Building Carcosa’s audio identity
When the team embarked on the journey of creating Saros, they faced a fascinating creative challenge: how to establish a completely new world, Carcosa, using sound alone. With a philosophy rooted in “Refinement, not Reinvention,” the goal was not merely to add background noise, but to build an entirely distinctive audio identity that felt as essential to the experience as the visuals.
This approach meant embracing a gameplay-first mentality, ensuring that every sonic element—from the heartbeat of the environment to the clash of combat—served the player’s immersion. The objective was to harness the power of PS5 technology, including Tempest 3D Audio and the DualSense haptics, to deliver an experience that was not just heard, but felt.
To capture the alien and hostile atmosphere of Carcosa, the sound designers dove into unconventional sources. Early explorations focused on defining the world’s core—the Eclipse—by experimenting with sounds far outside traditional sound design boundaries. One remarkable discovery came from processing didgeridoo recordings, which, through creative manipulation, evolved into epic voices and became foundational to the sound palette of the Yellow King and the surrounding Corruption.
This process extended beyond epic tones. The team treated everything as raw material, blending grounded recordings with abstract elements to craft sounds that were simultaneously familiar and profoundly alien. For instance, the soundscape of the Yellow Shore was built from unprocessed recordings of frying chicken and walnuts, and the menacing presence of mechanical enemies was fashioned from processed floppy disk sounds. Sound design became about finding the potential hidden within unexpected noises, crafting sounds that you never intended to hear but which perfectly communicate the world’s strangeness.
The soundscape of the world was meticulously layered, ensuring every element had its place. Enemy vocalisations were designed to be fast and memorable for quick reactions, while the cosmic entities were imbued with a blend of menace and beauty, drawing inspiration from Mongolian throat singing and instruments like the shakuhachi.
Projectiles themselves were given distinct sonic languages. Blue projectiles utilized electric and liquid textures, while the Corrupted yellow projectiles drew directly from the didgeridoo-based Corruption language, and red projectiles were defined by tonal material derived from processed human screams. These carefully defined palettes allowed players to instantly read intense combat through pure sound.
In combat, the sound design employed intelligent prioritization. Instead of overwhelming the player, the system organized competing noises—enemies, projectiles, and environmental details—into distinct levels of prominence. This dense mix ensured that the most critical information remained audible, allowing players to manage the chaos without auditory fatigue.
Building on this principle, the implementation of PS5‘s 3D Audio went beyond simple positioning. Using PS Acoustics technology, the system calculated real-time reverberation and reflection, making spaces feel genuinely responsive. Players could hear echoes and reflections bouncing off nearby walls, creating believable acoustic depth that matched the unique architecture of the environment.
This immersive quality extended to the controller. Sound and haptics were developed in tandem, ensuring that every sensation carried weight and nuance. When ammunition ran low, the subtle change in haptic frequency provided an immediate, non-visual indicator of the weapon’s state. This close collaboration meant that physical interactions, weapon behavior, and narrative moments were communicated through both what players heard and what they felt in the DualSense controller.
Ultimately, the sound design of Saros is a masterclass in sensory integration. By treating sound as a narrative tool, utilizing cutting-edge spatial audio, and empowering the player with fine-tuned controls, the experience delivers a world that is not only spectacular but deeply, uniquely responsive.
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