Adaptive music and sound design. Wwise implementation.
The Whispering Forest
An Interactive Audio Narrative for a Fictional RPG Location
“If you listen closely enough… it might whisper back.”
The Whispering Forest is a magical forest steeped in ancient spells and forgotten wars. Its beauty shifts with the time of day — from peaceful sunlight to mysterious starlight — and sometimes, the forest awakens under a dormant spell.
Read Full Story
They call it the Whispering Forest — a place where silence hums and every breeze carries a hidden voice. By day, sunlight filters through the ancient canopy, painting the moss-covered ground in gold. Herbs, vines, and flowers grow here that healers and alchemists revere, each said to hold secrets of life itself.
When night falls, the wonder deepens. Moss glows with faint green light, fireflies drift like fallen stars, and still pools mirror the constellations with impossible clarity. Yet the forest listens, and sometimes… it remembers.
On rare nights, an ancient spell stirs. Mist rises, the light dims, and paths vanish. Wolves twisted by forgotten magic emerge, their eyes gleaming with unnatural intelligence. And when the curse awakens fully, warriors of the Forgotten Warstep from the fog — silent, relentless figures locked in battles no one understands.
Then, just as suddenly, it ends. The mist retreats, the wolves disappear, and the warriors dissolve into shadow. The forest breathes again, restoring its beauty as if nothing happened. But those who are taken by the spell… do not return.
Audio System Structure
🎮 Player States:
- Exploration
- ☀️ Daytime: Peaceful, calm, inspiring with soft forest ambience (singing birds, light winds)
- 🌙 Nighttime: Ethereal, slow-moving, mysterious; ambience expresses its magical nature (wind noises, twisted water sounds)
- 🌀 Under the Spell: Dark, surreal, and magical; its ambience enhances feeling of danger (transformed whispering voices samples, twisted wind instrument sounds, noises of wood)
- ⚔️ Battle
- Dynamic, layered combat music with intensity
Audio Design Features
Each exploration state has own variable ambience, that is created using short audio clips (up to 15 seconds each.) One track is looped and works as an audio bed. On the top of it there are layered other samples placed into random container. To add variability there is also added silence with randomised length.
Music
Daytime “Magic Forest in Sunlight
Listen to: Daytime “Magic Forest in Sunlight”
☀️ Daytime – The Forest in Light
At first, the Whispering Forest feels like a dream. Sunlight pours through the ancient canopy in golden shafts, dust and pollen drifting like sparks. Moss carpets the earth in green velvet, and the air hums softly, as though the trees themselves breathe. The forest seems timeless, patient, and endlessly alive.
For those who dare to wander deeper, there are treasures. Herbs with petals that heal wounds, vines that purge poisons, blossoms that bloom only in shadows, rumored to extend life. Alchemists whisper of them with reverence; healers guard their secrets. By day, the forest gives freely, though always with watchful silence.
Nighttime “Forest under the Stars”
Listen to: Nighttime “Forest under the Stars”
🌙 Nighttime – The Forest in Shadow
When the sun sets, the wonder does not vanish—it transforms. The trees glow faintly with moss that shines pale green, and fireflies drift like stars fallen low. Pools of water mirror the constellations with impossible clarity, making the forest floor feel like a sky turned upside down.
Yet the stillness carries unease. The silence is deeper, as though something waits beneath root and stone. The beauty of the night whispers of magic older than memory, and though it feels gentle, one never forgets that the forest listens.
Under the Spell “A Place that Doesn’t Forget”
Listen to: Under the Spell “A Place that Doesn’t Forget”
🌀 Under the Spell – The Forest Transformed
There are rare, unpredictable moments when the spell stirs. It begins as a faint thrum beneath the soil, a shiver in the bones of trees. Mist curls upward, swallowing paths, dimming light, and thickening the air until even birds vanish into silence. The forest itself seems to twist, reshaping in the haze.
What was wonder becomes dread. The ground grows cold, the air heavy. Shapes blur and shift in the fog. Travelers speak of a presence that watches unseen, a force that awakens not with moon or sun but with its own will. When the spell rises, the forest ceases to welcome—it devours.
“Battle in the Whispering Forest”
Listen to: “Battle in the Whispering Forest”
⚔️ The Wolves and the Warriors
First come the wolves. No longer beasts of instinct, but creatures warped by the forest’s hunger. Larger, quicker, their eyes shine with intelligence that chills. They move without sound, circling in the mist, and strike with precision no hunter has ever known. Their howls weave through the woods like a curse, echoing in the bones of all who hear.
But even the wolves are not the greatest danger. When the spell fully awakens, warriors step from the fog—figures clad in dark, spectral armor, silent and relentless. They do not tire, they do not speak. Some watch like statues, others clash in endless combat against wolves, each other, or intruders. To cross their path is to face a battle not meant for the living, and few return once chosen as their opponent.
Tools:
🎵 Cubase
🎛️ Audiokinetic Wwise
🌲 AI-generated visuals + narrative lore
About This Project
Whispering Forest is a personal music and ambience project designed for a fictional fantasy RPG location. All audio was composed and produced in Cubase and implemented using Audiokinetic Wwise to simulate real-time game states and transitions.