Sound Mod in progress

[Dennis50]

Fantastic ...very cool ..I like it. It just adds that little something to the game that feels and sounds right. Thanks Mord and tc237 and who ever else had a hand in it.

It adds so much to the game that I have to wonder why Steve and Charles didn't do it in the first place. Thanks guys.

Gunz

[Mord]

You are welcome, glad you liked it. I want to do a version where the background wav has the voices a little more subtle. I had posted a quieter add on at Cmmods but it was too quiet so I removed it...you couldn't hear any of the wind. And I want to add an alternate background soon with different voices.

Mord.

[The_Red_Rage]

Love it!

Gives a battlefield a really busy and alive feel. IMHO something like that should be implemented into the game with radio chatter refelcting what is actually going on around battlefield/ particular unit. So artillery related traffic around forward observers, random radiochecks/sitrep/ammocas/spotting chatter around idle infantry, combat related traffic around engaged infantry and etc. Would be really atmospheric to have traffic lit up during contacts and Static in place of wiped out units.

I'll be surprised if Steve and Charles are not digging this mod

Edit: Syrian version, while next to impossible to do, would be most welcome as well

[Mord]

Thanks for the feed back. Glad you are liking the mod.

Mord.

[handihoc]

This is great. Really adds to the immersion factor. Even though I'm playing RvR atm it still works - just having it in the background gives a very authentic atmosphere.

My only concern is that, being a relatively short loop, after a while it may become a bit irritating as one becomes aware of the repetition. If you can lengthen the loop and add more varied chatter, plus radio gibberish, that would help. Also, as already mentioned, an alternative Red chatter for Syrian scenarios, would help.

But a great idea, and really well implemented. Love it!

[tc237]

I went through over 150 videos and pulled about 70 sound bites that we can use, so that should help.

I see it as a "living" mod.

Eventually someone will get bored enough with the repetition to make their own version.

Hopefully that will keep the mod going untill no one cares about it anymore.

[Mord]

@Handihoc, yeah, I stretched it four minutes to start trying to place phrases that wouldn't stand out too much. My aim was to keep the ear busy with the sounds but not interested in what was said. It's a fine line. My biggest concern was not doubling up on sounds used with the background and vehicles...which gave me 8 minutes give or take of sounds to work with. I am in the midst of collecting more to address some concerns TC had.

@TC, find any good stuff? I came across a few I hadn't heard that you'll be happy to know didn't involve pilots LOL. But yeah, it could be a living mod. Anybody wanting to add a background could label it an alternative background for the US Radio Chatter Mod. Or we could try and combine all the files into one, though that DL could end up being huge. Or we could provide a short tutorial on how to combine them all once DLed with Sound Recorder.

As for the Syrian stuff...that is going to be MUCH harder. I am working on an insurgent mod right now which should be ok...but the best I can think for Syrian radio chatter, as far as vehicles is concerned, is to make the chatter incoherent. As I said before both sides could use that without it ruining immersion.

Syrian radio chatter as background, One, how realistic is it? Are they radio happy like the US forces? And two, it's near impossible to find any Arabic radio transmissions, unless I am just not hitting the mark.

Mord.

[tc237]

Well, most of the sound clips I got are also from pilots, I guess there is just more of that video around, the upside is that it's a lot clearer (no gun fire in the background).

In the current background.wav, you can hear an internal conversation between the 2 Apache pilots, most of that wouldn't be sent over the Net (like lasing to targets, re-engaging, etc....)

The trick to get it sounding authentic is to break up the conversation. Insert other voices, radio transmissions and beeps between the pilots voice.

If you still want to work on this, I can zip up all of my sound bites and send them to you. (or I can give it a try, doesn't matter to me)

Regarding the Syrian radio chatter, do we need an actual radio transmission or just some Arabic voices, does anybody care what they are saying?

A question for the fans of this mod, regarding the large file size and length:

Do you guys mind that it might be a very large file which will mean a longer game load time?

[The_Red_Rage]

Just random Arabic radio chatter would work. Israeli chatter would probably be easier to come by, and if it is distorted enough, Hebrew sounds fairly close to Arabic.

Regarding file sizes - more variety the better. Most people are running over 1 gig RAM nowdays, so load times aren't much of an issue.

[handihoc]

I agree with RedRage on both points. Random radio chat, vehicle sounds, would be fine.

Can't speak for everyone, but my rig's pretty fast so a larger file shouldn't slow loading too much.

[Dennis50]

Larger file size is ok with me.

Gunz

[Mord]

Yeah TC, I still wanna work on it...but it'll be a while. I am knee deep in another mod at the moment and want to get this one finished before I start start anything else. LOL if I am lucky this new one will only have to be made once.

Mord.

[Chainsaw]

Mord, I just DL the US Radio Chatter mod and I Love it!

Good work! 5/5!

[Mord]

Thanks brother. Work will continue on it. TC is making something I think and I still have some stuff to do.

Mord.

[tc237]

I haven't really worked on the mod this week, but did try something fun last night and this morning that sounds cool.

I dug out a cheap, old PC microphone and placed it near my cheap $8 PC speakers.

Drag n' dropped 10 sound clips (about 2 minutes total) into Windows Media Player and let them play consecutively, record it all through the Mic using WavePad, finally save the result as a single file.

It sounded OK, and was much easier then trying to combine all the sounds in an editor.

Then came the crazy idea to:

upload the resulting single sound file to my portable MP3 player,

hook up the MP3 player to a portable "boom box", start playing it in the background,

then, start playing another set of 10 sound clips through the PC speakers,

and record the whole thing with the cheap Mic.

I've got to tell ya, it sounds pretty good, you get that Dual Net effect for maybe 5 minutes of work.

Here are 2 sample files to try, a Soft and a Loud version.

Only use one at a time and remember to rename it background.wav

Each file is 3:10 minutes and 32MB.

http://www.savefile.com/files/1704166

[Mord]

I gave them a listen and they sound pretty good. If you want I could combine them with some of the stuff I have and make one giant background. At the same time you could still release it at as alternative background to the one I already have up.

Mord.

[theFightingSeabee]

Hey! Great mod. It really works well.

But, I have a request

It's too short, I ended up memorizing many of the lines in one battle. I don't know how long it will let you play it without the loop starting again, but I think some of the transmissions should be spread out more, and if possible, add some more variety. Otherwise, this is a kickass mod! Thanks for making it!

[tc237]

Mord,

I think the best thing might be to just keep releasing as we go, that way these guys have some variety to play with while they wait for the "perfectionists" to stop tinkering.

Thanks Seabee,

I'm glad you liked it. Which version are you refering to? Mord's or TC237's?

My version was a very rough first attempt, just to make sure the audio software worked.

Either way, you are correct on all points.

The files can be and will be longer, the only concern is file size, which affects download and game load time.

I don't know what the optimal file length vs file size will be.

We are gonna need feedback on that. I might just make a huge file for you guys to test and report back on.

Also, I'm gonna work on having more "space" between transmissions, add callsigns into some transmissions, splice in a few "rogers" "acknowledged", etc..

Currently, I'm collecting sound bites and making a spreadsheet listing the contents of each soundbite (maybe).

It should help me piece things together for a more authentic sounding mod.

[handihoc]

I've had the US Radio Chatter mod running for a week or so now. I still love it. I've got Soundsurround, which gives me voices and effects coming from all over, sometimes several conversations simultaneously in different speakers, and with bullets flying past my ears and engines and gunfire, the immersion factor is extraordinary.

The repetition hasn't yet begun to grate, but I guess there may come a time when it will. So, as already said, if you can lengthen it with 'more of the same but different' it would be just about perfect.

You've really come up with something quite brilliant here. Thanks for the time and effort you've put in. Please keep 'em coming!

[Cpl Steiner]

I think it's kind of funny that the Marines module/v1.1 patch is going to include radio chatter for air and artillery controllers. Great minds think alike I guess!

[Mord]

Yeah, That is VERY cool. Opens up a whole new avenue for the mod as well. It looks like I am gonna have to re-plan some of the ideas I had.

All that would be needed to make it perfect is to have engine idles unshared with the Syrians.

Mord.

[Mord]

As of now I am putting my efforts on hold until The Marines Module comes out. The new wav files they've added are gonna change things a bit and I wanna see what's what before I spend anymore time messing with this.

From what I've heard in the videos, there's gonna be lots of room for improving the US Chatter mod.

Mord.

[LongLeftFlank]

I've gotta confess that I recently turned off the ambient radio chatter as too repetitive, although I left the loop on the M1s. Kudos to Mord for doing these mods, and I get the idea that as the battalion CO I'd be "on the net", but my personal preference is to hear it only in or near vehicles, not all over the map.

Since I'm Infantry/MOUT-fixated at present, I'm wondering whether an ambient of roosters (they crow all day and night, as anyone who's traveled in the Third World knows quite well, often with strangled cries that bear no resemblance to "cock-a-doodle-doo") plus occasional furiously barking dogs and traffic (badly tuned truck engine and motor-scooter) noises would be better than the existing wind + distant shellfire crump-crump-crump (that's really more of a WWII thing).

[medlinke]

If you have HBO & can record Generation Kill or other means of recording the radio chatter from that show there are nice 15-20 second clips at both the start and end of that show as well as moments during the show when there are generic enough clips you could use as well to add some time on to what you've already got.

[Mord]

LOL thanks man, already have them recorded and cut into snippets. I started DVRing the show soon as it aired, and recorded the clips through my TV. They are pretty good. Lots of stuff to use.

Waiting on the Marines module before I do anything else with it.

Mord.