How RaceWard plan to improve TT Isle of Man: Ride on the Edge 3’s sound design

RaceWard Studio, the developer behind RiMS Racing, is responsible for the development of the upcoming official game of the Isle of Man TT (IOMTT); TT Isle of Man: Ride on the Edge 3.

The Italian Studio has taken over the reins from Kylotonn and aims to build on the success of its previous two IOMTT games, as well as work on some of its weaknesses.

One of those weaknesses was the series’ sound design, with motorcycle engine sounds mainly coming in for criticism.

In the second of the game’s developer blogs, Luca Piccina, Audio Director of RaceWard Studio – a division of Nacon Studio Milan – explained how the team captured sounds and how they believe they can replicate an authentic motorbike experience in-game.

“We had the opportunity to visit the TT last year and capture both bikes and live ambiences there, so you will listen to all live footage captured there during the race days. We wanted to recreate the atmosphere of the race at its best,” said Piccina.

“Bike sounds were recorded directly on track, following the same procedure applied with RiMS Racing. We tied several mics on the bike and let the rider drive freely while we captured the sound with a portable recorder that was given to the rider in a backpack,” Piccina continued.

Intriguingly, this means the bike sounds you hear from real onboard cameras will be implemented in-game, and ambient sounds will be taken directly from the 2022 IOMTT paddock. External sounds were also recorded track-side, as shown in the below video, hopefully resulting in realistic-sounding replays in the finished product.

Piccini states that sound is “half of the experience”, and “greatly contributes to providing the player with excitement and immersion,” which will be music to the ears of IOMTT game fans. This underlines the importance of good sound design to RaceWard, something also apparent in RiMS Racing.

Without hearing any of the game’s audio we cannot say for certain whether TT Isle of Man: Ride on the Edge 3 will see a big jump in audio quality over its predecessor. However, judging from Piccini’s words – and RiMS Racing’s existing sound design – we should be feeling optimistic.

Are you impressed with RaceWard Studios’ approach to audio design in TT Isle of Man: Ride on the Edge 3? Let us know in the comments below.