Revised Bow Sheath/unsheath Sound Effect

[Darkness_Falls]

I'm always a bit bothered by the bow sheath/unsheath sound, so I tweaked it. This is just a quickfix patch; nothing much. If the current sound bothers you, too, then you might try listening to this. Compare it to the existing, and save these files into your '..\doom3\darkmod\sound\sfx\tools\' folder if you want.

 

Both of the files below are exactly the same sound, just named differently. They're named differently to over-write what's currently in the darkmod folder.

 

- bow_sheath.ogg

- bow_unsheath.ogg

 

I don't know if these files need to be committed, but if desirable for now, I think Pak would normally do that. Truly - this is only a quickie change. I made it a sound that personally doesn't bother me as much as the old one. I dream that some day the sound will be much better than anything we've come up with so far.

[sparhawk]

I don't see why a bow "sheathing" would have a klicking sound. After all a bow is pretty silent to put back/use it. So it woul be more a rustling sound. Same for the current blackjack.

[pakmannen]

The current ones are crap, but honestly I don't think these ones are that much of an improvement. (Even if there should definately be some rustling like you added). I know you just said they where made to ease the annoyance but I'm not gonna bother commiting them to CVS. If people wanna use them just download/replace ok?

[Darkness_Falls]

Sounds good to me! I think the old clicking sound just sounded to chincy to me (not full/rich). I don't have any good way of recording real life sounds here; I'm limited to just do whatever my keyboard does. Therefore, for my quick satisfaction, I just took that existing bow sound, made a few layers with it, lowered the pitch a bit, adopted a pitched down blackjack sheath sound, etc. to give it a little more fullness. I think the lack of fullness is what was bothering me. The clicking sound, even in mine, is still not satisfying my aural taste buds and I think it needs to go. If clicking is going to remain, revamped/richer clicks needs to replace it, imo. I might try something later, but for now, I just wanted this.

 

Sparhawk: I took the clicking sound to mean the thief is also drawing or nocking an arrow at the same time. I could be wrong, but that's what I always thought.

 

Pak: I know mine aren't much of an improvement. The whole sound needs to be entirely reworked. I just tweaked what existed for my own satisfaction, so that's fine if it doesn't go to CVS. It's basically a draft of a draft, so there's no point in CVS'ing it.

[sparhawk]

If you knock an arrow, this also doesn't click. Actually a bow is pretty silent.

[god_is_my_goldfish]

I've got a wooden staff that makes a perfect sound for this, I'll record it once I get my equipment back from a friend.

[Darkness_Falls]

Thanks, GIMG. Sparhawk, I think I was trying to justify the clicking for false reasons. When you arm the bow, you're not also arming the arrow. So those are two events that I was accidentally combining. Oops!

 

To all the audiophiles, I have a recording question: If I some day would like to be able to record real-world sounds in a high-quality manner, what do I need for recording equipment? Do you use a regular, low quality PC microphone? Or do you spend $150-$200 on a high-quality one? Do you use a DAT recorder, or what? For instance, I would like to be able to go out into the wilderness and record sounds for darkmod and I want them to sound good, clear & rich.

[saxmeister]

Hmmm.... the best possible set up would probably consist of a solid-state recording device (like a flash memory recorder) that would have high quality mic preamps to handle good condensers. Something like the Rode NT4 stereo mic that runs off a 9V battery and records perfect stereo sounds plugged into a flash based recorder would sound wonderful!

 

I've used minidisc recorders, but out in the wilderness the sound of that disc spinning is always picked up by sensitive condenser mics (unless you bury the thing in a thick carrying bag). Flash based recorders make absolutely no noise whatsoever and record instantaneously with no wait to "spin up" the recorder! Some of these even have built in stereo electret condenser mics which do a pretty fair job.

 

As far as mics go, a dynamic mic would sound good enough, but they just aren't as sensitive as the condensers, which makes them better for recording really loud sounds up close. Shotgun condensers are good for picking up sounds from only one direction and are usually built more for location recording, so they hold up better with handling. Any type of decent mic will fit the bill and cost is ALWAYS a factor.

 

I have been cheap and used a minidisc recorder with a dynamic stereo lapel mic and gotten decent results. The bass isn't as rich and the highs were cut off, but some of that could be tweaked once dumped into the computer. I think I picked up the mics for US$39.95 at Radio Shack and the Sony minidisc recorder for a little over US$100. I've even seen guys using old tape recorders and some of those small flash based recording "pens" that have built in mono mics, but the response is tailored for speech only with lower quality recording abilities.

 

Again, my dream setup would be an M-Audio MicroTrack (24-bit/96kHz recording with stereo phantom powered mic inputs) and either a Rode NT4 stereo condenser mic (2 small diaphragm cardioid condensers, 20Hz-20kHz, Max SPL: 143dB so it can handle loud sounds) or a Neumann TLM 103 (mono large diaphragm condenser, 20Hz-20kHz, Max SPL: 138dB). This is a dream setup, so I picked some of the best mics on the market!

 

Realistic (read, cheap) setup: Sony MiniDisc recorder (or even a laptop with a decent soundcard) and an Audio-Technica AT2020 condenser, Shure SM57 dynamic, Samson CO1 condenser, or one of the other cheaper priced Chinese built condenser mics (and, of course, a preamp for one of the condensers). They tend to be "brighter" sounding (more treble) but do the job well enough.

 

Okay, my two bits worth. I'm always open to hear anyone else's suggestions as well. I hope this has helped.

 

-sax

[Domarius]

It was an interesting read for me.

[Ishtvan]

Indeed. Solid state wins again! (not that i have any vested interest in that whatsoever...)