Behind the Scenes: Recording Over 2500 Footstep Sounds
Hey everyone! We’re back with more audio behind-the-scenes posts! Last time we showcased the creation of one of our newest Build mode tracks “Little Trinkets” in this post right here! Check it out! This time we will go through some very simple yet probably one of the most important characters’ sounds to be added into the game: footsteps! 👣We’ll be talking about the things to consider when adding these sounds as well as many other character and object sounds to be added later on.
🎥In the above video, you saw the recording process of many footsteps as well as a few extra things. So without further ado, let’s talk about the details 🦶
How Many Sounds Do We Need?
No object will ever sound exactly the same twice. Whether you strum a guitar or hear the rustling of tree leaves, the noise they create will always be different. Therefore, if we want to imitate the real world in the soundscape of a game, we have to add many variations to the same sounds. For example, each type of footstep in Paralives has over 40+ variations on average.
On top of that, we have to consider the many factors that are producing the sound. In this case, what surface are our paras moving on? What type of shoes are they wearing? Are they walking, jogging, running, or going up a staircase? And you could complexify even further by adding more variables. So far in the base game, there are 8 surfaces, 4 footwear types and 4 kinds of movement confirmed, which gives a total of 5120 different footstep sounds! Which is actually normal in modern games 🥸
How Do We Create Them?
It would’ve been very simple to go to an online library and get all the footstep sounds from there. However, we figured that by creating them ourselves, we could make sounds that fit the animations specifically and also fit the cozy vibe of the game (most sounds on online libraries are more action/warfare oriented). We are also not restricted by how many variations are uploaded to the library and can make as many as we want ourselves. It’s also super fun to record them! 😁
The hard part for me isn’t recording, but finding the right materials! I took a little trip to the dollar store and a construction store to buy some of the things that you saw in the video. I also bought some nice high heels at the second-hand store 👠✨With all these new materials, we can get some pretty good recordings. In any case, where it’d be more difficult to make something sound right, that’s where we would start searching through a library 🔊
This is only the beginning of the many things that will need foley sounds in Paralives. Like I said, everything makes noise. Whether it is kitchen appliances, furniture your Para is interacting with, electronics, plants rustling with the wind, even walls sometimes just creak out of nowhere! We’ll be making the sounds for most of these things in the following days and hopefully, I could show you some of the work done in the next post! What foley sounds would you like to be included in the game? Hope you enjoyed this week’s post! Have a great weekend 🎉
Until next time,
Andrei ♪♩♩ ♪♩♩♩
Edit - March 20th, 2025: This post is now public, feel free to share it!
Comments (67)
And this is the sound of all patreon supporters falling in love with the sound designer
That sigh before you strapped on those heels 😂 This is exactly why I left wearing heels in the first half of my twenties
😂😂😂 You gotta do what you gotta do
That’s so cool. Not to be that person since I know you all have already recorded thousands of variations but will you also be doing the same thing for outside? Eg walking through crunchy snow, leaves, etc?
100%!! I'll be making the grass, dirt and rock sounds in the next few days!! Thank you so much Emelia!
This is kind of niche to North and Central America, but it would be cool to hear the cooing of the Mourning Dove in the mornings or late afternoon/evenings in areas of the map that have a more North American/Central American geography. Another iconic bird/bird sound to North America is the Canada goose, especially during their Spring and Autumn migrations. Their aggressive hissing and honking is also iconic as it chases people and other animals out of it's territory/away from it's nest. LOL.
Ouuuh I'll check those sounds out!! I'd personally like to add more variation to the wildlife sounds so these ones might actually work out! Thank you so much Tasha!
It’s actually really cool to see you record the sounds, then see it in the game! Love that!
Thank you so much! It's super fun to do both the recording and the videos hehe
thats some dedication right there and we love to see it!!!
Thank you Bethy! 😁
From someone who always plays with headphones for full immersion, many, many thanks!! One sound I'd love to hear is the sound of the kettle!! I know American people don't use kettles to boil for tea and coffee in the morning (sacrilege!!) - I'm told American people just use the microwave for this purpose....yuck! I'm not sure about Canada, but just in case you don't, please rest assured that the rest of the world VERY MUCH does use kettles to boil water for our morning coffee (and evening and midday etc). And that sound is actually quite a precious sound for us: the sound of the kettle boiling for tea or coffee...aaaahhhhh!! It's an essential sound in the game for us. Almost as important as walking! Please put that in the game! Thanks!! :-)
What? We use kettles? I have an electric one. 😂
I am not sure who is cuter, you or the doggie!
Thank you Derek!
The sounds of sunrise ✨ Or also, depending on where you are on the map and what type of nature surrounds you, and what time of day, maybe the environmental sounds can vary.
they’ve made a post about this already! hope you can find it, it’s pretty neat
I'd love to hear wind rustling through trees!
100% will be in the game!
Very nice, also cute doggie, reminds me of one my family had when I was little kid, his name was Prince, no not for the singer, no one in my family knew who he was then, it was before he was well known. Prince used to eat my toys though, I had a wishnick doll, one of those little trolls, he ripped its hair out and chewed its hands off, before anyone found him and took it aways from him. He was a bad doggie, lol!
Hey Clara! Prince does sound like a little mischievious dog hahaha Kurama my dog is sort of the same. Also I love Prince the singer!!!
Some of these are so quiet! I bet you felt tempted to just leave them mute lol. Kudos for such dedication to deliver a fully imersive experience, down to the smallest details!
Hahaha yeah I did! Thank you Pedro!
This is sounds great, but it's actually not quite enough, if you want to consider everything. It's not just HOW they move, but it's also WHO is moving? Is a baby crawling? is a child jumping? is an adult strolling? is the person considered underweight, avarage or overweight? Sounds differ for any reason. A toddler's walk would sound way different than an overweight adult. Also you're just having walking, jogging, running and stairs right now. But what about: dragging/sliding your feet against the ground? What about tapping, skipping, jumping and stomping your feet? And also not just regular footwear, what if they're barefeeted? These are just things I can think of right now. Of course, you can probably use some of the same sounds to them. I just wanted to make you aware of other ways to make sounds with your feet than just what you wrote here. I do hope you have thought of these, you just didn't want to specify every single detail.
did you actually watch the video, it has e.g. barefoot walking in it?
Love the variations!! Putting hundreds of hours into a game means certain sounds become too familiar and repetitive, which I find really distracting. These feel unique and varied enough that it shouldn't be a problem. Thank you for your attention to detail!
Thank you so much tahirah! That means a lot! :D
I want to hear my Para snoring when they sleep. Everything from the faintest of wisps to the sawing of an entire forest.
To add to this I think it would be great if it was possible for paras to occasionally mumble in their sleep while dreaming.
The sound of an airplane crossing the summer sky. Children at play, creaking floorboards and if there ever should be weather at the game- I love the sound of cars driving through puddles ❤️
Hey Cora!! I thought the same as you and passing airplane sounds are already added into the game 😌 Children playing it'll have to be more the actual voice over of children since it'd be a bit creepy to hear children playing somewhere but not finding them anywhere. There WILL be weather in the game eventually, I can't to work on those sounds!
Very cool, 100 out 100, i have to listen to the sounds 10 minus ago because i got my flu injection today
Thank you so much Slaine! Hope everything went well with your injection!
I love the passion that go to this project ❤ Also small idea - I really would enjoy the sound of turning a page in a book 😌
Thank you so much Argon! I love that sound too!! Can't wait to start the book sounds
Ha! I appreciate the dedication and sacrifice for the heels. The dreaded ankle twist stumble is a sound and animation in itself. You may have mentioned it, but the sound of grass crunching under foot, small of twigs and brush when you walk through an overgrown area.
Thank you so much hahaha it was worth it! And yes! I'll get to the grass, dirt and rock sounds in the next few days!
Really cool!
Thanks!
These are great! As for a Foley recommendation... I think it would be nice to hear breathing when you are zoomed close to a Para. Would help them feel more alive! :)
YES
Awesome work! I love the dedication and creativity you put into making all these sounds. It really reminds me of the era when creativity was key to creating special effects in movies. Also, having fun should always be part of the process! We love it!
Gracias paaaaaa! 😁
This is really cool. I love the small details you guys are putting in. It's going to really make the game immerssive.
Thank you so much Carelle! That means a lot :)
These videos are sooo satisfying, I’ve taken to watching with headphones and now I don’t think I can ever go back! Good job team, outstanding work as always Andrei!
Thank you so much Cece! I'm really glad you enjoyed it :)
This actually seems like the coolest job ever. I love watching these kinds of videos
Thank you!! It's super fun to record😁
Thanks for another very interesting post, Andrei ! And for recording your sessions, always a fun time :) Also that solves the mystery of why you were talking about heels in a earlier dev chat ! ( https://new.reddit.com/r/Paralives/comments/1gmsoe2/weekly_dev_chat_october_18th/ for those who haven't read it) It all makes sense now... "And you could complexify even further by adding more variables." I mean, I guess you could factor in things like weight or age, but good God, the numbers are already impressive as it is ! But the result is great, especially taking the time to account for various floorings and such. It made me wonder how you recorded the sounds for walking in the grass, or how you'll manage for when snow is implemented ! Another trip to the dollar store, I guess. Maybe they could sponsor Paralives ? XD Regarding the end of the post, I'm looking forward to clock sounds. Not necessarily a grandiose grandfather clock, but just something simple. Walls (and floors, possibly) creaking is a great idea, too. When you live in an older building, those are definitely important sounds. In apartment buildings, hearing sounds of other people's lives is also essential, like hearing a frontdoor being locked in the hallway, someone flushing or even peeing if the walls are thin (which means that they hear YOU too !) the ding of the elevator (the elevator in my building talks >_< all day, she's like "5th floor ; descending" it's fully become the soundtrack of my life at home !), sounds of pans from someone making dinner, kids running... But I seem to remember that apartment buildings are not for right away, so no need to rush to the dollar store to buy children just yet. PS : is that your submission to WikiFeet ? XD
Hey ladyteruki! Thank you so much for your comment😁 To start I had no idea of the existance of WikiFeet until now 😂 Like you said adding more variables multiplies the numbers by a lot and you could end up having 100,000+ very easily if you dont try to optimise. For the exterior terrain sounds I tried using Christmas decorations for grass and cat litter for dirt but as you can guess it was a complete failure hahaha. I have the whole thing recorded in video too! I'd love to add clock sounds too personally I think it adds a lot to the silent mood, however being fully transparent with you it was decided to set them as "Nice to have" so they'll have to probably wait after the release of Early Access. Apartment sounds too would be nice! Although that's more in the technical aspect where you'd filter sounds depending if they're in another room etc!
I would also like the sounds of bare feet, slippers, children jumping around (because they really want to talk about their day or something), running and jumping in the snow, autumn leaves and flowers ( for a flower meadow for example) and children crawling (if that's in the Footsteps category belongs). Keep up the amazing work, guys 🫶❣️
Thank you Josephin! Will definitely add a lot of those eventually as the game progresses!😁
wow i never really took the time to do the math on just how many different sounds something as "simple" as walking would need.. (also i felt your pain when you were walking on stones in heels, cobblestone streets are every heel-wearer's worst enemy) i'm not sure if this was planned anyway but specifically for apartment buildings it would be cool to hear the neighbours sometimes! not too much but them dropping something for example, or maybe they can be heard more often in cheap apartments compared to expensive ones one of the sounds that was previously revealed that i really liked was the sound of the fridge, that's just such a nice realistic detail once different seasons are added i also hope there will be sounds for walking in snow and through leaves or stepping into a puddle!
Hey Melina thank you so much!! We definitely are gonna add snow and puddle sounds once we get seasons and weather! I'd love to add sounds such as neighbours but it depends more on the technical systems!
It's so cool seeing behind the scenes sound design! One thing I would say though, is I think high heels generally have a more heel-toe sound than you're getting walking on the spot. I don't know how you'd effectively record that though, and I'm really impressed with what you have done! I also have to love that your high heels model is bald man in just his underwear, not sure why you chose that, but I love it 😂
this is moustache man. he is famous (well to me) in paralives lore. if you look back at the beach patreon post, you will find him buried in the sand. I love him as a wee easter egg type thing.
You already know what I am going to say. Thank you for the post Andrei. This game blows me away every time. Amazing attention to detail. Absolutely adore it. The dedication... attempting to walk in heels!! (shame you did it better than me but i won't sulk). p.s: i would like shuffling feet for trainers and bare feet please. I like my old people shuffly.
Stewbyyy! I don't know if I did better than you I was falling all over the place with them 😂 I'd personally love to make more variations of these for old people shuffling!
oh, I know I'm gonna chuckle to myself every time I hear my Para in some heels walking down the street knowing this video exists. You are the definition of dedication my friend 😅 💕
😂 I'm really grateful hahaha it was definitely worth doing
I love those videos so much, they're one of my favorite parts of witnessing paralives development, aaah!!!!!
Thank you so much! :D
I sure hope you continue to make these videos of behind the scenes! It makes my tiny attention span very happy. (Also the socks and heels must be on a Para somewhere in the game😂)
Thanks Zak! I enjoy making these behind the scenes posts so we might do some more!
This is so cool!! Thank you for sharing 🩷
Thank you Morgan!