The Last of Us Part 2: A Review of the Breathing System in Naughty Dog's Game / ITech content

Contents:

• Briefly about the speakers
• Flexing muscles
• Murmur
• Heartbeat
• Technical implementation
• Influencing the narrative
• Collaboration with animators

The Last of Us Part 2 is one of the most talked about games of recent years. Many fans consider it an outstanding PS4 exclusive, and some believe it is one of the best games in video game history. However, there are also many players who failed to establish an emotional connection with the main characters and were dissatisfied with the inconsistent plot events. This game continues to generate active discussions among fans and critics, which underscores its significance in the gaming industry.

Despite criticism of the second part of The Last of Us, many detractors recognize the high technical quality of the game and the exceptional attention to detail shown by the Naughty Dog studio. A striking example of this is the detailed character breathing system. The tone and frequency of breathing change depending on the situation. When Ellie encounters a Clicker, her breathing becomes jittery, and an elderly Joel begins to gasp after just a few seconds of intense running.

Naughty Dog's sound designers invested significant time and effort into developing a sound system that may seem insignificant at first glance. However, the results of their work are impressive and can go unnoticed with a cursory examination. In a GDC talk, the developers shared details of the process behind this system, revealing how sound design influences the overall experience of the game and enhances player immersion.

In this article, Skillbox Media's Gamedev editorial team presents the highlights of the talk, which explains how the studio brought the characters of The Last of Us Part 2 to life using realistic breathing effects. We explain in detail how implementing realistic breathing helps create a deeper emotional connection between players and characters, and enhances overall immersion in gameplay.

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Please note that the text may contain minor plot spoilers for the game The Last of Us Part 2.

Briefly about the speakers

A Senior Sound Designer at PlayStation Studios plays a key role in creating unique audio experiences for video games. This specialist is responsible for the development and implementation of sound effects, music, and audio atmospheres that immerse players in gameplay. Key tasks include collaborating with the development team, creating original sounds, and working with audio technologies to achieve high-quality sound. Specialists in this field must have knowledge of sound recording, audio processing, and music composition to ensure immersive sound that is memorable and engaging for players. The Senior Sound Designer position requires not only technical skill but also creativity, allowing them to create soundscapes that emphasize the atmosphere of games and enhance the user experience.

He began his career in the gaming industry in 2014 as a sound designer at Wabi Sabi Sound. This company created the sound for the platformer Ori and the Blind Forest and the puzzle game The Witness. His career subsequently continued at Bungie, where he also worked as a sound designer on Destiny: Rise of Iron, Destiny: The Taken King, and Destiny 2. From 2017 to 2021, Bo Anthony Jimenez worked at Naughty Dog, where he significantly expanded his portfolio by contributing to such acclaimed games as Uncharted: The Lost Legacy and The Last of Us Part 2. After his time at Naughty Dog, he joined PlayStation Studios, which partners with various Sony studios to provide game development support. As a sound designer, Jimenez has worked with teams creating major projects such as Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and God of War: Ragnarok.

Senior Sound Designer at Naughty Dog is responsible for the creation and implementation of sound effects, music Video game audio and sound design projects. This role requires a deep understanding of sound engineering and the ability to collaborate with other professionals, such as composers and game designers. A Senior Sound Designer is also involved in developing sound design concepts, which includes creating unique soundscapes that enhance player immersion. Experience with modern audio processing software and skills in recording and mixing audio tracks are essential for successful completion of this role. At Naughty Dog, a Senior Sound Designer has the opportunity to influence the overall experience and atmosphere of a game, making this role a key part of the development of high-quality game content.

I began my career in the gaming industry in advertising agencies, where I worked as a sound designer. I then had the unique opportunity to collaborate with Naughty Dog, participating in the development of Uncharted 4: Thief's End as part of an outsourcing studio. In 2018, I joined Naughty Dog full-time, which opened new horizons for my professional growth in video game development.

For five years, Jesse James Garcia worked with his team as a sound designer on The Last of Us Part 2 and The Last of Us Part 1. His contributions to the sound design of these games significantly enriched the atmosphere and enhanced the audio quality, making these projects even more engaging for players. Garcia demonstrated a high level of professionalism and creativity, which contributed to the successful reception of the games by both critics and fans.

The Last of Us Part 2 is a game that immerses players in a dark and emotionally charged post-apocalyptic world. It continues the story of Ellie, who faces the consequences of her choices and losses. In this sequel, the developers deepen the themes of revenge, love, and moral choice, offering players the opportunity to explore the complex relationships between characters.

The game's story unfolds in a world where infected and survivors fight for survival. Players meet new characters who add depth and variety to the narrative. Every choice Ellie makes has consequences, forcing them to consider human nature and the limits of morality.

The graphics and sound in The Last of Us Part 2 create an atmosphere that enhances the game's emotional weight. Dynamic combat and stealth elements keep players constantly on their toes. Unique combat mechanics and open-world exploration make the gameplay engaging and varied.

The Last of Us Part 2 is more than just a game; it's a profound exploration of human nature in times of crisis. It leaves a deep imprint on players, prompting them to reflect on the concepts of justice and redemption.

Flexing Muscles

Bo Anthony Jimenez admits that he and his team aimed to create something outstanding from the very beginning. Already during the pre-production stage, various departments at Naughty Dog demonstrated the development of new and exciting technologies. From the very first steps, it was clear that the studio was preparing a "technological monster," as Jimenez himself calls the project. The sound design department realized that it was necessary to meet high standards: the sound in The Last of Us Part 2 had to significantly exceed the quality of the original game. This commitment to audiovisual excellence was key to creating the game's unique atmosphere.

The team paid particular attention to character breathing, driven by both creative and technical considerations. Jesse James Garcia emphasizes that sound in Naughty Dog games must always support the narrative. In The Last of Us, which is characterized by its realistic and grounded feel, the characters' emotions are prominent. Believable character breathing helps enhance the atmosphere in both tense and calm scenes. The correct sigh focuses attention on the inner state of the hero, which makes the story more immersive and emotionally rich.

One One of the reasons for changing the breathing system in the second game was a limitation associated with the technology used in the first game. In that game, sounds were directly linked to character animations, which caused problems in some cases. All sound effects were rendered in the scene without using RAM. Under high system loads due to complex level geometry, sounds could play with a delay, which negatively impacted the immersiveness of the gameplay. The new breathing system was developed to improve sound quality and enhance the overall experience of the game.

The old approach to animation became obsolete, as the animation team developed a new tool called Motion Match. This algorithm selects the most appropriate animation for a character from a variety of options in real time, significantly increasing the variety and realism of character movements. However, integrating sound effects with such a wide range of animations, as was implemented in the first game, becomes more difficult.

The sound design team developed a universal modular solution that ensures the ability to play sounds at any time. This innovation allows for the flexible integration of sound effects into various projects, enhancing the overall audiovisual atmosphere. Thanks to its modular architecture, the solution can be easily adapted to various user needs, opening up new horizons for creative sound design.

Murmur

The designers focused on creating murmurs—repetitive sounds reflecting the state of various creatures. These sounds can be played endlessly and play a significant role in immersing the player in the gameplay. For humans, murmurs can represent breathing, while infected characters wheeze, and dogs can express themselves through licking or growling. It is important that the sound is natural and matches the character of the creature, which helps create a more realistic atmosphere in the game.

The murmur in the game is a background sound that reflects the emotional state of the characters. The main characters make breathing sounds, while infected characters wheeze. To avoid distracting players from key sounds, such as dialogue, the game engine implements an algorithm for managing the hierarchy of sounds. When a character needs to speak, all other sounds are temporarily muted. The murmur has a low priority among all sounds, allowing any phrase or reaction to a game event to prevail. This provides a deeper immersion in the plot and improves the perception of the gameplay.

Heartbeat

To create variety in the gameplay and give the heroes more realism, the designers decided that the murmur of the characters would reflect their current state. It was linked to the heartbeat, allowing for dynamic changes in the character's emotional intensity. This variable ranges from 0 to 1 and changes depending on gameplay situations. For example, during a quiet walk, the hero's heartbeat is 0, and in a tense moment of battle it can reach 0.7, which emphasizes the emotional load and involvement of the character in what is happening.

Different heartbeat values ​​are accompanied by unique samples of inhalations and exhalations. In an intense combat situation, Ellie breathes heavily, since the set of sounds available to her is limited. In this format, the system can be informative, but it is not realistic enough. Transitions between different states in the game can be too abrupt, which is not true to reality - when a person gets tired, they need time to restore normal breathing. To improve realism, the development team introduced an additional variable into the game - the target heartbeat. This solution allows for a more accurate simulation of the breathing process and adapts it to changes in gameplay.

The target heart rate changes instantly depending on the situation. The actual value, which determines the sounds the character makes, gradually adapts. For example, after a long run, the target value increases to its maximum. As soon as the character stops, the target value drops sharply, and the actual value returns to normal only after a few seconds. This creates a realistic effect and immerses the player in the atmosphere of the game.

The final chord of the sound system is the addition of a delta for each character. This variable controls the speed at which the current heart rate reaches the target level, allowing for the individual characteristics of different characters to be emphasized. For example, Joel, a man over 50, will tire more quickly and take longer to recover. Meanwhile, Ellie, a young and active woman, recovers much faster. This approach helps create a more realistic interaction of characters with the sound environment, making the game more engaging and immersive.

The use of modern technology allowed us to create a realistic effect that effectively complements the scene and conveys the emotional state of the characters. Initially, the studio experimented with a set of samples from actress Ashley Johnson, who voiced Ellie. The results were so impressive that the other voice actors began recording sighs based on the states developed by the sound designers during the sound design process. This solution significantly improved the quality of the soundtrack and helped to further immerse viewers in the game's atmosphere.

During the sound design development process, the sound design team actively experimented with the use of murmurs. However, not all ideas were implemented in the final version of the game. For example, the studio planned to record unique sounds for specific situations, such as when Ellie is crouched. This concept, despite its interesting nature, was not implemented due to the significant investment of time and resources, as well as the fact that the end result might go unnoticed by most players.

Technical Implementation

To conveniently work with the listed solutions, the developers use several proprietary programs within the engine. One such program is Scream, which provides efficient code packaging, allowing you to quickly select the necessary sounds for characters. This significantly simplifies the process of integrating audio elements and increases overall development productivity.

The developers do not share all the details of their software, but they briefly explain its basic principle. Scream is a set of conditional statements that effectively direct code execution to specific blocks. For example, if a character is injured, the system initiates the execution of a certain function. This makes Scream a convenient tool for optimization: the code quickly determines the current state of the character and selects the appropriate sound sample. Thus, Scream provides not only code optimization, but also improves user interaction, creating a more realistic gaming environment.

The second interesting tool from Naughty Dog is Continuous Controller Screen. This interface allows you to visualize gradual changes in variables, such as murmurs and heartbeats, and customize the smoothness of these changes. Designers can create various Bézier curves to achieve the desired effect, significantly improving user interaction with the game and increasing immersion. Using this tool opens up new possibilities for creating dynamic and emotionally rich scenes, which makes games more exciting and memorable.

Influence on Narrative

Naughty Dog's sound designers believe that sound plays a key role in complementing the game's narrative. Therefore, all the team's technologies were carefully integrated into The Last of Us Part 2. At certain points, murmurs and noises may have been intentionally muted, as "sometimes silence speaks louder than words." This approach allows us to create a deeper atmosphere and enhance the emotional load of the game, which makes the gaming process even more exciting and memorable.

The video clearly demonstrates how the developers can skillfully manipulate the atmosphere and tension in the game. Ellie, making her way through a shopping mall in complete silence, suddenly hears the sound of a clicker and reacts with a sharp intake of breath. In this scene, the developers emphasize two key aspects. First, they intentionally muted the sounds made by the infected character until the moment Ellie gets close. Second, they instantly increase the heroine's heart rate to its maximum, whereas in real life, this rate would increase gradually. This approach creates the effect of surprise and enhances the emotional impact on the player, emphasizing the developers' skill in creating a tense gaming atmosphere.

The game engine gives designers the ability to map individual character animations to static objects. While this may seem excessive, this feature helps overcome the technical limitations of consoles. In the video, Ellie escapes from Clickers through a gate. As soon as the gate closes, the inaccessible portion of the level is immediately unloaded from memory to make room for the new geometry. The same applies to the infected behind the gate, which are removed from the scene. Using such technologies significantly improves game performance and creates a more dynamic gaming environment.

In this situation, all sounds emitted by NPCs could potentially disappear, which would negatively impact player immersion. To prevent this, the developers created a specific tool. When moving to a new location, the designers move the sounds of infected murmurs to an invisible spawner in the new part of the level. This allows the player to continue to hear the whimpers signaling that the Clickers are continuing to explore the building. This approach ensures that the atmosphere and engagement in the game are preserved, which is crucial for maintaining player interest.

In some cases, the designers took complete control of the character's sound effects. This occurred when the algorithmic settings didn't provide the necessary dramatic effect. For example, at the beginning of the game, when Ellie is searching for Joel, she is initially calm. However, upon hearing the hero's screams, her heart rate increases sharply, creating the desired tension. The sound designers in this scene manually adjusted the parameters so that the heart rate increased with each step, contributing to the dramatic catharsis of the story. This demonstrates the importance of sound in games and its impact on the perception of emotional moments.

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Designers sometimes modify the characters' heartbeat algorithm to prevent absurd situations in the game. In both parts of The Last of Us, there are moments when Ellie uses toy weapons. Even though the heroine is in a state of aggressive combat, loud sobs and heavy breathing in such scenes would look out of place. Therefore, the developers deliberately lowered Ellie's heartbeat to preserve the atmosphere and realism of the game.

Collaboration with animators

For maximum effect, realistic sounds must be synchronized with visual elements. In the first part of the game The Last of Us, dialogue was tied to character animations. Interestingly, in The Last of Us Part 2, the opposite situation occurred. The animation team was impressed by the work of the sound designers, and they decided to combine their efforts. The sound department was provided with ready-made breathing animations for the characters, allowing them to synchronize the sound effects with their movements. This collaboration significantly increased the level of immersion in the game's atmosphere and made the gameplay more exciting.

The designers began by classifying the animations based on principles similar to murmurs: they separated strong, sharp sighs from barely audible breathing. They then implemented unique sound tags, allowing them to clearly indicate when the character should open their mouth. This systematization of animations and sound effects significantly improved the interaction of characters and made their behavior more natural and expressive.

As a result, the murmur determines which animations can be used. Moreover, in most cases, the duration of individual breathing pauses adapts to the length of the sound sample. This process also occurs in real time. Adapting animations to sound effects allows for a more harmonious and synchronized interaction between visual and audiovisual elements. This approach improves the perception of content and increases its effectiveness.

The Last of Us Part 2 caused mixed feelings even among devoted fans of the first part. Nevertheless, the sequel's technical achievements are impressive. Studio Naughty Dog paid attention to every detail, creating perhaps the most immersive game in its history. This project demonstrates a high level of detail in graphics, animation, and sound, making the gameplay more realistic and emotionally charged. Of course, many technologies in this area require significant financial investment. However, the basic idea behind the murmur and heartbeat is quite simple to implement. Such solutions can be implemented even in smaller projects. This opens up new opportunities for implementing efficient technologies and optimizing processes at a more accessible level.

Learn also:

Artificial intelligence in The Last of Us plays a key role in creating an immersive gaming experience. The developers carefully crafted character behavior, both for enemies and allies, making interactions with them realistic and unpredictable. The game's AI adapts to player actions, adding a strategic element and forcing players to find new ways to overcome obstacles.

Enemies employ tactics such as stealth and group attacks, making each encounter unique and tense. Allies, in turn, can assist in combat by distracting enemies or striking at the right moment. This interaction creates the feeling of a living world where every action has consequences.

Thus, artificial intelligence in The Last of Us not only improves the gameplay, but also contributes to immersion in the story, emphasizing the emotional load and drama of what is happening.