Sound Effects in the E3 video's. and all the little details.

[clarky003]

:stare: , You can do it if you have time ( I did,), stick a pair of headphones on, Turn it up as loud as you can Tolerate and stick the E3 Barricade vid on,. and OMG, its just gets better!, and I had a whole load of stuff I actually picked up on , that I never did before.

Some one may of already pointed this out but, after the grenade explosion (or any overally loud sound,) there is a 'ringing in your ears' sound effect that valve have put it and its different according to the loudness of the gunfire/explosion! wich is neat. The music blends near perfectly with AI reactions. (eg when you come out of the building half way through the video with your rebel pals, a Combine soldier up above on the platform see's you... trigger the exite back up in the base beat of the music, just before he fires his flare off!) . its truely overwhelming and after the first time i did it again , and again till my ears where actually ringing! . The Stereo effect in your ears, directly from the firing is Awsome!,theres so much atmosphere created.
I noticed it all before,, but sort of subconciously, if you know what I mean,. so if you havnt done it already , get some decent head phones and try it,.. (its better with a surround sound system and a bass amplifier. Its a little sad but if you imagine your playing it, its a Blast! 'Bang!' )

 

[MultiVaC]

I don't think that ringing is Gordon's ears, it's the sound of a Combine's heart monitor or something. Notice how it only happens when a Combine soldier dies.

 

[clarky003]

they have heart monitors?, whoa man do I feel stupid if thats the case, , It really sounded like ringing in the ears... if you have ever experianced it, its similar.

 

[MultiVaC]

I don't know if it's a heart monitor, but it definately comes from Combine when they die. You can hear it in the Tunnels video as well.

 

[Shuzer]

I don't know if it's a heart monitor, but it definately comes from Combine when they die. You can hear it in the Tunnels video as well.

There's a difference between the nade ringing and the combine death ringing, they're both in barricade and sound completely different.

You can especially hear the difference when Gordon flanks the combine with his NPC allies, he kills them with his gun and it's clearly a different sound
Also, I coulda sworn Gabe said that that was indeed ringing of the ears after a nade went off

 

[Estevan]

HOLY MOSES BATMAN! OMG DOOD YOUR RIGHT! Listen to Traptown Vid and you can hear a combine say "MAN DOWN!" after the thing falls and hits a combine

 

[The Dark Elf]

I've watched them quite a bit and I'm thinking maybe its a radio? I guess since they "sort of" look like stormtroopers, and sort of sound like them, and they had radio transmitters in their helmets. It could be either that or the already mentioned heart monitor, both would make sense I guess. radio in the helmet for communication with other combine or a heart monitor for the combine to keep tabs on which of their men are alive or dead. Maybe its a mix of both?

 

[Axyon]

One rumour is that it's a stripped down version of the HEV suit, the life support beeping is much the same as Gordon's suit in the original Half-Life. This leads us to wonder where they got it from...

 

[Sprafa]

isn´t it the sound of the bullet against the metal of the things that there are in the stairs so you don´t fall down(i´m portuguese so I don´t know how to say it in English)

 

[PvtRyan]

Half-Life's sound has always been awesome. I believe HL received the higher ratings on sound than on gameplay, I've seen several 9.5-10's.
Sound is often overlooked, also in most X vs Y threads between games like HL2 and Doom 3.
The E3 video's really impressed me in the field of sound, especially the music (the music from Tunnels is amazing) but the sound effects themselves are great. I love the way the OICW sounds, really heavy and powerful.

 

[clarky003]

yeah, its awsome

 

[Xenome]

the halflife sounds were one of the things that got me thinking this game was the best ever made

 

[Frank]

Ok, don't kill me for saying this but....
One of my friends downloaded the beta, and NO I haven't got the beta myself, and I don't want it because I want the whole thing. Not some halfass beta...!! And he showed me the beta and I'm pretty sure that there was a ringing in Gordon's (and my) ears!

 

[BlazeKun]

This is partially off topic, but I can never get enough joy from telling people the wonders of binaural sound. It's quite simple, you don't need 6 or more speakers. Sure it's nice for dvd's and such, but when it comes to directional sound, all you need are a good pair of headphones and great binaural sound. We only have 2 ears, so really the extra speakers are useless. The problem with binaural sound is that AFAIK there is currently no way to emulate it within a 3d environment. Once someone gets something working it'll be an instant hit!

Here are some samples of what binaural sound can do (USE HEADPHONES):
http://www.noogenesis.com/binaural/binaural.html

Most of the links to other sites there are broken, but the sounds on that page work.

 

[Spiffae]

I saw a video of the beta the other day... still never played it, but i did watch a couple videos.

The guy was playing through traptown, and at one point he throws a grenade and it explodes near him, and there's a great shellshock effect, unlike anything we've heard in the e3 stuff... there is an "ears ringing" effect, but it hasn't been publicly released yet.

 

[PvtRyan]

This is partially off topic, but I can never get enough joy from telling people the wonders of binaural sound. It's quite simple, you don't need 6 or more speakers. Sure it's nice for dvd's and such, but when it comes to directional sound, all you need are a good pair of headphones and great binaural sound. We only have 2 ears, so really the extra speakers are useless. The problem with binaural sound is that AFAIK there is currently no way to emulate it within a 3d environment. Once someone gets something working it'll be an instant hit!

Here are some samples of what binaural sound can do (USE HEADPHONES):
http://www.noogenesis.com/binaural/binaural.html

Most of the links to other sites there are broken, but the sounds on that page work.

I'm using a 5.1 Headphone (Zalman ZM-RS6F)

 

[Feath]

I saw a video of the beta the other day... still never played it, but i did watch a couple videos.

The guy was playing through traptown, and at one point he throws a grenade and it explodes near him, and there's a great shellshock effect, unlike anything we've heard in the e3 stuff... there is an "ears ringing" effect, but it hasn't been publicly released yet.

There are probably loads of features that Valve have put in but we know nothing about. Valve could rekindle all of interest in a flash if they released another video or something with new features.

I missed the whole beta thing, I was at Uni without a computer. What was actually in it? Was it just the e3 levels?

 

[Shuzer]

There are probably loads of features that Valve have put in but we know nothing about. Valve could rekindle all of interest in a flash if they released another video or something with new features.

I missed the whole beta thing, I was at Uni without a computer. What was actually in it? Was it just the e3 levels?

It's still all over the internet, and, it's NOT a beta, nowhere near it lol

but yeah, it's the e3 levels (a few don't work) and maybe 50 single player levels (well, small portions of them, before you get to a new load area) that are missing textures and stuff. Not alot to see, I deleted it

 

[Spiffae]

There are probably loads of features that Valve have put in but we know nothing about. Valve could rekindle all of interest in a flash if they released another video or something with new features.

I missed the whole beta thing, I was at Uni without a computer. What was actually in it? Was it just the e3 levels?

eh, i never played it. From the video it looks like a relatively finished version of the E3 levels. Wait for the final game, etc.

 

[mortiz]

I agree, the SFX are amazing in HL and in the HL-2 E3 demo's. I think good sound effects can really add to the sense of realism and emersion in the game. A game can absolutely have stunning graphics but If it sounds rubbish then it just reminds you that you are playing a computer game.

 

[Dagobert]

(eg when you come out of the building half way through the video with your rebel pals, a Combine soldier up above on the platform see's you... trigger the exite back up in the base beat of the music, just before he fires his flare off!) .

I bet the music was created and edited specifically for the demo as recorded

BlazeKun - you are aware of how hardware 3d sound in videogames works, aren't you?

 

[NSPIRE]

I love that music in the Barricade video. It's intense .

 

[clarky003]

it is kool,.. had another pass over it and it seems very plausable that they wear there own type of HEV suits. it definately sounds after every combine soldier dies, which is funny, the bleeping tells them there in need of medical attention, or dead. surely when your dead, isnt it useless?, cause your Dead!. unless there being monitored by others....

 

[CrazyHarij]

Yah I love the music and sound realism in the E3 demos.... Sounds even better with my 3D sound kinda thingie headphones.

 

[BlazeKun]

BlazeKun - you are aware of how hardware 3d sound in videogames works, aren't you?

Yes, it's all based on direction, distance, and modifiers the game devolopers put in to make it sound better (through the use of EAX or something simmilar.) It's still nothing compared to good binaural sound. Disneys "Great moments with Mr. Lincoln" at disneyland uses the best binaural sound I've ever heard. If you have the chance to go to that, go to that. That's what got me hooked on binaural sound.

 

[Feath]

I bet the music was created and edited specifically for the demo as recorded

Event driven music has been around for years in games though. Although you could be right.

 

[Pauly]

omg....those sounds posted...omg...they sound like im there! omg....i cant believe that!! I CANT BELIEVE IT!! OMG! willl hl2 have these kinds of sounds??? or any other games?

 

[BlazeKun]

omg....those sounds posted...omg...they sound like im there! omg....i cant believe that!! I CANT BELIEVE IT!! OMG! willl hl2 have these kinds of sounds??? or any other games?

No. Currently binaural sound requires a fake head with microphones in it >.> Though all that may change sometime in the near future.

 

[Axyon]

it is kool,.. had another pass over it and it seems very plausable that they wear there own type of HEV suits. it definately sounds after every combine soldier dies, which is funny, the bleeping tells them there in need of medical attention, or dead. surely when your dead, isnt it useless?, cause your Dead!. unless there being monitored by others....

Yeah, either being monitored off-site, in the field or it's just a signal to tell the rest of the squad that a man's down.