Question to Mappers

[Felix-The-Ghost]

At what volume do you have your computer at when making map sounds? I use the volume when footsteps become audible without headphones.

Hey all. Not sure if this belongs in "help" or "mapping/modding"

So I know how to use map sounds, but I was wondering what volume do you guys have your computer set to when setting the volumes?

I thought it'd be good to set them when your footsteps become audible? Or do you set sounds for when the guns are really loud? Either way if someone was playing on a higher volume some sounds would be too loud, like vents.

Anyone have thoughts on this?

[Z3R0]

I just put my computer to half volume and see how loud I think it should be then. I walk about and jump a lot when mapping, so that gives me a good idea of how it should sound when being played.

Though I'm not the best at sound, best way to learn is probably through experience ;)

[Felix-The-Ghost]

best way to learn is probably through experience ;)

I agree in most circumstances, though in this case, I can't experience what other people's sound volumes are set to. I guess what I'm really asking is what volume do people play at?

As I said earlier, without headphones there is a certain volume where footsteps just barely become audible -- I use that because the pistol is just on the borderline of being too loud :)

[YesWeCamp]

What really should help you is just regulating the volume so you can hear the sounds of the official maps normally. That way you cant go wrong :)

[[SODA]___ME___]

I think headphones vs. cheap speakers vs. speakers with sub-woofer would make a difference in the sound and relative volume (would like to see a poll on what is most popular). Everyone also had a different ear for sounds, some have a higher or lower range of frequencies they can hear and a different threshold of sensitivity to sounds. The chipset and drivers used to generate the sounds can also change the way it sounds. All that said, YesWeCamp has the best solution, if you still feel unsure then ask someone to listen to your map who is trustworthy and not afraid to tell you the truth.

If you have some time to waste, you will find that the human ear and the signal processing we do is very complex and has a few strange quarks to it, eyesight is even more interesting.

[Felix-The-Ghost]

What really should help you is just regulating the volume so you can hear the sounds of the official maps normally. That way you cant go wrong :)

I just tried this and I honestly wonder if anyone does this...

To hear most of the sounds I have to turn my volume so loud gunshots hurt my ears (sure it's realistic) and my footsteps sound like a monster stomping around and crouching and jumping sound just as weird.

And even at that volume I can just kind of hear some sounds. I bet the official maps have way more sounds than people think (did you know douze has sounds?) -- the only one I'm used to hearing is ac_power, and at this volume every sound in the map screams at me (I also noticed at this volume the map changing sound is too loud)

The official maps sounds don't appear too be consistent -- ac_power's sounds appear the loudest with werk's sounds being average and other maps too quiet to turn the volume up for and still play.

For perspective I use modern speakers.

[YesWeCamp]

I just tried this and I honestly wonder if anyone does this...

I do.

To hear most of the sounds I have to turn my volume so loud gunshots hurt my ears (sure it's realistic) and my footsteps sound like a monster stomping around and crouching and jumping sound just as weird.

Lol, so there is your answer: sounds are just for ambience. In the background. I do hear the sounds normally though when im walking on most of the maps but you will only hear them when you pay attention, and when theres no shooting and stuff around. And yes i knew douze had sounds but gunsounds > windsound.

The official maps sounds don't appear too be consistent -- ac_power's sounds appear the loudest with werk's sounds being average and other maps too quiet to turn the volume up for and still play.

So what it means is that some maps want to emphasize their ambience with sounds, like power, but im sure you have also heard the helicopter in d3. Most sounds, like wind are just at the background, it doesnt always storm. So i guess this should give you still quite an idea how loud to put the sounds. If you want to make a factory it makes a hell of a lot of noise and when you make a desert all you hear is a crow here and there or a helicopter. At least thats how i do it. You can do quite some funstuff still if you like with the sounds. For instance the dog behind the door on ac_forgotten (yes, shameless promotion). Most mappers wont do to much effort on the sounds though and thats okay since they should be just in the background because this game is about bullets and not about helicopters :)

[Takkunen]

I usually don't have game sound on as i like to play with music blaring. But when i do add sounds i usually find a volume, loud up 2 or so official maps and go by there volumes. As long as sounds are done all at once so you don't do it over to instances where the sound from your computer is different and used a benchmark, there shouldn't be too much of a problem.

[Felix-The-Ghost]

For instance the dog behind the door

I did this before you told me this. When I release a new map please don't think I stole the idea from you.

Never heard the desert3 helicopter before. I had to turn the volume way to an unplayable volume.

I get the ambience thing. I just don't think most people ever hear these sounds (first time after three years of playing these maps for me)

I think I'll just continue to use footsteps as the base volume so I can comfortably hear sounds.

[ExodusS]

Computer at 50% volume, headset at 50% volume, AC at basic settings.
Anyway, a sound should be a bit loud, it's not disturbing, it just makes part of the gameplay.
If someone release sounds to get an advantage..oh wait, nobody cares about them.

Edit: 1000th post (again)