[havlowjumper]

Lots of great stuff here.

I think there is a sort of loudness war, and while there is no specific reference level or standard from gamers rapidly changing content, producers and publishers will play one game, and then another and say, "why is their game louder than ours?"

In my experience, the game mix does not fall exclusively on a "game programmer." In fact, I suppose you would say I am a "game programmer" as the audio engine middleware used to implement the sounds into the game have become so sophisticated with their handling of attenuation, and occlusion, not to mention compression or in game effects. Maybe this is just a matter of semantics; the difference between "sound designer" and what some of you are calling "game programmer."

Rob's comments resonate with me. Clarity and impact. To me, dynamics are a HUGE tool for delivering clarity and impact, and I guess I am personally pushing for more dynamics in game audio.

-abe