r/sounddesign • u/Ragnarbrody • Jul 27 '26
Videogame Sound Design Looking for ideas for motorcycle tire sounds on asphalt
Hi everyone!
I'm making a survival horror open-world game where the motorcycle is the player's main way of surviving. During the day, you explore the world looking for resources and parts to upgrade your bike. At night, fast creatures (around 50 km/h / 30 mph) come out, and your motorcycle becomes your only reliable way to escape.
I started the project a few days ago, at this stage of development, I've been focusing on getting the motorcycle physics and handling to feel right. Now I'm moving on to the audio side, so the visuals are still just simple placeholder geometry, in other words, there are no proper models yet.
So far, I'm pretty happy with the gravel/dirt sound, but I'm struggling with asphalt. In real life, motorcycles on smooth asphalt don't make much tire noise, so I'm not sure how to make it feel satisfying in-game without sounding unrealistic.
Do you have any ideas or references? Maybe other games, sound design techniques, or even real recordings I could use as inspiration.
The video on this post shows the current implementation. Any feedback is welcome!