surroundsound+voice

d3jake · Post by **d3jake** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 11:23 am

GReetings all!
I was wondering what it would take to add surround sound to D3. I'm guessing we might need the source because this sn't somethign that could be done with MODs...I'm guesing.
Who wouldn't want to feel the ground shake through subs as he\\she dies\\enter heavy combat?
And as a piggyback onto that, what about adding a voice whatsit onto D3 in such a way that if a teammate is behind you, then you'l hear his voice coming from behind you.
Thoughts?

WillyP · Post by **WillyP** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 6:07 pm

It's a great idea... but you don't need surround sound to add a sub. Most sub amps have a built in crossover and speaker level input. Even without speaker level input, the output of a sound card is usable to drive an amp. A better choice would be to feed the sound card into a integrated amp or reciever with sub outputs... that way you can use quality speakers for the main and surrounds,and also use the system with non PC sound sources. Here's an amp that'll shake the whole building... if not the whole block... http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshowdet ... ak=300-808

The other things would likely require extensive reworking of the D3 code... let me know when your done...

Foil · Post by **Foil** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 3:48 pm

(Sorry for the bump, I just now saw this thread.)

Umm, D3 does have the ability to use 5.1 surround-sound, if you have a 5.1 sound card with drivers supporting DirectSound 3D, Aureal 3D or Creative EAX, and any cheap 5.1 speaker set. Most decent sound cards do at least 5.1 nowadays, and you can get a cheap speaker + sub set for as little as $40.

It takes a while to get used to it at first (the relative volume of game sounds changes, depending on which drivers you use), but it's really immersive to play with sounds coming directionally from all around, and the subwoofer pounding out the mortar explosions.

Directional voice chat, though, would have to run through the game engine, so we're unlikely to ever see it.

Grendel · Post by **Grendel** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 4:55 pm

Foil wrote:It takes a while to get used to it at first (the relative volume of game sounds changes, depending on which drivers you use), but it's really immersive to play with sounds coming directionally from all around, and the subwoofer pounding out the mortar explosions.

It really distracted me when I tried it. Took me a moment to figure out why: w/ 3D sound & EAX on,
sound seems to be played "stationary". Ie. as soon a sound is played it becomes fixed in space. Makes for a weired effect if you move fast and shoot a primary weapon -- you move away from the sound a shot makes even tho it's supposed to come from your ship. Also means that the position information coded in sounds is pretty inaccurate, that's what disturbed my gameplay

Foil wrote:Directional voice chat, though, would have to run through the game engine, so we're unlikely to ever see it.

How come ? Q4 has voice chat build-in already, should be easy to add directional info.

The X-Fi cards have a funky feature, you can have the current EAX effects applied to the microphone -- if you are in the ladies room and use your mic it'll sound like you're in the ladies room to everyone listening

Foil · Post by **Foil** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 3:16 pm

Grendel wrote:
Foil wrote:It takes a while to get used to it at first (the relative volume of game sounds changes, depending on which drivers you use), but it's really immersive to play with sounds coming directionally from all around, and the subwoofer pounding out the mortar explosions.
It really distracted me when I tried it. Took me a moment to figure out why: w/ 3D sound & EAX on,
sound seems to be played "stationally". Ie. as soon a sound is played it becomes fixed in space. Makes for a weired effect if you move fast and shoot a primary weapon -- you move away from the sound a shot makes even tho it's supposed to come from your ship. Also means that the position information coded in sounds is pretty inaccurate, that's what disturbed my gameplay

I didn't like EAX, either. It tended to give me intermittent issues where sounds would cut out for seconds at a time.

But Direct3D sound has worked perfectly for me for about a year. And with Direct3D, the sounds do move as I fly, so there's no issue with stationary/fixed sounds.