A Way Out

A Co-Op Adventure.

https://www.ea.com/games/a-way-out

A Co-Op Experience

Overview

On A Way Out I worked mainly with ambiences, VO and implementation, but also added in some sound effects here and there. I recorded a lot of VO and assisted during recordings. We used Unreal Engine's own sound tools, alongside some additions from our programmers. This meant that a lot of time was spent in Unreal, working in the level with matinees and blueprints, setting up logic and systems for dialogue items to be played in this cinematic game.

The team

We were a small team of ~3,5 people in the sound department; me, Måns Ortner (technical sound designer and currently sound lead), Gustaf Grefberg (composer, sound lead) and Philip Martin (started during fall 2017 and worked with us in audio until submit stop).

Work

As we are a very flat team where we all help out with everything, pointing at a single thing and saying "I did this" would probably end up being a lie - we worked as a team and exchanged tasks to better fit the moment and the priorities at hand. That said - Most of the dialogue was recorded during the last 9 months of production, and the majority of that was cut and implemented by me. I also made a lot of ambient work on the Hospital and PrisonForest levels.

VO systems

I made several blueprint systems for triggering barks*.  Logic such as this can be seen in the Hospital chase sequence during the hostage part where an NPC calls out to Leo depending on if he shoots or says something. I also made similar systems where the co-op aspect had to be taken into consideration as Vincent and Leos locations determined which player said what.  The Crane Chase section of the Construction level, where one player is in a struggle, calling for help, while the other player moves towards the struggling player, is a good example of this. Both players can be in both positions depending on how you play.

Working with VO

Editing VO required a good understanding of the characters and the focus of the story to properly prioritize each item. I worked freely and creatively to ensure that the different lines of dialogue were used in the most effective way.

* Barks are dialogue pieces that are blurted out by characters, most commonly without an associated animation or a dedicated cutscene. A bark could be the player commenting on something in the environment or an NPC telling a chased player to stop.