A tale of Silent depths

Original Soundtrack, Sound Design & Full FMOD Implementation — Crit 42

A Tale of Silent Depths is a turn-based tactical RPG set in a mysterious post-apocalyptic underwater world, developed by Crit 42. It blends procedural exploration, submarine management, tactical combat, and atmospheric storytelling — a combination that needed an audio direction capable of holding both moment-to-moment tension and long-form immersion. I handled the complete audio production pipeline for the project: original soundtrack composition, sound design, mixing and audio polish, and full implementation in FMOD.

The Challenge

Audio Direction

What I Did

Audio Highlights

Technical Implementation

The Result

A game built around long play sessions and procedural exploration creates a specific audio problem: how do you sustain atmosphere and tension for hours without the soundtrack becoming repetitive or fatiguing? On top of that, the game shifts constantly between quiet underwater exploration and sharp turn-based combat — two very different audio needs that still have to feel like one cohesive world. The audio direction had to deliver isolation and slow underwater pressure during exploration, tactical readability during combat, and a unified sonic identity tying it all together.

The sonic identity centered on a few core feelings: isolation, the slow pressure of being deep underwater, tactical clarity in combat, and cohesion across every gameplay phase. The soundtrack was designed to evolve naturally between calmer exploration moments and more threatening situations — responsive to the game state, but never jarring, and built to stay fresh across long sessions rather than looping into monotony.

• Composed the full original soundtrack — exploration, tension, combat, and atmospheric cues.

• Designed and produced the SFX package — UI, submarine systems, interactions, ambiences, and combat feedback.

• Mixed music and SFX together — tuned for clarity, dynamic balance, and listening comfort across long sessions.

• Implemented the complete interactive audio system in FMOD — loops, stems, transitions, and parameter-driven behaviors.

• Delivered organized, implementation-ready assets — loops, stems, transitions, and clean exports with consistent naming and versioning.

• Adaptive underwater atmosphere — layered ambient systems that reinforce depth, isolation, and procedural exploration without ever overwhelming gameplay readability.

• Tactical combat readability — combat audio designed to stay punchy and intelligible during turn-based encounters, so important gameplay feedback always cuts through the mix.

• Interactive music flow — seamless transitions between exploration and tension states, built with loop structures and parameter-driven behaviors in FMOD.

• Cohesive sonic identity — a unified palette of music and sound design that holds the game's dark underwater world together across every gameplay phase.

• Middleware: FMOD Studio.

• Audio workflow: loop-ready music structures, stems and layered adaptive systems, parameter-driven transitions and intensity control, and organized naming and versioning for smooth integration and iteration.

• The final implementation was built to stay flexible for future iteration while holding consistent mix quality across every gameplay context.

The finished audio supports the player experience on every front — atmospheric immersion during exploration, clarity during combat, smooth pacing between the two, and adaptive systems that respond naturally to whatever the game throws at the player. A Tale of Silent Depths is available now on Steam.