Jump to content

Sounds to create


Recommended Posts

I believe if we had formations, and could easily locate a group of fighters to one area, it would then make sense to have one sound for 10 archers firing instead of playing 10 singe arrow shots at one time. But otherwise we lose a lot unless we introduce some complicated method of grouping and locating similar fighters. Of course we need to be very careful not to do anything that takes too long. This code would need to be executed every frame. I have always worked to keep the computation time to a minimum there.

Time to get formation fighting working ;)

I do agree with you, I prefer unit sounds being played a lot to create a battle sound, rather than playing battle loops. The battle loops must always depend on some software detection system, which will be slow. But with unit sounds, the moment the last arrow is fired is the moment you'll hear the last arrow.

One thing I'd like as a start is a frequency system in the sound selection, like in the actor variations.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, after messing around with a whole bunch of short motifs I've decided to ask - how important it is to use the same melody for all the civs?

The instruments and musical styles are very different, and while it is (of course) possible, sometimes it just doesn't sound natural.

For instance, the motif I originally thought of sounded great on tin whistles, Spanish guitar, mandolin and even bouzouki, but was completely "lost in translation" to the oud, saz and fretless guitar.

That said, I'll keep searching for a motif that works all around.

Omri

Hi Omri, I'm back from a brief holidays.
For 'phase reach' sounds, I think the main goal is to make the player feel that the sounds belong to the same action. Maybe is not mandatory the same motif. We could try to generate that feeling with the swell perc and the cheers. If you want, send me the motif in order to assembly the sound and let the team check the output. :)
Matias
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello All,

Sorry for my prolonged absence. I'l be getting back into the programming thing in the new year. Its good to hear all of this oniterest in the sound stuff. I'll try and explain some thing as easily as I can. I'll also be writing up a short description of how the sound stuff works. Some of it is counterintuitive but it explains a lot of why we do things the way we do.

Currently the sound system will locate a sound source so when listening in stereo sounds from the righ of the screen come out of tthe right speaker. My issue with the battle intensity sounds is that this would largely eliminate that. and I think it would be bad.

I believe if we had formations, and could easily locate a group of fighters to one area, it would then make sense to have one sound for 10 archers firing instead of playing 10 singe arrow shots at one time. But otherwise we lose a lot unless we introduce some complicated method of grouping and locating similar fighters. Of course we need to be very careful not to do anything that takes too long. This code would need to be executed every frame. I have always worked to keep the computation time to a minimum there.

Also note that the current code does alter the pitch, volume and frequency for most sounds randomly. This is in addition to the 10 or sos sounds there are for a sword clank. These also get used in a random order and have their volumes and pitches altered randomly.

I think it is important to remember this is a game. The sounds should first serve the game, making sure to alert the player of important events, and not serve to confuse them with too many sounds. It would be nice if in addition to that everything sounded like a hollywood movie battle scene, but playability should come first.
Please feel free to ask any questions. I'll try to be in IRC more too. Let me know if there is a good time and I can try to be online.

Time to get formation fighting working ;)

I do agree with you, I prefer unit sounds being played a lot to create a battle sound, rather than playing battle loops. The battle loops must always depend on some software detection system, which will be slow. But with unit sounds, the moment the last arrow is fired is the moment you'll hear the last arrow.

One thing I'd like as a start is a frequency system in the sound selection, like in the actor variations.

Hi STWF and Sander, thanks for the useful information. So, I will work the 'battle sounds' focused in units. In order to take advantage of the sound system, do you think there will be further limitations?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

OK, found a short motif that works well in all styles!

http://wildfiregames.com/users/omri/SFX/Carthage_1.mp3

http://wildfiregames.com/users/omri/SFX/Carthage_2.mp3

http://wildfiregames.com/users/omri/SFX/Celtica_1.mp3

http://wildfiregames.com/users/omri/SFX/Celtica_2.mp3

I went with a simple, easy to recognize three note pattern, with harmonies that resolve from minor to major for extra gratification!

Here are very basic, hastily recorded examples for Carthage and Celtica, just to illustrate how this mini-melody works in both eastern and western styles.

The second phase reach effect is enhanced with a cymbal swell and a larger chord in the string section, and also played an octave higher.

At the moment they're a bit bare and small but I figured it'd be best to leave some room for cheering instead of filling them up too much.

If you like this general direction I'll record them properly (for all civs) and get the raw files to LAVS for integration.

Omri

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like them. Only thing is, I think there is too much dead space at the beginning. Should probably start to hear the drum roll immediately when the tech is completed. Good direction though! It would be nice to have tech notifications. And then extend them to have a standard chat notification for regular techs and a "grand" notification for phase techs that is more dramatic than a simple chat notification and hits you over the head with the fact that you have advanced.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...
  • 8 months later...

OK, found a short motif that works well in all styles!

http://wildfiregames.com/users/omri/SFX/Carthage_1.mp3

http://wildfiregames.com/users/omri/SFX/Carthage_2.mp3

http://wildfiregames.com/users/omri/SFX/Celtica_1.mp3

http://wildfiregames.com/users/omri/SFX/Celtica_2.mp3

I went with a simple, easy to recognize three note pattern, with harmonies that resolve from minor to major for extra gratification!

Here are very basic, hastily recorded examples for Carthage and Celtica, just to illustrate how this mini-melody works in both eastern and western styles.

The second phase reach effect is enhanced with a cymbal swell and a larger chord in the string section, and also played an octave higher.

At the moment they're a bit bare and small but I figured it'd be best to leave some room for cheering instead of filling them up too much.

If you like this general direction I'll record them properly (for all civs) and get the raw files to LAVS for integration.

Omri

I like these are very cool to hear. You can hear the difference between celt and carthage. (y)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Hello. I can help with sound design/editing/mixing/mastering. If there is any work in particular that needs attention let me know.

Hi man3ster. We have quite a few animals in the game that could use new sounds when they're clicked on. Is that something you could look into? Easiest way would be to place all the animals in a new map in Atlas Editor and then play the Map to hear what they sound like.

As Lion suggests, feel free to also give feedback on any sounds that are currently in the game. If you can improve something, let us know :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Hi man3ster. We have quite a few animals in the game that could use new sounds when they're clicked on. Is that something you could look into? Easiest way would be to place all the animals in a new map in Atlas Editor and then play the Map to hear what they sound like.

As Lion suggests, feel free to also give feedback on any sounds that are currently in the game. If you can improve something, let us know :)

I placed all animals :) in whom and how should I send files wich I think could be fit?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As you see from the (lack of) activity in this thread, we still don't have a sound leader. So Enrique, as art leader, would probably be the best choice. However, you can also just post them for display on the forums for community review.

You probably know the requirements, but most sounds should be rather short (a few seconds), and animal sounds are best when there are a number of variations (else the sound becomes boring), however, it's still important to keep them recognisable.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Now we have new features we need the the follow sound:

Must have

-Sound when a message is recieved ( chat)

-sound when the allied Ai chat with you ( request something or notify an attack)

-when you lose a building by capturing

-when you lose a CC by capturing

-when you capture a building ( can be the same as below)

-when you capture a animal

-when you capture a unit

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...