Jump to content
The Dark Mod Forums

ALL THINGS AUDIO


VENOM

Recommended Posts

I am a professional (Live Sound) audio engineer and decent :wacko: sound designer as well... I have access to almost anything/anybody sound related and can create/polish/edit/help on anything audio related. I have a studio and every conceivable DAW and hardware.

 

My side hobby is producing ambient sounds for small films and video games etc.

 

Heres a link https://soundcloud.com/music-mixer64 to a few things ive done, most of my past few years work was lost when I came home when I came home to find my MOBO and main/backup hardrives fried from a powersurge? or something. I had a TON of Thief like ambients... all lost

 

I STRONGLY believe that one of the most important and often overlooked features of any video game is the audio, ALL of it from music, ambients to all the little details and foley type work; Thief captured me many yaers ago because of the audio "sweetness"

 

 

 

I do not need to be considered a team member nor do I need credit for anything I contribute, I just want to help...

 

How can I help?

 

VENOM

Edited by VENOM
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not an official word on this, but right now we are in the process of replacing Doom3 assets with original assets so that we can release a standalone package that will play existing FMs. One type of asset we need to replace especially are the folios, all kinds of sound effects. There's a list of the folios and other stuff we need to replace on our wiki somewhere... Just a second... Here it is: http://wiki.thedarkm...lone_TDM#Sounds

 

As you can see there's a lot. I think a lot are self explanatory. But if you want to hear the originals, they're going to be packed in one of the .pk4 files inside the Doom3 folder, which you can open as if it were a .zip file.

 

Making original replacements would be a huge help, because they're getting much less attention than the other types of assets.

 

And for the record, we learned from the copyright people that sounds have the most protection... You're not even really allowed to take an existing one and modify it, and it's hard to claim fair use, etc. So it's better just to make a totally original one.

What do you see when you turn out the light? I can't tell you but I know that it's mine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And for the record, we learned from the copyright people that sounds have the most protection... You're not even really allowed to take an existing one and modify it, and it's hard to claim fair use, etc. So it's better just to make a totally original one.

 

No worries on me "DJ ing" ie: stealing anyones material, I create my stuff from scratch, I actually have some friends with some foley experience and a PLETHRA of possible professional grade voice actors available.

 

I looked at your list, Is there a "head sound guy" on your team? I'd like to talk with him/her. regarding the missing asset list, is there a internal urgent/priority list or just start creating? What about full ambient sounds and/or music? is this allready done?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We already have working complete sets for ambient sounds, music, & voice acting. More would be nice for variety, but it's not the same priority (IMO) as doing the folios which we need to go standalone.

 

We had a sound lead in the past, but he's not so active now. (Is there another person taking that role now?) I know some sounds do get used more than others, which would be good to get done earlier, but the task requires knocking all the used D3 ones out one way or another, so any would help. AFAIK there isn't a list of which sounds get used more in FMs anyway, so maybe you could even do some of your own research to see which ones FMs use more ... although offhand I don't know a fast way to do that (if there is one).

 

This is all subject to opinions other team members have too.

What do you see when you turn out the light? I can't tell you but I know that it's mine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, our number one goal right now is to replace all D3 assets, as they are the only things keeping us from releasing a standalone version of TDM. I do have some vocal work I'd like to get done (I had an actor bail on a script over the summer), but that's less of a priority at the moment.

 

As far as which sounds on that list take priority, I can't speak to the specific .wav files at the moment, but the general category of sounds that need replacing includes:

 

* metal impact sounds

* giant spider sounds (currently uses the D3 trite sounds...we'd need walking noises and some kind of hissing/screeching)

* "demonic" sounds for our revenant:

they are the bodies of builders that were not given final rites or buried in sanctified ground (and thus could be invaded and animated by evil spirits). Not only that, but these were wrapped in magical chains that kept the soul of the builder trapped in the carcass as well, so they are continually tormented by the spirits that are animating their body. That's why they occasionally plead for help, "Please..." . Those whispers are from the original soul. The different shrieks and cackle noises come from all the different evil spirits inhabiting the body.

"Maybe even the original soul would be whimpering and asking the torment to end when the revenant is idle and the demons would take over when the revenant sees something to kill.

"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok I am checking out the existing sounds and will likely get working this weekend but it will be limited as I have live sound gigs on the weekends for the rest of the month (Christmas stuff). I do have a question about sound properties with this game engine:

 

Surfaces: Are the level designers/modelers able (and do they) assign audio properties to surfaces? ie: carpet = soft, stone =loud.

Rooms: Is the appropriate reverb/effects also dependant on the level designer or is it a generic effect based of room dimensions and surface type?

 

(My main concern is that a level designer or texture artist will likely need to adjust the properties of the texture/surface they use or it may just use a default crummy sound or effect)

 

I will likely learn all of this as I delve into the audio subsystem of the game engine, but I was hoping to have a head start.

 

Is there any documentation on the audio subsystem available?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are the level designers/modelers able (and do they) assign audio properties to surfaces? ie: carpet = soft, stone =loud.

 

Surfaces are designated by their texture, which carries an identifier like "stone", "carpet", "grass", etc. Footsteps are called specifically for the type of surface they land on. Impact sounds can also be specified for particular surfaces, though most only use 2 or 3 different sounds. These are all set by default and are not generally modified by the mapper (although they could be).

 

Rooms: Is the appropriate reverb/effects also dependant on the level designer or is it a generic effect based of room dimensions and surface type?

 

Sotha: It is up to the mapper to set the soundroom for a given area. Since many mappers have no EAX cards and TDM does not have EAX-card free equivalent, not many mappers spend time with EAX sound settings.

 

Is there any documentation on the audio subsystem available?

 

Sorry, I have no idea what "audio subsystem" even means.

 

I can tell you that files need to be saved as .wav files, in mono format, and 44100hz.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks guys, all good stuff....Im home from work today busy editing some side stuff, I'm going to delve in to the sounds later today

Edited by VENOM
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

There's an article on our wiki of audio assets we still use in Doom 3. Some of them, like sound/ed/spook/ohgodplease.ogg belong to entire existing sets that need replacement (in this case, the revenant). It might also be helpful to know the original doom 3 soundshader name and what file that's found in. The-EMZ has got a really helpful list here.

 

Our last sound designer has gotten sidetracked by his professional projects. I'm a hobbyist and a dabbler, but I'm at university and haven't had the time to record. I've gotten a few doom 3 replacements recorded, and even prototyped some new undead Revenant sounds, but they're sitting on our SVN server while I'm away on Christmas break.

 

I'd be excited to see what you could whip up for creature sounds. Sonar X1 doesn't exactly come with ethereal-sounding plugins.

rev_laugh4.mp3

yay seuss crease touss dome in ouss nose tair

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks guys, all good stuff....Im home from work today busy editing some side stuff, I'm going to delve in to the sounds later today

Any luck with some thief-like ambient? It would be great to have more of them in TDM

What excuse do we have not to sculpt, and sculpt, and sculpt, until the job is done?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Have you heard all the ones we already have? We have (counting them...) 324 ambients. Granted most of them are in sets of like 3 to 5 that sound very similar to one another, but that's one place I think we're doing pretty well. And if people wanted to add in more, there's a billion on YouTube and other sites; they're one of the easiest things for a mapper to just drop in. Not to discourage your enthusiasm though. If an ambient maker is inspired to make some for TDM, all the better.

 

It's the sfx and folios that we have to replace where we really have the need.

What do you see when you turn out the light? I can't tell you but I know that it's mine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There's a list of the folios and other stuff we need to replace on our wiki somewhere... Just a second... Here it is: http://wiki.thedarkm...lone_TDM#Sounds
I did start to go through these to see if there were any I thought I could recreate, but RL and a fried laptop put a stop to much progress. It looked to me like it'd be fairly painstaking work and not particularly glamorous, but that's probably true of most of the standalone work needed.
I STRONGLY believe that one of the most important and often overlooked features of any video game is the audio, ALL of it
+ 1, and I wouldn't limit it to video games. From my (very limited) experience of working in film & TV, getting the sound recorded well seemed to be often more difficult than getting the visuals right, but maybe I just happened to be around badly-trained sound recordists. ;)

Anyway. Really encouraging to get an offer of help from a pro; any & all contributions welcome!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You want to use stuff from youtube??

 

Are you asking for folios or for ambients? For ambients, YT is a treasure-trove, a bazillion tracks people make and upload that are high quality still in the recording. Just comment that you'd like to use it, and people usually give permission.

 

For folios, you're cutting out a sound from some real world scene, the quality can be spotty, you don't know that you'll get permission (or if you even need it if it's a public domain sound), but since there are so many out there, you can usually find what you're looking for.

 

It might not be great for the mod itself, since it's risk adverse with using other people's material unless they get very explicit permission, but for mappers it's such a great resource I don't know why they wouldn't use it. Just try to get permission & give credit. The best ambient my map had was taken from YouTube with the composer's blessing.

What do you see when you turn out the light? I can't tell you but I know that it's mine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 months later...

The sound effect of opening a chest or a jewelry case sounds like a door opening. You'd think I'd be used to it after hours of playing, but I often hurry and look at the nearest door for guards after opening chests and jewel cases. It's not a big deal, but it would be nice if they could have a different sound effect someday.

 

(Not sure that this is the best place to post this.)

Edited by SirGen
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The chest lid is just a door entity, and has the default door sound. Mappers can choose whatever sound they want for it opening and closing, but not everyone thinks to change them. I think I went in and changed the default sound for the prefabs, so that mappers that use them in future will have a more appropriate sound if they don't apply something themselves.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recent Status Updates

    • Petike the Taffer

      I've finally managed to log in to The Dark Mod Wiki. I'm back in the saddle and before the holidays start in full, I'll be adding a few new FM articles and doing other updates. Written in Stone is already done.
      · 4 replies
    • nbohr1more

      TDM 15th Anniversary Contest is now active! Please declare your participation: https://forums.thedarkmod.com/index.php?/topic/22413-the-dark-mod-15th-anniversary-contest-entry-thread/
       
      · 0 replies
    • JackFarmer

      @TheUnbeholden
      You cannot receive PMs. Could you please be so kind and check your mailbox if it is full (or maybe you switched off the function)?
      · 1 reply
    • OrbWeaver

      I like the new frob highlight but it would nice if it was less "flickery" while moving over objects (especially barred metal doors).
      · 4 replies
    • nbohr1more

      Please vote in the 15th Anniversary Contest Theme Poll
       
      · 0 replies
×
×
  • Create New...