settled-reach/docs/sprints/sprint-9/audio.md

title, description, type, status, sprint, team

title	description	type	status	sprint	team
Sprint 9 — Audio Briefing	Interaction audio assets completion, Sprint 7 UI audio asset revision	sprint	archived	9	audio

Sprint 9: Gauntlet — Audio Tasks

Goal: Build the test infrastructure backbone — test client binary, Gauntlet rooms 1-3, golden file suite, and client QA harness — so every future sprint can be validated end-to-end.

Branch: audio Agents: Inigo (sound design)

Carry-over from Sprint 8

#	Title	Status	Notes
#440	6 interaction audio assets — cursor hover, weapon mode, fog recognition, implant, dialogue, confrontation dip	in_progress	In progress with Inigo. Highest priority — complete before starting #453.

New Tickets

#	Title	Blocked by
#453	Revisit Sprint 7 UI audio assets — trim to target durations and iterate	— (after #440)

Key Decisions

• decisions/architecture.md — D-068 (5-bus audio architecture: Music, Ambient, WorldSFX, PlayerActions, UISounds; AudioManager directory-scan registry)
• decisions/architecture.md — D-073 (zone crossfade: hard tile boundary, 1.5-2s audio tween; AudioManager.set_zone() stub exists in client/scripts/autoloads/audio_manager.gd)
• decisions/scope.md — D-038 (hybrid audio generation: SAO for >200ms organic sounds, manual synthesis for <200ms precise/digital UI sounds; insert-tech vs organic split from D-074)
• decisions/perception.md — D-069 (audio dip profiles: dialogue -7dB Ambient; confrontation -11dB Ambient + -5dB WorldSFX + 800Hz low-pass; dip tweens already implemented in AudioManager)

Notes

#440 — 6 interaction audio assets

What exists: client/scripts/autoloads/audio_manager.gd is fully implemented (D-068, D-069, D-073). It uses a directory-scan registry: drop an .ogg, .wav, or .mp3 file into res://audio/ and it auto-registers by filename stem. No code changes needed to add assets — audio branch can add files independently of client code.

The 5-bus routing is live: UISounds bus handles cursor hover and interaction feedback; Ambient and WorldSFX buses are handled by the dialogue/confrontation dip profiles. apply_dip("confrontation") and apply_dip("dialogue") are implemented.

What to deliver: 6 audio files committed to the audio branch under res://audio/:

1. sfx_cursor_hover.ogg — subtle UI feedback for cursor landing on an interactable entity. Short (<200ms), precise. Manual synthesis (insert-tech aesthetic per D-074).
2. sfx_weapon_mode.ogg — stance shift or mode toggle cue. Digital, clean. Manual synthesis.
3. sfx_fog_recognition.ogg — "neural ping" as a previously-unseen entity resolves from grey blob to full color (D-060 cognitive delay completion). Crystalline, directional feel. SAO or manual synthesis.
4. sfx_implant_open.ogg — insert/HUD open event. Diegetic tech sound. SAO for organic texture if >200ms; manual for shorter.
5. sfx_dialogue_start.ogg — conversation initiates. Subtle, not jarring — dialogue already has the -7dB Ambient dip cue. Avoid competing with voice/text readability.
6. sfx_confrontation_dip.ogg — confrontation audio dip accompaniment. This fires when apply_dip("confrontation") is called. Should feel like the world narrows — compressed, focused. Plays on UISounds bus.

Gotcha: The AudioManager calls play() with the asset filename stem as the key. Asset key must match exactly — e.g., file sfx_cursor_hover.ogg is called with AudioManager.play("sfx_cursor_hover"). Verify stems before committing.

Duration targets: all 6 are UI sounds (UISounds bus) — keep under 1.0s. Dialogue and confrontation sounds should be especially short to avoid competing with text display timing.

#453 — Revisit Sprint 7 UI audio assets — trim to target durations and iterate

What exists: Sprint 7 UI audio assets exist in the audio branch under res://audio/. They were produced as initial placeholders. Team feedback (Tyre, Gestalt) flagged that some assets exceed target durations or don't fit the insert-tech vs organic aesthetic split from D-074.

What to deliver: Review each Sprint 7 UI asset against the D-038 / D-074 standards:

• sfx_monologue_chime.ogg — target 0.5-1.0s, crystalline/neural-lattice feel. Re-synthesize if duration or tone is off.
• sfx_monologue_chime_urgent.ogg — sharper variant, same duration range. Must feel distinctly more urgent than the base chime.
• Any other Sprint 7 UI assets — check stems against AudioManager registry, confirm routing to correct bus.

Output: revised assets committed to audio branch, replacing the originals. Note which files changed and why in the PR description. If an asset is acceptable as-is, note that too.

Dependency Chain

#440 (6 interaction audio assets) — in progress, complete first
    -> #453 (Sprint 7 asset revision, start after #440 is done)

PR Workflow

When ready to submit, create a PR with tea CLI. All flags are required to avoid TTY prompts (see CLAUDE.md "Gitea access" section):

tea pr create --repo jpmschweitzer/settled-reach --login schweitz --title "feat(audio): sprint 9 gauntlet — interaction SFX pack and Sprint 7 asset revisions" --description "body" --base main --head audio