Jump to content

Sound Silhouettes


wicked

Recommended Posts

We talked about this in the old forum. The relevant bits are that if done it shouldn't be "game-y" and it should just be as an aid to the player. I would be majorly against silhouettes because they give away what's making the sound. Could just be the wind. You could have just imagined it.

 

My recommendation was for off screen sound to be represented by small, clear ripples flowing at the edge of the screen where you heard the sound. Completely clear, like dropping a rock into a still pond. This gives you a general idea of where the sound has come from without giving away what it is, etc, or being intrusive on the screen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I actually had the same idea, but instead having a listen mode a tiny bit like to one on the last of us and instead of having off screen ripples (since you'd wanna know where sounds are on screen as well) have some kind of on screen indicator.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think I heard something to the right . . . Or was it to the left?

It was probably just the wind. Or rats. Or rats with wind. Too much beans in their diet. :P

 

Also for older gamers: "You think you hear footsteps"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Well, as the instigator of the original post from the hold forum, I am still a strong supporter of this idea :).

 

No matter how this is implemented (I like the idea of the rippling screen though), I just think it would be great to be able to visually locate sound sources,as long as it does not allow the player to pin point the source. I come across situations where this would be needed almost every time I play a game (too bad, I just opened the door where that banging sound came from...Again...).

 

I am surprised no one from the dev team ever commented on this. Or did I miss anything?

 

Love.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd be less in favour of a silhouette and more in favour of an indicator as to where this sound came from.

 

So maybe a sound waves symbol emanating from the players head indicating direction from where a distinguished sound is coming from. by distinguished sound I mean things like gun shots, banging, groaning, perhaps a chopper or jet as well. This is plausible because our ears are attuned to where sound comes from in relation to where we are facing. We can gather by the sound that something has happened, but it doesn't give away what the actual cause was, it doesn't give away how far away it is.

 

it does however give players the means to determine where a zombie is banging or if there is a zombie behind them. Especially for players who haven't got sound turned up or who play without speakers/headphones.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We talked about this in the old forum. The relevant bits are that if done it shouldn't be "game-y" and it should just be as an aid to the player. I would be majorly against silhouettes because they give away what's making the sound. Could just be the wind. You could have just imagined it.

 

My recommendation was for off screen sound to be represented by small, clear ripples flowing at the edge of the screen where you heard the sound. Completely clear, like dropping a rock into a still pond. This gives you a general idea of where the sound has come from without giving away what it is, etc, or being intrusive on the screen.

 

The ripples I like. Yes on this from me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It depends on how big the ripples were.  Giant waves taking up an entire side of the screen might be appropriate for faraway, general sounds like a helicopter or a group of zombies walking.  As the sound got closer, less obstructed, louder, and/or repeated itself, the ripples should shrink to give you a better idea of where the sound is coming from.

 

I skimmed the other thread, and Rath did make some good points about gunshots specifically.  i still think we need a way to tell the player where gunfire is coming from in-game, if only as a fair and reasonable warning of imminent danger.  Perhaps a reasonable compromise would be that any sound the player initially wouldn't be able to determine the source of creates no ripples at all, and then if it repeats itself (more gunshots, automatic fire, cries for help, etc.) the player starts to get an indication of where it's coming from.

 

What I'd really like for the sound indicator to come from wherever that player heard the noise.  For example, if I'm sitting in my room with the window cracked, everything I hear outside sounds like it's coming from the direction of the window relative to me. That's where the sound is the loudest and so that's where my ears tell me it's coming from.

 

I'd like this because it adds a layer of tension to barricading yourself up in a house.  Any sound coming from outside (not loud enough to go through walls, like yelling or a car) would only be visualized as sound coming from the windows.  You wouldn't "see" zombies moving around outside unless you risk taking a look to identify where they are.  If you're upstairs, any real or imagined sound from below would just come from the stairway, and you'd have to decide if you wanted to go down and check it out.  If you're in a room with the door closed, anything you can hear is just coming from the door.

 

Imagine the suspense of trying to decide if those footsteps your hear from outside your room are imaginary or a zombie, and opening the door only to find that now they're coming from downstairs....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

http://www.theindiestone.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=7852

Here's that thread for anyone who's interested. It's a good read and Rath made some great points in it.

I read some of that, not all of it... I started getting confused with the whole "Humans can't tell which general direction gun shots come from" and "Yes they can" arguments... But yea i'm not cool with a silhouette, i'm all for some other indication though (something that I feel would benefit those that have impaired hearing as they call it) like say something similar to WOLF just instead of being able to hear down to the 1/8 (I think there were eight directions you could hear/see/smell from?) it would take 3 of WOLF's spaces. So let's say in WOLF you would have heard something directly north of you, in WOLF you would be able to see it was directly north of you. But in PZ (if they were to use this) You would only be able to see it was North of you, with a chance of it being off. So where as in WOLF it would have only used the North spot, in PZ it would use the NE, N, and NW spots until you got closer to it. Making sense? I really hope so :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...