Making Noise
From Zangshin
The question of sound and noise. Leaving asside the question if its a good idea for now let's examine our possibilities:
- We can rely on browser specific tags to throw in the odd sound effect which may or may not play.
- We can create an elaborate and bullet proof JavaScript library that will do it's best to play what sounds we want on as many browsers as possible.
- Or we can include a tiny flash file that will manage all our sound needs.
Most attractive is the flash solution. People can simply choose to have sound at the beginning and be warned of the implications (such as needing flash and ahvign more to download). Then we can use an array of tools, such as panning and changes in volume to match simple sounds to the game action, getting much more out of even simple effects. And ultimatly we could even play some moody background music according to the environment. Perhaps some short loops at relatively low quality.
Here are some links to demos of flash based sound:
