vs. 3 tournament and a new trial period. As always, the most recent Inside Crytek article with Florian Fusslin, a senior sound designer in our Frankfurt studio, a new car model which only goes upto 88 MPH and a look forward to the next month ahead.

Content: Crysis Monthly Update – July 2009

    * Inside Crytek - Florian Fusslin
    * 3v3 Tournament and Prizes
    * Crytek is now on Facebook and Twitter!
    * Community Corner
    * What’s to come?

- MyCrysis Team

Wir möchten auf eine Stelle im Update hinweisen:

Whats to come?
Coming up next month in the world of Crytek we'll be having some exclusive looks at Crytek at the GDC and GamesCom.

The MyCrysis 3v3 PowerStruggle tournament will take place next month and you have all seen we've got some great prizes on offer, so make sure you dont miss out on those!

We have another trial period coming up at the end of next month to help you guys relax throughout the end of your summer. We'll be offering loads of cool competitions throughout the trial period, plenty of giveaways, lots of fun! Be sure to keep checking back for more updates!

Finally, we know you're all desperately hoping for some information on Crysis 2, but unfortunately you're going to have to keep being patient and checking back for a little while longer yet! Stay tuned, all the latest Crytek news can always be found at MyCrysis.com

Wir sind gespannt was uns auf der GamesCom 2009 in Köln erwartet.

Related Links:
- Forumbeitrag @ Crysis-HQ.com
- Ganze News @ Crysis-HQ.com Inside Crytek - Florian Fusslin
This month we had the honour of interviewing Florian Fusslin a Senior Sound Designer in our Frankfurt Studio. He talks about Foley sounds (we don't know what they are either), the voice actors used in Crysis, his favourite Diablo II character and much more!

quote:

Introduction

Today sees another addition to our "Inside Crytek" series. This is a series of Q&A's with different members of the Crytek team, where they answer questions on all sorts of topics. These are not just ordinary interviews though. Once their intro has been posted you get the opportunity to ask them your questions!

This time we are speaking with Florian Fuesslin.

What do you do at Crytek?

I am a Senior Sound Designer.

Why did you want to work in the games industry and how did you get started? Do you have any tips for people wanting to get started in the industry?

I started to play instruments with three years and have been in contact with music ever since. While playing Piano and Drums in various bands I developed a strong interest for technical issues like recording, mixing and producing. Over the years this hobby became stronger and stronger with lots of demo recordings for many different artists all kinds of music.

Almost the same happened with Gaming. My first contact I had with the C64 later Amiga, Atari 2600 and finally my first PC in the early 90s. I was fascinated by that new entertainment format and played every game I could get my hands on. After I finished studying Audio Engineering the question was what to do next. I thought combining my two beloved hobbies to a job would be just great so I applied for an Audio internship at Crytek and they agreed. After the internship I was offered my current position.

Tips for starters...I think passion, self motivation, willing to push boundaries and always open to learn new things. Knowledge, education and experience are important. I consider these hard skills as toolset you require anyways. In the Game industry it is all about teamwork so soft skills like communication, give and take and “being a nice person” are equally important.

Why Crytek?

Crytek is the biggest and best developer in Germany. Why aim low if you can reach high?

What are the best and worst parts of your job?

Best thing is if you have designed a sound and you hear it first time fully operational in the game and it is exactly what you had in my mind. Worst parts do not exist but of course there are times where you have to tackle less creative tasks like cutting thousands of dialog lines, preparing script files, etc. Even though this is an important part for every project.

What are you working on at the minute?

I am working on Crysis 2 and other unannounced projects.

What types of games do you like, and what's your favorite game of all time?

I like First Person Shooters. In my clan I am still playing the good old Day of Defeat 1.3 but also Left 4 Dead or Call of Duty 4. The game I spent most of my playtime with is Diablo II: Lord of Destruction. Guess that makes it my favorite title of all times.

What do you enjoy doing when you're not at work?

This sounds geeky…but actually making Music, Sound Effects and Gaming. Besides that the common social things like enjoying a cold drink with friends and hanging out. I love summer!

It's up to you!
Now we've asked the questions, it's time for you to ask yours. Just go to this thread and post the questions you'd like to ask. Take advantage of the role the person does, and make sure to ask the right questions. Funny ones are always good, but nothing obscene. We'll pick out the best questions from the bunch and have the communities Q&A up once they're answered.

Related Links:
Ask YOUR questions here!

- MyCrysis Team

quote:

Introduction
Previously you have seen the interview with Florian Fusslin - Senior Sound Designer at Crytek Frankfurt. You got to ask him your questions and now it's time for you to read the answers below..... All of them!

How did you get your job?
Nothing fancy. I just sent an online application for an internship and got invited for an interview. My portfolio and skill set matched what they were looking for and so I got hired as an Intern Sound Designer. To be fair, of course it was “the right spot at the right time”.

How long have you been working for Crytek?
I started at Crytek February 2006 so three and a half years now (how time flies).

Have you been employed by other developers in the past?
No, this was my first job.

What Hard- and Software do you use?
My working machine is a 3 year old AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ with 3 Gig Ram. Recently my good old X1900 graphics card went up in smoke so now I am using a Geforce GTX260. The system is running on Windows XP 32Bit.

For Speakers I got two Alesis M1 active Monitors, Beyerdynamic DT770 Headphones, 4 channel Behringer Mixer and for surround a consumer Logitech System.

For field recordings there is a set of Neumann KM 184 Microphones, Sennheiser MKH 416, Tascam HD-P2 and a Sony PCM-D50 Recorders.

The Software, I am using, is Nuendo 4.2.2, Soundforge 8.0d, Waves Diamond Plug-In Bundles and Speakerphone 2.0.

Why does the Semi Auto fire sound different to Automatic fire, even if you only shoot one bullet?
Very good catch J. Well, this is a Sound Asset bug. We polished the loop versions very close to release and missed to cut these loop into the single shots. This inconsistency made it into the final game. Shame on us ^^.

What do you prefer? Speakers or headset?
At work I am using my speakers most of the time. For Gaming I switch to headset as soon there is team communication and clear hearing is required.

Do you use Foley sounds?
Sure. All characters have a foley sounds attached to them. Even if they are subtle in the mix it helps so much to create a bond between Player and Main Character in First Person Shooters.

You recruited actual people from the military for Nomad/Prophet/Stricland etc or just "random" people you pick of the streets?
These characters are actually spoken by professional voice actors. For example the English Nomad was done by Greg Sunmark or Psycho by Sean Chapman.

Who made the Soundtrack for Crysis:Warhead?
This was Péter Antovszki, Audio Director at the Crytek Studio in Budapest.

What do you think of the compositions Inon Zur did for the original Crysis? Do you gain inspiration to your work, from what he has achieved?
If a composer creates such great pieces as Inon did for the original Crysis it is always an inspiration on the Sound Design side. What really caught me was the dynamic and airiness without losing the epic feeling. We tried to maintain the same for the Sound Effects and the ambiences.

Do you consider the sound of Crysis to be: better, equal, or lesser that the graphics? Do you feel that the sound of Crysis is at the peak of gaming sound, or could it be better?
I think it is always a 50/50 thing. In the end both has to come together to immerse the Player. Graphics and Audio both have their strengths. Graphics are the “on screen” part. I call this “the obvious”. For example if there is an explosion it has to make “BOOM!”. The interesting thing about Audio is the “off screen” part: Foreshadowing, Theater of the Mind, playing with mood and emotion. So it is less the quality, it is more the usage of Audio in Games. And there we just scratched the surface ;).

What was your favorite Diablo II character? And will you play Diablo III?
I played various builds over the last couple years but still I like the Bow Amazon most. Sure I am going to buy and play Diablo III when it hits the shelves.

I have watched the pre-release vids and saw how you recorded the jungle ambient sounds, but where did you record the chicken sounds and were any chicken harmed in the process?

We were using library sounds for those. No animals were harmed during that process. Some Sound Designers turned into chickens though :P

Thanks for sending in your questions.

I tried to group them a bit to cover as much as possible.

All the best

-FLo

In Closing
A special thanks to Florian for taking the time to complete the Inside Crytek article and the community answers, I’m sure they will be of great use too all the guys here. The next Inside Crytek article will be up soon and we'll be allowing you to ask even more questions to another member of the Crytek staff!

MyCrysis 3vs3 PowerStruggle Tournament!
The MyCrysis 3vs3 PowerStruggle, powered by Multiplay, sign ups have closed, and the registered teams are now known. The schedule has been released and we are looking forward to a weekend of intense competition from some of the best players in the community. As always there are prizes up for grabs in addition to the prestigious MyCrysis fame that will be earned. This event is all set to kick off in August, the count down has begun!

quote:

Introduction
The sign ups for the MyCrysis 3v3 PowerStruggle tournament are now closed. Below you will find the tournament fixtures, the scheduled time of play and some more information about prizes and the rules. Please ensure that you read through this information carefully because it is extremely important and should help to put straight any confusion.

Fixtures/Schedule
The fixtures for game times can be found below. Due to the number of teams entered for this competition the structure is going to work slightly differently to normal. Team BROS have been given a BYE in the first round. In the second and third rounds the team that loses their game but scores the highest will remain in the tournament. In the semi-finals and grand final we revert back to all losing teams being eliminated.

All server details, and information on the team you are playing will be released via a PM to the team captains before each game. Each game will last for 25 minutes with a 15 minute warm up/connection period. Please note that all times listed below are the game START times, you will all have 15 minutes prior to this time to connect to the server. So for example, the teams with games starting at 13:40 will be able to connect to the server from 13:25.

Round 1
Silversurfing Germany vs Spartan [15/08/09 @ 13:00]

Kimme + Korn CRW-Squad vs SuP .Enterprise Squad [15/08/09 @ 13:00]

eXtrem-eSport vs Clan00 - Die Doppelnullen Team 2 [15/08/09 @ 13:40]

_-PRO-_ vs FusioN.Troopers 3on3 [15/08/09 @ 13:40]

CryTurkiye vs -TAG- FAN ITALY CLAN CRYSIS [15/08/09 @ 14:20]

=UG= - Elite Squad vs SuP .aN4tix'zZ [15/08/09 @ 14:20]

Clan00 - Die Doppelnullen Team 1 vs Die-Indianer.net [15/08/09 @ 15:00]

SWCT = Swedens Crysis Team vs Team Defenders [15/08/09 @ 15:00]

CCCP Main Squad vs _GREECE [15/08/09 @ 15:40]

+{B.O.S}+ vs [760] Euro Team [15/08/09 @ 15:40]

Due to the sign ups and scheduling issues, team BROS will be given a BYE and go straight into round 2.

Round 2
Team 1 vs Team 2 [15/08/09 @ 16:20]
Team 3 vs Team 4 [[15/08/09 @ 16:20]
Team 5 vs Team 6 [15/08/09 @ 17:00]
Team 7 vs Team 8 [15/08/09 @ 17:00]
Team 9 vs Team 10 [15/08/09 @ 17:40]
Team 11 vs Team 12 [15/08/09 @ 17:40]

Round 3
Quarter Final 1 [15/08/09 @ 18:20]
Quarter Final 2 [15/08/09 @ 18:20]
Quarter Final 3 [15/08/09 @ 19:00]
Quarter Final 4 [15/08/09 @ 19:00]

Round 4
Semi Final 1 [15/08/09 @ 19:40]
Semi Final 2 [15/08/09 @ 19:40]

Round 5
Grand Finals [15/08/09 @ 20:20]
Third Place Decider [15/08/09 @ 20:20]

Rules
The rules will be based off the official ESL 3vs3 PowerStruggle rules, you can find a link here and a general overview below;

Games will be played on punkbuster enabled servers.
All games will be moderated by a staff member.
Weapon restrictions will be enforced - see the ESL rules for a complete list.
Server settings will be the following;
- sv_cheatprotection = 3
- net_pb_sv_enable true
- g_friendlyfireratio = 1
- g_energy_scale_income = 1
- g_revivetime 15
- g_timelimit 25

Games will be played as best of 1 map which will be Frost.

Prizes
Prizes will be paid out to the top 3 finishers. We will distribute prizes evenly for 3 team members, one example being three Crysis T-Shirts.

The grand prize that will only be awarded to the first place finishers will be 3 signed Crysis images from the Crytek owners themselves Cevat, Avni and Faruk Yerli.

All winning teams will receive some Crytek Merchandise for their troubles. Example of what Crytek Merchandise consists of can be seen below;

Official Crytek Merchandise

As always for any discussion about the tournament, or query's, you can visit our official discussion thread here; MyCrysis 3vs3 PowerStruggle Tournament Discussion Thread or you can comment on this news post and a member of staff will respond to you as soon as possible.

- MyCrysis Team

Crytek joins Twitter and Facebook
That's right guys, now there are 2 more ways of staying in touch with Crytek. We'll be using both of these social networking sites to bring you the biggest and best news from both Crytek and MyCrysis, and for those of you that like using the net on your mobile devices, you'll now be able to check out our pages for updates on the go. Just follow the links below to join us.

Also don't forget that if you missed any of our videos you can check back on the MyCrysis News Archive, or visit us on YouTube to watch see them in both HD and SD and feel free to subscribe using the link below.

Community Update - DeLorean Vehicle
The community section for this month highlights an exciting new vehicle added to Crymod. The DeLorian is one of the world's most recognizable cars, famous for its use within the 'Back to the future' Trilogy. Tirido has done a great job with the model and animations as soon as you hit 88 MPH! As you will be able to see in the video and screenshots below the highlights are surely the fire trails and frosted effect once you hit that magical speed.

quote:

Today we would like to present to you a new update regarding the work in progress DeLorean vehicle, from "Back to the Future". Currently under development by forum member Tirido, this vehicle has recently undergone some changes, an update of which we would like to show you here today. The most noteworthy improvement is the addition of fire trails when the car jumps back in time! Enjoy the new video and screenshots.

Video
This new video shows the vehicle with much improved special effects. Make sure to watch it in its original quality on Vimeo here.

Screenshots
As well as the exceptional video demonstration, we also have a few screenshots of the vehicle shown below.

That's it for today's news update, if you want to leave some feedback for the author to read or have any questions, please post them in the forum thread here.

Related Links
- Forum Thread: DeLorean (Back to the Future)
- Vimeo: DeLorean (Back to the Future) - Time Travel - Test 03

- Crymod Staff Team

Whats to come?
Coming up next month in the world of Crytek we'll be having some exclusive looks at Crytek at the GDC and GamesCom.

The MyCrysis 3v3 PowerStruggle tournament will take place next month and you have all seen we've got some great prizes on offer, so make sure you dont miss out on those!