More functions for sounds

[haunter]

Is this possible? Built in EQ (including Hi-pass and Lo-Pass), and Reverb filters accessible through Gscript? Some help from the scripters, and audiophiles in refining this idea would be appreciated.

NPC Code:

---

setsoundverb (a,b,c,d,e);

---

1. Index (like with a setimg, can SFX have an Index?)
2. Room type (Cathedral, Hall, etc, etc. Whatever algorithms you can get a hold of. Set with 1,2,3 etc)
3. Room size (1,2,3, Large, Medium, Small)
4. Decay (In seconds)
5. Pre-Delay (in milliseconds)

NPC Code:

---

setsoundeq (a,b,c,d,e);

---

1. Index
2. 80Hz (Gain Change in Db (-20 to 20?))
3. 1.2kHz
4. 4.8kHz
5. 12kHz

NPC Code:

---

setsoundhipass (a,b,c);

---

1. Index
2. Q (measured in Db/Octaves. It dictates the 'steepness' of the filter)
3. Frequency (in Hz)

NPC Code:

---

setsoundlopass (a,b,c);

---

1. Index
2. Q (measured in Db/Octaves. It dictates the 'steepness' of the filter)
3. Frequency (in Hz)

NPC Code:

---

setsoundpitch (a,b);

---

1. Index
2. Ratio (b/1)

I think allowing that the dynamic altering of sound effects will be beneficial for making Graal worlds more submersive. Allowing to alter sounds on the fly for certain situations. For example, if you're in a cave, or large church, you could set all of the sound effects to have a specific reverb. If you're underwater, you could use the Hi/Lo-Pass filters to emulate that. You could even use reverbs and EQs to alter the sounds when a player's character's health is dramatically low, or if they start losing their sanity, that sort of thing.

So this was just a quick idea. I think it needs quite a bit of work to become practical. I doubt my commands would be as useful as they could be if implemented as they are.

Have at it.

[Maniaman]

This is quite possibly one of the best suggestions I have seen in a long time.

[DustyPorViva]

I've always wanted some more simpler stuff like adjusting tempo and easily changing the volume.
Graal always seemed to lack in the sound department in scripting, perhaps because sfx seems to be one of those things no server really 'needs'.

[Chompy]

I would love if these functions were implented

[godofwarares]

Originally Posted by haunter

NPC Code:

---

setsoundeq (a,b,c,d,e);

---

1. Index
2. 80Hz (Gain Change in Db (-20 to 20?))
3. 1.2kHz
4. 4.8kHz
5. 12kHz

I'd want the equalizer to be more definitive, such as:

PHP Code:

setSoundEq(a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k); 


• a = Index
• b = 31 Hz
• c = 62 Hz
• d = 125 Hz
• e = 250 Hz
• f = 500 Hz
• g = 1 KHz
• h = 2 KHz
• i = 4 KHz
• j = 8 KHz
• k = 16 KHz

That would make better sound, Maybe a little more definitive than that, but I think that would be perfect.

[haunter]

Originally Posted by godofwarares

I'd want the equalizer to be more definitive, such as:

PHP Code:

setSoundEq(a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k); 


• a = Index
• b = 31 Hz
• c = 62 Hz
• d = 125 Hz
• e = 250 Hz
• f = 500 Hz
• g = 1 KHz
• h = 2 KHz
• i = 4 KHz
• j = 8 KHz
• k = 16 KHz

That would make better sound, Maybe a little more definitive than that, but I think that would be perfect.

I was worried that having too many frequencies would cause problems. Also, while it would be nice to have finer control over the EQ the question is: Is 10 bands really required to do what you would do with this function?

I guess it's just a balance of use over processing. Maybe having 10 bands wouldn't make a noticable difference compared to 4.

[Gambet]

Wtf is this Cool Edit Pro?


x-x

[haunter]

Originally Posted by Gambet

Wtf is this Cool Edit Pro?


x-x

No. But it's not Photoshop either. Yet some how I can change the hue of my images, or I can resize them and crop them!!!! Wow!

I said I wanted to be able to change sounds dynamically. I don't want to have to create a new version of a sound for every situation. The same applies to graphics, as mentioned above.

[Gambet]

Originally Posted by haunter

No. But it's not Photoshop either. Yet some how I can change the hue of my images, or I can resize them and crop them!!!! Wow!

I said I wanted to be able to change sounds dynamically. I don't want to have to create a new version of a sound for every situation. The same applies to graphics, as mentioned above.

People actually use images, though.


I bet a large portion of the active Graal players don't even use sound, one of which includes myself mostly because I find Graal sounds to be annoying.


I mean if Stefan is up for it then kuddos to him, but I don't know if it's really worth investing time on. People can currently do all of that with outside programs, though its not as convenient, but the point stays that people don't do it regardless.

[haunter]

Originally Posted by Gambet

I bet a large portion of the active Graal players don't even use sound,

That's a sad fact. One that should change. We've seen some progress with the addition of the sound section on the forums. Perhaps these functions would have a positive effect as well.

[DustyPorViva]

Even if people were interested in helping Graal in the sound department, no one would because of the lack of software support. Who would want to sit and make 10 different sound effects for the same thing but with minor changes if it could be done dynamically? Graal didn't always have good looking submitted graphics(might not even now..., but back then it was terrible... I have nearly all the graphics from graal14), but that didn't stop Stefan from adding more graphical support.

[Tyhm]

's a fair point, I remember well the Graal Instruments. A different audio file for every note...

[haunter]

Originally Posted by Tyhm

's a fair point, I remember well the Graal Instruments. A different audio file for every note...

That's another thing that may be nice. Something like 'setimgpart' only for sounds would be nice as well. Hmmm

NPC Code:

---

setsoundpart (a,b,c);

---

1. Index
2. Start time (in milliseconds)
3. Stop Time

To help organize the sound effects more? Maybe with sounds it would be more efficient to just have seperate files in this case. I dunno. I'm not a programmer.

[Skyld]

Originally Posted by haunter

I was worried that having too many frequencies would cause problems. Also, while it would be nice to have finer control over the EQ the question is: Is 10 bands really required to do what you would do with this function?

I guess it's just a balance of use over processing. Maybe having 10 bands wouldn't make a noticable difference compared to 4.

I've really got to ask, what's the point in an EQ? Sure, there could be effects added such as reverbs and delays perhaps, but I don't see the good in an EQ. Many people have their own EQ set in their sound cards or amplifiers or whatever anyway.

[haunter]

Originally Posted by Skyld

I've really got to ask, what's the point in an EQ? Sure, there could be effects added such as reverbs and delays perhaps, but I don't see the good in an EQ. Many people have their own EQ set in their sound cards or amplifiers or whatever anyway.

Different situations cut out different frequency ranges, such as being underwater. When you start to faint you may start to lose sensitivity of certain frequency ranges first. Maybe the Hi and Lo-Pass filters would be all that is needed for these things though. Hmm.

No. I guess if we wanted to cut out the mids, and keep the highs and lows we would need a normal EQ.

Would it be more effective to just have commands that filter all of the sounds coming out of the player's speakers rather than doing them each individually? Or a mix of both?

[Tyhm]

Originally Posted by Skyld

I've really got to ask, what's the point in an EQ? Sure, there could be effects added such as reverbs and delays perhaps, but I don't see the good in an EQ. Many people have their own EQ set in their sound cards or amplifiers or whatever anyway.

A single EQ set for the general range would, agreed, be dumb.
But a unique EQ set on each sound played would mean you can record a single note played by a clarinet and extrapolate every note that could be played by a clarinet. Meaning Graal Instruments could be played with more than the 10 preset notes. Like jammin' on the Ocarina.

[James]

Originally Posted by Tyhm

Like jammin' on the Ocarina.

What about the piano man? You could have a restaurant in a playerworld where you hire a guy to play. Bwahaha.

Haha, I could see Era wanting to make bands.

[haunter]

Originally Posted by Tyhm

A single EQ set for the general range would, agreed, be dumb.
But a unique EQ set on each sound played would mean you can record a single note played by a clarinet and extrapolate every note that could be played by a clarinet. Meaning Graal Instruments could be played with more than the 10 preset notes. Like jammin' on the Ocarina.

I think you are thinking of pitch shift.

[Tyhm]

That too!

[zokemon]

I still really just want to be able to jump to a certain spot in a song before we have this advanced stuff
It's stupid how "radios" on servers start at the top of a song...then you get cut off when the radio host changes the track.

And about the sound index, it would most likely have to be something to do with sound channel or something....

[Tyhm]

That too!

[haunter]

Originally Posted by zokemon

I still really just want to be able to jump to a certain spot in a song before we have this advanced stuff

I added that in a later post. For some reason I can't edit the original.

[Tyhm]

Originally Posted by haunter

I added that in a later post. For some reason I can't edit the original.

Yeah, man that's irritating...I can think of 11 threads off the top of my head wherein I'd really have liked to edit my first post as they developed...

[haunter]

Bumpity Bump Bump... Can anybody give some insight as to whether or not this is feasible?

[Tyhm]

Naw, you have to find some clever way of working around its absence that takes months of development and brilliant development that barely passes muster...THEN Stefan'll release the feature. ;-)

Man, can you imagine how infuriated the developers musta been when they came up with Ganis? "It'd be awesome if there was a way to package a bunch of images all layered together in some sort of Graal Animation object-file" "[no answer]" "...well, I guess we could just use showimg a bunch of times..."

[haunter]

So which quarter will this be slated for?

[Rapidwolve]

Would it be possible to output a sound from a script, like one of those computer programs that talk I would wanna make something like that

[Tyhm]

With this function, I don't see why not...you record the basic tones, then modify accordingly...I mean, even MacinTalk had an audio core file...

[WanDaMan]

Sounds fab'!

[Admins]

Originally Posted by Tyhm

Naw, you have to find some clever way of working around its absence that takes months of development and brilliant development that barely passes muster...THEN Stefan'll release the feature. ;-)

Man, can you imagine how infuriated the developers musta been when they came up with Ganis? "It'd be awesome if there was a way to package a bunch of images all layered together in some sort of Graal Animation object-file" "[no answer]" "...well, I guess we could just use showimg a bunch of times..."

I have added ganis to make it easier for me to configure the position of the graphics instead of typing each position manually in a script file (source file). It was not because people were trying to emulate it with showimgs or whatever. It was just not possible to do similar things like that before (think of colored bodies via showimg?).

For new sound commands it would probably be possible to add something, although we should first try to figure out what would be the most useful. I don't know if many people have already seen it, but currently you cannot even play music/mp3s non-looped. If you have some feature request like that then its welcome.
Stuff like changing frequency and things are not that hard to do by using external tools, things like dynamic echo effect would probably be more interesting since you cannot easily emulate it (you would need to redo all sound effects).
Seeking in music files can probably be added, it will only work for local files though, since you cannot easily seek in internet streams.

[Tyhm]

(Hee hee, knew that'd get his attention)

[haunter]

Originally Posted by Tyhm

(Hee hee, knew that'd get his attention)

Up high Lincoln Continental! *slap*

Originally Posted by Stefan

Stuff like changing frequency and things are not that hard to do by using external tools,

What if you wanted to change the pitch dynamically? For example to emulate the doppler effect?

G2k1 Train + Doppler effect = CRAZY DELICIOUS!

[Elk]

Bump

[super_matt89]

Originally Posted by haunter

If you're underwater, you could use the Hi/Lo-Pass filters to emulate that. You could even use reverb and EQs to alter the sounds when a player's character's health is dramatically low, or if they start losing their sanity, that sort of thing.

First of all this is an amazing idea! I can imagine a lot of uses for the Hi/Lo-Pass filters especially the low hp idea could vastly improve the players experience, after all these days a lot of games seem to spend just as much effort on their sound department as they do graphics.

When I was Audio Engineer on Unholy Nation, I found that I had to re-record a whole new take of the same sound effect just to get particular tweaks and atmosphere to use along side the original, however this kind of improvement could make it much easier to conduct these seemingly small changes to sound effects and the like.

I do recall minor improvements for the audio side of the client, we need more opinions and perhaps a scripter's summary?