Why do my sound effects click when they play in Unity?
A click means the waveform does not start at zero. How to find it, the 5 ms fix, and why a level meter never shows it.
Game audio guides
Straight answers on game audio: licensing AI-generated sound effects, the format to ship to Unity and Unreal, how much headroom to leave, and why clips click. Written from the work of preparing and shipping this catalogue, so the numbers in them are measured rather than repeated.
Can I use AI-generated sound effects in a commercial game?
Yes, if the plan you generated on grants commercial rights. What Unity, itch.io, Fab and Steam each require you to declare.
WAV, OGG or MP3: which format should game sound effects ship in?
Ship uncompressed WAV and let the engine compress once. Unity and Unreal re-encode on import, so a compressed source is compressed twice.
How loud should game sound effects be?
A file peaking at 0 dBFS can clip after the engine re-encodes it. Why -1.5 dBTP, what true peak measures, and why per-file normalisation hurts.
What gun sound effects does a shooter game need?
A shot is only the start. The firearm sounds a shooter needs, from handling foley to impacts and feedback cues, and how to stop rapid fire sounding like a loop.
What sound effects does a racing or driving game need?
Engine loops at several speeds, tyres, gear changes, collisions and race events. How driving games build an engine sound from loops, and the full list a racer needs.
What sound effects does an RPG need?
Combat, magic, creatures, footsteps, dungeons, loot, interface and ambience. The full list a fantasy RPG needs, and which of those sounds players hear most often.
What UI sound effects does a game need?
Taps, toggles, confirms, denials, notifications, rewards and transitions. The interface sounds a game needs, and how to keep them from wearing on the player.
What sound effects does a horror game need?
Atmosphere, creatures, small noises in the dark and the occasional scare. What a horror game's sound list looks like, and why the ambience does more work than the jumpscares.
How many footstep sounds does a game need?
One set per surface and several variations per action. How footsteps are organised, why repetition gives them away, and how many files a complete set really is.
What makes a good ambience loop for a game?
A background bed that runs for minutes without anyone noticing where it repeats. What an ambience loop needs, how to check the join, and how to layer it.
What sound effects does a fishing game need?
A fishing game needs casts, bites, reel movement, fish fights, catches, tackle, boats, water beds and clear feedback for each stage of the catch.
What sound effects does a card game need?
A card game needs draws, deals, shuffles, plays, combat feedback, resources, turn cues, rewards, deck-building UI and a quiet table bed.
What sounds does a zombie game need?
A zombie game needs individual groans, attacks, deaths and movement, plus horde beds, turning sounds and environmental foley for each encounter.
What sound effects do magic spells in a game need?
Magic spells need recognisable casts, travel or sustain layers, impacts, failures, status cues and loops that keep each element easy to identify.
What sound effects do sci-fi weapons and lasers need?
Sci-fi weapons need varied shots, charge and reload foley, impacts, near misses, explosions, shields, drones and clear low-power feedback.
Where can I get retro 8-bit sound effects for a game?
Use a matched retro library with movement, pickups, powerups, shots, hits, menus, rewards, game states, enemies, timers and machine foley.
What sound effects does a fighting game need?
A fighting game needs swings, light and heavy hits, kicks, blocks, grabs, falls, special impacts and matching attack, pain and knockout vocals.
What monster sounds does a game need?
A monster needs idle, alert, attack, pain and death vocals, with distinct variants for behaviour, size and distance and separate movement or hive beds.
What sword and medieval weapon sounds does a game need?
A medieval combat game needs swings, hits by material, clashes, blocks, bows, arrows, armour, gear and distinct foley for every weapon state.
What weather sound effects does a game need?
A game needs steady weather beds, local details, transitions and hazards for rain, thunder, wind, snow, fire, water and changing times of day.
What sound effects does an underwater game need?
An underwater game needs bubbles, breathing, swimming, hull movement, sea life, impacts, diving gear, wrecks, deep-sea cues and steady water beds.
Where can I get NPC voice lines for a game?
Use organised bark packs with multiple takes for merchants, guards, innkeepers, wizards, priests, blacksmiths, squads and announcers.
Where can I get free sound effects for my game?
Three kinds of free, and only one ships without conditions. What to check before downloading, which free sources are worth using, and when free stops paying.
Should I subscribe to a sound library or buy packs?
Subscribe for several games a year or music and footage too; buy packs for one game. The trap is what you keep after cancelling, and whether the plan covers a game build at all.
Where do I get music for a game trailer or devlog?
The licence has to cover the platform as well as the track, and trailer music and in-game music are usually two licences. Which creator subscriptions fit.
Is ZapSplat Gold worth it for a game developer?
What the Gold upgrade changes for a game developer (WAV files, no credit line, no download delay), what you keep after cancelling, and when a themed pack is the better buy.
Why these exist
Each one answers a question that comes up repeatedly from people buying or building game audio, and each is written from something that actually happened here: an Asset Store rejection, an audit of 150 shipped files, a levelling pass that moved a peak back over spec. Where a number appears it was measured on real files.
There are 571 free sounds if you would rather test the conclusions than read them.