Audio Improvements

bunnytrix · June 2015

Where ? Patch notes say many audio improvements. Not for me. In game audio since this patch "sounds" pretty broken to me. Never had a problem with the audio in this game...it all sounded pretty good. Now it seems totally off...NPC voices...interface ...most other game sounds...either sound like its coming from a long way off, or underwater and muffled. Just me or anyone else got audio sounding totally crap after patch ?

Edit to add I'm on PC.

ZOS_BillMueller · June 2015

Hi Bunny!

We are looking into this for you, but so far have been unable to repro the issue. We are trying internally, and we even jumped on the live servers and everything sounds to be as expected. We have some possible theories though, if you could give us some more info that would help us out a ton.

- Does all audio sound like this from the login screen onward?
- Does changing zones cause or stop this?
- Does dying / reviving cause or stop this?
- Does this happen with a specific ability or set of abilities?
- Can you capture footage of this in action to show us?
- Does toggling audio default settings fix this?

Any info you can give could help us track it down. Thanks a bunch, sorry you are experiencing this. But know the audio team is on it for you

Beesting · June 2015

I logged in to play some pvp like i do everyday

AND I HATE THE SOUNDS OF ALL THESE MUFFLED BOW SHOTS ALL AROUND ME

It drives me mental and bothers me , can you please remove it?
I loved to hear the sound of my own crushing shock and reflective scales for months, now i cannot concentrate because the bloody bow shots sound like blowing a paper arrow through a plastic tube and i dont want to hear that in my favorite game

I even made this post instead of being in the epic battle raging outside ....

PLEASE FiX THIS

Gandrhulf_Harbard · June 2015

bunnytrix wrote: »

Never had a problem with the audio in this game..

That's why they patched it.

Zenimax: Where "Being Different" means "Being Broken"

All The Best

Acrolas · June 2015

Apparently you can improve anything by adding an additional unnecessary layer of bass.

Bass is the rune level above Kuta. If you Bass a Legendary item, it becomes FTW.
New goal - pair of Prismatic Weapon FTW.

Beesting · June 2015

Just noticed i cant hear the sound of my own crushing shocks anymore, 70% of the time in the big battle i am in.

This is a big deal for me, i dont want to sacrifice the sound of my own abilities to hear other people's skills

This is bloody immersion breaking and i am so disappointed again , i bloody love this games pvp and now it is ruined

nine9six · June 2015

Last night I swore I heard people harvesting Runes...but I was alone, and not near anyone.

Gandrhulf_Harbard · June 2015

nine9six wrote: »

Last night I swore I heard people harvesting Runes...but I was alone, and not near anyone.

I am 100% convinced that is a phasing issue.

I think we hear other players harvesting runes from the Vet phased version of the zone.

Maybe you at starting zone in DC are hearing a VR1 EP player also in the DC starter zone.

All The Best

nine9six · June 2015

That could be. Hadn't given it much thought, I just know that was supposed to be one of the things that was fixed.

Ironically, I hadn't heard it before, until last night.

Will keep my ears open in the days ahead. Everything else seemed fine.

Gandrhulf_Harbard · June 2015

@nine9six I hear it all the time, have done since I started playing 3 months or so ago.

All The Best

FancyTuna8 · June 2015

I posted this in the "known issues" thread, but since it apparently gets a response to create new threads instead of trying to group all issues in one, here goes:
Playing just an hour ago, running around Daggerfall with a new character, and suddenly all sound stopped. No ambient, music, footsteps, no npc dialogue.
Last night I watched a guard walk through 2 solid stone supports of a bridge. I'm assuming the guard was supposed to be walking ON the bridge, but instead was down at ground level. So far haven't had the problem I had last night of npc/monsters not moving during combat (except for abilities, such as a spider moving to a dead npc to regen.)

unrelated to audio, but also posted these last night:
I'm not getting kicked or having login problems. Although I am getting a weird screen like I am loading in to the game world after first logging in, it just pops up for about 5 seconds. That has happened 3 times. This is during routine gameplay.
What is more important to me are 2 issues:
I can not fish. I have plenty of all 4 basic bait types, but when I press A to fish I get that sound that indicates "you can't do that." I'm not in battle, no monsters activated at all.
Second, no npc monsters/characters will chase/charge after me and my friend. We are running around stormhaven, the 2nd area for Daggerfall Covenant. The monsters will try to fight us, but only in the sense that they attack if you are within range of their weapon. Otherwise, they attack to no effect. It is boring, because they will never damage us unless we run up to them. However, we did fight 3 large, named spiders and each of them would do a programmed move of crawling to a dead body and regenerating health when we had knocked their health down some. this has only happened since the patch/server maintenance on 6/29, and the game never prompted me to download the patch. I am on Xbox, and I do have my system set to auto-download updates, so it might have downloaded then.

Elijah_Crow · June 2015

Really strange. Played last night after the patch and no issues. A few different sounds while clicking on way shrines and such but for the most part seemed very clean for hours.

[Deleted User] · June 2015

The user and all related content has been deleted.

nine9six · June 2015

RazzPitazz · June 2015

After the patch my audio started crackling, was off sync and my frame rate has been shot. In a VR1 starter island. After two hours the audio stopped crackling, but sync is still of and fps is still awful. Seriously, let's skip the part where they ask us if it's on our end since I was playing over the weekend with only the usual latency issues that show up when they decide to skip a week of maintenance.

ZOS_BillMueller · June 2015

Hey guys,

Just wanted to let you know we are looking into all of these. Just a few points

1) A few of us were just on the NA server, and we confirmed that the rune harvest sound is fixed. You said you heard this yesterday, was this before the patch went live? It also should not be a phasing issue. The sound that triggers is triggered like any other sound, so if that were the case lots of other sounds would be heard. But we will look into that as well.

2) We did not get our audio to sound "muffled" but this is not the first time we heard this so we are trying to gather data so we can repro better in house. As my original reply stated, any info you can give us will go a long way into tracking this down.

- Does all audio sound like this from the login screen onward? In other words does it always sound muffled or does it get muffled as you play?
- Does changing zones cause or stop this? So if you hit a loading screen do things go back to normal?
- Does dying / reviving cause or stop this? Did you notice the issue after you died?
- Can you capture footage of this in action to show us? If you can capture video of this and post it, it will help us determine what is happening
- Does toggling audio default settings fix this?

We have some theories, that we were unable to reproduce by ourselves, but as i said any more info can go a long way to helping us find it. Audio can be a different beast when trying to track down issues, sometimes audio "breaking" is a side effect of some other system failing, so the more info the easier it is to track it down.

Thanks guys, we really appreciate the help!

Daraugh · June 2015

Haven't heard the rune harvest sound anymore, but leaving the bank in Rawl'Kha...the door sounds like a loud thunderclap. Sort of like the door is being broken instead of opened. That's happened twice on two different toons.

One outdoor npc in vet Rift, the one that runs up to you near Riften, he had an odd hollow echo to his voice.

nine9six · June 2015

I heard the sounds *after* the patch. And I'm 100% sure I was the only person around where I was. On the NA server as well.

Kuroinu · June 2015

NPC voices and the UI sounds are what I noticed having their volumes reduced; while my audio settings in-game were the same as before patch. I guess everything might have been quieter, but those just stood out the most for me.

gard · June 2015

ZOS_BillMueller wrote: »

Hey guys,

Just wanted to let you know we are looking into all of these. Just a few points

1) A few of us were just on the NA server, and we confirmed that the rune harvest sound is fixed. You said you heard this yesterday, was this before the patch went live? It also should not be a phasing issue. The sound that triggers is triggered like any other sound, so if that were the case lots of other sounds would be heard. But we will look into that as well.

2) We did not get our audio to sound "muffled" but this is not the first time we heard this so we are trying to gather data so we can repro better in house. As my original reply stated, any info you can give us will go a long way into tracking this down.

- Does all audio sound like this from the login screen onward? In other words does it always sound muffled or does it get muffled as you play?
- Does changing zones cause or stop this? So if you hit a loading screen do things go back to normal?
- Does dying / reviving cause or stop this? Did you notice the issue after you died?
- Can you capture footage of this in action to show us? If you can capture video of this and post it, it will help us determine what is happening
- Does toggling audio default settings fix this?

We have some theories, that we were unable to reproduce by ourselves, but as i said any more info can go a long way to helping us find it. Audio can be a different beast when trying to track down issues, sometimes audio "breaking" is a side effect of some other system failing, so the more info the easier it is to track it down.

Thanks guys, we really appreciate the help!

Quoting my post in the PC tech support forum:

Since the last patch, myself and my guildmates have frequently experienced intermittent severe lag spikes, framerate drops to 1, stuttering sound (all three of the previous generally happening simultaneously), and intermittent infinite loading screens on traveling to wayshrines.

Do these patches get tested at all? Your audio "fixes" seem to have royally jacked things up.

To add: The symptoms occur most often after zoning to a new wayshrine. /reloadui magically fixes it.

coryevans_3b14_ESO · June 2015

Gandrhulf_Harbard wrote: »

bunnytrix wrote: »

Never had a problem with the audio in this game..

That's why they patched it.

Zenimax: Where "Being Different" means "Being Broken"

All The Best

Gandrhulf: where saying anything positive is impossibru.

All the best.

Nijo · June 2015

WebBull · June 2015

Why was audio being changed to begin with?

It was the lighting changes that weren't broken in 1.2 (or was it 1.3) that set off the lag fest that still hasn't been fixed.

If it is not broken, don't fix it.

Aneima · June 2015

All I know is after the second to last patch I downloaded my audio went from being perfect to absolutely no sound at all.
I have sound at the login in screen and character selection screens but once I'm in the game there is Zero sound.

I never use or have ever used any addons and I keep my PC updated always. Eso is the only game I ever have problems with after I download patches.

phairdon · June 2015

Had sound trouble yesterday, after patch installation. Today, no problems at all.

Beesting · July 2015

@ZOS_BillMueller
After repairing the gamefiles i think the sound is less muffled now

Also i think yesterday there was lag in pvp and that caused me not being able the crushing shock
Today it was fine when i went to test it in cragorn, i wad soloing some mobs and the heavy attack / crushing shock combo sounded normal

In pvp it is different though

1. You added a second sound to rapid regen, i can hear a distracting much louder metallic sound that was not there before and is not pleasant at all

2. The sounds of other people shooting bows was not there before, now it is overwhelming when running in big groups
Where before when i heard a bow / arrow sound i meant someone got hit or i got hit, now that situational awareness is gone

I would really like to have the option to toggle the sounds of the abilities of other people in pvp off, or less loud at least. It does not make it a better game for me , i loved it how it was

That and to prioritize the sound of my own abilities over the sounds of my allies around me when the server is lagging

Imagine playing a shooter and not hearing the gun fire, it takes away a whole dimension of the game. I never even realised how important the sound is in pvp

ZOS_BillMueller · July 2015

Beesting wrote: »

@ZOS_BillMueller
After repairing the gamefiles i think the sound is less muffled now

Also i think yesterday there was lag in pvp and that caused me not being able the crushing shock
Today it was fine when i went to test it in cragorn, i wad soloing some mobs and the heavy attack / crushing shock combo sounded normal

In pvp it is different though

1. You added a second sound to rapid regen, i can hear a distracting much louder metallic sound that was not there before and is not pleasant at all

2. The sounds of other people shooting bows was not there before, now it is overwhelming when running in big groups
Where before when i heard a bow / arrow sound i meant someone got hit or i got hit, now that situational awareness is gone

I would really like to have the option to toggle the sounds of the abilities of other people in pvp off, or less loud at least. It does not make it a better game for me , i loved it how it was

That and to prioritize the sound of my own abilities over the sounds of my allies around me when the server is lagging

Imagine playing a shooter and not hearing the gun fire, it takes away a whole dimension of the game. I never even realised how important the sound is in pvp

Hey Beesting! Glad the repair seemed to fix the muffled sound for you, there have been problems in the past where not all the audio data was downloaded correctly and doing a repair does resolve that. But it's something we are still actively keeping an eye on ( actually ears ) to make sure there isn't some other problem. To answer a few of your points.

1. We haven't changed the sound of Rapid Regen or any of Regens morphs. This is just a side effect of the cleaning up of combat audio that was done ( I will explain a bit more about this process today on ESO Live ). But Basically the majority of feedback we were getting from players was that in general, but especially in big combat situations it was hard to hear your own abilities, and when they hit. We cleaned up combat by lowering the sounds of other players combat around you, which made your abilities stand out a bit more. That "metallic" sound you are hearing, has always been there, but by cleaning up the mix the sound itself stands out more, and if you were used to hearing the game before these changes were made it's expected for things to sound a bit different and might take some adjustment in general. Hopefully that makes sense? But understand it was done in regards to lots of player feedback and overall we are happy with the direction

2. This is the same side effect. The sounds were always there, we didn't change them or add anything new. But since we reduced the audio "clutter" around you they are more present now, and more realistic to what you would hear if tons of players around you were firing off bows. We do have what is called a My vs Yours system that turns down the bow sounds that other players do, while keeping the bow sounds you do ( and this applies to all sounds not just the bow ) at a higher volume. This way, when you fire a bow it will be louder and more noticeable then when another player next to you do it. That being said, we love to hear feedback and can take a look at further lowering the sounds of other players bows if we see it becoming a problem for a lot of players.

The MvY system is what prioritizes your sounds over others, this is already happening. It's all handled dynamically via code, and is not something we could easily expose as a volume slider to players. We are still listening to feedback and making slight adjustments here and there to the overall MvY system and mix in general though, so we really appreciate the feedback.

Thanks again!!

Morvul · July 2015

@ZOS_BillMueller
thanks for all the info dump here!

that said: thisis the first time I hear about a My vs You (MvY) sound system. Could said MvY system be the reason sounds start to lag (are being played with a significant delay) once fights get bigger - as usuall, especially noticable in Cyrodiil?

For example, once fights get a bit larger, it is common for me to see players charging to me, but only hear the "clonk" sound that their crit charge is making upon impact 1 or 2 seconds after the impact happend visually. That problem does not occure when there is not a lot of action around though...

what I'm asking, basically: is it possible the MvY system is getting overwhelmed and deleaying things when too many things are going on at once?

Beesting · July 2015

Edited...

Thank you zos_billmueller for explaining.
I am playing on a tv, with a dts surround set , so the sound is coming out 1.5 meter high speakers also behind me. I hooked up the 5.1 audio from my pc to a creative home theater connect dts 610 box, and then to my ampifier.

That might be why i notice these things more than people on a laptop or with headphones on,

Olivierko · July 2015

ZOS_BillMueller wrote: »

But Basically the majority of feedback we were getting from players was that in general, but especially in big combat situations it was hard to hear your own abilities, and when they hit. We cleaned up combat by lowering the sounds of other players combat around you, which made your abilities stand out a bit more.

Are there any known audio issues that came with the latest patch?

If anything I have more trouble hearing my "Concealed Weapon" attack now than before, only in Cyrodiil.

ZOS_BillMueller · July 2015

Morvul wrote: »

@ZOS_BillMueller
thanks for all the info dump here!

that said: thisis the first time I hear about a My vs You (MvY) sound system. Could said MvY system be the reason sounds start to lag (are being played with a significant delay) once fights get bigger - as usuall, especially noticable in Cyrodiil?

For example, once fights get a bit larger, it is common for me to see players charging to me, but only hear the "clonk" sound that their crit charge is making upon impact 1 or 2 seconds after the impact happend visually. That problem does not occure when there is not a lot of action around though...

what I'm asking, basically: is it possible the MvY system is getting overwhelmed and deleaying things when too many things are going on at once?

Anytime Morvul!

No. MvY won't cause lag like that. It's a check that says "who owns this sound" and then routes the sound through a volume bus. Audio lag in general can be caused by many things, because audio playing is dependent on things happening above it. For example, a footstep plays because the walk animation tells it too. Or an ability sound plays because the visual for the ability tells it too. So if the systems upstream start to lag, and bog down your system, since audio is kind of the last in line for "ok now do this" you might notice audio lagging really behind during intense battles. We made a lot of improvements in general to help fix this, but are still looking at ways we can reduce this from happening, so as I have said before please feel free to keep letting us know when it's happening so we have as many test cases as possible.

As a side. Videos ALWAYS help. Audio is a really hard thing to describe, and is best heard. If you are able to capture videos so we can see when this is happening, maybe we can pinpoint something on the audio end that is causing it.