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Watch This Sounds on Planet Arkadia

Discussion in 'About Planet Arkadia' started by Lars | Arkadia, Feb 27, 2015.

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  1. Lars | Arkadia

    Lars | Arkadia Administrator Staff Member PAF Administrator Planet Arkadia Official

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    Hello everyone!

    As some of you already know, I am the dude responsible for the sound on Planet Arkadia. For those who didn’t know; now you know. :biggrin2:

    With the upcoming Version Update (VU) there will be allot of sounds. Ambient sounds (check out the coast, the desert and the arctic) and almost every mob has sounds (known who doesn’t have it yet is Yrrijak and Wombana). Allot of old sounds that didn’t work before (or ceased to work) will work now. And yes, same goes for weapons.

    Most likely, though, you will enter an area, meet a mob or use an item that doesn’t have any sound for some reason. If that happens, DON’T SEND A SUPPORTCASE! The reason for that is that it will just take longer time for me to get that information. Instead, I want you to write about it here in this thread.


    ROE (Rules Of Engagement) when it comes to sound:


    What I don’t want:

    • Polls about changing a specific sound
    • Messages like “There is no wind-sound at this location…IF you don’t recall that there was a sound there before. Same goes for mobs or items/weapons that worked before.
    Allot of areas doesn’t have sound yet and we are well aware of that. The sounds is a project that will continue for a long time since all ambient sound is connected to areas that has to be implemented manually, everywhere (Yes, on the whole planet :biggrin2:).

    • Messages about the sounds (or the lack of sounds) in space or on any other planet. This includes vehicles, weapons, items and mobs (e.g. Pets) from other planets.

    Q:But where should I turn then?
    A: Bring it up on the Planetary Partners forum or according to that Planetary Partners recommended contact method.

    If you have doubts about where the weapon/item/mob comes from; read the weapons Item Description, ask around or use knowledge-sites like entropedia.info

    • Suggestions or complaints in an uncivilized manner. That includes non-constructive feedback, rants, etc. Read the forum rules if unsure.
    • Questions about when a specific sound or area will be implemented.
    • Debates. The sound is about taste, just like music. Keep it simple and don’t try to win an argument why a specific sound is right or wrong. Leave it and walk on.
    What I do want:

    • General feedback on the specific sounds: Quality, if it is too loud or too low, if it looks/sounds “out of sync” with the item/mob animation, etc.

    Example:I think the sound on my Herman ARK-500 Prototype (L) is fantastic, but maybe a few Decibel too loud.

    • Fun suggestions on small (or big) details that would enhance the total experience of Arkadia when it comes to sound.

    An example is the big manufacturing machine that also holds a storage terminal (can be found in Celeste Harbor and on the second floor of Trade Centre at IFN HQ and Dauntless Firebase). After VU, when you approach it, you will hear a sound from the box opening.



    The “roadmap” of the sounds on Planet Arkadia:


    1. We will implement sounds in every VU until “it is done”.
    2. We will implement sounds for mobs/items/weapons as soon as we have come up with a sound that we think fits the object in question and if we can hold a certain quality.
    3. We are very reluctant to change the sounds that already exist in the game. An example of this is various weapon-sounds. That doesn’t mean that we won’t implement new sounds for new weapons if we think it is appropriate.
    4. We will implement ambient environmental sounds all over Arkadia, including the Arkadian Underground. We will start with the south-east server known as “The Celeste Server” since this is the server that most players linger on. Allot has already been done, but there needs to be fine-tuning. The same can be said about other servers “8 Coins”, “the Arctic” and the “Arkadian Underground”. The reason for that last mentioned servers are done is that I realized that they could be done fairly fast.

    That was all!

    Best Regards,

    Lars – Official of Planet Arkadia and sound developer at Arkadia Studios :cowboy:
     
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  2. Lovefall

    Lovefall Deactivated User

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    What I wanna say even before the VU is that I really hope that sounds will have some kind of normalization as in not have some being much louder than others. I encountered that problem in many games, and for someone that also has some other active sound source, other than the game (like listening to radio or watching tv or a movie while playing), that could be a huge problem and, ultimately, lead to having to mute the game.

    Like, I understand that an explosive should sound louder than my pistol, but if the difference is too high than I come to a dilemma without a solution: if I tweak the volume so the explosive one is not disturbing, then the pistol will be barely hearable; if I tweak the volume so the pistol will sound right, then the explosive one will be too loud and will bother.

    I realize though that some other people may see things different and they will want more immersion so having a big explosion really sound like a big explosion. Now dunno if technically possible (I guess not since that's a client thing, not a planet thing), but it would be really amazing to have a "normalizing" option for sounds in the settings - so we can opt for one way or another. Another solution, but again, dunno if possible or legal, would be to have moddable sounds - as in having both version (normalized and not) on the official page and choose to download those we prefer.

    And btw... out of curiousity... who's the dude responsible for the sound on Planet Arkadia? :p
     
  3. Murkalael

    Murkalael Active Member

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    Finally knowing some "do things person". Now I need to know the blind guy that desined that huge almost full screen progress bar.
     
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  4. Oleg

    Oleg Active Member

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    Lars, would it be fair to assume that you don't have any formal training or experience in audio engineering or sound design? If so then I'd strongly suggest you get a professional in to help with this. Its a complex business and if you don't know what you're doing it could go horribly wrong.
     
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  5. Lars | Arkadia

    Lars | Arkadia Administrator Staff Member PAF Administrator Planet Arkadia Official

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    Define formal training? I have computerscience and been doing some other art-related things. It is not like I have thrown in some sounds and felt that "Ah, what a hell, this will do!"

    I guess we just have to wait and see if it goes "horribly wrong" or "Extremly good". :biggrin2:

    Feels good that people have faith in me.
     
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  6. TechKen

    TechKen Active Member

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    Think Oleg meant like someone with an actual degree and some experience in "Audio Engineering"...
    Although that sounds like the debate I was involved in when I was doing Theatre. I did the audio work for several shows, without a degree in AE... Then they hired some putz with the degree, and he came up with some REALLY terrible stuff... Ruined several chunks of hardware, and had WAY to much "attitude". Sometimes, That training is NOT what's needed in my opinion. Especially when creating something like this... Maybe to have the AE "make" the sounds is good, but to have them in control of the whole thing would be very, VERY bad, I think.

    But hey, just my 2 pecs.
     
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  7. Lars | Arkadia

    Lars | Arkadia Administrator Staff Member PAF Administrator Planet Arkadia Official

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    The biggest asset one can bring in to a team is PASSION. One should never underestimate the persistent and passionate human mind. In the team we are constantly looking (and listening) at eachothers work in order to give feedback without the hindrance of prestige. That is something that is very hard to do with individuals who are too "Professional" and lack self reflection.

    About the work with sound for games: You can do this as complicated as you want, but we stick to "Keep it simple". In this case it is not like I was asked to produce and mix the next Iron Maiden album.:biggrin2:

    With this said I close the discussion about my degree, or lack of, in Sound Engineering. Back to topic; feed-back on the sound.
     
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  8. Oleg

    Oleg Active Member

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    What I meant is that to properly do sound design work in games in a way that sounds realistic, you really need to understand concepts like simulated audio occlusion, the Doppler effect, dynamic mixing, which can get quite complex and isn't something you can just make up as you go along. The major game studios have whole teams of people dedicated to that alone.

    I only mentioned it because the OP suggests to me that you have more ambitious plans than simply assigning WAV files to actions etc. That is quite straightforward and is what the rest of EU has done up to now, but ultimately it isn't realistic or immersive.

    Of course the game engine will also limit what you can do and I have no idea what you have to deal with there.

    It was not my intention to criticise your work before you've even started it, I'm just trying to give you some constructive input based on my own experience as an audio professional :)
     
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  9. Lars | Arkadia

    Lars | Arkadia Administrator Staff Member PAF Administrator Planet Arkadia Official

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  10. wournos

    wournos Active Member

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    So we go to Cyrene PP to complain about the lack of sound of the S.I Psy-blade? Got it. :smuggrin:
     
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  11. Dan59

    Dan59 Active Member

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    Just create special web page with pool - questionary to vote from 1 to 10 without possibility for unwanted replyes to fill in like -

    -specific sound name 1
    Quality: from 1 to 10 =
    Loud: from 1 to 10 =
    Out of sync: Y/N =
    ________________________

    -specific sound name 2
    Quality: from 1 to 10 =
    Loud: from 1 to 10 =
    Out of sync: Y/N =
    ________________________
    .
    .
    .
     
  12. Ardorj

    Ardorj Active Member Pro Users

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    Looking forward evermore to the new VU! .... eh ... or should I say "hearing forward to the new VU!" :watching:
    Out of curiosity, do you exchange ideas and sounds with the other Planet Partners' sound engineers, like Elias Holmlid from Calypso/ MindArk? :blackalien:
     
  13. Lars | Arkadia

    Lars | Arkadia Administrator Staff Member PAF Administrator Planet Arkadia Official

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    Yes, we work close.
     
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  14. the Prophet

    the Prophet Active Member

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    hello & keep the good work up!

    in my opinion the sounds of my herman law smugglers and the xlr chulan edition should be louder compared to other weapons, especially the deep tones. also i really like the new sound samples of the herman sir series (and maybe others, dunno), but maybe a bit louder too!

    ;)
     
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  15. May

    May Active Member

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    Nice that the sounds will get an overhaul. :biggrin2:
    Unfortunately I wont be able to give specific feedback, since I'm unable to play with the sound on.
    I guess that would also be my question: will this updating make it possible for people on less than uber computers, to turn their sounds back on?

    And on a side note: will there also be new music? Because the post only mentions ambient, mob and functional sounds.
    If there are going to be songs/music pieces: will they be on a loop for a specific area, or will they be random?
    Because from the short time I could play with sound turned on; I remember hearing the same few songs all the time.
    Which became boring very quickly. (Though I don't remember which planet that was.)

    Btw, nice touch, to preserve existing sounds as much as possible. :smile:
     
  16. Lars | Arkadia

    Lars | Arkadia Administrator Staff Member PAF Administrator Planet Arkadia Official

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    Reading and taking it in for consideration.
     
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  17. Hideo

    Hideo Active Member

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    i think its the oratans (or to be precise the oratan slashers) but when i´m near them i get some kind of tap-tap footstep sound all the time. it´s very annoying and cant be stopped with relogging at least on my part. i only heard it near oratans or near them it was when i unfortunately heard it.

    i´m aware the sound update wasn´t implemented yet but i think u should be aware of this(since i encountered this for quite some time).

    cheerio
     
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  18. Sniqs

    Sniqs Active Member

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    It's definitely the Slashers moving around and it is pretty annoying, but at least they won't sneak up on you ;)
     
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  19. San

    San Well-Known Member

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    I'm still searching for an employer who sees it that way, too. Most go through recruiters nowadays and their staff knows shit about their clients' actual trade nor what personality would fit the bill. Ah well, o/t rant off.

    It's always great to see improvements, and if it takes a bit of dialogue until everything is perfect, then all the better as you've built relationships along the way. I find it exemplary how the Arkadia dev team interacts with the player base and this isn't said as often as it should. Cheers!
     
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  20. WhiningSkeptic

    WhiningSkeptic Active Member

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    I really enjoy the music that came with the vu. I restarted my eu career in September last year, mostly playing with sound muted. I turned it on once to listen how my quad sounded, turned it off. Put it back on to listen how my rifle, turned it off. Put it back on to see how beladoths sound but turned it off again...

    Since VU i have it on all the time. :D
     
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