Will the sound get some love any time soon?

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Ernie, Mar 18, 2019.

Tags:
  1. Ernie

    Ernie Registered

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2010
    Messages:
    359
    Likes Received:
    219
    The graphics development in rF2 is making huge steps forward. Especially with the lovely new PBR shaders.:cool: And physics are great as always.
    But one important part of the whole immersion package is still lacking. The Sound!:(

    And with "Sound" i don't mean just the engine sounds/samples. I mean all the wide range of sounds you would notice while driving the car. Small stones and mables inside of the wheel arches, chassis and suspension movement, undertray sounds, damaged or loose parts, drivetrain wooble etc.
    Yes, some of these sounds already exist, but it feels like there's just one sound sample, which is triggered by a specific situation. Not much of a variety of sound samples and also the volume levels are not really dynamic.

    And watching replays in TV-cam is also really underwhelming, because there are almost no distance sounds or reverbs which give a believable "you are at a race event" feeling. It's way too static.

    After the "King of Sound" in simracing, Raceroom, has raised the bar a few years ago, other sims have really improved its sound engines. iRacing, Assetto Corsa, ACC and even Automobilista have made big steps forward for more dynamic sounds. Unfortunately rFactor2 seems to stuck in release year 2013 regarding sounds.

    @Studio397 @Marcel Offermans @Christopher Elliott
    How are the plans to improve the sound in rFactor2? Is there something on the horizon for all the sound-lovers?

    cheers
    Ernie
     
  2. DrivingFast

    DrivingFast Registered

    Joined:
    Mar 1, 2018
    Messages:
    1,638
    Likes Received:
    1,083
    I already made this request a few months ago, with no response or interest from S397 (as usual).

    Here is the excerpt:

    "
    A) Best Sounds :

    * All about the sounds of the atmosphere (outside the engine sounds : related to the cockpit and chassis, vibrators, damage, sand, grass, squealing tires, and everything else).

    * Overall sound quality (the most detailed, suitable for high quality audio devices, ...).

    *The most diverse sounds possible(if for example the sand or the "sound of damage" was not always the same).

    The sound (not just the engine) has an incredibly important role, please do not neglect it.

    Moreover, the sounds related to the various damages must be of quality (which is not the case) and especially must be systematic (which is not the case now either).
    "
     
    Nitrometh and Ernie like this.
  3. Filip

    Filip Registered

    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2017
    Messages:
    1,208
    Likes Received:
    937
    I agree with OP.
    For me sound plays bigger role in immersion than graphics.
    While I am able to overlook bad models, cockpits etc. I cannot drive a car that has bad sounds. At least not for long.
    RF2 usually has decent to very good engine sounds but as you said it lacks everywhere else. Particularly replays can be bad.

    I recall that sounds were briefly mentioned by devs for some future updates planning. Maybe in some roadmap?
     
    Ernie and Alex72 like this.
  4. Alex72

    Alex72 Registered

    Joined:
    Dec 27, 2016
    Messages:
    1,317
    Likes Received:
    992
    Sound is super important. Try a super well done mod with awesome Graphics and FFB, and then put really bad sound to it. Undrivable (is that a word, lol?). I really wish we had more rumbling from inside the cockpit, transmission sound when letting go of the throttle and solid shifting sounds. It does a world of difference to the immersion of feeling you are really in the car. I worked with sounds and audio in the past which is why this stuff is close to my heart. :)
     
    Filip and Ernie like this.
  5. RaceNut

    RaceNut Registered

    Joined:
    May 21, 2013
    Messages:
    659
    Likes Received:
    539
    Dynamic Audio in Racing-Sims has always interested me. I used to play LFS but, the main detractor for me was always the audio; it just destroys the immersion factor. Obviously, graphics are essential but, I would rate audio almost as important. The audio development (especially the polishing phase) generally seems to come later in game development but, the fundamental audio engine and dynamics have to be in place long before that.

    Most regard RaceRoom as being the top title for audio but, ACC and iRacing may soon be challenging it for position imo. iRacing is beginning to work on their Xaudio updates, starting with the recently updated Skip Barber car.

    ACC audio is coming on strong with good overall dynamics and details but, the drive-train physics model needs to be expanded a bit imo. Some of the backfire sounds lack diversity among cars as there should be more of the individual character represented, and could be a bit more random so as not to always repeat the same sequence or pattern. AC audio suffered similar issues.

    Although in a completely different genre, the Dirt Rally titles stand out to me as having excellent audio quality.

    Most racing titles could benefit from advanced environmental dynamics in regard to sound reflection and occlusion but, rF2 already has some of that working pretty good. Reiza has done a very good job of making sure the tire audio is providing good grip-loss cues with excellent variability and 3D surround effects, and their engines provide good supporting sounds such as intake, turbo, wastegate, backfire, variability in fuel conditions, etc.

    In most cases, any racing-Sim with really good audio uses a solid sound-engine with some customization applied. IIRC, iRacing uses a modified version of F-mod and I think RaceRoom uses a custom version of the Miles engine but, not sure about that. Both of those titles have the drive-train physics necessary to represent realistic dynamics effectively.

    Xaudio2 should make customizing a sound-engine easier and more effective (Xaudio2 is a new API with advanced support and performance for custom game audio). I imagine that new versions of F-mod and the Miles sound-engines will include support for Xaudio features as well. It should be interesting to hear iRacing sound updates going forward being that the lead audio engineer there is Aussie Greg Hill and he has been blazing new trials in racing-sim audio for a long time.
     
    David Kolody, tpw, TJones and 3 others like this.
  6. Alex72

    Alex72 Registered

    Joined:
    Dec 27, 2016
    Messages:
    1,317
    Likes Received:
    992
  7. Filip

    Filip Registered

    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2017
    Messages:
    1,208
    Likes Received:
    937
    Everybody talks about R3E but when I briefly tried iRacing I found their sounds excellent.
    Example, this is just the first video I found online (start at 3:57)


    RF2 cannot be compared to this imo.
     
    Alex72 likes this.
  8. RaceNut

    RaceNut Registered

    Joined:
    May 21, 2013
    Messages:
    659
    Likes Received:
    539
    Yes, I think many of the cars in iRacing sound good but, some of the older ones could do with an update. The dynamic interaction of the drive-train model can be heard as the car passes over raised curbs and bumps but, it's even more impressive when it can be felt in motion effects. The replay audio is very good in iRacing too. According to Aussie Greg Hill, all cars will soon provide more organic engine sounds (natural and alive) as they get updated to Xaudio standards. Sounds good to me! :)
     
    Filip likes this.
  9. Roberto boniotti

    Roberto boniotti Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 10, 2017
    Messages:
    22
    Likes Received:
    7
    Condivido tutto, l'audio è davvero pessimo, non è per nulla coinvolgente. Sono suoni super compressi con una dinamica inesistente e per nulla uguali alle auto "reali". Risultato: abbiamo un bel simulatore rovinato da un suono proveniente da Rfactor1. Dopo la fisica della macchina questo problema doveva essere risolto, i dettagli grafici potevano essere fatti in seguito.
     
    Juwe Lahann likes this.
  10. Juwe Lahann

    Juwe Lahann Registered

    Joined:
    Dec 24, 2017
    Messages:
    72
    Likes Received:
    45
    Sorry, I'm too lazy to copy+paste this into google-translator on my phone :/
    :)
     
  11. philrob

    philrob Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 12, 2012
    Messages:
    572
    Likes Received:
    1,204
    I share everything, the audio is really bad, it's not at all engaging. They are super compressed sounds with a non-existent dynamic and not at all equal to "real" cars. Result: we have a nice simulator ruined by a sound coming from Rfactor1. After the physics of the machine this problem had to be solved, the graphic details could be made later.
    google translate
     
    Juwe Lahann and David Kolody like this.

Share This Page