bioshock infinite

Worlds of Sound

From the cha-ching of a vending machine to the distant roar of tragic monsters, Irrational Games’ Pat Balthrop and Ken Levine talk about the sounds of their bestselling franchise, BioShock.

Illustration by Johnny Dombrowski

Irrational Games’ offices in suburban Boston haven’t changed much over the years—they’ve taken more floors of the same building, upgraded the furniture, and recovered from a flood. It’s far from the glamorous spectacle one might associate with a triple-A game design studio, except for the 8-foot statue in the lobby of the Big Daddy, the iconic hero/monster of their biggest game, 2007’s BioShock.

A first-person view down a corridor where every wall, floor, and enemy is rendered from glowing text characters

When you switch languages, Torizon Telecom rebuilds itself

SkagoGames' shooter renders walls, guns, and bullets as words

A city street rendered entirely in colored text characters, from the TerminalDev project reel

TerminalDev's open-world city is drawn entirely in ASCII

A pseudonymous solo dev is building a multiplayer crime sandbox with no 3D models or shaders

A neon-green flooded city seen in first person, with platforming rails threading between rooftops

Critical Reflex picks up Grindset T.V.

INFINITE ANIMAL's courier platformer is set in a corporatized Heaven, and the Mouthwashing publisher's signature reads like a curatorial stamp.

Cezar Mocan, A Field Guide to Orbital Melancholy

Watch "A Field Guide of Orbital Melancholy" [Playlist 289]

Ask the satellite twice, get two different lies.

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When you switch languages, Torizon Telecom rebuilds itself

TerminalDev's open-world city is drawn entirely in ASCII

Critical Reflex picks up Grindset T.V.

Watch "A Field Guide of Orbital Melancholy" [Playlist 289]