Stowe Landscape Gardens - Wwise Environment

Creating Space through Sound

I aimed to create an immersive environment using only ambience and footstep sounds. I used the gardens of Stowe in England as inspiration, as they provided both a relaxing backdrop and several characteristic landmarks, such as bridges and pavilions. All sounds are manipulated through Wwise in real time using 4 parameters (RTPCs):

1. GroundMaterial

• Transitions footstep sounds between grass, dirt, gravel, and stone.

• Crossfades smoothly between each for more complex surfaces.

2. Indoors

• Filters out any outdoor ambience and applies reverb to remaining sfx.
• If it is raining, the splatter of rain on stone is heard.
• At midrange values, spaces become reverberant without much filtering. (Ideal for pavilions and other open-air monuments)

3. Stormy

• Stowe is prone to frequent and sudden bursts of rain.
• Increasing this RTPC fades out birdsong and introduces gusty winds, light drizzle, and eventually a full downpour.
• Thunder also booms with increasing (but still randomized) frequency at higher values.

4. StreamProximity

• Simulates the calm bodies of water that flow throughout the gardens.

Landmark Profiles

To demonstrate the flexibility of those 4 RTPCs, I selected landmarks that were distinct and identifiable and created presets for each of them.