   Sound in games usually sucks
  Specifically talking about weapons in FPS games, but it probably applies to more than that.To me, sound in games is almost as important as the visuals. I find almost all games get the sound all wrong and its annoying. Its like instead of doing what is realistic/sensible/good, they just do what all previous games have done without giving it a second thought. Im not talking about the quality of the sound, ie the KBPS or KHZ or however else you measure quality because I have no beef with that for the most part.Im talking about 1: the the choice of the soundsand more importantly2: the relative volume of the sounds1: Have you ever played an FPS where the sound your gun makes is some high pitched 'pak pak' sound that you would expect from a ladycracker?   If youve ever played an FPS chances are the answer is yes. My speakers may not be the most expensive in the world, but I know for sure that its not my speakers causing the problem, its the choice of the sound used in the game. Even the first gun you start with in a game, I know its supposed to be the 'weakest' gun, but thats no reason to give it a wussy sound. Its usually a glock or a 9mm or some other kind of badass handgun. Why does it always get some wussy sound like someone is popping bubble wrap? Even the shotguns get horrible sounds. Insead of "BLAM!!", its always just a slight step up from the bubble wrap from the handgun. 2: This kind of overlaps from #1 I guess. The relative volume of the sounds in the game is always waaay off. If you can think of a game where this isnt true, please let me know. I hatehow the volume in games never makes sense. In just about every FPS I have ever played, the sound of the guns is only slightlylouder than the sound of your own damn footsteps. Am I the only one that doesnt like that? In real life, the sound of your footsteps is probably one of the quietest things you hear. If it was any quieter, you probably wouldnt hear it. Yet for some reson, in games, its more or less the same volume as a shotgun blast. Thats crazy! Could it be because the game developers never actually fired a shotgun? It should be a requirement that the sound guy spends a day firing the weapons he's making the sound for (except for maybe the biggies like the RPGs or the BFG9000's). The sound of a 12 guage shotgun is a powerful sound. An awesome sound. Probably one of the loudest sounds you'll ever hear, especiallyif its fired indoors. It doesnt make sense to me that a shotgun is as quiet as a footstep (or that a footstep is as loud as a shotgun). Why is this such a big deal to me? There are tons of things in games that arnt 100% realistic of course. Why am I so worked up about the sound? For 2 reasons: First, I like to feel the weapons Im using in a game. They have to feel powerful. Everytime i shoot that shotgun should give me a great satisfaction and pleasure, even if I miss what I was shooting for. I think the main thing to accomplish that is a nice big loud satisfying BLLAAAMM! Second, this is something that is easy to fix. Unless I am missing something, it would be really easy to make gunshots and grenade explosions a hellova lot louder than footsteps and voices and other sounds in the game. If anyone replies to this, Id be interested to know if youve fired a 12guage shotgun before, along with your reply.[edited by - AndreTheGiant on February 8, 2004 10:13:45 PM]
  Just out of curiosity, have you ever fired any of those guns? I haven''t, so I have no way to know what they actually sound like, therefore I can''t complain.I''m just asking if you know what they really   sound like. ;  Yes, Ive fired a 12 guage shotgun before, probably about 20 rounds. Ive also fired a 9mm (and a .22, but that doesnt count because no game uses a 22! ;P) I think thats it. Havnt used any grenades (do pipe-bombs count?), or anything else, but the hand gun and the shotgun are pretty much staples of any FPS out there. So I might not know the exact sound of an AK-47, but I think I might have a better idea as to how loud it should be, having fired the other weapons. ;  Lets assume you are correct, and a game comes out where the shotgun is VERY loud. After firing that 600 times in one level, I can assure you that you will be reaching for the volume control. Its the reason of repition that you will often find that the guns that DONT get used to often are VERY loud, and have very authentic sounds (ie. Sniper rifles).;quote:Lets assume you are correct, and a game comes out where the shotgun is VERY loud. After firing that 600 times in one level, I can assure you that you will be reaching for the volume control. Its the reason of repition that you will often find that the guns that DONT get used to often are VERY loud, and have very authentic sounds (ie. Sniper rifles).Hmm true enough, but I had already considered that.I only really ranted about a small portion of my opinion of games. I also happen to have a problem with the realism of games, in which you can shoot someone in the face with a shotgun 3 times, and they are still able to run around shooting back at you. It should only take one shot. So really, it would be maybe 50 times per level, not 600. But yeah, I can see how 50 shotgun shots would still be enough for the neighbors to get mad. So maybe there should at least be an option for 2 kinds of sound:- wussy ass seseme-street bubble wrap soundsor- realistic window rattling feel the power kick you in the chest soundsFor people like me, who dont have neighbors, it would be really appreciated. ;  Most games have problem with sounds alright. And music.sound = this action is dull, let''s play some sound fx.music = just play anything to fill up the quietness.they forget that music can increase/decrease player''s mood while playing. They keep playing music that gets repeated over and over. ;quote:Original post by AndreTheGiant  Yes, Ive fired a 12 guage shotgun before, probably about 20 rounds. Ive also fired a 9mm (and a .22, but that doesnt count because no game uses a 22! ;P) There was a .22 in Hitman 2. It was a ultra-silenced handgun, for killing people quietly. ;quote:I also happen to have a problem with the realism of games, in which you can shoot someone in the face with a shotgun 3 times, and they are still able to run around shooting back at you. Not anymore. It is very, very unusual for any game not to support headshots thesedays. Look at Soldier of Fortune. They used the system so that bits of limbs go flying everywhere, enabling you to finish a level by atually blowing everyones arms off. Also, if you want window ratling sound, why not just turn down the music and speach, turn up the SFX, and then just crank your sound system?? (this is what I did with need for speed underground);quote:Original post by AndreTheGiant  - wussy ass seseme-street bubble wrap soundsor- realistic window rattling feel the power kick you in the chest soundsBetter yet!  Realistic Brown noises shoot out at you everytime you hit the trigger!Nah, that type of stuff gets old fast.  I prefer non-realistic sounds to perfectly real sounds anyways.  I''ve played Doom at my friend''s house with the speakers turned up so loud it the house shook.  It was cool for like, 5 minutes. ;  Flight Sims would be pretty boring with realistic sounds. With his/her helmet on a pilot can really only hear the radios and the electric buzz of the comm gear.A space sim would also be pretty dull. There is no sound in space. You only have the sounds in the space craft to hear.Driving games (The EA Nascar series for example) tend to have acceptional sound. With the volume up and subwoofer turned on, you get a lot of low level vibrations that feel and sound rather authentic.Operation Flashpoint (A squad based tatical shooter) had pretty decent sound. All the weapons sounded like the real thing. An M-16 doesn''t give off a blazing sound barrage when fired. Its more like a mutted crack. The explosions were realistic and the designers took full advantage of EAX and positional sound to properly simulate sound moving through the battlefield. You could hear a tank coming along valley road long before you saw it and it gave you a deep sense of doom if you had no anti-armor weapons.But you''re right, most sounds in games suck. 