Unwanted sound loop
 

Been hacking the hull creak WAV files to add metal groaning noises, some how got an unwanted sound loop that never goes away after the first dive. Might have to turn the volume up, but a click every two seconds is audible about 1:30 in this;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4xFFyY3Ozo

Any sound experts know what might cause that? It's definitely in my hacks, I replaced the stock Creaks_Level1.wav through Creaks_Level4.wav and I don't get it with those. Checked the waveforms and I did leave the same length silence at beginning and end. Originals are 44khz 16 bit stereo and I was careful to save them in the same format.

Length? The game may (stupidly) rely on the files being a particular length.

That's the german you captured from that sunken U-boat banging a lose piece of metal inside in his semi-unconscience state trying to get you killed.

I never liked the internal groans of the submarines. There is no echo type sound that happens. Fish do not echo when your listening to them. I never understood the need to make sound echo in water in simulations.

Thanks Paisan, length is probably it. I restored the original files and looked at the lengths, 13.2 to 14.12. Took the original sound (from a Elder Scrolls IV: OBLIVION creaking metal door WAV) and made four 8 to 12 second files, then used the MIX FILE gadget to overlay inside the originals. So far so good knock on wood no clicking loop. :up:

Pretty sure that was it (Luck be a Lady tonight), here's the latest with the stereo mix rather than inserted sound clips;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tf_lz6wUKFU

Waveform lengths are all same as original, file bytes match exactly, so the game has no excuse to groan about my hull groaning. :ping:

Hmmm. No more click after the groan, but I was getting the loudest most agonizing groans at periscope depth, then the lesser ones at 400 feet. Edited all four to change to bells and whistles so I could tell which one was playing. I assumed with creak 1 through 4 that 1 would be played at shallow depths, 2 deeper, 3 deeperER, and 4 at the deepest depths. No such luck, apparently the four are chosen at random, number 1 is as likely to play at periscope depth, 300 feet, and 450 feet on the same dive. Redonculous to have loud scary wailing metal at periscope depth, so the volume will have to be reduced on all four.

Cripes. Can't decide if this is pathetically hopeless or hopelessly pathetic, gotta be one or the other.

A real sub makes creaking groaning popping noises when the hull expands or contracts from changes in outside pressure. The deeper you go the louder and scarier they get.

So I assumed the programmers designed it with louder longer sounds at deeper depths, with less dramatic noise closer to the surface. Got four different creak files, natural assumpiton, but they made it merely random - and worst of all, it appears to be based on TIME rather than DEPTH CHANGE. :down: Spend several minutes at periscope depth and it plays the creak files at random for the entire duration - did they not realize that steady unchanging depth means steady unchanging pressure which means NO hull popping noises at all? Or did they have a hell of an office party the day they programmed this and do it as a drunken prank? My youngest son is autistic and he has more sense than whoever programmed this subroutine.

I'm still gonna do it but will have to tone it down to really lame, since ridiculous to hear loud dramatic creaking screeching groaning over and over hour after hour while cruising at periscope depth. :/\\!!

One word. Drama. It goes hand in hand with the "Hollywood graphics" as they called it.

Don't mind hollywood graphics and drama, but at least TRY to keep it real. No pressure change = no stress = no noise, how hard is that to understand?

Anyway went back to the drawing board and got something that's subtle enough to ignore when it repeats at a steady depth, but not so subtle that you can't hear it.

Next phase is 1/3rd successful;

amb_SubmarineInterior.wav
Submarine tanks blowing.wav
Submarine tanks flooding.wav
Submarine_diving.wav


Turned DOWN the volume on amb_SubmarineInterior.wav because it was so loud it drowned everything else out, then cranked the volume to 450% on the other three. Submarine_diving.wav actually sounds good, they just had the relative volume so low you can't hear it. Near as I can tell the other two aren't used at all.