Reorganize The Ambients

[pakmannen]

I'm on a roll today! Finished that folder + soundshader (named it artifical for now, but I could easily change that with a little search&replace)

[pakmannen]

I don't know...if I were a mapper that wouldn't really give me a sense of what would be in the folder.

Yeah maybe. I'm not a native english speaker and thus "artifical" (sounding much like a word in my own language) is a word I relate to more than "man-made", but I should probably just listen to you..

[Darkness_Falls]

I'm not too keen on 'artificial' either. I had a similar problem when trying to figure out the categories I listed above. "Nature", "Mechanical" and "Human" (or something similar) might need to be 3 separate folders. I think it would be tough to clump Mechanical and Human together and call it "artificial" or "unnatural", etc. Maybe there is some word we can use that I'm just not thinking of...

[pakmannen]

I don't think we should use "human", since everyone will think footsteps/voices are contained within.. Boy this is hard..

 

Most of the sounds are machine sounds, but then we have a few chains, electricity, bells and clocks.. I don't think they justify having a new folder. There must be a good word that sums up things built/constructed by man.

[pakmannen]

Looking up synonyms I find:

 

- artifical

- man-made

- hand-made

- device

- non-natural

- mechanical

 

Maybe devices?

[Springheel]

Of the list, mechanical and man-made are the most descriptive. And mechanical is a little misleading, since chains aren't really mechanical. Unless there's a reason not to I'd just go with man-made.

[sparhawk]

Mechanical? At least if it is limited to the stuff you mentioned above. Metallic would also fit.

[pakmannen]

How about "civilization" or something that describes the world of man?

[pakmannen]

Some suggestions for the third folder, with the music/tunes/hums:

 

- mood

- atmosphere

- background

- music

 

"Background" is probably not a good idea since the other ambients also can be considered to be background sounds. And music isn't really fitting either. So mood or atmosphere based on that list. Any other suggestions?

 

Edit - now that I think about it, I guess the other sounds can also be described as "mood" or "atmosphere" sounds.. Bah..

[Darkness_Falls]

Some suggestions for the third folder, with the music/tunes/hums:

 

- mood

- atmosphere

- background

- music

 

"Background" is probably not a good idea since the other ambients also can be considered to be background sounds. And music isn't really fitting either. So mood or atmosphere based on that list. Any other suggestions?

 

Edit - now that I think about it, I guess the other sounds can also be described as "mood" or "atmosphere" sounds.. Bah..

I don't think the hums should go in the same folder as music, tunes and composed ambience, unless they are melodious hums? If you're talking about machine hums, I don't think that should go in the same folder as music-type stuff. That way -- if hums are left out of that folder -- then the folder housing music, tunes and composed ambience could be called: "compositions".

 

Man-made instead of mechanical works for me.

 

Where are you housing footsteps and the such?

 

But sorry, I'm getting a bit lost maybe you can post a screenshot (or a listing) of the folder structure you have currently, with some sample files in each?

[pakmannen]

Fer crying out loud! Footsteps = soundeffects, sounds added by us in the code, not by mappers with the leveleditor. I even explained it on the previous page! (I realize that the words sfx/ambient are not used perfectly correctly, since a sound of a bird is also a soundeffect but I classify it as an ambient. Still, we had to call them something, and me and NH decided on those names way back in the beginning) If you want to see the folderstructure of the sfx, check This thread

 

Oh, when I say hums, I don't mean machine hums (which could have just as likely been named machine_sounds etc). Manmade and nature are the sounds that imitate real world objects, such as birds, rain, machines etc.

 

This new folder on the other hand, is for the sounds that are just there to enhance the atmosphere or mood of the level. They are not tied to a certain object. So I'm not sure "compositions" would work, since it seems to indicate more melodious things (as you said yourself) but most of these sounds are just simple backround mood enhancers.

 

I hope I'm making myself clear.. This is quite hard for me to explain, can't seem to find the right words.

 

I'll post listings of the complete folder structure later. Promise!

[pakmannen]

The folderstructure:

• ambient
  
  • ambience
    
  • hums
    
  • nature
    
  • technology
    

  [*]sfx

  • game
    
  • movement
    
  • tools
    
  • world
    

  [*]voices

  • mess (no, just kiddin)
    

I'll write a more detailed one later, with some sample sounds

[Darkness_Falls]

Fer crying out loud!

I know what sound effects are. I just lost track of the 'wider perspective' of where everything, in general, is falling into place.

[pakmannen]

I can see why people would get confused, this thread has gotten really really complicated.. But I think I have sorted most things out by now.

[sparhawk]

Since we are about SFX here: Do we already have these small effects for every day usage? Like that CLINK when putting down a tablet, or that CLONK when dropping something on the wooden floor, and such things.

[pakmannen]

Since we are about SFX here: Do we already have these small effects for every day usage? Like that CLINK when putting down a tablet, or that CLONK when dropping something on the wooden floor, and such things.

Ahem, again, check this thread to see the status of SFX. To answer your question directly, no, we don't have any sounds like that yet. We have a few impact_wooden sounds, but that's it.

 

I'm thinking of slapping nature/manmade together and call it "environmental". I think that is the correct term for describing sounds coming from the environment as opposed to being "music" or whatever.

 

Would that be easier to understand for people?

[sparhawk]

I think we should start such SFX as I mentioned, because we are already in a state where we can interact with the environment. Apparently we have a lot of other SFX and sounds, so doing this next would be good.

[pakmannen]

I think we should start such SFX as I mentioned, because we are already in a state where we can interact with the environment. Apparently we have a lot of other SFX and sounds, so doing this next would be good.

Once everything is sorted out with reorgs/merges etc I will sit down and make some kind of priority list for both sfx and ambient.

[pakmannen]

So should we go with environmental instead of nature/manmade?

[Springheel]

Why not ask the betamappers? They're the ones who are going to be most affected.

[pakmannen]

Aww, so I have to formulate this crap again? Well alright

[Springheel]

Well, if you don't really want an answer, then don't ask.

[pakmannen]

Nah, it's good english practice to try and explain this.. Should be fun.

[saxmeister]

mechanical - could give a sense of that, as well, but sounds like only machine noises

synthetic

unnatural - (implies supernatural, almost)

ersatz - def. Being an imitation or a substitute (although, usually used as a bad thing... but a cool word!)

But, I do think artificial is a good one.