Common Options #
Volume #
Volume control is arguably the most important setting(s) to offer, ideally for more than just the “master” mix. This is because audio can play a substantial role in the accessibility of your game. See the following articles on accessibility for more info:
Controlling volume is a common problem to solve, and most modern game engines provide good support for implementing is the functionality. Provided below are links to resources for the most popular, modern engines on how to implement volume controls.
Master Mix #
Expected Feature – A common and desired option for most games is a master volume option. This option should have an effect on all audio sources for the game and will usually tie directly into the game engine’s master volume mixer.
Music #
Expected Feature – A critical option, provides the ability to control the volume for all music related audio in the game.
Sound Effects #
Expected Feature – Identical to music volume, but for non-music related audio. Unless you plan on splitting sound effects further by category (voices, UI sounds, etc) it’s a safe bet to control all sound effect volume through this option.
Subtitles #
An important feature for accessibility purposes is subtitles. Adding subtitles is obviously important for players who are deaf or hard of hearing, but can also be useful for games where there may be important narrative or contextual information being relayed via sound (such as talking) all while other ambient or effects related noises are also playing (gun shots, vehicle engines, background music/chatter, etc). Subtitle support is not often an engine supported feature and will require planning and custom implementation to ensure that sounds that need accompanying subtitles are shown at the right times and only shown when this option is enabled.