Need some soundscape help

[Jay Mofo Mills]

I'm pretty much ready to release ff_raze_b2. I've fixed the problems that it was having and made quite a few cosmetic changes. Think it looks better and will play better.

My problem is that once in awhile the soundscapes get a little buggy. I have the radius set to -1 so that if the player can see the soundscape they should hear it.
FIRST QUESTION: Does this mean player(or soundscape entity) needs line of sight, regardless of facing direction? or does the player have to be looking at the entity for the soundscape to play???

SECOND QUESTION: Once in awhile a soundscape doesn't turn off properly. This doesn't always happen, but when it does it's annoying. i.e. the critters in raze.cave get stuck on and don't turn off when you move into a new area. Seemed to happen when I left the raze.cave soundscape area to the raze.yard area while the critters were playing. Constant cricket buzz annoying shit. I will paste a copy of the soundscape at the bottom.

THIRD QUESTION: It was brought to my attention by a few people that their in game sound would cut out in areas. It was only the people who downloaded the map off the server. Everyone who used my external link and got the soundscapes.txt file didn't seem to have the same issues. Is this a server side problem??? How can I make it so it's not problematic next release?

I appreciate your time and help.
-m0f0

//		ff_raze_b2_soundscapes.txt
// Thanks to everyone who put the work in making these soundscapes Mervaka/Valve
// I am borrowing them for my map   - m0f0
// Built off the Well soundscape file by Mervaka
// Some sections based on existing valve soundscapes but modified
//	DSP EFFECTS
//	"0 : "Normal (off)"
//	1 : "Generic"
//	2 : "Metal Small"
//	3 : "Metal Medium"
//	4 : "Metal Large"
//	5 : "Tunnel Small"
//	6 : "Tunnel Medium"
//	7 : "Tunnel Large"
//	8 : "Chamber Small"
//	9 : "Chamber Medium"
//	10: "Chamber Large"
//	11: "Bright Small"
//	12: "Bright Medium"
//	13: "Bright Large"
//	14: "Water 1"
//	15: "Water 2"
//	16: "Water 3"
//	17: "Concrete Small"
//	18: "Concrete Medium"
//	19: "Concrete Large"
//	20: "Big 1"
//	21: "Big 2"
//	22: "Big 3"
//	23: "Cavern Small"
//	24: "Cavern Medium"
//	25: "Cavern Large"
//	26: "Weirdo 1"
//	27: "Weirdo 2"
//	28: "Weirdo 3"" 

// Large Open Flag Room
"raze.spawn"
{
	// DSP: // 1 : "Generic"
	"dsp"		"1"
	"dsp_volume" 	"0.2"

	// constant ambient base
	"playlooping"
	{
		"volume"	"0.2,"
		"pitch"		"100"
		"wave"		"ambient/atmosphere/ff_ambience.wav"
	}
	"playlooping"
	{
		"volume"	"0.2,"
		"pitch"		"100"
		"wave"		"ambient/atmosphere/engine_room.wav"
	}
	"playsoundscape"
	{
		"name"		"ff.drips1"
		"volume"	"0.2"
	}
	"playsoundscape"
	{
		"name"		"raze.base"
		"volume"	"0.2"
	}
	"playsoundscape"
	{
		"name"		"raze.shoop"
		"volume"	"0.2"
	}
}

// Large Open Flag Room
"raze.base"
{
	// DSP: // 1 : "Generic"
	"dsp"		"1"
	"dsp_volume" 	"0.2"

	// constant ambient base
	"playlooping"
	{
		"volume"	"0.1,0.4"
		"pitch"		"100"
		"wave"		"ambient/atmosphere/ff_ambience.wav"
	}
	"playsoundscape"
	{
		"name"		"ff.drips1"
		"volume"	"0.7"
	}
	"playsoundscape"
	{
		"name"		"raze.yard"
		"volume"	"0.05"
	}
}

//Flagroom
"raze.flagroom"
{
	// DSP: // 1 : "Generic"
	"dsp"		"1"
	"dsp_volume" 	"0.2"

	// constant ambient base
	"playsoundscape"
	{
		"name"		"raze.base"
		"volume"	"1"
	}
	"playrandom"
	{
		"time"		"5,10"
		"volume"	"0.3"
		"pitch"		"90,100"
		"position"	"random"
		"rndwave"
		{
			
			"wave"	"ambient/creatures/rats1.wav"
		}
	}
}



// Centre Bunker
"raze.shoop"
{
	"dsp"		"5"
	"dsp_volume"	"0.2"

	// constant ambient base
	"playlooping"
	{
		"volume"	"0.3"
		"pitch"		"100"
		"wave"		"ambient/atmosphere/quiet_cellblock_amb.wav"
		"wave"		"ambient/levels/canals/tunnel_wind_loop1.wav"
	}
	"playrandom"
	{
		"time"		"5,10"
		"volume"	"0.3,0.5"
		"pitch"		"90,100"
		"position"	"random"
		"rndwave"
		{
			
			"wave"	"ambient/wind/wind_snippet5.wav"
			"wave"	"ambient/materials/rustypipes1.wav"
			
			
		}
	}
	"playsoundscape"
	{
		"name"		"raze.base"
		"volume"	"0.4"
	}

	
}

//Shoop transition
"raze.baseshoop"
{
	// DSP: // 1 : "Generic"
	"dsp"		"1"
	"dsp_volume" 	"0.4"

	// constant ambient base
	"playsoundscape"
	{
		"name" 		"raze.base"
		"volume"	"0.5"
	}
	"playsoundscape"
	{
		"name"		"raze.shoop"
		"volume"	"0.7"
	}
	
}


// Transition from yard inside
"raze.front"
{
	// DSP: // 1 : "Generic"
	"dsp"		"1"
	"dsp_volume" 	"0.4"

	// constant ambient base
	"playsoundscape"
	{
		"name" 		"raze.yard"
		"volume"	"0.5"
	}
	"playsoundscape"
	{
		"name"		"raze.base"
		"volume"	"0.7"
	}
	
}



// Yard between two bases
"raze.yard"
{
	"dsp"		"1"
	"dsp_volume" 	"0.3"
	// constant wind base
	"playlooping"
	{
		"volume"	"0.4"
		"pitch"		"100"
		"wave"		"ambient/wind/ff_wasteland_wind.wav"
	}
	"playlooping"
	{
		"volume"	"0.9"
		"pitch"		"100"
		"wave"		"ambient/water/rumble_rain_nowind.wav"
	}
	// Wind gusts (based on cliffe's cs_assault settings)
	"playrandom"
	{
		"time"		"5,15"
		"volume"	"0.5"
		"pitch"		"90,110"
		"rndwave"
		{
			"wave"	"ambient/wind/wind_snippet1.wav"
			"wave"	"ambient/wind/wind_snippet2.wav"
			"wave"	"ambient/wind/wind_snippet5.wav"
			"wave"	"ambient/levels/coast/coastbird3.wav"
			"wave"	"ambient/materials/rock3.wav"
			"wave"  "ambient/water/rumble_rain.wav"
		}
	}
	"playrandom"
	{
		"time"		"6,30"
		"volume"	"0.7"
		"pitch"		"90,110"
		"position"	"random"
		"rndwave"
		{
			"wave"	"ambient/atmosphere/thunder1.wav"
			"wave"	"ambient/atmosphere/thunder2.wav"
			"wave"	"ambient/atmosphere/thunder3.wav"
			"wave"	"ambient/atmosphere/thunder4.wav"
		}
	}
}

raze.pigeons
{
	"dsp"		"1"
	"dsp_volume" 	"0.4"

	// constant ambient base
	"playsoundscape"
	{
		"name" 		"raze.yard"
		"volume"	"1"
	}
	"playrandom"
	{
		"time"		"6,15"
		"volume"	"0.7"
		"pitch"		"90,110"
		"position"	"random"
		"rndwave"
		{
			"wave"	"ambient/creatures/pigeon_idle1.wav"
			"wave"	"ambient/creatures/pigeon_idle3.wav"
			
		}
	}
}
		
// Cave in yard area
"raze.cave"
{
	"dsp"		"23"
	"dsp_volume" 	"0.2"
	"playlooping"
	{
		"volume"	"0.4"
		"pitch"		"100"
		"wave"		"ambient/atmosphere/cave_hit3.wav"
	}
	"playlooping"
	{
		"volume"	"0.4"
		"pitch"		"100"
		"wave"		"ambient/atmosphere/cave_outdoor1.wav"
	}
	"playlooping"
	{
		"volume"	"0.23"
		"pitch"		"100"
		"wave"		"ambient/levels/canals/water_rivulet_loop2.wav"
	}
	"playsoundscape"	
	{
		"name"		"raze.yard"
		"volume"	"0.25"
	}
	"playrandom"
	{
		"time"		"5,10"
		"volume"	"0.3"
		"pitch"		"80,100"
		"wave"		"ambient/atmosphere/hole_amb3.wav"
		"wave"		"ambient/creatures/flies4.wav"
	}
	"playrandom"
	{
		"time"		"10,15"
		"volume"	"0.2"
		"pitch"		"80,100"
		"position"	"random"
		"rndwave"
		{
		"wave"		"ambient/levels/canals/critter4.wav"
		"wave"		"ambient/levels/canals/swamp_stereo_frogs_loop1.wav"
				
		}
	}

}







//Dripping water sounds

"ff.drips1"
{
	"playrandom"
	{
		"volume"	"0.1,0.4"
		"pitch"		"90,120"
		"time"		"0.5, 5.0"
		"position"	"random"
		"soundlevel"	"SNDLVL_140db"
		"rndwave"
		{
			"wave"	"ambient/water/rain_drip1.wav"
			"wave"	"ambient/water/rain_drip2.wav"
			"wave"	"ambient/water/rain_drip3.wav"
			"wave"	"ambient/water/rain_drip5.wav"
		}
	}
}

[Crazycarl]

1. Soudscapes are line-of-sight. I've never tried -1 radius, but the closest one to the player should activate. I've found it much easier to use trigger_soundscape because you can be sure no player can avoid triggering one. Plus they can do double duty as location triggers.

Turn on developer mode (1 or 2) and you'll be able to see in the console when the soudscape changes.

3. Is the soundscape file zipped into the map or is it included with a res file?

[Jay Mofo Mills]

Okay, thanks for the reply Carl.

I made all the soundscapes trigger_soundscapes and have everything working properly. I ran through with developer 1 and the soundscapes all switch properly at the right points.

Strange thing is when you first spawn and come out from raze.spawn into raze.base the soundscape plays very quiet. If you move to the raze.front or raze.yard from there and come back into the raze.base it plays full volume. I call a few soundscapes to play together i.e. raze base plays the yard soundscape quietly, the shoop plays the base soundscape a bit quieter etc. Not sure if that makes this issue happen but it sounds a bit strange the sudden volume change.

Second when I transition from the raze.front to raze.pigeons you can hear the rain stop and play from the beginning again. However if I move from .pigeons to .yard there is a seemless transition. It's a minor detail but considering all the time I've put into this map I want to eliminate these annoyances.

I've modified my soundscape file a bit so I'll re-paste it at bottom. Any ideas welcome.

To answer your question regarding the soundscape.txt file It was included in the ff_raze_b1.zip as a separate text file. Can I pakrat it into the .bsp? As for res files I don't know much about that so I left it alone.



// ff_raze_b2_soundscapes.txt
// SPAWN POINT
"raze.spawn"
{
// DSP: // 1 : "Generic"
"dsp" "8"
"dsp_volume" "0.2"
// constant ambient base
"playlooping"
{
"volume" "0.3,"
"pitch" "100"
"wave" "ambient/atmosphere/ff_ambience.wav"
}
"playlooping"
{
"volume" "0.1,"
"pitch" "100"
"wave" "ambient/atmosphere/engine_room.wav"
}
"playsoundscape"
{
"name" "raze.base"
"volume" "0.2"
}
}
// MAIN AREA OF BASE
"raze.base"
{
// DSP: // 1 : "Generic"
"dsp" "9"
"dsp_volume" "0.2"
// constant ambient base
"playlooping"
{
"volume" "0.35"
"pitch" "100"
"wave" "ambient/atmosphere/ff_ambience.wav"
}
"playlooping"
{
"volume" "0.15,"
"pitch" "100"
"wave" "ambient/atmosphere/engine_room.wav"
}
"playsoundscape"
{
"name" "raze.yard"
"volume" "0.05"
}
"playsoundscape"
{
"name" "ff.drips1"
"volume" "0.4"
}
}
//FLAGROOM
"raze.flagroom"
{
// DSP: // 1 : "Generic"
"dsp" "9"
"dsp_volume" "0.2"
// constant ambient base
"playsoundscape"
{
"name" "raze.base"
"volume" "1"
}
"playrandom"
{
"time" "5,10"
"volume" "0.03"
"pitch" "90,100"
"position" "random"
"rndwave"
{
"wave" "ambient/creatures/rats1.wav"
}
}
}
// SHOOP TUNNEL
"raze.shoop"
{
"dsp" "5"
"dsp_volume" "0.2"
// constant ambient base
"playlooping"
{
"volume" "0.05"
"pitch" "100"
"wave" "ambient/atmosphere/quiet_cellblock_amb.wav"
"wave" "ambient/levels/canals/tunnel_wind_loop1.wav"
}
"playrandom"
{
"time" "5,10"
"volume" "0.05"
"pitch" "90,100"
"position" "random"
"rndwave"
{

"wave" "ambient/wind/wind_snippet5.wav"
"wave" "ambient/materials/rustypipes1.wav"
}
}
"playsoundscape"
{
"name" "raze.base"
"volume" "0.7"
}
}
// TRANSITION BASE TO YARD
"raze.front"
{
// DSP: // 1 : "Generic"
"dsp" "1"
"dsp_volume" "0.2"
// constant ambient base
"playsoundscape"
{
"name" "raze.yard"
"volume" "0.8"
}
"playsoundscape"
{
"name" "raze.base"
"volume" "0.4"
}
}
// YARD AREA
"raze.yard"
{
"dsp" "1"
"dsp_volume" "0.2"
// constant wind base
"playlooping"
{
"volume" "0.2"
"pitch" "100"
"wave" "ambient/wind/ff_wasteland_wind.wav"
}
"playlooping"
{
"volume" "0.3"
"pitch" "100"
"wave" "ambient/water/rumble_rain_nowind.wav"
}
// Wind gusts (based on cliffe's cs_assault settings)
"playrandom"
{
"time" "5,15"
"volume" "0.2"
"pitch" "90,110"
"rndwave"
{
"wave" "ambient/wind/wind_snippet1.wav"
"wave" "ambient/wind/wind_snippet2.wav"
"wave" "ambient/wind/wind_snippet5.wav"
"wave" "ambient/levels/coast/coastbird3.wav"
"wave" "ambient/materials/rock3.wav"
"wave" "ambient/water/rumble_rain.wav"
}
}
"playrandom"
{
"time" "6,30"
"volume" "0.5"
"pitch" "90,110"
"position" "random"
"rndwave"
{
"wave" "ambient/atmosphere/thunder1.wav"
"wave" "ambient/atmosphere/thunder2.wav"
"wave" "ambient/atmosphere/thunder3.wav"
"wave" "ambient/atmosphere/thunder4.wav"
}
}
}
raze.pigeons
{
"dsp" "1"
"dsp_volume" "0.4"
// constant ambient base
"playsoundscape"
{
"name" "raze.yard"
"volume" "1"
}
"playrandom"
{
"time" "6,15"
"volume" "0.2"
"pitch" "90,110"
"position" "random"
"rndwave"
{
"wave" "ambient/creatures/pigeon_idle1.wav"
"wave" "ambient/creatures/pigeon_idle3.wav"
}
}
}
// Cave in yard area
"raze.cave"
{
"dsp" "23"
"dsp_volume" "0.2"
"playlooping"
{
"volume" "0.4"
"wave" "ambient/atmosphere/cave_hit3.wav"
"wave" "ambient/atmosphere/cave_outdoor1.wav"
}
"playlooping"
{
"volume" "0.1"
"wave" "ambient/levels/canals/water_rivulet_loop2.wav"
}
"playsoundscape"
{
"name" "raze.yard"
"volume" "0.2"
}
"playsoundscape"
{
"name" "ff.drips"
"volume" "1"
}
"playrandom"
{
"time" "5,10"
"volume" "0.1"
"pitch" "80,100"
"rndwave"
{
"wave" "ambient/atmosphere/hole_amb3.wav"
"wave" "ambient/creatures/flies4.wav"
"wave" "ambient/levels/canals/critter4.wav"
}
}
}
//Dripping water sounds

"ff.drips1"
{
"playrandom"
{
"volume" "0.1,0.4"
"pitch" "90,120"
"time" "0.5, 5.0"
"position" "random"
"soundlevel" "SNDLVL_140db"
"rndwave"
{
"wave" "ambient/water/rain_drip1.wav"
"wave" "ambient/water/rain_drip2.wav"
"wave" "ambient/water/rain_drip3.wav"
"wave" "ambient/water/rain_drip5.wav"
}
}
}

[Crazycarl]

I think you can bspzip soundscapes but don't quote me on that. If you don't, you need to include a .res file or players who download off the server won't get the file. It's very simple:

http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Res

You have raze.base referencing raze.yard, and raze.yard referencing raze.base. I wouldn't be surprised if that kind of recursion caused weird things to happen. What I would do is make some general indoor/outdoor/cave soundscapes. You won't use them directly in your map, but you reference them in your other soundscapes using playsoundscape. And then you can avoid having all your soundscapes referencing each other.

[Jay Mofo Mills]

Thanks for the reply.