Audio Tweaking (dev branch)

[2nd ranger 282]

Tweaked: New samples for Rook40

Tweaked: Re-edited samples for P07

Tweaked: Re-edited / new samples for 4-Five

Pistols are coming along nicely now.

Of the new rifle sounds, I think the TRG and Mk20 are the best. Apart from having really good samples, they sound great in full auto, the TRG in particular, although it could stand to be a bit louder. The Katiba is kind of harsh on the ear, the sound is a little too raw. It sounds too uniform on auto. I can't get used to the MX, it's quite grating and doesn't really sound like a gun.

Great to see such progress on the sound front, it's been a long time coming.

[Bouben 3]

Pistols are coming along nicely now.

Of the new rifle sounds, I think the TRG and Mk20 are the best. Apart from having really good samples, they sound great in full auto, the TRG in particular, although it could stand to be a bit louder. The Katiba is kind of harsh on the ear, the sound is a little too raw. It sounds too uniform on auto. I can't get used to the MX, it's quite grating and doesn't really sound like a gun.

Great to see such progress on the sound front, it's been a long time coming.

There is this "metal click" when firing from Katiba, which is nice to hear from time to time but since it is located in the most ear-sensitive frequency it gets tiring rather quickly. Especially on headphones.

[Brisse 78]

While we are talking about annoying metallic sounds, I would like to point out that some rifles ingame have flash hiders like the one in the picture below. These flash hiders often create a really annoying high frequency "ping" when firing the weapon.

Look at it. See the resemblance too a tuning fork?

The devil is in the details, right?

Edit: Oh, hey! Apparently, there's a guy on youtube that made a video, demonstrating the effect :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcOYLZUh_TY

Edited January 30, 2015 by Brisse

[Bouben 3]

While we are talking about annoying metallic sounds, I would like to point out that some rifles ingame have flash hiders like the one in the picture below. These flash hiders often create a really annoying high frequency "ping" when firing the weapon.

Look at it. See the resemblance too a tuning fork?

http://www.brownells.com/userdocs/skus/p_851000035_1.jpg

The devil is in the details, right?

Edit: Oh, hey! Apparently, there's a guy on youtube that made a video, demonstrating the effect :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcOYLZUh_TY

And the point of your post is? :-)

[Brisse 78]

That we need this annoying sound in Arma3 :)

The old MX sound actually had a little hint of it I think.

[Bouben 3]

That we need this annoying sound in Arma3 :)

The old MX sound actually had a little hint of it I think.

Yes, but there has to be some variety in it. Also, this is a game and there has to be certain amount of pleasure in order to be motivated to play it :-)

[Brisse 78]

I guess I'm just a bit too nostalgic. Back in the days when I served, my rifle suffered badly from this effect, and it was painful to listen to.

[Bouben 3]

I guess I'm just a bit too nostalgic. Back in the days when I served, my rifle suffered badly from this effect, and it was painful to listen to.

Oh, I see :-D Katiba FTW then!

[haleks 8212]

Changes in the wind speed still don't fade in... As soon as the wind speed raises, you can hear the new audio sample kicking in without transition - sometimes it even overlaps the previous one.

It's been like this since the Alpha, pretty annoying when scripting weather changes during mission. :(

Edited February 3, 2015 by Pepe Hal

[Brisse 78]

Oh, I see :-D Katiba FTW then!

The wierd thing is that Katiba have a birdcage type flash hider. Those do not make that kind of sound.

[CaptainAzimuth 714]

BIS, please guys, don't forget, better, more spontaneous and dangerous sounding impact sounds for rounds and such. If you get sound right in a shooting game, there's no need to add suppression when someone feels they're going to get hit with a projectile going faster than sound itself.

[toysoldier 35]

The new rifles sounds are great :) and i agree, it need some dangerous impact sounds for bullets.

[megagoth1702 252]

Just because this post got lost in many small ones and I think it's worth putting it out there again for more people to read. Nobody reads 80 pages in a thread mostly consisting of "hell yes" or "no thats bad" posts. And barely anyone reads the last pages. So I'm posting this again.

First of all - congratz to the new work on audio! Hell, it has taken FOREVER for this department to get overhauled.

But I don't like the new sounds presented in the blog. Barely any low end kick/punch to them. Sounds loud and distorted. In full auto you can't even make out each shot.

Check this video of my sound mod and note the low end kick for the Mk20, which clearly gives each shot attention. Jump to 0:50 for Mk20.

Even more extreme example of definition and punch:

I'll see if the actual game sounds any better.

And in the risk of sounding too arrogant but it seems most of this community have no clue how real guns sound if they think a punchless sample where the fast environmental response is just as loud as the initial BANG/KICK is "real". Youtube and JSRS sure did their thing on people...

If you want to get a VERY rough idea on how real guns sound like when recorded properly with DIFFERENT microphones and mic positions, listen to this:

A bit worse mic setup that sometimes delivers distorted recordings, but still - you hear the "punch/kick" ALWAYS much louder than the rest of the gun sound:

And some audio-only, listen to the player at the bottom of the page:

http://therecordist.com/gunscapes-hd-pro-sfx

Edit:Okay, this is WIP. So I don't expect perfection but a high tolerance to criticism. I just listened to the game and well... I do like the supressors. And even they lack BASS/KICK. But I don't like the rest.

The sounds are unbalanced in volume, for example Mk20 sounds louder than Katiba (fire in full auto), because it has more high frequencies in it during a longer period of time (katiba has better KICK/punch), which the human ear reacts more to. In the loudness wars in the music industry the sometimes even mixed some high frequency NOISE into the mix to make the song sound louder at certain parts. Just listen to the recent pop songs and their "build up -> release" bullshit.

LISTEN FROM 3:00, build up -> release and there is this high frequency noise.

But back to guns. Volume balance is important guys. Also - how come the "tail" of all the weapons sound so different? The katiba tail has a volume peak on the LEFT channel, so it feels like echo is coming in from the left. And the MX has a bassy tail for no reason.

I'm sorry, but I can't get the thought out of my head that this is amateur's work.

[laxemann 1673]

I've got to agree with mega.

I'm pretty sure that you guys try to make each weapon sound unique for gameplay reasons and because most people don't know it "better".

But the design decisions are just weird if you ask me.

You wrote that you did new recordings if I recall correctly?

Assuming that you had a decent microphone setup, one can only assume that you did some heavy processing and editing.

Sound design is a subjective thing, for sure, but the current sounds are very unbalanced and create a weird soundscape.

The editing even appears to be a bit "random" to me. Like: "Hey, I alwayw wanted to try out this technique or VST x, I'll just use it on this gun".

[qantaqa1987 10]

BIS has some real work on their hands if they are going to nail this one. Current sounds are a mess. Too bad in FPS game the soundscape is very important for the immersion.

[2nd ranger 282]

The MX is still too weak. Without using headphones, it sounds like someone coughing. There's no punch.

[Brisse 78]

Are you sure that it ain't because your speakers are lacking midrange punch? It sounds punchy on my end.

[2nd ranger 282]

If there's any punch it comes from the reverb sound after the shot. I think that's what was changed today - when the new sounds were added, the MX didn't have that same reverb on every shot, now it does.

Also, since one of the dev updates last week, the MX had the shot sound only, no working parts or reverb mixed in. Without those other sounds, it was very noticable how weak the shot is.

[St. Jimmy 272]

Tweaked: Sound of ejected casing falling on grass surface type

The sample is so much better now. Good :) Now just quiet the sound more. The case hit is bit too loud IMO.

[DancZer 65]

The new weapon sounds are kicking! When i increase the volume at the level where the real ones are i can feel the punch! Impressive!

But now the big booms aren't that painful. E.g.: satchel, tank cannons(the impact and the firing).

Imo those are too soft and quite compared to the new weapon sounds.

[supercereal4 29]

But now the big booms aren't that painful. E.g.: satchel, tank cannons(the impact and the firing).

Imo those are too soft and quite compared to the new weapon sounds.

One would hope that they are the next sounds to get some love. That and the guns that were left out of this round of tweaks. I was playing as an AAF Autorifleman and the MK200 sounds wimpy compared to the ACP-C2 :D

On a semi-related note, does anyone know where that one grenade sound went? I remember for a time that there was an additional grenade blast sound added, but its gone now.

[CaptainAzimuth 714]

One would expect to not only fix the body kit of a car, and keep the old engine, wheels, and parts. If they plan on improving a set of sounds, than they must do about all of them, in order to prevent certain sounds from being utterly out of place.

[2nd ranger 282]

I was playing as an AAF Autorifleman and the MK200 sounds wimpy compared to the ACP-C2

They did actually change that sound too, but it was reverted recently. Same for the Zafir.

On a semi-related note, does anyone know where that one grenade sound went? I remember for a time that there was an additional grenade blast sound added, but its gone now.

Probably because it was terrible.

[Brisse 78]

Zafir changed yet again in todays update :)

Who knows what it will sound like in the end...

[CaptainAzimuth 714]

They did actually change that sound too, but it was reverted recently. Same for the Zafir.

Probably because it was terrible.

Well actually, I liked it over the current grenade blast. It currently doesn't sound... Like a grenade, but it's recognizable. They need to change the grenade blast, as they did the launcher sounds for the GMG.