Multiple complete SoundBanks

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Multiple complete SoundBanks

This method will apply if:

The game or its audio/motion content can be split into multiple sections.

This method works well for single player games, where all possible sounds and motion are only driven by the current location of the player in the game. By splitting the content into multiple SoundBanks, you can manage memory more efficiently than the first method, yet still benefit from a relatively easy integration of audio and motion in your game.

First determine how to split up your SoundBanks. Here is an example strategy:

One general SoundBank containing all the Events that can occur at any point in the game. This SoundBank would be loaded into memory at all times.
One SoundBank per level, or one per environment. For sounds and motion that depend on the actual location of the main character.
And possibly some additional SoundBanks, depending on the requirements of your particular game.

To create multiple complete SoundBanks in Wwise:

Create the SoundBanks you will need for the game and then name them appropriately, for example, "CommonEvents", "Level_1", "Level_2", and "Level_3".
Group your Events into Virtual Folders in Wwise. Create one Virtual Folder per SoundBank and then drag each Virtual Folder into its corresponding SoundBank. By adding Virtual Folders to your SoundBanks, you can avoid having to edit the contents of your SoundBanks every time a new Event is added to your project. When the contents of your Virtual Folder change, the SoundBank automatically gets updated.
Add all Events to their respective SoundBanks. This step is only required to add Events that fall outside the original folders, if any. If an Event needs to be in multiple SoundBanks, then simply add it to the required SoundBanks.
Generate the SoundBanks and copy the generated SoundBank folder to the game application.

Integration

For integration details, see Multiple Complete SoundBanks in the Wwise SDK documentation.

Additional notes on this method

The following table lists the pros and cons of the Multiple Complete SoundBanks method.

Pros	Cons
Might require a lot less memory than the all-in-one SoundBank technique. Very easy to integrate in game.	Not well adapted for online or Event-based games, where the audio or motion requirements are driven by more than just simple facts like the main character's location. Might cause some media file duplication loaded in memory, because SoundBanks can contain duplicated data. Might increase the total space of the SoundBanks on disk because different SoundBanks might have similar content.

Pros

Cons

Might require a lot less memory than the all-in-one SoundBank technique.

Very easy to integrate in game.

Not well adapted for online or Event-based games, where the audio or motion requirements are driven by more than just simple facts like the main character's location.

Might cause some media file duplication loaded in memory, because SoundBanks can contain duplicated data.

Might increase the total space of the SoundBanks on disk because different SoundBanks might have similar content.

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