The Listener

The Listener: Narrative Investigation Game (Cold War)

Overview
Set during the Cold War, The Listener follows a Yugoslav radio operator intercepting encrypted signals to unravel a conspiracy. With gameplay centered on analog equipment and signal decryption, audio acts as both the core mechanic and primary storytelling medium.

Key Contributions
Interactive Radio Systems: Designed real-time procedural behaviors for hardware simulation, including frequency tuning, analog saturation, static, and dynamic bandpass filtering linked to player inputs.

Dialogue and Transmission Pipelines: Built the routing, state logic, and degradation systems for incoming signals, balancing period-accurate grit with vocal intelligibility.

Audio Architecture: Owned the end-to-end implementation for SFX, dynamic music, and dialogue events.

Tech and Systems Integration: Set up game syncs, RTPCs, and event structures alongside gameplay programmers.

Performance and Optimization: Managed voice pooling, bank loading, and memory budgets, profiling audio threads in-engine to guarantee instant tactile feedback on physical controls.