talystro

Audio Direction Overview.

The overall direction aims for playfulness, a round aural experience and intelligibility.

As per our usual, we made 2 different sketches (separately) to show you a wider palette and while they’re both “tied” to that Millo sound, we’ve used a slightly different approach in each.

While we didn’t do anything in this regard in these sketches, there’s an interesting potential for a dynamic non linear OST to support the progression of the gameplay.

Sketch #1

This approach is geared towards making Talystro feel like a physical “toy box”.

Sound design is clickety-clackety all the way with tonal elements inspired by those satisfying Nintendo experiences, all in tune with music and by “in tune” I mean they’re on the same key of the background music - G in this case - so that the tonal elements of the sound design, whenever they occur, they become a part of the musical arrangement..

For the overall tone of the music I opted for a sparse blend of a pocket-sized chamber ensemble, soft game-y electronics and organic percussions; also went for a subtle rhythm that sits underneath the gameplay to give a sense of forward motion.

*** we suggest using headphones and turning on full screen ***

Sketch #2

The entire audio experience is crafted to immerse the player in a space where they can focus and maintain the level of concentration the game requires.

The sound design mirrors the game’s rounded aesthetic and stays minimal, delivering clear feedback without drawing attention away from the player’s thinking.

For the same reason, I avoided percussive elements in the in‑game music and leaned toward a peaceful, ambient tone, introducing slightly more orchestral flavors in the recap screen to evoke a sense of travel, adventure, progression, and discovery.

*** we suggest using headphones and turning on full screen ***

General game audio Scope

Often we’ve found out that the overall perception of what a game needs in terms of audio boils down to:

  • Great sound design assets
  • Great music assets
  • Implementation

In reality for any great game out there a realistic audio scope includes:

  • Audio direction and creative supervision
  • Audio pipeline planning and documentation management
  • Sound design and music composition
  • Audio implementation and FMOD integration
  • Audio bug fixing & audio QA
  • Mixing & Mastering
  • Marketing support (trailers, teasers, promotional assets)

Also in highly UI-based games like Talystro, is essential to coordinate with the Audio Lead to make sure there are no redundancies when it comes to dense UI interactions in order to maintain clarity for the player.

This will also require a solid coordination with the Audio Tech Lead to make sure everything is optimized in terms of events management and internal logic.

Estimate Examples

Based on our last chat, we're estimating 4 to 5 months of a potential full time dev cycle.

Take these as estimates, since in order to precisely establish the dev cycle length (whether it is 3-4-5 or whatever months) would require a proper overview of the current state of the game.

We always make sure that we’re in for as long as it’s needed, not more, nor less, to make sure we meet our standards and the game gets the best audio possible.

Estimate examples #1 - 4 months cycle

Per month Total Revenue share
8K 32K negotiable
Per month Total Revenue share
10K 40K none

Estimate examples #2 - 5 months cycle

Per month Total Revenue share
8K 40K negotiable
Per month Total Revenue share
10K 50K none