Replacement footstep sound set.

[Bikerdude]

I would like to record some high quality foot step sounds to replace the current, I will be using my motorcycle boots - these look at sound more like 'garrets' than the current tdm sound set.

 

So how do I submit them for consideration for inclusion to the mod as an update..?

Edited October 20, 2009 by Bikerdude

[Mortem Desino]

Well, the end result is that we need the original uncompressed WAVs to work with, but you could post mp3 samples for us to listen to.

 

It'd be cool to have multiple footstep sets. Guards could use a hard-sole set and peasants could use a soft-sole set of footfalls for a more diverse world of sound.

[New Horizon]

I personally don't have a problem with the current footsteps, but submissions will be considered. It might be that they just need some further tweaking to tone them down a bit, but I don't think they're bad.

[greebo]

Also, a thing to be kept in mind is that we use separate footstep sounds for each movement type per surface, e.g.:

 

metal walk

metal walk+creep

metal run

metal jump landing

metal crouch walk

metal crouch run

metal crouch creep

 

Each of these needs about 4 to 5 different WAVs to not sound repetitive, so don't underestimate the work going into good footfall sounds. At the time of this writing, we have the full set of sounds for stone, tile, grass, wood, puddle and I think one more, but we don't have a full set of footfalls for metal, for instance.

 

So maybe the sounds which are bothering people are the ones which don't have a full set?

[Springheel]

It might be that they just need some further tweaking to tone them down a bit, but I don't think they're bad.

 

I'm a fan of quieter footsteps, but I think the current ones would probably be fine if they were just reduced in volume.

 

The problem with footstep sounds is that we followed the Thief convention of "tile = loud". Tile is only loud if you have hard-soled shoes. With soft-soled shoes it is the quietest surface to walk on. So we have to make sound effects for hard-soled shoes, even though a real thief would not wear them.

 

In hindsight, we might have missed an opportunity to go with a more realistic 'sound to surface' model, but at the time we didn't want to stray too far from the classic Thief gameplay.

[Bikerdude]

 

metal walk

metal walk+creep

metal run

metal jump landing

metal crouch walk

metal crouch run

metal crouch creep

 

we have the full set of sounds for stone, tile, grass, wood, puddle and I think one more, but we don't have a full set of footfalls for metal, for instance.

 

So maybe the sounds which are bothering people are the ones which don't have a full set?

 

Hi Greebo,

 

where can I get a list of the surface types or is the above it..?

 

its actually the boots/shoes the thief is wearing thats the problem. They are the same as guard boots(eg bloody great hobnail boots..lol), which are too loud. No thief would wear this type of boot surely....?

 

And secondly, can the 'type' of boot be changed? For example my recording will sound more like a thief's boot than a guards boot.. I will do a quick example comparison so you guys get where Im coming from..

 

brb...

[Bikerdude]

Hmm..

 

Well as its 9pm I wasnt able to walk loud enough to get a descent recording... suffice to say my recording setup inst sensitive enough thus the noise floor becomes the enemy... but here is what I managed on a tiled wooden floor in a pair of soft office shoes -

 

http://rapidshare.com/files/295650366/Thief_shoes.wav.html

 

I have to reduce the noise by 5db to compensate etc.

[Mortem Desino]

The click-clack "hobnail" tap shoe convention is something that is very familiar to the whole thief community.

 

As soon as you wear soft-soled shoes, you won't get the acoustically lively sound of Garrett-on-tile, and suddenly tile and metal footsteps are quieter than wood. By putting on my marching shoes, I can rollstep very quietly on a linoleum or concrete floor, but wood and tall carpet are louder than hard surfaces.

 

On the plus side; I do like the sound of these steps so far. I don't hear any significant background noise other than the normal "ess" that comes out of any phantom-powered microphone.

[greebo]

I'll copy this from an internal thread - this should be our current setup:

 

"GoldChocobo" means that we have a full set of variations for all movement types.

"Dram" means that it's using the ones uploaded by Dram in July (one single movement type).

"T2X" means that it's using the one provided by the T2X crew.

 

Dram's have no jump sounds, in that case the T2X jump sound is used.

Some materials are just using the same shader, some are using the same sounds but with a different volume.

 

stone = GoldChocobo (= full set of movetype-specific sounds)

rock => stone

wood => GoldChocobo

tile => GoldChocobo

ceramic => tile

metal => Dram

gravel => Dram

slate => tile

glass => Dram

snow => T2X

ice => Dram (= tile, but quieter)

grass => GoldChocobo

sand => dirt

straw => grass

ash => dirt

dirt => GoldChocobo

mud => Dram

foliage => Dram (including jump sound)

carpet => Dram

cloth => carpet

armor_leath => carpet

flesh => carpet

moss => carpet

paper => carpet

cardboard => carpet

armor_plate => metal

armor_chain => metal

twigs => Dram (= wood)

brokeglass => gravel (?)

squeakboard => Dram (=wood, but higher volume)

[SneaksieDave]

These are promising. They got me thinking about something (and someone commented this somewhere yesterday I think): that a lot of times footfalls (a few of ours too) sound forced, like someone stomping on the surface for the sake of getting the sound to register. That comes through in the sound, and as a result you feel like you're stomping around the world. These (most of them at least) sound more subtle, like a natural walk.

 

Anyway it's good to hear (har har) that we're getting a lot of good choices to pick from, so hopefully by the end we'll have a full suite of really tight sounds.

[Goldchocobo]

To be honest the footsteps sound almost identical to the set I recorded. Only without the post production (as I understand its a rough cut). We used leather boots similar to what I imagine our protagonist would be wearing. I wasn't really happy with our "dirt" sounds, plus we have many sounds that just aren't there yet, so knock yourself out.

[Tels]

To be honest the footsteps sound almost identical to the set I recorded. Only without the post production (as I understand its a rough cut). We used leather boots similar to what I imagine our protagonist would be wearing. I wasn't really happy with our "dirt" sounds, plus we have many sounds that just aren't there yet, so knock yourself out.

 

Could you explain what the phrase "knock yourself out" means?

[Goldchocobo]

Could you explain what the phrase "knock yourself out" means?

 

Lol, uh, I guess what I mean is that the general consensus is that he should feel free to produce some footsteps for TDM

[Tels]

Lol, uh, I guess what I mean is that the general consensus is that he should feel free to produce some footsteps for TDM

 

Ah, thanx, my English Phrase Book is in soe box somewhere around here

[Mortem Desino]

Isn't english simultaneously the stupidest and coolest language you've ever used?

 

"knock yourself out!" "how do you like them apples?" "I have an itchy palm."

[SneaksieDave]

Break a leg!

[Noisycricket]

Ha, too funny. As a native english speaker, i sometimes wonder what others must think of some of our downright non-nonsensical slang. Or use of words, like...."downright"! There lots of other things i think should be changed in this globalized world. Like spelling words in a way other than how you would sound them out. Like knife. The K is silent. What the flibbity $*$!&@?

[STiFU]

Thread seems to be derailed anyway, so here I go!

 

"downright" is actually fairly understandable and I think that it's even a commonly taught vocable here in germany. But "how do you like them apples?" is really hard. Even though I looked it up now, I woudln't know when to use it really...

[Tch]

You'd use it when you've dealt a crushing blow to an adversary, and you wish to demand their response.

 

An example, in poker:

 

"I've got a full house."

"Oh yeah? Well, I've got 4 aces! How do you like them apples?"

 

It's not a very intellectual phrase to use, though.

[baalak]

You'd use it when you've dealt a crushing blow to an adversary, and you wish to demand their response.

 

As a native English speaker, I can attest to this phrase's use to mean something similar to "What are you gonna do about it?" when used in such context.

 

My grandmother used to use the phrase in a more conciliatory way, sounding kinda defeated herself, in a "It can't be helped, why worry about it?" sort of way, though I don't know if this is standard usage. It may be an artifact of prior generations.

 

I love idioms. More fun than a barrel of monkeys.

 

- Baalak called Idiomatic.

[Tels]

Ha, da brat mir doch einer nen Storch, und ich fress nen Besen, wenn das stimmt!

 

(I imagine the google translate team will have something to work on tonight..)

[plasticman]

Google says:

 

Ha, Da Brat me a nen Storch, and I eating nen hat if that's true!

...and I just found out there's a new feature: speech synthesis. It tries to read the nonsense for you, but it seems only available for short sentences and phrases.

 

Funny toy. Could be exploited for some real terrible conversations in fan missions.

[Tels]

Google says:

 

 

...and I just found out there's a new feature: speech synthesis. It tries to read the nonsense for you, but it seems only available for short sentences and phrases.

 

Funny toy. Could be exploited for some real terrible conversations in fan missions.

 

LOL.

 

One thing that would help google would be replacing "nen" with "einen" or "'nen".