As audio director, Klepacki also created many sound effects for "Universe at War". For the alien Hierarchy, he cultivated an "unnatural" aesthetic through an "arsenal of mangled noises". Klepacki used a "combination of heavy cranes recorded with overdriven impacts" to give the faction's walkers a "menacing machinelike breathing sound", and made up his own language to record "various grunts, growls, mannerisms, and strange vocalizations. Since Hierarchy heroes needed to communicate to the player in English, Klepacki engineered dialogue to seem as if the aliens were "telepathically speaking to you, with a back-masking effect on their voices...as if the words are being channeled straight to your brain". The Novus effects were usually phased and involved "mechanical movement, electricity, and metal sounds". He invented yet another language for two characters Viktor and Mirabel, who occasionally speak to one another. Lastly, he drew on weather and other natural sounds for the Masari, describing their ambience as having "more weight, thunder, heavy bass rumblings, vortex gusts..." Klepacki directed the voice-acting to have a "noble and strong" feel without appearing typically medieval or overly dramatic. He ultimately felt he did the work of "three people" with "Universe at War", as the game's audio requirements changed constantly, requiring vigilance and programmer support. "Divine Intervention" was later nominated for a "Game Audio Network Guild" award, and the soundtrack was released as a free download after Petroglyph's efforts toward a traditional release were frustrated.