
Oh, and if there's any need for someone to tweak/balance/rework/replace/etc the stock sounds based on user feedback or whatever, I'd be willing to work on that, too.
If your were to do this and release it on the forums, be sure that the .waves you used have the right licenses. I made a custom sound-pack a while back and was never able to release it publicly, due to some licenses etc. So, just be sure on that.Oh, and if there's any need for someone to tweak/balance/rework/replace/etc the stock sounds based on user feedback or whatever, I'd be willing to work on that, too.
Good advice. I would be either reworking the current stock sounds or generating new ones from scratch, rather than appropriating from another source (as with the movie soundbite themes, etc.). Playing with sound is something I've pointlessly enjoyed since I was a kid.whodaman? wrote:If your were to do this and release it on the forums, be sure that the .waves you used have the right licenses.
That way you can be sure of releasing it here.I would be either reworking the current stock sounds or generating new ones from scratch
Funny you should mention that - my primary reason for tweaking the sounds in the first place was because of the "wall of explosion-like noise" that makes a big muddy mess that only the too-harsh lazer sound can cut through.whodaman? wrote:Having a laser, that's about 2 seconds longer, can get very annoying in game.
That's just about how much my testing told me.DTRemenak wrote:BZFlag uses custom 3d positioning, doppler effect and mixing code. Almost all of our sounds are mono only; asymmetric stereo sounds frequently do not sound the way you intended once they're positioned and mixed.
Any more details on the "few that aren't really right"? I guess it mostly makes sense to use stereo only for the sounds that are primarily played without any positioning, like message, lock, and other "inside" sounds - is that a good rule of thumb? I know how to create stereo audio that sums cleanly to mono, but there's no point making the files any larger than they need to be...The best bet is to look at the existing sounds and see how they're done (though there are a few that aren't really right).
I'm using the same format as the stock sounds, no problems here, but when I get a few more added I'll post a zip so somebody can (please?) test it on Windows. Thanks for the info!If you are using SDL you may not notice if they're wrong, since we will piggyback on SDL's audio reader, but the same sounds will be wrong on a system that is not using SDL (like Windows machines).
Sounds that can be triggered by your own tank (pop, laser, shockwave, etc) can be done in stereo if they blend cleanly when positioned (test to see). Not all of ours are (but some are; I believe the stock laser is an asymmetric stereo sound). IIRC we have at least one sound that's stereo but shouldn't be; I don't remember which it was...one of the more recent ones. Some should never be stereo (ricochet, for instance).immunogoblin wrote:Any more details on the "few that aren't really right"? I guess it mostly makes sense to use stereo only for the sounds that are primarily played without any positioning, like message, lock, and other "inside" sounds - is that a good rule of thumb? I know how to create stereo audio that sums cleanly to mono, but there's no point making the files any larger than they need to be...The best bet is to look at the existing sounds and see how they're done (though there are a few that aren't really right).
If you're running on a system other than OS X and have built from source, you can rebuild with the configure flag "--without-SDL" to disable SDL. Note that this will cripple certain functionality (windowed/fullscreen toggling, joystick support on systems other than recent linux, international X11 keymaps, etc). Otherwise, sure, feel free to post and ask someone with Windows to test.I'm using the same format as the stock sounds, no problems here, but when I get a few more added I'll post a zip so somebody can (please?) test it on Windows. Thanks for the info!If you are using SDL you may not notice if they're wrong, since we will piggyback on SDL's audio reader, but the same sounds will be wrong on a system that is not using SDL (like Windows machines).
I'm certainly willing to give it a shot, given enough feedback about what people do/don't like about the existing sound set to know what direction to pursue (more realistic? more cartoonish? more like an episode of Gumby?DTRemenak wrote:BTW, work on sounds is welcome. As far as I know none of the developers are audio engineers, and most of our sounds are more than 10 years old.
No argument there. I was trying to make a mellower set of sounds for myself because, well... if bzflag feels just like being at work for me, then it wouldn't be a good form of relaxation, right?Tedius wrote:As for trying to make the mix less chaotic by decreasing the sustain and decay, I think you run the risk of making the gameplay feel less exciting and perhaps less realistic.
I'll assume that to be the consensus opinion unless proven otherwise. I know my own tastes probably aren't a good guideline for things like that - I personally like just enough firing noise for some feedback about the timing of the shots, and find more than that kind of distracting. And I'm still going to make that analog claymation-sounding theme, even if nobody but me ever uses it!I found that to be true especially with the sound of the shots in your sample set above. Suddenly Mofo felt tame and more like just a video game. I personally like a bit more grit and wildness, and I think the shots are probably the most important sound in the game.
I'm happy to spend whatever time I get on stuff like this, since my coding skills don't extend much beyond pure bash scripting. Collaboration would probably be productive, too, if it could be kept from becoming too chaotic. I suspect the "work" will be finding good criteria for evaluation beyond a couple of subjective impressions. It might help to firmly establish a consensus that, say, such-and-such sounds should be tuned for impact, while such-and-such should be minimally disruptive, whereas these should be clearly indicative of a certain meaning, and these should just make people laugh or cringe in shame, etc... that way, opinions could be more along the lines of how well one sound vs. another fills that role, as opposed to lots of "I like it" and "I don't"... just thoughts for getting the ball rolling. I'm personally in favor of keeping at least a degree of slapstick vibe, since the game itself is so inherently surreal and unpretentiously fun (ctf in flying tanks? wha?) and I think *maybe* that might relate somehow to the generally good attitudes of the people playing it - but that's just a theory.Thanks for taking this on, I think it is an area that can be greatly improved.
When I was working on my sound-pack, JeffM linked me to that site, saying the licenses are good and suitable for a release on BZBB. You should be good.at freesound (if anyone thinks this license won't be compatible with a bzflag release, please speak up)
Good to know, thanks. Some of the free software licenses are a little stricter than the BB policy, but hopefully it's all good.whodaman? wrote:JeffM linked me to that site, saying the licenses are good and suitable for a release on BZBB.