Sound wizard tackles league

By DOUG GRIFFITHS

From his Makarori Beach home studio, Simon Castles is working on the sound effects and music for NRL 2003 - a rugby league simulator game developed by Sidhe Interactive.

Due for release in August on PC and PlayStation 2 - with an Xbox version likely to follow - the game will feature original music, locally produced sound effects and voice commentary from a still unnamed Australian commentator.

"The brief is a mixture of of modern and classic rock with a bit of techno thrown in," said Castles, who expects the music and sound effects to be complete by May or June with the commentary dialogue the last piece of the jigsaw.

Crowd recordings have been taken from real games at Ericsson Stadium, as have tackle calls - from a referee's microphone. The sounds players make - such as when tackled, running or kicking the football - are recorded at practice sessions.

"I take the recordings home and beef them up to make them more Hollywood," he says.

Castles composes the music on a Macintosh G4 with the help of Steinberg Software's Cubase VST/32 and Nuendo.

"This technology has helped me to create realistic and compelling music without needing to resort to using high-end, high price recording studios."

The result, says Castles, is a professional soundtrack at an affordable cost for his local and international clients.

Castles and Wellington-based Sidhe (pronounced she) have worked together before - on the PC game Barbie's Beach Vacation for which he supplied the music and sound design. His company Castles Music Productions has provided music and sound effects for software titles and television adverts for the past five years and has customers in Australia, America and Britain.

He says the internet has played a crucial part in making contacts within the industry.

"I've spent the past five years emailing hundreds of computer game developers as well as sending out demo CDs while learning the ropes of music composition and sound effects creation."

He also uses the net to search out new contacts.

"I always refer potential clients to my website where they can hear my demonstration music tracks and sound effects. The website is one of my most powerful promotional tools," he said.

NRL 2003 will be published by Australia's Home Entertainment Suppliers. A work-in-progress beta download for the PC is available from its website.

The beta release of the game, which aims to bring the excitement and ruthlessness of this season's rugby league competition to your PlayStation 2 or PC, lets you choose to play as either one of last year's grand finalists - the Vodafone Warriors or the Sydney Roosters.

Warriors fans will enjoy the opportunity to try to get a different virtual result.

Sidhe

Rugby League Demo