Team Audio

Port provenance: adapted from the pinned upstream source at 984023ddac0d5e27624f2baacde6105e45de375f under MIT; see the repository parity ledger for the exact path and blob.

If no argument is provided, output usage guidance and exit without spawning any agents:

Usage: $ai-game-studio:team-audio [feature or area] — specify the feature or area to design audio for (e.g., combat, main menu, forest biome, boss encounter). Do not use the available user-input mechanism here; output the guidance directly.

When this skill is invoked with an argument, orchestrate the audio team through a structured pipeline.

Decision Points: At each step transition, use the available user-input mechanism to present the user with the subagent's proposals as selectable options. Write the agent's full analysis in conversation, then capture the decision with concise labels. The user must approve before moving to the next step.

Phase 0: Resolve Review Mode

1. If --review [mode] was passed as an argument, use that mode.
2. Else read production/review-mode.txt — use whatever is written there.
3. Else default to lean.

Modes:

• full — spawn all director and lead gates as described
• lean — skip director gates unless they are PHASE-GATE type (CD-PHASE-GATE, TD-PHASE-GATE, PR-PHASE-GATE, AD-PHASE-GATE)
• solo — skip all director gate spawning entirely; run the skill without any agent gates

Store the resolved mode for use in all subsequent phases.

1. Read the argument for the target feature or area (e.g., combat, main menu, forest biome, boss encounter).

2. Gather context:

   • Read relevant design docs in design/gdd/ for the feature
   • Read the sound bible at design/gdd/sound-bible.md if it exists
   • Read existing audio asset lists in assets/audio/
   • Read any existing sound design docs for this area

How to Delegate

Use the Codex subagent mechanism to spawn each team member as a subagent:

• subagent_type: audio-director — Sonic identity, emotional tone, audio palette
• subagent_type: sound-designer — SFX specifications, audio events, mixing groups
• subagent_type: technical-artist — Audio middleware, bus structure, memory budgets
• subagent_type: [primary engine specialist] — Validate audio integration patterns for the engine
• subagent_type: gameplay-programmer — Audio manager, gameplay triggers, adaptive music

Always provide full context in each agent's prompt (feature description, existing audio assets, design doc references).

3. Orchestrate the audio team in sequence:

Step 1: Audio Direction (audio-director)

Spawn the audio-director agent to:

• Define the sonic identity for this feature/area
• Specify the emotional tone and audio palette
• Set music direction (adaptive layers, stems, transitions)
• Define audio priorities and mix targets
• Establish any adaptive audio rules (combat intensity, exploration, tension)

Step 2: Sound Design and Audio Accessibility (parallel)

Spawn the sound-designer agent to:

• Create detailed SFX specifications for every audio event
• Define sound categories (ambient, UI, gameplay, music, dialogue)
• Specify per-sound parameters (volume range, pitch variation, attenuation)
• Plan audio event list with trigger conditions
• Define mixing groups and ducking rules

Spawn the accessibility-specialist agent in parallel to:

• Identify which audio events carry critical gameplay information (damage received, enemy nearby, objective complete) and require visual alternatives for hearing-impaired players
• Specify subtitle requirements: which audio events need captions, what text format, on-screen duration
• Check that no gameplay state is communicated by audio alone (all must have a visual fallback)
• Review the audio event list for any that could cause issues for players with auditory sensitivities (high-frequency alerts, sudden loud events)
• Output: audio accessibility requirements list integrated into the audio event spec

Step 3: Technical Implementation (parallel)

Spawn the technical-artist agent to:

• Design the audio middleware integration (Wwise/FMOD/native)
• Define audio bus structure and routing
• Specify memory budgets for audio assets per platform
• Plan streaming vs preloaded asset strategy
• Design any audio-reactive visual effects

Spawn the primary engine specialist in parallel (from .ai-game-studio/project.json Engine Specialists) to validate the integration approach:

• Is the proposed audio middleware integration idiomatic for the engine? (e.g., Godot's built-in AudioStreamPlayer vs FMOD, Unity's Audio Mixer vs Wwise, Unreal's MetaSounds vs FMOD)
• Any engine-specific audio node/component patterns that should be used?
• Known audio system changes in the pinned engine version that affect the integration plan?
• Output: engine audio integration notes to merge with the technical-artist's plan

If no engine is configured, skip the specialist spawn.

Step 4: Code Integration (gameplay-programmer)

Spawn the gameplay-programmer agent to:

• Implement audio manager system or review existing
• Wire up audio events to gameplay triggers
• Implement adaptive music system (if specified)
• Set up audio occlusion/reverb zones
• Write unit tests for audio event triggers

4. Compile the audio design document combining all team outputs.

5. Save to design/audio/audio-[feature].md.

   Note: If design/audio/ does not exist, the sub-agent writing the document should create it (the directory will be created automatically when the file is written).

6. Output a summary with: audio event count, estimated asset count, implementation tasks, and any open questions between team members.

Verdict: COMPLETE — audio design document produced and team pipeline finished.

If the pipeline stops because a dependency is unresolved (e.g., critical accessibility gap or missing GDD not resolved by the user):

Verdict: BLOCKED — [reason]

File Write Protocol

All file writes (audio design docs, SFX specs, implementation files) are delegated to sub-agents spawned with a Codex subagent. Each sub-agent enforces the "May I write to [path]?" protocol. This orchestrator does not write files directly.

Next Steps

• Review the audio design doc with the audio-director before implementation begins.
• Use $ai-game-studio:dev-story to implement the audio manager and event system once the design is approved.
• Run $ai-game-studio:asset-audit after audio assets are created to verify naming and format compliance.

Error Recovery Protocol

If any spawned agent (with a Codex subagent) returns BLOCKED, errors, or cannot complete:

1. Surface immediately: Report "[AgentName]: BLOCKED — [reason]" to the user before continuing to dependent phases
2. Assess dependencies: Check whether the blocked agent's output is required by subsequent phases. If yes, do not proceed past that dependency point without user input.
3. Offer options via the available user-input mechanism with choices:
   • Skip this agent and note the gap in the final report
   • Retry with narrower scope
   • Stop here and resolve the blocker first
4. Always produce a partial report — output whatever was completed. Never discard work because one agent blocked.

Common blockers:

• Input file missing (story not found, GDD absent) → redirect to the skill that creates it
• ADR status is Proposed → do not implement; run $ai-game-studio:architecture-decision first
• Scope too large → split into two stories via $ai-game-studio:create-stories
• Conflicting instructions between ADR and story → surface the conflict, do not guess

Codex portability

Use the search, file-editing, shell, user-input, and subagent capabilities available in the active Codex surface. Use PowerShell syntax on Windows and POSIX syntax on macOS/Linux; do not require a Unix compatibility layer on Windows. Inherit the active model and permission mode, and do not weaken approval or sandbox boundaries.