What is game design?

Who did Half-Life 2 (2004 video game)'s sound design, and what were the design inspirations for the game's sound effects (specifically, those for Combine technology)?

• I find the sound design in Half Life 2 for the Combine terminals and doors, the sounds the soldiers make, the interface sounds, all fantastic. In my mind, they perfectly capture the feeling of alien technology advanced beyond human comprehension. To whom at Valve do I owe my appreciation/what was their inspiration for these very fitting noises? Checking on Valve's staff page (http://www.valvesoftware.com/company/people.html) it seems there are several people credited with a history of sound design, besides Valve also seeking sound designers to work for them--I've also played through the commentary version of HL2, but I don't remember any specific discussion of the sound effect development.

• Answer:

  Pure Audio, an audio company, is listed on MobyGames (kind of like the IMDB of game development) as having done voice recording for Half-Life 2. Valve employees Shana Landsburg and Teri Fiddleman are listed as having done the voice casting and voice coaching for the game, which means that they are responsible for at least some of the sound design (because voice work is one component of sound design). They probably did more than just voice casting and voice coaching. Often times, game studios hire private contractors for game music and SFX. It is unclear who on Valve's staff, past or present, was responsible specifically for Half-Life 2, and who composed the music. It's possible that Pure Audio handled a larger share of the sound design, including SFX and music. It's also possible that rather than generating SFX, Valve (or Pure Audio) bought a library of SFX which they drew from. Here at Schell Games, we have one dedicated sound designer, and I have done some of this work as well. Most often, rather than use an SFX from a library we purchased, we'll use that library sound as a base to combine with other sounds, or edit the living crap out of the library SFX.  I realize that may not have been as specific as you were after, but, I hope it helps in that it gives you more information with which to obtain a more detailed answer.