Read by Council Sound effects, or, how to make the game exactly 17.339% more polished

[ARC157]

I've been playing and following Starmade for quite a while, I think since late 2012 or early 2013. The one thing that always constantly bugged me (and I always thought would be fixed eventually, but after three years I figured making a post about it was warranted) was the more or less lack of sound design. There seem to be very few sound assets in the game, and the ones that do exist seem spotty at best.

Sound design is an incredibly important part of player engagement, and by extension player enjoyment. When an entire sensory aspect is neglected it leaves the player wanting, perhaps without them even realizing it.

As a player I want to hear my cannons fire. I want to hear rails operating. I want to hear my massive siege beams light up. I want to hear missile explosions. I want to hear thrusters burning. I want to hear players footsteps on metal hull plates. I'm sad that such an important aspect has been so neglected during development.

 

[Criss]

Well luckily for us all, we have someone working on sound and music. We will hear more from them in a few months once they have created a good chunk of assets to use. I believe the sound engine in game is outdated and may need attention before we get proper audio working.

 

[ARC157]

Well luckily for us all, we have someone working on sound and music. We will hear more from them in a few months once they have created a good chunk of assets to use. I believe the sound engine in game is outdated and may need attention before we get proper audio working.

That's the best news I've heard all day! I'm really happy this is finally being worked on. I'm actually sympathetic to the lack of sound effects, I get it, I've been developing games as a hobbyist for a number of years now and it's always the last thing I consider during the development process. For some reason it's always something that's easy to forget about.

 

[SkylordLuke]

Well luckily for us all, we have someone working on sound and music. We will hear more from them in a few months once they have created a good chunk of assets to use. I believe the sound engine in game is outdated and may need attention before we get proper audio working.

oh wow,glad to hear they are working on it already :D
cant wait to hear the first tease

 

[Lord_Greyscale]

The bigger problem with sounds right now, is NOT the overall lack of them, it's that what precious few it has cannot be heard at all after they've been played 3 times.

Seriously, it's like the player goes deaf from the sounds.

There's a sound for cannon fire, and a sound for Missile explosion, and even a "background hum" for a shipcore.

The two weapon ones get quieter per use, untill they might as well not even be playing at all.
The "background hum" is stronger when you're cammed near the core of a ship that you aren't in.

The Dev team needs to fix that "falloff/fadeout" FIRST, and then they can worry about adding in new sounds.

 

[SkylordLuke]

The bigger problem with sounds right now, is NOT the overall lack of them, it's that what precious few it has cannot be heard at all after they've been played 3 times.

Seriously, it's like the player goes deaf from the sounds.

There's a sound for cannon fire, and a sound for Missile explosion, and even a "background hum" for a shipcore.

The two weapon ones get quieter per use, untill they might as well not even be playing at all.
The "background hum" is stronger when you're cammed near the core of a ship that you aren't in.

The Dev team needs to fix that "falloff/fadeout" FIRST, and then they can worry about adding in new sounds.

oh man,I believe that sound system is ancient,as in pre 2012 ancient :P
With the sfx update,I am certain they will do a complete overhaul on this

 

[Lord_Greyscale]

oh man,I believe that sound system is ancient,as in pre 2012 ancient :p
With the sfx update,I am certain they will do a complete overhaul on this

I can only hope so.