Sounds in Space

"How is sound going to work in space?" I heard something like this question come up in the live stream today and have been thinking about it myself. Personally, I'd like to hear some sort of muffled sounds while dealing with things without an atmosphere. Kind of similar to Dead Space, but maybe a bit more soundy.

I think there has to be sound because the alternative can break the immersion very easily. Your brain sees an action and expects a sound regardless of environment.

In fact the only time I think this was done ok was the new battlestar galactica (though I suppose its "Old" now) and a hull breach scene in the new star trek movie. For an example watch something like wrath of khan and mute the sound every time the scene is outside in space. It comes across as weird, just "wrong" from a psychological viewpoint.

As such I'm fully in favour of some sounds in space. just not sounding the same as atmosphere sounds the same way I don't expect a gun fired underwater to sound the same on land. stuff like that doesn't break the immersion.

It's one of those weird thing where the lie is actually better for the experience I think.

Voted for C, I liked how they did it in Dead Space, but they need to o some testing before hand to make sure it works, I'd rather have full on sounds if the Dead Space method ends up being iffy.

Mike

the quote "were not shooting for realism we are shooting for AWESOME" was the answer to that question (taking out of context)

I'd like to have option C). I think it would create much more immersion, it would create a sense of awesome, vast space.

Well, if you're zoomed out enough to be 'in space', you're going to be far enough from the combat that it'll be muffled.

If you're close enough to see individual pieces of a dying unit flying outwards, the sounds should be heard. If all you see is a small explosion (due to distance) there should be little/no sound. Orbital should be the same way.

The distance will be much more obvious than some muffling effect in space.

If your screen view happens to be in the exact place a KEW moves through as it crashes into the planet, I want to hear it scream past, with combusting air sounds and sonicbooms.

As for introducing an effect on sound when moving into space, I'm more fond of the idea that the music can change as you move away from the planet. Changing from more brassy to more melodic perhaps.

EDIT: I suppose that interface sounds would be able to react to whether you're in space. Something a little quieter and longer lasting (due to slower wave propagation). So option C.

It depends a bit on style and perspective of the UI. The question if to blend out (partially) the sound in space can only be answered if the player feels like being in space (at least in that moment). Don't know if that would work well in an UI with a high range of zoom levels without jumping too much around in the sound levels.

In general I like of muted sounds in space (e.g. the style of firefly) and wouldn't mind if it would make an appearance in an usable manner.

Basically the orbital layer will be closer to the camera than the atmospheric layer so I don't know if the sound should be less loud.

I do think there should be a difference. Like in space the ambient sound/music could be less loud so there would be less noise around the other sounds, possibly making it feel more empty, like space.

I think the team should just test what feels best, along with the alpha/beta people. It could be that muffled sounds actually work very well.

Shooting for awesome, not realism

Awesome can have grounds in realism. Option C is my favorite and really isn't all that realistic at all, but it would be pretty awesome.

Also think about fights on moons and asteroids. This isn't just about when you zoom far out.

Ah yes, you're quite right. I'm definitely C then.

Required Reading: PSA Realism VS Awesome

Mike

Voted for nothing, because why should I choose now?
It can easily be tested in the alpha or beta.

No.
For an FPS/Action game, sure, this would be an excellent addition to the immersion of the game. But for an RTS? Definitely not. First off, you get a lot of important sound cues in an RTS, and cutting out or muffling those cues reduces your ability to play effectively. Supcom 2 is a good example of this, with how the sound muffled when you zoomed out past a certain level. (The screen also got that distracting "satellite overlay" feel, but that's a topic for another thread.)
In any case, this is definitely a case where awesome trumps realism. Save it for the action games.

Partialy muted sounds should do the trick.

I actually liked how RUSE handled this, maybe some of you played it. If you zoomed out far enough you could see that your "map" is actually a map in a office, and you could hear your colleagues in the background talking.

Maybe if you scroll out far enough, you could make something similar in PA, like you see some electronic background, and you hear some sounds that fit to that^^

Realism 'is' awesome!

I had to choose option D, because obviously this is a video game and we need 'something'

Music, alerts, communications between units. all 100% acceptable. Clearly the units would be connected by radio/bluetooth/future equivalent communications technology, so there would be UI sounds, which could even be different to emphasize how different space combat is

Explosions, footsteps, lasers, etc.? no no no! this would break the immersion for me, and I can't see how having explosions in space wouldn't do the same for everyone else -_-

Space having no sound is something I think I learnt when I was younger than 10!! Everyone should know and expect this!

And this is a really easy one to implement, plus it makes no sense to have noise without atmosphere...

I voted C.
But why not all three options?
It should be possible to choose it in the settings of the game... so everybody can have his favorite

I think muting/damping the sound of the planets in the "space" shouldn't be so difficult to code.

I'd like there to be a small feel of muffled sounds, but only very far out, like looking upon the whole or half of the map, in case it gets irritating. The interface sounds from options should still be loud and non-timbred though of course. Basically, things with huge mass should have a bigger range of audio volume. Asteroids or ships flying by the camera can be heard, while planets being wrecked apart will be heard from everywhere! To symbolise part of the map has been destroyed.

I had read it previously. I just prefer to listen to the full sound. Even if it makes no sense. Or like someone suggested, an option for Full/Partial/Mute. That way, everybody wins.