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Candellum Walkthrough
Candellum is an eight months project made at ISART Digital Paris for PC and the PS4. It was created by a team of seventeen people with Unreal Engine 5. Sound integration was done using Wwise. The 5th March, the game received the distinction "Best Student Game" by the Academy of Videogame Arts and Techniques (Pégases 2026)
We were two sound designers on this project. We worked together on every aspect of the game, such as creating assets, sound integration and composing the soundtrack. I was also in charge of creating the dynamic music system and interactive mixing pipeline.
Photos taken during the 7th Pégases Ceremony (from left to right myself, the whole team, and with Stanislas d'Arnoux de Fleury/the second sound designer on the project)
Sound Design
For the Sound Design, we wanted to match the aesthetic of the game, by also emphasizing the organic aspect of the characters, especially with wax, fire and clay sound.
We wanted to convey a fantasy and fantastic atmosphere to this place, playing on designed metallic sound for factories and cave/mountain ambiance.
Short sound design examples
Player life consuming feedback overview in Wwise
This feature is also piloted by the state group PlayerCondition, allowing to shut it off when the player is in exploration or when he beats the game.
As a candle, the player is melting, and as a part of our USP, it was important to create a sound to inform the player on its missing health.
In the first place, we have created a linear placeholder loop, then we adjusted it in Wwise. We have setup two RTPC, one piloting the volume of this sound, and the other one piloting a tremolo. Our goal was to make it acts as a “heartbeat”, going faster and higher in volume when the player is low on health.
By creating the game parameter player_life_consuming_control in Wwise, we have been able to link it to the player’s health.
Sound Integration
To integrate our work, we used several methods.
We were able to implement our work within blueprints and animations. It allowed us to work with an accurate visual, and to integrate our work really fast.
For visual effects, such as projectile impacts or the apparition of each area, we implemented them directly in their respective Niagara System using the Wwise-Niagara Integration plugin.
And for some localized sound like smoke, we use Ak Ambient Sound to place on their concerned visual in each level.
Integration examples in Unreal
Sequencer audio integration in Unreal
For animated cinematics of special machines in the environment, we also used sequencer to integrate sound and music.
For the press sequencer, we attached our audio events directly to the their respective skeletal mesh, in order to preserve their spatialization.
For each ambiance, we have placed boxes in our sublevel, using AkSpatialAudioVolume. It had helped us place precisely our ambiances, and create smooth transition using AkAudioPortal.
These boxes also allow us to implement our different reverbs.
AkSpatialAudioVolume representation in Unreal
Dynamic Mixing
In addition to our global volume balance, it was required to create a dynamic mixing pipeline in combat. To achieve a good result in those very dense moment, we have set up some mix state groups to pilot different audio bus and actor-mixer volumes or filters.
When entering fighting, the state fight is triggered and lowers ambiance and environment volumes to make room for every combat SFX. The same type of system is used to reduce those volumes when the player is defeated.
Moreover, when the pause menu or a tutorial are opened, a low-pass filter is engaged on the music and environment busses to create a soothing feeling and slowing the paste in the UI.
Moreover, to adapt the global volume during intense fight scenes, we have created several game parameters to monitor the output of the most important SFX busses, and create a sidechain effect on others using the Wwise meter plugin.
When some targeted SFX are played, it lowers the volume of enemy attacks or moveset, environment sounds and even the music. For example, when the death of an enemy is played, it sidechains all of those busses to make this sound more impactful, by creating more clarity and dynamic in the overall mix.
But most importantly we also oriented our mix on our combat system. When an enemy is lit and/or has an armor and attacks, a sidechain lowers every other enemy sounds to refocus the mix and the attention on this new threat.
A sidechain is also called to reduced some elements like the music during exploration, for example when the boss scream play, foreshadowing its presence deep in the mine.
List of every sidechain game parameters
Example of a sidechain curve on enemy damage sounds monitored by enemy armor sounds
Boss scream sidechain
Pause state effect
Music production and recording
To match the game atmosphere, we have used large orchestral ensemble, supported by oriental and tribal instruments. Our goal is to personified the two principal factions of the game (fire and wax), playing on instrumentation and their organic aspect.
We also used metallic and synthetic elements to give a more fantastic and industrial mood to our work, supported by huge percussion ensembles.
To achieve the goal we set for our music production pipeline, we had the opportunity to record some of our instruments at the sound studio of the Louis Lumière School, which specializes in cinema, sound, and photography, in addition to some sessions recorded at Isart.
We called on the expertise of Alba de la Rosa, a sound engineer and former student of this institution, to record the cello, duduk, and drums.
She also blend drums, bass and guitars to the entire orchestra of our Boss music track.
Mixing session with Alba de la Rosa (middle), Stanislas d'Arnoux de Fleury (left) and myself (right)
Recording sessions
Wwise Music System
I designed the music system of our game to be as responsive as possible, and match each gameplay or story changes happening on screen.
The system works within one single Switch Container. It is administered by two state groups, PlayerCondition which pilots the player ingame status, and MusicState, which pilots what type of song should be playing depending on the action.
Then a switch group is used to specify what exact music should be played, if it is an exploration track, a fighting track, a stinger or a jingle.
Finally, depending and the advancement in the game, events are triggered by blueprint to set the right state and switch groups for each music.
Starting event
State and switch groups
Music system breakdown in Wwise soundcaster
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