descentchampions.org

Just got my first 2 fun games in after several months off. And man, the same thing struck me as after my last off-time... why the heck does the plasma sound so loud?

I mean, the explosion sounds are already a bit dated, but manageable... but as soon as anyone starts firing plasma, it just drowns everything else out.

The reactor is a close second. It's maddening in Pillbox, and aggravating in Blackrose and even Athena at times.

Is there anything that can be done about these dated sound effects, to bring them in line with the sound level of other weapons / effects in the game? The reactor can at least be managed by level layout, but in a big free-for-all game, once the plasma starts flying I just can't hear anything else :-/

I think the homing sound is ridiculously low,maybe it's because of the plasma. Also, maybe I'm imagining this, but are the plasma globs bigger now? I can't see anything when I'm fighting.

Go compare it to the original in DOSbox. Or find someone who can. I too think the homing sound is quiet, but I always remember it being unreliable. I feel like it has never worked right.

Yeah, my only thought here is, even if it is the same... if it sucked originally, are we stuck with it? Graphics have been tweaked, couldn't sound be tweaked, too?

I tried turning down my volume last night, but then I couldn't hear the clangs (at range) or homing sounds. So, I'm stuck just hearing the blaze of plasma at max volume in my ears to pick up the other tiny important sounds ;). Also makes it really hard to hear anyone via Mumble, and that obviously wasn't an issue in the original game and has since been added in normal use.

Toning down the plasma volume level (and maybe the reactor?) would effectively tone up everything else. I could do a dB comparison somehow... but I have to think that plasma and the reactor are far louder than most other sounds in the game.

I'm not suggesting we take it lightly, but when the designers fully admit that their collision mechanics were terrible, it means everything is not sacred!

Also, it's a new era- people are using Mumble in almost every game. Being able to hear people talking would be most welcome.

I agree that making it hard to see with plasma is part of the drawback. And it can still be loud. I'm just saying, for the sake of playability (particularly in free for alls) and being able to communicate in Mumble, which was not in the original, having it be Slightly less loud would be most welcome.

But heck, if you up the homing sound maybe I'll just turn my whole volume down since I won't have to have it sky-high just to hear the homing sound.

Ok, I am too used to the pros and cons inherently part of the game when it comes to the weapons appearance and sound. HOWEVER, if part of the issue is it's hard to hear other people talking...you can adjust the 'mumble' volume in relation to the 'descent' volume in your windows mixer options on the bottom right speaker icon.

I absolutely use the loudness of the plasma to disguise the launch sound of the smart missiles and I use the noise of it banging against the wall near my opponent to mask the noise of switching weapons to vulcan to pummel them as the peak around the corner they are hiding behind.

Reactor noise...well newer maps (DKH maps) don't have reactors at all most times.

Good info in this thread!

So, I looked, and I can't raise the volume of the homing lock sound in isolation -- it (and pretty much every other sound) is already at the maximum. I can make sounds quieter, though making every other sound quieter isn't terribly practical.

As I mentioned, I don't want to do that lightly -- I don't want to disrupt the use of sound in a tactical fashion. Plasma is a little extreme, though; I turned it down to 3/4 volume, and it still covers firing noises pretty well. I do think it makes the homing lock easier to hear. Let me record a sample, and we can see if we like it.