PlanetSide 2 Audio & Music

[TerminatorUK]

Originally Posted by Rodney Gates

Sledge, indeed you should! The game runs surround natively if you hook up all of those mini-jack speaker outputs you find on most computers nowadays, or if you use one of the sound cards out there that has Dolby Live or DTS encoding enabled.

We use Auzentech sound cards for our PCs running through Pioneer receivers that decode whatever signals we send it from the sound card's control panel (we often flip between Dolby / DTS / and PCM stereo to check fold-down).

- Rodney

Awesome - I knew my investment in an Auzentech X-Fi Home Theatre HD was a good idea

By far the best sound card I've ever owned - quality is simply amazing (better than the X-Fi Xtreme Music it replaced by a mile)

One bit of feedback - I did feel that in Higby's latest gameplay video that the Vanguard's engine noise lacked any 'roar' to it...

[nathanebht]

Haven't seen any mention of environmental background sounds. If we are on foot sneaking somewhere at night away from any battle, will there be cricket chirps? Well, some type of alien cricket chirps? Wind noise?

[basti]

Originally Posted by Rodney Gates

We are in a constant state of tuning of the game's soundscape, especially based on larger-population playtests. The amount of sound that will flood your ears will be proportional to the population that is in a given area, though we are working on priority schemes and control measures to keep things optimal for different "sound quality" (mostly voice count) settings a player may set, just as art and effects are doing with their work.

The game is a never-ending battlefield and the audio will definitely represent that. :-)

Just make sure that if i hear a bullet being fired, its actually because someone fired a bullet, and not because there are 300 people behind that hill. Dont fake stuff.

[InjectedSenses]

Originally Posted by nathanebht

Haven't seen any mention of environmental background sounds. If we are on foot sneaking somewhere at night away from any battle, will there be cricket chirps? Well, some type of alien cricket chirps? Wind noise?

Yeah there will definitely be environmental audio not just the distant battle. "Alien Crickets" have been known to populate some areas. Each area on the continents have their own ambient feel to them.

Originally Posted by basti

Just make sure that if i hear a bullet being fired, its actually because someone fired a bullet, and not because there are 300 people behind that hill. Dont fake stuff.

We don't plan on faking anything. We might have some tricks up our sleeves for drawing attention to the nearby battles, but no faking.

Originally Posted by TerminatorUK

One bit of feedback - I did feel that in Higby's latest gameplay video that the Vanguard's engine noise lacked any 'roar' to it...

Thanks for the feedback, the vehicles and their engines are definitely in a testing stage right now. We have a a bit of tuning to do on their RPM's

[p0intman]

Originally Posted by InjectedSenses

Yeah there will definitely be environmental audio not just the distant battle. "Alien Crickets" have been known to populate some areas. Each area on the continents have their own ambient feel to them.



We don't plan on faking anything. We might have some tricks up our sleeves for drawing attention to the nearby battles, but no faking.



Thanks for the feedback, the vehicles and their engines are definitely in a testing stage right now. We have a a bit of tuning to do on their RPM's

Keep in mind that something like an M1 Abrams is powered by a frikking jet engine. It isn't 'quiet' by any stretch of the imagination. Imo, when a vanguard starts up, I want to hear thunder akin to thor's hammer landing nearby. In other words, I want to hear and feel a real sense of raw power from it when I'm driving around in one.

[QuantumMechanic]

I have a question. I noticed in Higby's stream the other week that while flying his Reaver, there was some pre-recorded "radio chatter" going on.

While in most games this is immersive, in Planetside it actually has the opposite effect for me because I can easily tell this radio chatter is "faked" and not actual in-game player's voices.

Would it be possible to make that radio chatter "real" in a manner similar to what you folks do for gunfire? Perhaps broadcast the in-game VOIP voices of other pilots realtime, but at a lower volume and distorted? I think that would be awesome!!

[Landtank]

The sound in this game is phenomenal, listening to the streams with my Klipsch speakers and the bassy feel of the game is just awesome.

[TerminatorUK]

Originally Posted by InjectedSenses

Yeah there will definitely be environmental audio not just the distant battle. "Alien Crickets" have been known to populate some areas. Each area on the continents have their own ambient feel to them.



We don't plan on faking anything. We might have some tricks up our sleeves for drawing attention to the nearby battles, but no faking.



Thanks for the feedback, the vehicles and their engines are definitely in a testing stage right now. We have a a bit of tuning to do on their RPM's

Really good to know - the Vanguard in the original really rumbled and I know you can di the samwe again is PS2.

The Sunderer for example should have a massive engine roar for ththe size/amount of armor/speed that it goes.

The Galaxy is another one too - the noise of the engines whilst landed sounded brilliant/unforgetable - made you want to get on it ASAP before it left!

[Resolve]

as an audio engineer / producer I wish you would make the NC music more overdriven and bad ass. less country rock more metal.

[Littleman]

Originally Posted by QuantumMechanic

I have a question. I noticed in Higby's stream the other week that while flying his Reaver, there was some pre-recorded "radio chatter" going on.

While in most games this is immersive, in Planetside it actually has the opposite effect for me because I can easily tell this radio chatter is "faked" and not actual in-game player's voices.

Would it be possible to make that radio chatter "real" in a manner similar to what you folks do for gunfire? Perhaps broadcast the in-game VOIP voices of other pilots realtime, but at a lower volume and distorted? I think that would be awesome!!

I'm okay with low volume and incoherent radio chatter. While your idea is cool, it's also unnecessarily draining on bandwidth for the purpose it serves. And honestly, with the average conversation that would happen over VoIP (from the few people that would use in game VoIP over TS3 or vent) I'd prefer constant pre-recorded, incoherent, low volume radio chatter to.

[Rivenshield]

Originally Posted by Rodney Gates

The empirical Terran Republic will be treated to an epic orchestral score, which we are actually recording up in Seattle here within a couple weeks (yes, we are doing a bit of the behind-the-scenes footage capture for this).

/snip

But don't despair if you think this sounds like a departure from the first game - we employed full use of nostalgic thematic material across the board from PS1, and I think you will be delighted with these renewed treatments of classic themes that you know and love.

Lovely. Most of us have already listened to the demo soundtrack that some resourceful character (/cough) uh, obtained at E3. I dig that the TR wound up with a hopped-up orchestral version of the old loading screen music. It's traditional. We're supposed to be the tradition-bound empire. I like that.

But if there's one theme I'd like to make a return -- if it isn't too late to plant the seeds of an idea -- it's 'Desert Dance', also known as 'travel_desert.' Orchestral is great... but when you're doodling around between targets in a desert environment, nothing is easier on the ears than Don Ferrone playing ambient music on an electric violin....

[TAA]

It would be nice to make the music files available for us as mp3 files either in the game directory or as a download. Many of us would love to use them as part of a more personalised soundtrack for the game. Making them available as mp3 would save somebody the trouble of ripping them out of the game files and it would save us the trouble of torrenting them.

[CidHighwind]

Originally Posted by Littleman

I'm okay with low volume and incoherent radio chatter. While your idea is cool, it's also unnecessarily draining on bandwidth for the purpose it serves. And honestly, with the average conversation that would happen over VoIP (from the few people that would use in game VoIP over TS3 or vent) I'd prefer constant pre-recorded, incoherent, low volume radio chatter to.

I don't know if it would be a drain (keeping in mind im certainly no expert in the interwebs and it's inner-workings). I feel like if you simply had the game process a temporary 11th person' join the squad of whomever is below them and have their VOIP chatter transmitted to them it would be epic!

Imagine, Infantry Squad leader sets a mission for air support. They're pinned down by three prowlers. Liberty Wing (The best air cav on New Markov) accepts the mission and scrambles 10 reavers to lay down the shock and awe.

Just as they enter the AOO, Reaver one calls out to the infantry on the ground *just overflow quick-added to the mission initiators squad as he flies within 1 KM of his location (yes, they're are now technically 20 men in the squad as airwing squad is added due to radial relevance, and will be un-added from radio chatter after leaving the AOO*

"Blue Lions Squad Lead, this is Liberty Wing, we are entering your AOO - paint your targets."

Liberty Wing then hears the voice chatter on his RADIO (not as though he was part of the squad for real) of Blue Lions Squad Lead ordering his squad to paint the prowlers, and 3 targets then appear on his HUD.

"Targets Acquired, enjoy the fireworks."

Liberty Wing proceeds to demonstrate exactly why the NC will no doubt win this war, as the prowlers lay in heaps on the road. Over the radio Liberty Wing hears cheers and rejoicing, and a faint "Thank you Liberty Wing!"

"Good Hunting, Blue Lions" he says, as their voices fade, and he his and his wingmates are removed from the temporary squad, mission completed.

This wouldn't just happen for mission stuff --- any squad that is in the area would be transmitted on the radio. simply citing a cool immersion example. In this way, experienced air squads could scan the radio to 'pick up' missions that haven't even been created.

Make it happen Dev team... Make it happen.

[Buggsy]

Add a sonic boom for fast flying planes using turbo, after they pass by.



and some long distance artillery rumble, to explosions taking place far away.

Originally Posted by basti

Just make sure that if i hear a bullet being fired, its actually because someone fired a bullet, and not because there are 300 people behind that hill. Dont fake stuff.

Longer distance = remove higher frequencies, lower amplitude, add delay from speed of sound.


_______________________

The Doppler effect does amazing things too. But only if aircraft are zooming in at high speeds to attack ground targets, if they hover most of the time than it won't be important.

[ShadoViper]

Originally Posted by IDukeNukeml

People just a short few months ago were so interested in knowing if Don Ferrone would continue composing the music. Now man I know with modern tech you can modify and create some amazing things, but without a true hardcore composer... it just lacks. Not being able to get ahold of Ferrone and listening to the music created (though awesome) does not have the touch or the soul that he made in PS1.

Fuck beta, Fuck weather and Fuck water being implemented, SOE has been forthcoming with information about everything thus far with everything else.

IS DON FERRONE composing the music for Planetside 2? Considering the amount of dev/community interaction, this should be by far an easy answer.

Quite curious to have this either touched upon or answered as well.