Improvement: Sounds of battle.

[CutterJohn]

Be nice to have some war tapes playing of a random battle when you are a few km away from a fight. It was strange being less than a km away and everything was silent, serene. From a km or two off you should hear machine guns and the roaring of jets. From 5km off, just explosions that sound like thunder.

It would also be nice, if there is nighttime battles, there would be flashes on the horizon in the direction of the fight.

[NewSith]

That's a good idea actually, because PS1 main downside is sound effects. Starting with the fact that they aren't 3d, ending with the fact that flail can make you deaf while standing near you, but 100m away from it, you can't hear even the loudest sound produced.

[Brusi]

Don't know how they did it in APB, but the patch just before RealTime Worlds went under was awesome.

It sounded like downtown detroit in the the crack smoking late 80's! And i'm pretty sure all that distant AK47 fire and exploding cars were not just background noises, but actual player's duking it out!

I really hope there is something akin to this in PS2, as it just cranks the immersion all thew way up to 11!

[Manitou]

This aspect of the FPS is handled well in BFBC2. The distant sounds of a firefight and explosions really adds ambiance and immersion to the game. Good idea!

[Peacemaker]

Definatly gets a seal of approval. This kind of immersion factor has no downsides. while out of battle it will just make you realise just how many people are out there. I can see a night fight.

Galaxy full of troops heading for a distant battle. The crew looks out the windows seening the flashes on the horizon, lighting up the sky. As if a dark cloud hanging ominously over the place they are to meet their fate.

[Malorn]

Sound is really important in a FPS game. Having far-off sounds differentiable from closer sounds is great. In PS you pretty much had to be right next to something to hear it, though I could hear jet engines and some tank engines over other stuff, but I'd love to see a much better sound model.

[Bravix]

I don't like it, not at least in the sense which I understand you're describing it. It's nice to be emerssed, but I don't like 'fake' sounds. If I hear shots in the distance, I want them to be REAL shots. Otherwise, it's hard to figure out the situation. Just because its a 100 vs 100 battle doesn't mean there are tanks and massive explosions going off. Could be a pure infantry battle.

Make them real noises, so to speak. If I hear a prowler shell land somewhere in the distance, there better be a damn prowler there.

Solution would be to increase the range at which you hear combat sound effects. Put it in the options to be able to decrease how many sounds you hear at a distance for lower end systems.


So uh, in conclusion I support the idea but not if it means 'fake' sounds.

[Peacemaker]

The actual playing of sounds wouldn't be that taxing on the system. The server telling your client that NC Vanguard A has fired and is at a relative bearing of 258 degrees and a range of 5000 meters, play distant sound .wav Would however cause lag. Setting it up so that general recordings of battles involving just infantry, just tanks, or whatever you want would be waaaay less intensive on the server pipe.

[Brusi]

I would say that what Bravix is describing is definitely the most desirable solution... and untill the developers have attempted something like that and have proven it to be an uneconomic feature, then it has my full support!!!

(As i said, i'm pretty sure this worked in APB)

[dm Akolyte]

Originally Posted by Peacemaker

The actual playing of sounds wouldn't be that taxing on the system. The server telling your client that NC Vanguard A has fired and is at a relative bearing of 258 degrees and a range of 5000 meters, play distant sound .wav Would however cause lag. Setting it up so that general recordings of battles involving just infantry, just tanks, or whatever you want would be waaaay less intensive on the server pipe.

You'd have to do a system of successive approximation. Like they do with any other sort of game technology on a mass scale. I mean for graphics, they use less detailed models the further away you are from something. The same sort of thing could be accomplished here.