Decrease volume of open/close door sounds triggered by player

[snatcher]

EDIT: This mod is now part of the TDM Modpack.

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Dear all,

I always wondered why our protagonist makes as much noise as AI when manipulating doors. Shouldn't our thief be a little more graceful than the careless AI?

I am trying to decrease the volume of open/close door sounds - when the sound is triggered by the player - and while I can get the current volume:

float curOpenSound = door.getSoundVolume(door.getKey("snd_open"));
float curShutSound = door.getSoundVolume(door.getKey("snd_close"));

I cannot figure out how to alter the value returned. It would seem I can make use of setSoundVolume() only if I force a sound afterwards...

Any ideas?

Edited December 9, 2022 by snatcher

[Hooded Lantern]

Do the doors even make a noise that the careles watch reacts to?

[snatcher]

Mappers have the ability to instruct AI to (visually) mind open doors but, nope, nothing about sounds (unless purposely scripted).

I detected a problem with the original idea: if we decrease the volume we won't be able to tell if a door shuts or opens close by or in the distance. Was it me? Was it somebody else?

I am now toying with the idea that our thief should have his/her own "muffled" opening/closing sounds...

[snatcher]

You can find in this post a working example.

It is built on top of some TDM Modpack scripts but it works with and without the TDM Modpack.

Just place the "z_Thiefy_Doors_Mod_v0.1.pk4" file in your TDM folder.

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For this round I am only replacing the stock "door_open_1" and "door_shut_1" sounds but this should cover the vast majority of regular doors out there. I borrowed a couple of fitting sounds from the Sneak & Destroy mission by @SeriousToni, I hope he doesn't mind

What does the "Thiefy Doors" mod do? Doors manipulated by the player don't make as much noise (unless you are running!). It is just an immersion gimmick since AI doesn't care for noises coming from doors.

Let me know your thoughts.

 

Edited December 3, 2022 by snatcher

[SeriousToni]

2 hours ago, snatcher said:

I borrowed a couple of fitting sounds from the Sneak & Destroy mission by @SeriousToni, I hope he doesn't mind 

No not at all. I am glad you found them useful. I was bored by all the same sounding doors so I tried to add new ones that fit the looks of the models. Have fun with them! Can't wait to see what you did with them

[datiswous]

4 hours ago, snatcher said:

You can find in this post a working example.

I added this to:

https://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Add-ons

Maybe I should have tested it first..

[snatcher]

12 hours ago, SeriousToni said:

No not at all. I am glad you found them useful. I was bored by all the same sounding doors so I tried to add new ones that fit the looks of the models. Have fun with them!

Thanks, SeriousToni!

9 hours ago, datiswous said:

I added this to:

https://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Add-ons

Should everything go alright this little mod will eventually be part of the TDM Modpack and it will be maintained and evolve there. Therefore I rather have you listing the TDM Modpack instead of this standalone package which, in any case, is work in progress!

Thanks in any case, datiswous!

[OrbWeaver]

I've often felt that door opening sounds were much too loud, so this sounds like a potential improvement.

One problem is that certain cupboards with two doors actually play the sound twice at the same time (once for each door), making it double the expected volume. But even regular single doors often sound too loud to me.

[snatcher]

1 hour ago, OrbWeaver said:

One problem is that certain cupboards with two doors actually play the sound twice at the same time (once for each door), making it double the expected volume.

Indeed.

My script currently has a problem with sibling doors: only the door you frob gets the "muffled" sound but I think a solution can be found.

A couple of observations:

1. (It seems) back in the day there was no discrimination between large doors, chests or cabinets and we ended up with the same opening/closing sounds in different categories, and if we change the sound of a particular door we might as well be changing the sound of a chest. This will be hardly noticeable by players though since players aren't aware of the original sound and we are exchanging sounds with very low-key versions.
2. If players have the "Open Doors on Unlock" setting set to "Yes" then my script doesn't work when a door gets unlocked. Something is happening in the source code that apparently is out of reach for the script. Not a big deal imho but there it is.

[snatcher]

"Open door sounds" usage: doors, chests, cabinets...

Interesting results... Decision making time!

(door_open_01 is the default therefore it is not listed)

Mind you: it is a quick and dirty estimation...

Edited November 25, 2022 by snatcher

[snatcher]

Find attached to this post a v0.2. Delete previous versions from your TDM folder.

I am taking a drastic approach here for testing purposes, everything is subject to changes.

Doors which "open" sound match with the below will be muffled (open and close):

"door_open" // random
"door_open_01"
"door_open_02"
"door_open_03"
"door_open_04"
"door_open_05"
"door_open_06"
"door_open_07"
"door_open_08"

Remember: This only impacts doors manipulated by the player. AI will make use of whatever default sound a door came with in the map.

 

Edited December 3, 2022 by snatcher

[snatcher]

5 hours ago, snatcher said:

My script currently has a problem with sibling doors: only the door you frob gets the "muffled" sound but I think a solution can be found.

I am afraid this is more difficult than I thought and I ran out of ideas

By the by...

@SeriousToni, you know your are guilty of all this, don't you? While playing S&D I thought gosh, these door sounds are slick! I am intruding!

[SeriousToni]

Haha yeah I felt like I was the only person who got a little annoyed by all the same door sounds. And in some fan missions there were new door models, but still the same sounds. Overall I think sound is one of the most important factors of this game but also is the most neglected feature when people create their fan missions.

It's nice to see you're working on more silent door sounds. However don't let a small drawback stop yourself. I personally could live with a double exposed drawer sound if all the other doors are more silent when opened /closed by the player. I'm not sure if lowering the volume is sufficient or if playing custom sounds for the player would feel better though. I would need to test your mod but there's not so much time atm. Gonna give it a shot in the next few days to see how it changes the game. Keep on trying - it's an interesting topic!

[snatcher]

On 11/25/2022 at 11:00 PM, SeriousToni said:

Overall I think sound is one of the most important factors of this game but also is the most neglected feature when people create their fan missions.

Right. I will be soon reviewing in detail your Alternative Footstep Sound Package, but let's finish this first

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You can find in this post v0.3. I added some more "Thiefy" sounds to the mix for variety. Once again, delete previous versions from your TDM folder.

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Any help from anyone in relation with double doors? How do we go about detecting if a door has sibling?

 

Edited December 3, 2022 by snatcher

[snatcher]

You can find attached to this post v0.4. Delete previous versions from your TDM folder.

In this new version I have extended the support to chests.

Remember: only doors which have the default, stock sounds are affected. If mappers went for a custom sound their decision is then respected.

 

Edited December 3, 2022 by snatcher

[snatcher]

Find attached to this post v0.5, a release candidate.

Install instructions:

• Delete previous versions from your TDM folder
• Download the pk4 file
• Move the pk4 file to your TDM folder

What's new:

• Code reorganization / improvements
• Added random squeaky sounds (small chance of happening)

Known issues:

• I am unable to detect double doors therefore manipulating double doors remains a little noisy.
• I am unable to intercept the moment a door gets unlocked therefore unlocking locked doors remains a little noisy.

Feedback appreciated.

Just play a mission normally. If after a while you don't "feel anything" then it probably feels natural at that point.

z_Thiefy_Doors_Mod_v0.5.pk4

Edited December 3, 2022 by snatcher

[chakkman]

On 11/24/2022 at 2:12 PM, snatcher said:

Dear all,

I always wondered why our protagonist makes as much noise as AI when manipulating doors.

Because it's an audible clue that you opened or closed a door. Nothing more, nothing less. It would be horrible if I close the door, then turn my back, and don't hear if the door has really been closed. Because, it can always happen that you didn't trigger the closing, or hindered the door to fully close when you walked through the door.

Edited December 3, 2022 by chakkman

[snatcher]

We agree.

Question is, should an intruder make as much noise when operating doors as the people going about their business in that place?

[chakkman]

No, but, there are a lot of gameplay choices in games which are applied as clues to make the game more playable. IMO, this is one of those things. It's surely not realistic, but, personally, I just need that audible clue to know that the door really closed. I like to close doors, because then you hear them when an NPC enters the room.

Edited December 5, 2022 by chakkman

[snatcher]

We agree.

What if the audible clues were slightly different depending on whether a door is operated by the player or NPCs? Does the idea "sound" good, at least, in theory?

[SeriousToni]

This is exactly how the current footsteps work. Player footsteps are also a bit loud, however with this the player is able to notice on what sort of ground he / she is walking. Plus the player footsteps use other sounds than the ai footsteps. This way the player is able to distinguish between player and ai footsteps easily.

I personally would welcome if this would also apply for door sounds.

[chakkman]

20 hours ago, snatcher said:

We agree.

What if the audible clues were slightly different depending on whether a door is operated by the player or NPCs? Does the idea "sound" good, at least, in theory?

Well, it doesn't sound bad, but, I still don't quite see the point. It would just be a gimmick. There's enough of a clue right now as to who is operating the door.

I think what you're suggesting is more of a case of atmosphere, than anything really adding to the gameplay. I don't need that, but, YMMV.

[snatcher]

Thanks for the comments @SeriousToni & @chakkman

This little mod (an improved version of) is now tightly integrated into an upcoming TDM Modpack update.