THAT'S METAL

One Baldur's Gate 3 sound designer literally learned blacksmithing for the game's metal sounds

Quite the extra mile to go.

News by Oisin Kuhnke Contributor

Published on Oct. 8, 2023

It turns out that Baldur's Gate 3's metal clanking sounds are so good because one sound designer literally learned blacksmithing for the game.

Some people go the extra mile when it comes to making their work shine, and it sounds like (pardon the pun) Baldur's Gate 3 sound designer Glen G. Goa is one such person. As spotted by GamesRadar, Goa shared a video showing off them wearing some metal armour attached to their boots, providing an example of the work they did on the game. The description of the video notes that in the recently released RPG, "when you wear shoes with metal on them, we wanted them to have a unique sound layer of metal clanks." I made some sabatons in the forge (I learned blacksmithing) and recorded an hour session of walking on various surfaces with them loosely on."

It's a pretty strong move to just casually drop that you learned blacksmithing, as it isn't the most common of hobbies to take up, especially one that is for the purpose of sound design. But, the proof is in the pudding, as they say, because we all know how great Baldur's Gate 3 looks, plays, and of course, sounds.

Alongside sharing how they achieved the metal clanking sounds in Baldur's Gate 3, Goa has also shared a series of other videos showcasing some of their other sound design work. For example, they also posted a video on their lightning bolt sound effect work, which to their memory consisted of "duct ripped off windows, packaging foam rubbed together, several designed sounds through serum, and of course, some library sounds to layer and 'glue.'" Really reminds you just how impressive sound design is as a field of work.

Baldur's Gate 3 recently received a hotfix that touched up a few of the game's smaller issues, but most importantly, it re-shaved the game's most popular cat, His Majesty.

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