[Feedback] Distant gunshots are still pretty bad

[kirumy 19]

While the not-so-recent sound update dramatically improved the quality of sounds, especially gunshots, in ArmA3 by adding a very nice dynamic echoing system, the actual gunshots of certain weapons still feel very lackluster. In particular, one of the biggest problems (in my opinion) is the sound of heavier weapons. While the marksman DLC gpmg's sound okay, most of the other weapons, including the vanilla .50 HMG and the GMG sound... less terrifying than they should. I'd like to use an example of what I consider to be one of the best heavy weapons sound effects system, the ArmA2 mod ACEX_SM. If you want an example, the following link contains some audio from ArmA2's acex_sm sound mod. The heavier weapons are more deep and sonorous, and you can EASILY tell the direction in which they are firing from, even with youtube's stereo audio compression. You only need to listen for a few moments for this to become abundantly clear.

 

In comparison, ArmA3's lmgs and hmgs sound considerably more ambiguous. The sound of the supersonic rounds snapping overhead is excellent, but the attenuation of the source gunshots is unrealistically exaggerated. It takes a significant amount of experience for a player to estimate which direction they are being fired at from, and even then, visual cues are vital in determining the source. As an example;

I note that this is a particularly poor example, as I am unsure of the nature of the weapon being used to fire at the soldier in cover, however, it's quite clear that the snaps dramatically overwhelm the audio of the weapon being fired. Also, the snaps are the same in sound regardless of the caliber of weapon being fired. (A 40mm cannon round whizzing overhead sounds identical to a 5.56). The source of the shots cannot be audibly gauged.

Credits to ShackTactical and Dslyecxi for the footage. I used it in the context of education and feedback, I'm sure they won't mind.

[wilsand 1]

Sometimes i hear peoples steps fine, sometimes they go completely silent and sometime their positioning is completely off when inside a building. Sound positioning is completely unreliable for infantry gunfights. But overall i think the update was a progress.

 

another thing ive noticed, which bothers me a lot, is that in certain angles stereo dont work correctly, for instance if im next to an heli with a very loud sound next to 1 ear, the other ears sound is not nearly as loud, and in certain angles it goes almost completely silent, whislt being next to the very loud heli.