https://www.urbanterror.info/news/blogs/69-let-s-talk-audio-the-new/
 Login | Register 
Advertisement


Urban Terror Blogs

Chump's blog


Let's Talk Audio: The NEW Turnpike

posted Sunday, 31 May 2020 by FS Chump
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, Chump is back bringing you all a spicy new audio update.



Today we're going to run, jump and slide through the backstreets of Pennsylvania to visit a community favourite - Turnpike! Sit back, grab yourself an age-appropriate beverage, and enjoy listening to our latest video. Let's take a dive into the audio progress of UrT 5!

TURNPIKE in 2020:

Turnpike has evolved a lot since the days of 4.3. For you Turnpike veterans, the most noticeable change is the decrease in background noise - This map used to be swarming with the wail of police sirens, which although atmospheric was tedious to listen to. The new ambience honours the same tone, but with a subtler approach. I hope that this will be much easier on the ears, providing much more room for other game audio to shine (and preventing migraines after those 13 hour SR-8 only sessions!). The goal across the board is more detail, higher quality, and for more consistency between maps.

AMBIENCE:

A key aim on all of our new maps is to create as much auditory variance as possible between map locations. You will notice much greater variance in the soundscape, general ambience adjustments, and the strategic use of props across the map. To ironically quote myself:
Quote of Chump:
"A player should be able to hear their location on a map, just as well as they can see it!"
Almost all of the ambient sounds used on our new maps are not simple loops, but sounds that are randomised, modulated and layered in-engine from multiple different samples. This means the maps feels more alive, removing as much repetition in the game audio as possible.

CUSTOM MUSIC & ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Boy, this was a fun one! In audio, there is so much room for play, especially with music, radios and announcements. In this video you heard metro announcements voiced by our very own BladeKiller, and custom randomised Lobby Music for Turnpike's newest tennant, Guntown Travel. But it doesn't end there - there are other locations dotted around the map with more juicy content (but if you want to hear those, you'll need to take me on a second date)

These aren't simple loops, but built from a multiple randomised and adapting segments, creating tons of variance which to stop sounds becoming repetitive. Some even include rare easter egg content, with a low chance of triggering unique voice lines... Keep your ears peeled folks!

The use of these pieces of content serves a function beyond improving the map audio. Crucially, they help to establish the lore of the UTRT and Red Dragons, building links between maps that previously had very little backstory. They help give the game personality, fun, and I hope you all enjoy them!

Got an idea for some fun music, advertisement, or map radio that would fit on an UrT map? Comment it on this blog post, or share it with us on the official FS Discord!

ENVIRONMENT EVENTS

Some of our maps, like Turnpike, feature unique visual and audio events like the passing metro. These add so much life and dynamics to the feel of a map, and even open up potential new gameplay styles (imagine initiating your attack on an enemy under the cover of a passing train!)

3RD PARTY AUDIO MAPPING TOOLS:

At FS we are very serious about developing Urban Terror in a way that empowers third-party mappers. There are numerous challenges to this, one of which is having audio behave consistently on externally developed maps.

We are tackling this through providing Mapping Tools (currently in Alpha testing), and a small part of this tackles the handling of audio features. This includes things like surface properties, custom zones for managing ambient sounds, and for handling common assets such as doors and buttons. That's all I can say for now, as this is very much a WIP aspect of the game audio until we finalise our internal audio systems, but as always keep following us to hear the latest on all of our work.

That's all for now folks!


As always, feel free to ask me any questions, let us know what you think, and share it with your friends! We love engaging with this wonderful community we're all in and hearing what you think of our progress. Don't be shy!

And if you'd like to see more of my personal audio work, videos, and exclusive early snippets of UrT 5 audio, follow me on Instagram @arrigoni.studio
comments: Feel free to discuss this on our forums

Advertisement

Copyright © 1999-2024 Frozensand Games Limited  |  All rights reserved  |  Urban Terror™ and FrozenSand™ are trademarks of Frozensand Games Limited

Frozensand Games is a Limited company registered in England and Wales. Company Reg No: 10343942