A sonic boom flares blue as a racecar speeds by. Asbjoern Andersen


GRIP: Combat Evolved is a spiritual successor to the 1999 Playstation classic Rollcage, which means you can drive at insane speeds that defy gravity as well as foil your friends and foes with heavy artillery. Last year it was released on PC, Xbox One, PS4, and Switch, and it is now available on Xbox Game Pass.

In this short interview, we speak with Tavis Wait and Yoshi Gans, two of the game's sound designers, about how they got involved with the project and what approaches they took to designing the beefy engine sounds and Mario Kart-style ordnance of these lightning-fast cars.


Written by Adriane Kuzminski. Images courtesy of Caged Element.
Please share:
Animal Hyperrealism IV Is Here!


GRIP: Combat Racing - Launch Trailer | PS4


How did you get involved with the project?

Tavis Wait (TW): My involvement sparked from providing an improvement to the Warlander engine sound loop as a fan contribution. Chris contacted me later on to see if I’d be interested in doing more engine sounds and it sort of snowballed from there.

 

When the cars are idling, it sounds like you used the growl of some pretty aggressive and fancy vehicles. What supercars influenced your design?

Most of them come from the meanest, dirtiest V8 muscle cars like the Plymouth Cuda and Dodge Charger

TW: There are a wide variety of inspirations for the sounds but most of them come from the meanest, dirtiest V8 muscle cars like the Plymouth Cuda and Dodge Charger. The rest are combinations of futuristic ‘spaceshippy’ sounds, exotic supercars like the Audi R8 V10, and historic rally cars like the Lancia Stratos.

Yoshi Gans (YG): I did a few back when I was a student doing my internship and one on commission later on. The ones from my internship were from wildly different sources. For example, the Cygon ones are almost fully from experimenting in my DAW. I took one of the layers from the normal engine sound, pitched it down and slowed it down a bit as a base sound, and then I layered it with others that eventually made up the Cygon idle sounds.

Another one I worked on was the Vintek Tank idling. It was an interesting one, because I was working with the sounds of another sound designer that had previously worked on the project. I had to re-use a lot of his sounds of the original engine and then layer them with an idling engine, which in this particular case was a rat rod, to make them sound like they belonged to the right car.



GRIP: Combat Racing: All car sounds


Did you find inspiration from classic racing series like Forza or Gran Turismo or destruction franchises like Twisted Metal or Burnout?

TW: My main inspirations for the sound design came from Dirt Rally and Elite Dangerous. If any of my sound design can even hold a candle to those titles then I’ve done my job.

 

Did you use any synthesizer plug-ins to create the sounds of the vehicles as they tear through their gears or employ power-ups? Did you intensify the engines in the different play modes?

TW: I used every kind of synthesis under the sun to make sounds; subtractive, additive, granular, wavetable, sample-based, you name it. Many of the sounds are combinations of purely synthesized sounds, recordings, and processed samples.

The sound of the engines on different power levels changes only by consequence of higher speed. The sounds are set up to scale with the vehicle’s speed and engine RPM range, so we don’t need to have different assets for different power levels.


Popular on A Sound Effect right now - article continues below:


Trending right now:

  • Strident and Demonic

    Expand the timbre of your horror violins and cellos with CIRCUS, a sinister sample pack featuring 180 WAV sounds of screeching or high-pitched string noises, perfect for horror music and dark sound design.

    Creative Tension

    This collection offers a curated selection of screeches, high-tension tremolo, heavy jeté strokes, dark demonic textures, finger patterns, chaotic string elements, clock loops and bow accents.

    Haunting and Experimental

    Create haunting atmospheres, perfect for horror, thriller or experimental soundtracks. Every element has been designed to unsettle and disturb, blurring the line between music and noise.

  • ⏰ For a very limited time:
    Add this library to the cart and enter ah4launch in the cart coupon field – to sprinkle an extra launch discount, on top of the current discount!

    Animal Hyperrealism Vol IV is a sound library containing animal vocalisations, from real to designed creatures totaling more than 2000 individual sounds in 294 files. The sounds were recorded in zoos, and wildlife centers.

    The asset list includes but is not limited to: hippos, hyenas, vultures, dwarf mongooses, elephants, African cranes, parrots, tigers, pigmy hippos, rhea ostriches, brown bears, pheasants, wildebeests, African wild dogs and many more. The content has been recorded at 192KHz with a Sanken CO100K, an Avisoft CMPA and a Sennheiser 8050 for center plus two Sennheiser MKH8040 for stereo image.

    The resulting ultrasonic spectrum is rich and allows for truly extreme manipulation of the content.

    15 %
    OFF
  • Animal Sound Effects Animal Hyperrealism Vol III Play Track 1711 sounds included $180

    Animal Hyperrealism Vol III is a library containing sounds themed animal vocalisations, from real to designed creatures totaling more than 1700 individual sounds in 279 files.

    The sounds were recorded in zoos and wildlife centers. The asset list includes but is not limited to: european red deers, monkeys, reindeers, hornbills camels, crickets, tamarins, boars, frogs, red ruffed lemurs, parrots, and many more.

    The content has been recorded at 192KHz with a Sanken CO100K plus a Sennheiser 8050 for center image and a couple of Sennheiser MKH8040 for stereo image.
    Part of the cheats section of the library features samples recorded at 384KHz. For these sounds an additional microphone was employed, specifically the CMPA by Avisoft-Bioacoustics which records up to 200 KHz. This microphone was used to record most of the library but the 384KHz format was preserved only where energy was found beyond 96KHz not to occupy unnecessary disk space.
    All files are delivered as stereo bounce of these for mics, though in some instances an additional couple of CO100K was added to the sides.
    The resulting ultrasonic spectrum is rich and allows for truly extreme manipulation of the content.

    Bonus: Two extra libraries included for free:
    This library also includes two additional releases from Mattia Cellotto - for free: Crunch Mode delivers 230 crunchy sounds made with a variety of vegetables, fresh bread, pizza crust and a selection of frozen goods. The Borax Experiment gets you 158 squishy, gory, slimy and gooey sounds.
  • Animal Sound Effects Collections Animal Hyperrealism Vol I Play Track 290+ sounds included $180

    Animal Hyperrealism Vol I is a library containing sounds themed animal vocalisations, from real to designed creatures totaling more than 1300 individual sounds in 290 files.

    The sounds were partly recorded with animals trained for media production, partly recorded in zoos and wildlife centers. The asset list includes but is not limited to: african lions, bengal tigers, horses, donkeys, cows, exotic birds, owls, bobcats, pumas, dromedaries, wolves, dogs, geese, lemurs, gibbons and many more.

    All the content has been recorded at 192KHz with a Sanken CO100K plus a Sennheiser 8050 for center image and a couple of Sennheiser MKH8040 for stereo image. All files are delivered as stereo bounce of these four mics, though in some instances an additional couple of CO100K was added to the sides.

    The resulting ultrasonic spectrum is rich and allows for truly extreme manipulation of the content.

    Bonus: Two extra libraries included for free:
    This library also includes two additional releases from Mattia Cellotto - for free: Crunch Mode delivers 230 crunchy sounds made with a variety of vegetables, fresh bread, pizza crust and a selection of frozen goods. The Borax Experiment gets you 158 squishy, gory, slimy and gooey sounds.

Latest releases:

  • South East Asian Kitchen Ambience captures the busy and lively atmosphere of a working kitchen in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. This collection features authentic sounds of cooking activity—meat pounding, stove crackling, water dripping, blenders whirring, pumps, and the hum of a grater machine—layered with background chatter and the subtle presence of passing traffic.

    Perfect for filmmakers, game developers, and sound designers, these recordings deliver a realistic sense of place, transporting listeners straight into the heart of a Southeast Asian kitchen full of movement, energy, and life.

  • Deep Ice is a unique sound collection capturing the organic power and delicate beauty of ice in motion. Recorded with precision on frozen lakes, this library offers an immersive palette of crystalline cracks, deep impacts, and pure debris.
    You will find:
    – Under-ice recordings with an Aquarian H2d hydrophone: deep cracks and resonant fractures
    – Surface recordings in XY stereo with Schoeps CCM4: sharp impacts, hits, textures, cracks, and debris
    These sounds are ideal for films and series sound design, video games, and musicals creations. Each recording has been carefully cleaned and formatted to UCS standards.

    Showreel Deep ice MOOBOX
  • Animal Sound Effects The Birds Play Track 78+ sounds included, 177 mins total $100

    The Birds includes selections from some of my previous libraries: Forests and Mountains, California Grassland Wildlife, Forest Day, and Harbor and Ocean

    I’ve gone through all of these libraries and selected what I consider some of my favorite recordings and that only include birds.  With this collection you get a wide variety of various birds in different environments, perspectives, times of the day, night.  Birds together, more specific and separate, close, distant.  The locations mostly include Southern California Foothills, Forests, and Mountains and Central California Grassland areas.  There’s also some recordings from Washington and Oregon. 

    There’s a few different species of Owls, a number of Ravens, various Sparrows, Woodpeckers, Doves, Finches and all sorts of other fun birds singing away.  Anyone looking for a bit more info should check out the library links up top to get a good idea.

    I’ve provided the species listings by each library.  The file names have been kept the same as they were in the original libraries so if anyone would like to compare metadata sheets to see what’s included it will be a bit easier.

    Forests and Mountains
    Acorn Woodpecker, American Coot, Barred Owl, Black-headed Grosbeak, California Quail, California Towhee, Canadian Geese, Fox Sparrow, Great Horned Owl, House Wren, Mallard, Northern Flicker, Nuttall’s Woodpecker, Oak Titmouse, Pacific Wren, Pied-billed Grebe, Pileated Woodpecker, Common Poorwill,  Raven, Robin, Red-shouldered Hawk, Song Sparrow, Spotted Towhee, Steller’s Jay, Swainson’s Thrush, Western Wood-Pewee, Wilson’s Warbler, Wrentit, Yellow-throated Blackbird

    Forest Day
    Acorn Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Lawrence’s Goldfinch,Mountain Chickadee, Northern Flicker, Pygmy Nuthatch, Raven, Red Shouldered Hawk, Spotted Towhee, Western Bluebird, Williamson’s Sapsucker

    California Grassland Wildlife
    Ash-throated Flycatcher, Barn Owl, Bell’s Sparrow, Bullock’s Oriole, California Towhee, Cassin’s Kingbird, Common Nighthawk, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Horned Lark, House Finch, Great Horned Owl, Mourning Dove, Raven, Red-tailed Hawk, Say’s Phoebe, Western Kingbird

    Harbor and Ocean
    Crow, Herring Gull, Pelogagic Cormorant, Pigeon Guillemot

    Grassland Micro
    California Towhee, House Finch, Mourning Dove, Western Kingbird, White-throated Swift

    Metadata
    All files have been carefully edited.  Detailed Metadata and labeling of species has been provided along with using UCS.  Photos have been embedded with each file to help out with getting an idea of what birds are typical in particular landscapes.  Markers have also been placed in the files to help out with navigating.

    The Gear
    Sound Devices MixPre-3
    Sound Devices MixPre-6
    Zoom F3

    Mics
    Sennheiser MKH 8020
    Sennheiser MKH 8040
    Sennheiser MKH 8040+MKH 30 MS

  • Animal Sound Effects Harbor and Ocean Play Track 15+ sounds included, 37 mins total $12

    Harbor and Ocean is a smaller micro library featuring a mix of Ocean and Harbor sounds.  This features some recordings of Seagulls in a harbor, a large group of Cormorants and sea Pigeons hanging out on old dock pilings, and morning birds in a lake marina.  There’s also a few various sounds of ocean waves on different beaches, water laps on rock jetty’s and a lake dock, a barge ship heading out of the harbor, and general industrial harbor ambience.

    Harbor and Ocean
  • MoGraph and Visual Effects Sounds

    Keyframing, motion blur, easing, masking, interpolation, texturing, rotoscoping and more, everyone knows that making professional broadcast quality motion graphics, visual effects, animations and info graphics is no easy task. Even more, finding the right sounds and audio cues that fit is tedious, time consuming and frustrating. 

    With Synthetic Cut Transitions – MoGraph and Visual Effects Sounds you get an instant, affordable, sound solution, ready to use right out of the box. Precision crafted to amplify the impact of your motion graphics, animations, logos, idents, transitions, explainer videos, cinematic trailers and cutscenes. You get a fresh set of swipes, wipes, whooshes and sound morphs that you can use everyday (all royalty-free). Even more, you can mix and match, layer and transform sounds to create the perfect audio track to go with longer visual sequences. 

    It’s a time saving, action oriented, ready to use power pack of sound made specifically for interactive visual effects. 

    • 214 Total audio files for dynamic visual effects
    • All in 24-bit / 96kHz WAV plus other formats
    • 400+ MB of custom crafted audio 
Need specific sound effects? Try a search below:


Of course I have to ask – which was your favorite car to design? I personally liked the gruffness of the Pariah Jackal.

TW: My favorites are from both ends of the synthesized to sample-based spectrum. The Spectre X-1 is purely synthesized and was a lot of fun to make and tweak. The Pariah Bandit is a much more grounded and raw sound of a Lancia Stratos, and I really enjoyed getting it to finally click.

YG: Well, it’s a controversial sound, but I liked the design process of the Vintek Rogue. I learned a lot from that one, such as that it might be good to add new depth to a sound per gear to make the final gear a culmination of power, or how to use sparse resources to make something.

The iconic sound of an F1 car passing by is engraved into everyone’s memory, but making that sound into a consistent enough pitch … was very challenging

I did not have the resources to purchase an expensive sound library of F1 cars to truly get the sound of an F1 car into the mix, so I used whatever decent free sounds I could find from all over the internet of F1 cars passing by. The iconic sound of an F1 car passing by is engraved into everyone’s memory, but making that sound into a consistent enough pitch to be used in a looping engine sound was very challenging – especially as a student sound designer who was just starting to make sense of my DAW.

 

Do the tire selections or track surfaces have any effects on the tire squeals? How did you handle the reverb of the different environments?

YG: Making new tire squeals was one of the first things that Chris asked me to work on, actually! The track surfaces have an effect, such as sand, snow, asphalt and metal.

TW: Tire selection doesn’t change any of the squeals, but we have different sound effects for all the different surfaces in the game. For reverb in the environments, UE4 provided us with most of the tools we needed to incorporate different levels of reverb and sound reflections for different types of spaces in each level.

A vehicle flips from the impact of a blue explosion.

With all the explosions and crashes of the combat, especially during the death matches, what sound libraries did you use and how did you go about mixing the effects so they wouldn’t be overbearing?

YG: While I didn’t make a lot of explosion or crashing sounds, the ones that I used were usually a mix of Boom Library and one that came from a Humble Bundle, I think. Good stuff.

TW: Credit to our programmer, Rob, for this one. He put quite an effort into making the game engine only play the audio for the things that are important for the player to hear. If we just let the game play sounds as if it were a simulation, we would hear an awful cacophony of chaotic noise because of how much is happening at once.

Thanks for speaking with us! For our readers, please check out GRIP: Combat Evolved on the Caged Element website.

 

A big thanks to Tavis Wait and Yoshi Gans for giving us a behind-the-scenes look at the sound of GRIP: Combat Evolved – and to Adriane Kuzminski for the interview!

 

Please share this:


 



 
 
THE WORLD’S EASIEST WAY TO GET INDEPENDENT SOUND EFFECTS:
 
A Sound Effect gives you easy access to an absolutely huge sound effects catalog from a myriad of independent sound creators, all covered by one license agreement - a few highlights:

  • Strident and Demonic

    Expand the timbre of your horror violins and cellos with CIRCUS, a sinister sample pack featuring 180 WAV sounds of screeching or high-pitched string noises, perfect for horror music and dark sound design.

    Creative Tension

    This collection offers a curated selection of screeches, high-tension tremolo, heavy jeté strokes, dark demonic textures, finger patterns, chaotic string elements, clock loops and bow accents.

    Haunting and Experimental

    Create haunting atmospheres, perfect for horror, thriller or experimental soundtracks. Every element has been designed to unsettle and disturb, blurring the line between music and noise.

  • ⏰ For a very limited time:
    Add this library to the cart and enter ah4launch in the cart coupon field – to sprinkle an extra launch discount, on top of the current discount!

    Animal Hyperrealism Vol IV is a sound library containing animal vocalisations, from real to designed creatures totaling more than 2000 individual sounds in 294 files. The sounds were recorded in zoos, and wildlife centers.

    The asset list includes but is not limited to: hippos, hyenas, vultures, dwarf mongooses, elephants, African cranes, parrots, tigers, pigmy hippos, rhea ostriches, brown bears, pheasants, wildebeests, African wild dogs and many more. The content has been recorded at 192KHz with a Sanken CO100K, an Avisoft CMPA and a Sennheiser 8050 for center plus two Sennheiser MKH8040 for stereo image.

    The resulting ultrasonic spectrum is rich and allows for truly extreme manipulation of the content.

    15 %
    OFF
  • Animal Sound Effects Collections Animal Hyperrealism Vol I Play Track 290+ sounds included $180

    Animal Hyperrealism Vol I is a library containing sounds themed animal vocalisations, from real to designed creatures totaling more than 1300 individual sounds in 290 files.

    The sounds were partly recorded with animals trained for media production, partly recorded in zoos and wildlife centers. The asset list includes but is not limited to: african lions, bengal tigers, horses, donkeys, cows, exotic birds, owls, bobcats, pumas, dromedaries, wolves, dogs, geese, lemurs, gibbons and many more.

    All the content has been recorded at 192KHz with a Sanken CO100K plus a Sennheiser 8050 for center image and a couple of Sennheiser MKH8040 for stereo image. All files are delivered as stereo bounce of these four mics, though in some instances an additional couple of CO100K was added to the sides.

    The resulting ultrasonic spectrum is rich and allows for truly extreme manipulation of the content.

    Bonus: Two extra libraries included for free:
    This library also includes two additional releases from Mattia Cellotto - for free: Crunch Mode delivers 230 crunchy sounds made with a variety of vegetables, fresh bread, pizza crust and a selection of frozen goods. The Borax Experiment gets you 158 squishy, gory, slimy and gooey sounds.
Explore the full, unique collection here

Latest sound effects libraries:
 
  • South East Asian Kitchen Ambience captures the busy and lively atmosphere of a working kitchen in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. This collection features authentic sounds of cooking activity—meat pounding, stove crackling, water dripping, blenders whirring, pumps, and the hum of a grater machine—layered with background chatter and the subtle presence of passing traffic.

    Perfect for filmmakers, game developers, and sound designers, these recordings deliver a realistic sense of place, transporting listeners straight into the heart of a Southeast Asian kitchen full of movement, energy, and life.

  • Deep Ice is a unique sound collection capturing the organic power and delicate beauty of ice in motion. Recorded with precision on frozen lakes, this library offers an immersive palette of crystalline cracks, deep impacts, and pure debris.
    You will find:
    – Under-ice recordings with an Aquarian H2d hydrophone: deep cracks and resonant fractures
    – Surface recordings in XY stereo with Schoeps CCM4: sharp impacts, hits, textures, cracks, and debris
    These sounds are ideal for films and series sound design, video games, and musicals creations. Each recording has been carefully cleaned and formatted to UCS standards.

    Showreel Deep ice MOOBOX
  • Animal Sound Effects The Birds Play Track 78+ sounds included, 177 mins total $100

    The Birds includes selections from some of my previous libraries: Forests and Mountains, California Grassland Wildlife, Forest Day, and Harbor and Ocean

    I’ve gone through all of these libraries and selected what I consider some of my favorite recordings and that only include birds.  With this collection you get a wide variety of various birds in different environments, perspectives, times of the day, night.  Birds together, more specific and separate, close, distant.  The locations mostly include Southern California Foothills, Forests, and Mountains and Central California Grassland areas.  There’s also some recordings from Washington and Oregon. 

    There’s a few different species of Owls, a number of Ravens, various Sparrows, Woodpeckers, Doves, Finches and all sorts of other fun birds singing away.  Anyone looking for a bit more info should check out the library links up top to get a good idea.

    I’ve provided the species listings by each library.  The file names have been kept the same as they were in the original libraries so if anyone would like to compare metadata sheets to see what’s included it will be a bit easier.

    Forests and Mountains
    Acorn Woodpecker, American Coot, Barred Owl, Black-headed Grosbeak, California Quail, California Towhee, Canadian Geese, Fox Sparrow, Great Horned Owl, House Wren, Mallard, Northern Flicker, Nuttall’s Woodpecker, Oak Titmouse, Pacific Wren, Pied-billed Grebe, Pileated Woodpecker, Common Poorwill,  Raven, Robin, Red-shouldered Hawk, Song Sparrow, Spotted Towhee, Steller’s Jay, Swainson’s Thrush, Western Wood-Pewee, Wilson’s Warbler, Wrentit, Yellow-throated Blackbird

    Forest Day
    Acorn Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Lawrence’s Goldfinch,Mountain Chickadee, Northern Flicker, Pygmy Nuthatch, Raven, Red Shouldered Hawk, Spotted Towhee, Western Bluebird, Williamson’s Sapsucker

    California Grassland Wildlife
    Ash-throated Flycatcher, Barn Owl, Bell’s Sparrow, Bullock’s Oriole, California Towhee, Cassin’s Kingbird, Common Nighthawk, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Horned Lark, House Finch, Great Horned Owl, Mourning Dove, Raven, Red-tailed Hawk, Say’s Phoebe, Western Kingbird

    Harbor and Ocean
    Crow, Herring Gull, Pelogagic Cormorant, Pigeon Guillemot

    Grassland Micro
    California Towhee, House Finch, Mourning Dove, Western Kingbird, White-throated Swift

    Metadata
    All files have been carefully edited.  Detailed Metadata and labeling of species has been provided along with using UCS.  Photos have been embedded with each file to help out with getting an idea of what birds are typical in particular landscapes.  Markers have also been placed in the files to help out with navigating.

    The Gear
    Sound Devices MixPre-3
    Sound Devices MixPre-6
    Zoom F3

    Mics
    Sennheiser MKH 8020
    Sennheiser MKH 8040
    Sennheiser MKH 8040+MKH 30 MS

  • Animal Sound Effects Harbor and Ocean Play Track 15+ sounds included, 37 mins total $12

    Harbor and Ocean is a smaller micro library featuring a mix of Ocean and Harbor sounds.  This features some recordings of Seagulls in a harbor, a large group of Cormorants and sea Pigeons hanging out on old dock pilings, and morning birds in a lake marina.  There’s also a few various sounds of ocean waves on different beaches, water laps on rock jetty’s and a lake dock, a barge ship heading out of the harbor, and general industrial harbor ambience.

    Harbor and Ocean
  • MoGraph and Visual Effects Sounds

    Keyframing, motion blur, easing, masking, interpolation, texturing, rotoscoping and more, everyone knows that making professional broadcast quality motion graphics, visual effects, animations and info graphics is no easy task. Even more, finding the right sounds and audio cues that fit is tedious, time consuming and frustrating. 

    With Synthetic Cut Transitions – MoGraph and Visual Effects Sounds you get an instant, affordable, sound solution, ready to use right out of the box. Precision crafted to amplify the impact of your motion graphics, animations, logos, idents, transitions, explainer videos, cinematic trailers and cutscenes. You get a fresh set of swipes, wipes, whooshes and sound morphs that you can use everyday (all royalty-free). Even more, you can mix and match, layer and transform sounds to create the perfect audio track to go with longer visual sequences. 

    It’s a time saving, action oriented, ready to use power pack of sound made specifically for interactive visual effects. 

    • 214 Total audio files for dynamic visual effects
    • All in 24-bit / 96kHz WAV plus other formats
    • 400+ MB of custom crafted audio 

   

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

HTML tags are not allowed.