Gaming Innovations of the Future! #1: Infinitely Variable Aural Experience

In this series, I'll be suggesting innovations in gaming that, while purely theoretical at this stage, could significantly enhance the medium.

#1: Infinitely Variable Aural Experience

At the moment, games contain hundreds, if not thousands, of pre-recorded sound files - from orchestral pieces, to voice work, to the thump of a footstep - that play when certain conditions within the game are met. Music provides ambience and shapes the mood, voice acting draws the player into the story and sound effects add credibility and physicality to polygons bumping against polygons.

Eventually, however, the player will have heard every single one of these sound files multiple times, particularly in games that are designed to be played over months or years. It's simply too much work to record enough unique sonic backdrops and interludes to prevent frequent looping and repetition. What at first seemed natural or fitting, even revelatory, begins to wear thin, even grate. This is particularly the case with repeated lines of dialogue.

As to the dialogue, it's hard to conceive of a solution even in theory, but one thing that I can imagine being plausible in the future is a method of producing random variations on certain sound types and musical themes. Think of it as the sonic equivalent of a, say, a fractal pattern generator. Every clash of swords would have a subtly unique tenor. The warning shriek of violins would never be quite what you were expecting. Perhaps even moans of pain or defeat (or enjoyment?) could be individualised via this system.