Not Just Walking

Concepts/Behaviour and the Resolving Assets defines several assets that make a combination which the library can use to pick the right audio behaviour. The name of those combination assets are : Surface, SurfaceModifier, Stepper, StepperModifer.

Notice that none of these talks about "walking", or even "footstep" on the plugin's name.

StepperModifier can be defined on your own as "actions", which includes jumping, slipping, sliding, dashing, or destroying a surface (even vertical surface, that is, a wall). Then Stepper is the name of character performing those actions.

If Stepper is a shovel, then you can make a digging game which plays different audio depending on surface.

Going further, Surface can be redefined in your head as super generic Material. This way, if you also define Stepper as swords and arrows (not only that they are no longer related to foot, now it has nothing to do with surface anymore unlike the shovel), then Surface (now "material") as leather or steel, you have got a flexible impact audio playing engine! Making sure "everything can hit everything" and make unique satisfying sound now is easier to implement and maintain.

At the most generic interpretation, Stepper should not be named like this, but can be just SurfaceImpactingRigidBody, then you have got a library named "Modular Anything-That-Impacts-Surface Audio Player" instead of Modular Footstep!

Therefore, the most abstract description of Modular Footstep would be : "Asset combination based audio playing library, with an ability to play it repeatedly or as a one-shot, with Inspector-programmable dynamic behaviours.".

I even once considered not naming this plugin "Modular Footstep" since it kind of undervalue the ability to play other audio that is not literally stepping, and even something unrelated to the foot. That would be difficult to get the point across though! In the end, this page serves that intention instead to let you know this plugin is more flexible than the name suggests.

Have fun building interesting and detailed dynamic audio with Modular Footstep!