Dice rolling sounds?

[sunbeam60]

Are there suppose to be any?

[richvalle]

No. They thought about having sounds (mainly from dice) in the game but desided the game did not need sound.

rv

[Dupre]

Generating any sound on the fly is difficult, be it dice, engines, voice or instruments. We had dice sounds at one point during devepment, but the quality wasn't good enough to withstand long continous use without becoming irritating.

I believe interface feedback sounds would be a good addition, provided you can turn them off. This has been brought up before, but I'd like to hear more opinions on it.
- How would you feel if you had non-intrusive feedback sounds from the papers, sheets and tokens when you grabbed them (similar to what, say Baldur's Gate or similar games have)?
- Would you find it odd, if you had feedback sound effects but dice would be silent?
- Would you want to be able to modify them and have them as part of modules?

[Ilwan]

The only use I see in sound integration, would be if the software had a mediaplayer that would stream sounds to the players (like shoutcast). That could enable the GM to start music according to the situation (battle, travel etc.) or having soundseffects (check out www.rpgsoundmixer.com ) to follow events.
Otherwise I dont miss any sounds in the program at all. I think development should focus on improving the software and not on entirely new features.

[Aesir]

I believe interface feedback sounds would be a good addition, provided you can turn them off.

Agree. I'd suggest the lack of sounds is most noted when you first use FG.

- How would you feel if you had non-intrusive feedback sounds from the papers, sheets and tokens when you grabbed them (similar to what, say Baldur's Gate or similar games have)?

I would feel that it is a generally positive idea. See further down for how I would want to see this implemented.

- Would you find it odd, if you had feedback sound effects but dice would be silent?

Yes, I think I would..because the missing sounds from the dice rolling is currently the only real thing I happen to notice (as far as sounds that I think should be there).. The 'bad' side of dice sounds is that it would eventually annoy me (others would disagree, so a way to turn them on or off is really what is needed if you consider adding sound.

- Would you want to be able to modify them and have them as part of modules?

Here's what I would want:

I'd want the various player and GM event sounds (die rolling, interface bells, window whistles, etc.) to be defined by a URL path to a local or non-local .wav file. This 'setting' is user-definable as it is stored in a XML entry.

Example XML entry (assumed to be stored in a Settings or initialzation XML file that contains user-definable settings for sounds and other things):

<PlayerWhisperSound catagory="SoundSettings" Tooltip="Path to sound file played when you receive a whisper from a player."  value="C&#58;\WINDOWS\Media\Beep.wav"/>

<OneDieRollingSound catagory="SoundSettings" Tooltip="Path to sound file played when you roll one die."  value="C&#58;\WINDOWS\Media\DiceOne.wav"/>

<RufflingParchment catagory="SoundSettings" Tooltip="Path to sound file played when you look at a map window."  value="C&#58;\WINDOWS\Media\CrumplingPaper.wav"/>

I pick .wav as the preferred sound file format for several reasons, if this discussion goes into that kind of detail later on, I'll 'chime' in about .wav then.

If no valid path is defined, then there is no error displayed - there is just no sound. So blanking the Path to File entry is how you toggle sounds off.

I want these settings in XML for consistency with the rest of FG. Makes it a bit easier to add/change/delete sound events defined by FG too.

I'd want GM event sounds to work the same way. A GM event sound is a sound that is used by the GM as part of a module ("Orc Battle Cries" or "Creepy Cave Ambient Sound", for example).

<GM Event Sound catagory="SoundSettings" Tooltip="Path to sound file played when a GM Sound Event is initiated."  ChatPadText="/emote You hear a screaming orc charge into the fray." value="..\MyAdventure\Sounds\ScreamingOrc.wav"/>

The GM adds entries to a module or session-specific MyAdventureSounds.xml to do this. When the GM sets up the module for play, he enters an event name ("Orc Battle Cry"), a "flavor text" entry that displays in the chat pad when a given sound is played ("You hear the blood-curdling sound of Orcs charge into the fray.") and the path to the .wav s/he wants to use.

The Event Name is how FG knows what to play. The Flavor Text allows someone without the sound files (or a sound card, or the volume turned down) to 'see' a given sound.

The "MyAdventureSounds.xml" (or whatever you name it) points to the .wav needed for that individual event and when the GM sets up the module for distribution, that file, and the associated sound files, are packages with the rest of the mod. In fact, the sounds could be packaged separately as an optional download if desired. This allows a better adventure distribution model for those that are 'bandwidth' challenged. If the gaming session in question wasn't setup in advance (w/ players DLing the sounds), then client and GM server interface options should be set to allow for DLing those files after a player connects to the session. A player that is bandwidth challenged (or who started late) can go ahead and decide whether or not to DL those files at connect time.

The end result is that an individual player can customize his/her sound interface. And GMs or designers can add some 'bells & whistles' to their modules and campaigns to suit their needs.

Please contact me (reply here or PM) if there are questions... long posts often get confusing (apologies in advance).

[Edited: This type of implementation leads to a whole new area for creativity using FG... I foresee 'Sound Paks" being created and distributed amongst the community.]

[Visigodo]

Im an apologist of sound implementation :twisted: I said it once and say it again.

And Aesir idea seems interesting.

[Aesir]

This was waaay too easy...

I googled 'pig sounds' and found this site immediately.

I clicked a couple of their sample pig sounds, and thought ofarm.wav sounded about right for Orcs.

I saved the file and opened it with "Sound Recorder", which comes with Windows XP (and all versions of Windows supported by FG).

I chose on the menu "Effects | Decrease Volume" and "Effects | Decrease Speed".

I also tried "Effects | Reverse" and "Effects | Echo" and it sounded cool as well, but the final copy I made is just slowed down one step, that's all!

Sound Recorder let's you mix two sound files together too. If I wanted, I suppose I could add in a pig-squeal sound and play that if when the Orc is killed. *grins*



I think the resulting sound ("Nasty Orcses Are Coming My Pressscious!") is perfect for a general "Orc" sound, and I would be excited by the prospect of FG implementing something like what I'd described (in my prior post).

In total, it took far longer for me to write *this* post, than it did for me to create the sound effect.

~ 1 minute to find the site with pig sounds.
~ 1 minute to try two effects and listen to them.
Done. And it was done for free, with no additional software required.

A GM could use a microphone to record map area descriptions, module/campaign introductory descriptions, etc. Double click a sound widget or icon in the map area description text, or from a list of sounds associated with the module and the players hear the recording. Players could record PC descriptions, and so on. The creative possibilities are vast. More importantly, I think this fits perfectly with FG's goal of reproducing the table top experience. I also think it would be just as easy for players and DMs to set these things up - certainly easier than modifying rules or adding races or classes right now.

Sorry for hijacking this thread, but to bring it back on topic:
I suppose I could roll some dice and record that sound as well, just as easily.

[sunbeam60]

To be fair, I actually belong to the camp that think sound streaming and remote playback is one of the features that can wait. It's a whooole can of worms, and there are so many other things I'd like to see improved (from their current status of "kickass!") before sound streaming is tackled.

But, seeing as I started this thread talking about dice sounds, it perhaps comes as no surprise that I'm a fan of interface sounds (but to be able to switch them off is probably a required feature).

I'm a big fan of the virtual dice; didn't think I'd take to them, but they rock. Having spent so much time simulating how these little things roll around, I was kinda surprised there was no sound, especially since the program actually simulates them hitting a table. No reason for stock dice rolling sounds that repeat when you know how the dice roll and when it hits the "table"... flip between 5 different "hit" sounds, all ultra short, every time the dice hits something, or rolls, and you've got dynamic dice rolling sounds.

Or so I would think.

Bjorn

[Aesir]

...I actually belong to the camp that think sound streaming and remote playback is one of the features that can wait.

The core sound implementation I outlined doesn't depend on streaming. Perhaps as a Phase I plan, streaming is excluded from the implementation. I hope that might allay the concern about "cans of worms"

We'd have to leave it up to Smite Works to decide on priority of course, but what do you think? If the non-streaming implementation were put in place without taking away from things that are considered higher priority by you, would you then see module flavor/ambience sounds as a valued addition to the potential creativity options given to a GM or module/campaign designer? Would you appreciate it as a player?

[richvalle]

I'm more in the 'no sounds' group. Maybe farther down the road it could be added.

I like the design idea of 'if its not done at the table, its not done in FG' sort of thing. Sure some dm's might play sounds at their games but its not common.

My 2 cents.

rv