Wwise Fundamentals

Like all game syncs, a trigger is a Wwise element that is called by the game and then defines a specific response in Wwise to accommodate what is happening in the game. More specifically, in interactive music a trigger responds to a spontaneous occurrence in the game and launches a stinger. The stinger, which is a brief musical phrase that is superimposed and mixed over the currently playing music, is a musical reaction to the game. For example, when a ninja draws his weapon, you might want to insert a musical sforzando-type effect over the action music already playing to add even more impact to the scene. The game would call the trigger which in turn would launch the stinger and your music clip would play over the ongoing score.

Example 6.4. Using Triggers - Example

Let's say that you have created a fighting game where your main character is a ninja fighter. At several points in the game your character goes into action mode where he fights his enemies. When your character lands a powerful kick, you want to place a music clip that will intensify the auditory impact of that scene. To build your music for these sequences, you will need to create a trigger, perhaps named “High Kick” to be called at these points in the game. In addition, you will define the short music segment that will provide a quick blast of brass to add some “kick”.

The following illustration demonstrates the trigger mechanism that plays a stinger at a key point in the game.