Why can't I hear the backstabbers?

[mattlach]

How often has this happen to you?

You take up a position with your MG and are covering a defensive line. There is no one around you. All of a sudden you die from a bayonet to the back. Where the hell did he come from? Did he pass through a wall? Some sort of ghost? Why couldn't I hear footsteps?

Or maybe while running up stairs, there is no one behind you, but then all of a sudden the bayonet to the back again.

This is my favorite game bar none, but there are some odd issues with it. In other games I feel like I have more situational awareness (for lack of a better term). I know what's going on around me, where people are in relation to my character, and what they are doing.

In RO2 I feel that the feel is more insulated. Part of it may be due to lack of sounds (like foot steps) but I also feel like part of it has to do with positional audio.

When I used to play counter-strike, I could tell EXACTLY what direction every sound was coming from, and because of this there were fewer from-behind surprises and more situational awareness.

Counter-Strike is by no means the same caliber of game as RO2, but if they can do it, why can't RO2?

[Homuth]

All I can say is that RO2 has a very weird sound system. And has been discussed a lot in the past...

[=GG= Mr Moe]

Not sure myself. I normally play at a low to moderate sound volume because of others in the house.

I can tell you those few times I do crank it up beyond that when no one is around that you can hear a lot more going on that seemed to be absent before. As far as not hearing those footsteps leading up to the bayonet attack, I can't specifically say.

[HellsJanitor]

Its hard to hear sometimes. Granted, when I play MG all I really focus on hearing is my gun going bang.

I think the comparison to Counterstrike is a little unfair, as footsteps sound like boulders in that game, but I agree sometimes stuff just kinda pops out. I don't think there's much to do about it.

[Icey_Pain]

In the beta, the sound was much much better than it was now. You could hear exactly where people were. In older videos you see people shooting through the ceiling in order to kill people that walk above them.

Currently, all sorts of sounds seem to be missing. The dramatic screams being one of them.

[defektive]

I'm hoping that the ROC beta fixes the stealth ninjas once and for all because in the release version there are still no footstep sounds beyond the first moment or so of each round for a good many players. Some say that they do hear them. All I hear is a distant shuffling of clothing, even when they're right next to me; no footfalls at all. A wave of soldiers sprinting along the blasted floorboards on the floor above you should sound like rolling thunder, not a gentle springtime breeze.

[melipone]

The sound engine isn't very good tbh. It should use the soundcard more and give a better sense of 3d positioning.

I think the reason sounds disappear is for performance, because the sound is software generated and runs off the CPU or something

[Vyllis]

I'm hoping that the ROC beta fixes

In the actual beta it's somewhat 50/50 and your sound level need to be high. unfortunately.

[Icey_Pain]

I'm really hoping they'll fix it so that standing up makes it easy to hear footsteps, crouching much harder and prone to be almost soundless.

[>< f4ct0r...13]

Two things:

Listen closer, you were probably in extreme tunnel vision mode.

Someone should have been watching your back.

[ross]

Originally Posted by >< f4ct0r...13

Two things:

Listen closer, you were probably in extreme tunnel vision mode.

Someone should have been watching your back.

Neither of those are solutions to the overarching problem of RO2's post-DDE beta sound system.

[SQBsam]

I may be wrong but I think that when there are many sound effects going on at once the game drops footsteps and stuff first, but there is another queue, and that is directional. So footsteps coming from an area not in your field of view are the first to be dropped. Also, there is no Z in sound, it's a 2d plane. This means sounds from 5 floors up sound like they're right next to you, sounds coming from across the street may actually be from a sniper at the top of the building etc etc.

[ross]

I believe that battle chatter is also prioritised above wounded screams which is why we lack them. I wouldn't be surprised if the same was true of footsteps, which is a pretty poorly thought out move.

If anything, battle chatter should be the thing that gets culled first.

[Cpt-Praxius]

Bump the audio channels up in your audio settings. The higher the value, the more sounds you hear at one time. I had my settings at 64 and hear plenty.... enough to know what's going on around me anyways.

Whenever I get Bayo'd, it's usually from people I see coming, but was too late to react...... I heard them coming, turned to see them coming at me, but they were quicker than I was at aiming at them...... but I heard them.

[Dr.Phibles]

also do remember its rather hard to hear footsteps especialy if a battle is raging out the window your looking out of..

[Cpt-Praxius]

Originally Posted by Dr.Phibles

also do remember its rather hard to hear footsteps especialy if a battle is raging out the window your looking out of..

True.... but if the battle is that close, usually someone coming at you from behind has to get through your buddies and fire off their weapon, thus if you hear an enemy's weapon being fired off behind you, or hear team mates getting killed behind you, or notice the guy you saw a few seconds ago behind you has their name pop up in the top right of the screen, then you might want to look around.

Even so, for me whether or not I hear or see anybody nearby, every few seconds I take a look around..... most times, I'm so used to the map layout and when/where people will be at a specific time of the round, than I can keep my eyes forward. When the enemy is near objectives I am at and surrounding via offence, I slap my extra eyes on the back of my head, but my ears usually work well enough.

[ross]

Originally Posted by Cpt-Praxius

Bump the audio channels up in your audio settings. The higher the value, the more sounds you hear at one time. I had my settings at 64 and hear plenty.... enough to know what's going on around me anyways.

Whenever I get Bayo'd, it's usually from people I see coming, but was too late to react...... I heard them coming, turned to see them coming at me, but they were quicker than I was at aiming at them...... but I heard them.

This doesn't fix it. I have had mine set to 128 from day one.

[Icey_Pain]

Originally Posted by Cpt-Praxius

Bump the audio channels up in your audio settings. The higher the value, the more sounds you hear at one time. I had my settings at 64 and hear plenty.... enough to know what's going on around me anyways.

Whenever I get Bayo'd, it's usually from people I see coming, but was too late to react...... I heard them coming, turned to see them coming at me, but they were quicker than I was at aiming at them...... but I heard them.

If I'm not mistaken normal onboard soundcards do not offer support for more than 32 channels, thus setting it to a higher value would either result in no improved sound quality, or maybe even a loss of sound in some situations.

I am pretty sure that soundcards like the Creative X-fi series is able to support 128 channels. Though soundcards are quite sensitive to interference and RO2 barely uses them for anything other than the sound output >.>.

[MarioBava]

I get the complaint, but the OP's example is not a good one. Realistically speaking, I don't think an MG gunner is going to have especially good hearing. Especially if all you're talking about is footsteps.

[Proud_God]

I just want to confirm that yes, this is an issue, and yes, it has major impact on gameplay.