V 7.0 Patch Sounds Questions
 

Installed the V 7.0 patch and checked out the new Nazi's scenario and got some "interesting" sounds when units fired.

I then tried another new scenario and got the same sounds.

Is the new weapons tab sound byte over-riding the default sounds if nothing is specified?

Re: V 7.0 Patch Sounds Questions
 

Really ??? "got some "interesting" sounds when units fired" is as specific as you could get ?? Not even a little hint as to WHICH UNIT ??? Well I guess I'll load the scenario pick something and see if I can figure out what you are talking about. :doh:

The way it works is this

There are hard coded sounds that are called up based on a number of factors but HEK and WH size are factors...... in the past we put the override sound byte in unitweapons and now we have it in weapons as well

So...... if there is zero entered under weapons and zero entered in the unitweapons the weapon takes the default hardcoded sound

If there is something OTHER THAN ZERO in unitweapons and ZERO entered in weapons the weapon takes the unitweapons sound

If there is any number OTHER THAN ZERO entered into weapons that is the sound the game uses.......it will override anything in unitweapons and the hard coded default sounds

Weapons = top priority
unitweapons = secondary priority
nothing entered in either = default sound


Don

Re: V 7.0 Patch Sounds Questions
 

Well I'm on turn 4 and have zombies everywhere and theres is lot's of firing ------them at me-------me at them .......main guns, secondary guns etc etc and I have not yet heard one out of place sound so far so I think you need to be a little more specific than...."got some "interesting" sounds when units fired"

Now..... if you are not using the OOB's issued with the patch there COULD be problems because way back when that weapons sound byte used to be "Weapon size" and weapon size was not used but numbers did creep in and because that is now the primo place weapon sounds are called from if you have an old OOB that hasn't had all those old weapon size fields cleared down to zero you might hear weird things but to really know if there is a problem I need a better "bug" report than "got some "interesting" sounds when units fired"

Get back to me on that please.......



Don

Re: V 7.0 Patch Sounds Questions
 

Using the default OOBs.

With tank main guns I get a "pop" sound.
With tank CMG's I get a "raygun" sound.

Let me try reinstalling the patch ... maybe it didn't install properly.

Re: V 7.0 Patch Sounds Questions
 

OK, figured out the problem.

I have installed WinSPMBT on an older PC that uses Vista.
The game was installed before we figured out NOT to install in "Program Files" (and before the Vista/Win 7 desktop patch).
I long ago figured out where Vista installed the various copies of game files and just never bothered to uninstall and reinstall the game outside "Program Files".

When I installed the v7.0 patch I told it where to find my copy of the game and all was well...EXCEPT...the new versions of the OOBs did not overwrite the pre v7.0 versions the game was actually using.

All I had to do was tell it to restore the default OOBs and now all is well.

Gotta love Microshaft.

Re: V 7.0 Patch Sounds Questions
 

Which is why we ask people to install the game outside program files and all the new installers do that too because even people who know what Vista will do get fooled sometimes. ( and it saves us time not chasing down bugs that don't exist......) :)


Don

Re: V 7.0 Patch Sounds Questions
 

As well as being the perfect example of why you should never run the game from program files if you have VISTA installed this thread also points out the following..

If anyone has a custom OOB created BEFORE this patch you *MAY* hear "some "interesting" sounds when units fire" UNLESS you go though every weapon in the OOB and ensure that all the "WEAPON SOUND" data fields are ZERO

After you have ensured that all fields are zeroed you can then decide if you want to assign any special weapons sounds to those weapons. I just realized I did not explain this in the game guide so I'm making this thread Sticky as a warning and as information.

The game now looks in the weapons data for sound information as well as unitweapons but the weapons data entry HAS PRIORITY....

For example

If you have weapon sound X entered into the unitweapons area and any number OTHER THAN ZERO entered in the weapons data the game will take the weapons data number. This is why it is vital that anyone with a custom OOB ensure they zero those weapon sounds values before playing otherwise what is described in this thread will happen when the game is played.





Don

Re: V 7.0 Patch Sounds Questions
 

At the risk of digging myself a deeper hole.

Might it be advantageous to have the priorities:
Unitweapons = #1
Weapons = #2
Nothing entered in either = default sound

That way you use sound #144 (several individual shots) for the M16A1 and any use of that weapon in the #1 weapon slot will use that sound. Then when the M16A1 is used in the #2 weapon slot (common for MG and anti-tank teams) you could put sound #141 (a full auto burst) in the unitweapons #2 slot and get that sound.

Re: V 7.0 Patch Sounds Questions
 

Yeah, stop digging .... we are not re-writing the code and it would NOT be be advantageous to have the priorities as you suggest


The new way SUPPLEMENTS the old way.

It was done this way so that one ( 1 ) entry would cover *EVERY* unit that uses that weapon. If you don't want ONE sound to cover every unit that uses that weapon simply leave the weapons sound value at ZERO and add all the sounds you want to the different unitweapons and the game will pick those up just like it always did. The new way allows you to do that once because most people don't want a dozen different weapon sounds to represent one weapon. I know *I* don't.

If we had done it as you suggested any entry in weapons would be negated by anything that might have been previously added in unitweapons and the entire POINT of all this was to simplify adding new weapons sounds. If I want to add a new weapon sound to a specific weapon I don't want to have to check every unit in that OOB to find and remove the old unitweapon sounds but anyone who DOES want a variety of sounds for one weapon can do that with the existing system simply by leaving the weapon sound at zero.


The original system was done the way it was done so that people could get "creative" with different weapons sounds within an OOB and it's all just dandy when you are maintaining 1 or 2 OOB's bit it's a COMPLETE PITA when maintaining or upgrading 128 of them and it's one VERY BIG reason I have avoided sound work.

If you want your USMC OOB to have multiple M16 ( or whatever ) sounds then just continue on as before but you need to go though all 246 weapons and make sure there is nothing but ZERO in the new weapons sounds field or anyone using it may hear some strange things

EDIT:...... I took a quick run though your OOB and as far as I can see the only one you need to zero is wpn198 so it's not the onerous job it may sound like..... It'll take maybe 2 minutes..tops



Don

Re: V 7.0 Patch Sounds Questions
 

I have noticed strange sounds issues. It sometimes has tendency to first stutter, then repeat every single sound again, and finally it freezes on one sounds played over and over again. Game restart helps.
Anyone also has it? Happened to me after like 1 hour of playing.

Re: V 7.0 Patch Sounds Questions
 

Anyone else ?? Neither Andy nor I observed anything like this happening. Do you normally play with sound on ?

Please note that NONE of the actual sound code was changed. The ONLY change is the game looks to the weapons data as the primary sound file location, if it finds zero there it checks unitweapons and then, if both are zero, in uses the same default sounds it always did so there should be no reason any of that would cause sound to stutter or repeat.

Don

Re: V 7.0 Patch Sounds Questions
 

Sounds to me like the behaviour of a corrupt sound file.

I would first do a disk scan for any lost clusters etc. If that does not fix it then try reinstalling (save off any ongoing save games elsewhere to put back afterwards).

Also - is this a V7 problem, as this is a V7 thread I presume you have had these problems only since the latest patch was applied? If so, you may have had corruption in your downloading of the patch - it happens - so try re-downloading it from the shrapnel page and reapplying it as your first step post the disc scan.

Andy

Re: V 7.0 Patch Sounds Questions
 

Ah yes...... sound files.

A bad sound file will kill the game faster than shutting off your computer.

We will be monotoring this thread, if anyone else experiences a similar problem let us know and please let us know WHICH UNIT from what nation was causing the problem and if you can.. what weapon

Don

Re: V 7.0 Patch Sounds Questions
 

That sounds like you have another program running in the background that is quite possibly leaching into memory & not the games fault
Try running task manager or your virus antispyware software, check your internet traffic while your at it could well be surfing without you realising to raise traffic on sites or have become a spambot.

Re: V 7.0 Patch Sounds Questions
 

Understood, just brainstorming.

Yeah, I found, and fixed, the one onerous weapon sound (now that I know what to look for).

Re: V 7.0 Patch Sounds Questions
 

I had a similar problem with Vista a while back. Had to do with a Microsoft/Creative Labs feud going on at the time.
Sometimes when multiple sounds tried to play simultaneously the sound driver couldn't deal with it and I'd get the exact symptoms mentioned above.
Eventually they resolved their issues and an updated sound driver fixed the problem.

Re: V 7.0 Patch Sounds Questions
 

When was the last time you checked for a sound driver update ?

Re: V 7.0 Patch Sounds Questions
 

Sorry for late answer: few days ago. Everything else works fine, this problem happens sporadically, though it happens so reporting.

Re: V 7.0 Patch Sounds Questions
 

....and I think unless we start getting flooded with similar problems from other players the answer lies in the explanations offered by the other posters on this thread

Don

Re: V 7.0 Patch Sounds Questions
 

Re: V 7.0 Patch Sounds Questions
 

Re: V 7.0 Patch Sounds Questions
 

OK...... what unit where you using when you got that sound and was it the stock OOBs ?? I need hard info to track down and identify problems. However, anyone using an old set of OOB's .....either "stock" game OOB's from a previous release or custom OOB's WILL get the occasional weird sound unless every weapon is checked for weapon size / weapon sound entries....... it's easily done and takes a minute or two and it that's the issue here I can go over the procedure but I need to know what exacly you were doing and with what unit from what nation and from what OOB first


Don