Hello,
as you know, the new sounds have been a hot topic recently and there has been a lot of discontent over it. The_Chieftain, a NA Military Specialist has given his opinion on the matter and also described part of the recording process of these sounds, will quote:
“Way back when I was being trained in customer service in my IBM days, it was observed that on average, someone who ‘dislikes’ something is about nine times more likely to tell people about it than someone who ‘likes’ something, if not otherwise prodded to do so.
I have absolutely no idea what the ‘real’ opinions are of the new sounds. Personally, other than the critical hit notifications, I very much like them.
And, yes, we do go to real vehicles. We did a number of recordings last year. At the bottom of this post is part of the contract agreement we had with one location I was involved with recording a collection of WW2 vehicles. If memory serves, we did about three vehicles a day as the process takes so long.
My guess is that people complain because either (a) as mentioned, the hardware they have won’t properly produce the right sound, or (b) they have a false idea of what a tank actually sounds like when done in high fidelity at the tank itself. It was referred to me as ‘The Coconut Effect’, that people expect a certain sound and complain if they don’t get it. My personal point of reference is the cannon sounds, with people complaining that they want the impressive ‘boom’ back. But that’s not what a tank cannon really sounds like.
Anyway, below is how we recorded. This particular requirements list was for the contract which covered M7 HMC, M3A1 Light, Valentine, JgdPz38(t), M4A1, M5 Light, M18 and M24, and it was far from the only recording session we did. If you run the game and you don’t think any of these vehicles sound ‘right’, the chances are that the problem’s on your end.
Recording the tanks in two modes: On the move and static.
A) Static (without movements but with the engine).
We will record the sounds inside and outside on the permanently installed microphones near the tank plus one microphone is inside the tower. A soundman (representative of WG) will be recording close to the exhaust system, another operator will be recording inside the turret plus one soundman is on distance of 50 meters, and will be recording in a different angles.
Take list:
1. Engine start.
2. Shutdown the engine
3. Engine start and warming up (low RPM) – 1 minute.
4. Running the engine at medium speed (mid RPM) – 1 minute.
5. Running the engine at high rpm (high RPM) – up to 1 minute.
6. Running the engine at varying intensity – 2 minutes
7. Smooth and very slow increase from low RPM to high RPM – 3 times.
8. Switching off the engine
9. Checking of the recorded take – 10 minutes.
B) Static (with engine off) We will record mechanisms inside and outside the turret (of the electrical or hydraulic drives )
Take list:
1. Rotation mechanism inside the turret- 3 … 5 times (a few turns on a small angle and a few on large)
2. Opening and closing the hatches – 5 minutes
3. Mechanisms shutter of barrel – 10 minutes
4. Toggling of different switches – 5 minutes
5. Technical measurements of the sound level – 5 minutes
C) Recording on move
We will record sounds inside and outside on the permanently installed microphones on the tank hull plus some microphone in the hands of the sound engineers. A soundman ( representative of WG is in the open hatch of the tower during movement ) another soundman – operator of the recording equipment installed inside the tower ( the representative of WG is in the turret while driving ) plus one soundman is on distance of 100-200 meters and will record the overall sound atmosphere ( representative of WG).
Take list:
1. Engine start
2. Straight-line acceleration (smooth surface without slope) in the first or second transfer with minimal acceleration – 3 times
3. Full stop of the tank after reaching the maximum RPM for the gear – 3 times
4. Straight-line acceleration on the first (second) transfer with maximum acceleration – 3 times
5. Abrupt stop after reaching the maximum RPM for the gear – 3 times.
6. Switching off the engine
7. Preliminary checking of the recorded take – 5 minutes.
8. Engine start.
9. Straight-line acceleration (smooth surface without slope) with increasing transmission with minimal acceleration (up to 3 or 4 assists) – 4 times
10. Rectilinear movement (smooth surface without slope), the downshift from 4 to minimum speed transmission – 2 times
11. Rolling on neutral gear to the full stop – 2 times.
12. Straight-line acceleration (smooth surface without slope) with increasing transmission with maximum acceleration (up to 4 or 5 assists) – 4 times
13. Abrupt stop upon reaching the maximum speed – 2 times.
14. Dynamic engine braking – 2 times.
15. Switching off the engine
16. Preliminary checking of the recorded take – 5 minutes.
17. Engine start
18. Straight-line acceleration (motion downhill, imitation load) in the first (second) transfer with minimal acceleration – 2 times
19. Rolling on neutral gear to the full stop – 2 times.
20. Rectilinear motion (movement downhill imitation load) with overdrive with maximum acceleration (up to 4 or 5 transfer) – 2 times
21. Dynamic engine braking – 2 times.
22. Switching off the engine – 1 times.
23. Preliminary checking of the recorded take – 5 minutes.
24. Engine start
25. Maneuvers: reversing move – 100-200 meters
26. Maneuvers: reversing a left turn – 100-200 meters
27. Maneuvers: reversing a right turn – 100-200 meters
28. Maneuvers: reversing a turning to the right / left (imitation maneuvering) – 100-200 meters
29. Maneuvers: the movement in the first (second) transmission from turning to the right / left (imitation maneuvering) – 100-200 meters
30. Maneuvers: turn on the spot.
31. Switching off the engine
32. Preliminary checking of the recorded take – 5 minutes.
33. Engine start
34. Tank movement over rough terrain at different speeds with maneuvering left / right with a few stops and turns on the spot – about 5 … 10 minutes ( depending on field )
35. Switching off the engine “
Like I said before, I believe the new sounds are a great addition to the game (although wish I could discard the repair and six sense ones), the vehicles now sound more realistic.
I like this post. maybe LESS people will complain now. I know some will never stop but still.
Nice post. Please drop it on the forums as well, maybe all these people moaning how the engine sounds are unreal might finally get it through their heads they are simply wrong. Not holding my breath, though. 😛
I agree. Rita, you should post a link to this post on the EU forums in the sound feedback thread (the one with the poll). These sounds are so much better than the old ones, I have no idea what people are complaining about…
IMO This should be posted on the WoT frontpage not just the forum. It would have been pretty cool if they had filmed part of this process too.
the cannon sounds really need a new one for each gun.. All they did for the guns was remaster the old sounds.. go have a listion they are exactly the same.. the engines are new though
I too am a fan of the new sounds. Well done. It has been a long time since I drove an M-48 A5 and an M113 but these sounds “feel” good to me.
This is exactly what needed to be said. It’s very disappointing watching the playerbase not knowing what it wants. People expect tanks to be giant engine guzzling ground shaking giants, but even an M60A3 sounds like a normal truck.
People know exactly what they want, but they don’t know what it is. They want unrealistic fantasy sounds and they want to claim it is the ‘real’ sound…
People are stoopid…
I love the sounds. I enjoy the work done so much that I play the sans music just to hear the varying sounds employed. Well done and thank you.
Ups, Spam gotcha! Bringing you up. Nice to see you here OldMonkey. 🙂
a very simple fix for ppl who want a big BOOM:
1) install gnomefather’s sound mods. watch the ear rape
2) get better hardware. at this point, my Steelseries Siberia (ROG Custom) is punching my eardrums everytime i shoot with the current improved bass sounds. guess my laptop’s sound level.
4
Installing all the old sound mods have been made impossible in this update. None of them work in 9.14. People have to come up with completely new sound mods now.
But that wouldn’t fix anything in the first place. All they really want is the regular sounds back. I don’t blame them.
well Gnome was fully aware that WG will change the sound engine, so let’s hope he’s already working on that or something.
Not that I need it badly though since the new WG sounds are actually preety neat when you have a nice headphone w/ surround on, but my KV-2 is still not as derpy as Gnome’s =(
The funny thing is that the people complain about non-realistic sounds before, then when they implement realistic sounds, people complain that the guns sound like they are farting and that their tanks now sounds like lawnmowers.
Guess you’ll never satisfy people.
I personally like the sounds, the starting of the engines at the beginning of the match is nice. The guns sound great as well.
No no no, they said, there will be two sound phase. First one is hollywood like sounds and second is realistic sounds.
I remember, hollywood like sounds win the pool.
The people that complained about non-realistic sounds are people like you who like the new crap 😛
I never, EVER, needed anything else except the 9.13 sounds.
Correct.
This update has ruined the gameplay for a lot of people.
He is certainly right that most won’t know how a real tank gun does sound and we can trust his word to know how they should sound, but there is legit criticism from a gameplay perspective. It’s a bad thing for the gameplay if you can’t tell apart when an 183 or an RU 251 shot. Hearing the correct gun fired can be the difference between life and death. Having a high amount of immersion in a game is a great thing but gameplay should always come first if you have to choose between the two.
in my opinion the new sounds are so much better and they are more imersive, but i do think that the people who are complaining are just a little bit autistic and cant handle the change
Absolutely spot on Chiefy!
hate the crit hit noises and the in hanger mouse clicking crap, needs a button to turn it off.
otherwise the ‘real’sounds are great!
all but what about the gun fire sounds.I see check list for engine but no like for different gun calibers. Funny I play videos of the examble of the M18 Hellcat Tank Firing Test and it does not sound anything like it does in game
funny how WG use ‘realism’, ‘historically accurate’ card when it suits them and when it doesn’t ‘it’s just a game’. When Challenger who, however you gonna look at it, works for WG, defends an element of the game, in my opinion is hypocrisy vol 2.0
I highly respect a complete rework of sounds, because it shows that they acknowledge that sound is in the top 5 of the most important things to have in a game, right up there with proper gameplay and appealing graphics (appealing doesn’t automatically the bestest graphics ever.).
The old sounds seriously annoyed me, because they were absolute cr*p. I really like the new sounds.
The only thing left on WG’s bucket list for sounds is to add a little variety. They still have the same amount of sounds and all guns of the same calibre sound exactly the same. If you’ve been around tanks (this goes for handguns as well by the way) you will know each gun has it’s own distinct sound. Slight differences you most likely will only notice if you regularly work with them. It has always bothered me how they sound exactly the same… But I read they were planning on this :).
I really think the new sounds are fantastic and add a whole new dimension to the game. Wargaming did this one right!
I missed the boom in the first battle… But I LOVE the new sounds, it just feels much more real. 🙂
the only thing that bothers me with new sounds is this: sometimes you hear this “fffflllpp” sound after a shot, sometimes you dont. but you should hear it after EVERY shot. its the gases/smoke ventilatet out of the barrel. guns with an exhaustsystem like the L7 for example have an even more distinctive sound. its more like a sharp “schhhht” (this applies only for post-WW2-guns with a relatively large caliber and length, NOT the 13 90 or T49 guns for example)
oh and i lost all the crew-voices. but i guess thats a problem with my client only.
Depending on the gun and situation, you would actually not here that sound after every shot. A lot of guns would only do that after sustained fire, causing the barrel to heat up.
[…] Source: http://ritastatusreport.live/2016/03/16/new-wot-sounds-by-the_chieftain/ […]
I Really Like the new Sounds, they are Exactly what I wanted to hear… the only thing that I miss, is the sound of the empty shell droping in the turret basket. All the other things are Incredible.
Agree 100% to Chief on this one.
New sounds are great and I got accustomed to them in just few battles.
Yes, there are some minor adjustments to be done still, but overall new sounds are 300% better than the old ones.
Personally I don’t care what people say it’s only their opinion – I for 1 make up my own mind on everything – The sounds are great and having had Gnomefathers and others over the years I am quite happy to now not bother with any mods
New sounds are the most epic thing in World of Tanks now, and only reason that I still playing it from time to time.
I think most of the criticism comes from the sound levels being reset. I absolutely hated the new sounds during the first battle, but once I set them to my usuall levels, it got much better. I had to turn off the tank sounds, as I find the gearbox unbearable. After that, the sounds didn’t feel that much different.
The good thin was the return of critical hit sounds. Making 6 th sense have a sound isn’t a bad idea, but the sound itself could be better.
Overall, the sounds are slightly worse than they were, but moving them to the second core and the resulting FPS boost seems worth the downgrade.
And yes, I think gameplay comes first, and realism only follows
I am enjoying the engine sounds but some of the gun sounds I found a bit weird. Like the 105mm derp on the Sherman Jumbo sounds just like a 75mm gun. However, the SU-152 sound apocalyptic when you shoot it.
Also, the Chief’s photo is so mesmerizing…
“Hey you, at the computer. I’m going to teach you tanks”
Well, I hear very much about the Sounds. Mostly bad about the lowcaliber guns who sound like an airgun, some say, the engines sounds notnreal and all this things. I’m happy, that the sounds are better now and there is nothing, i could dislike. No longer need soundmods now 🙂
Problem is you can’t tell wether you got pened or not depending on the sounds. As a good player, that is a massive handicap.
Wether they sound good, or realistic, in my opinion doesn’t matter.
The latest patch was a HUGE step forward in immersion, the sounds are generally excellent, my only gripe is with the muffled and sometimes weirdly played engine sounds (supposed revs and sounds don’t match IMO, plus some engines are overly artificial and tinny). The naysayers must be ignored, I’m playing WOT for 5 years now and the new sound system has renewed my interest in the game. I just love the effect when you hit the target and you hear the impact after a proper amount of delay. Well fucking done this time.
I have a great deal of time for ‘The Chieftan’ and these very interesting thoughts from him are absolutely no exception. Thanks Rita, and thanks Chieftan.
WG did a good job with the sounds, and the ones that we like them, we should tell. 🙂
Now all we need is a big blinding muzzleflash & dustcloud that prohibits sight for a minute and we are done 😊
[…] (Bron: Status Report) […]
I agree, people don’t understand real sound of these tanks and are plagued by Hollywood interpretations. This is not the only type of complainers. We have the people who are nostalgic for the old sounds and complain that the engine sounds sound like lawn mowers which baffles my mind… Do you really want to go to those old shit sounds ee have been suffering through for the last couple of years….
for every line of code in WoT you have 12 different opinions from 7 different players. look at the last “poll” ectar did, read the comments… and these are just the players who speak english and give a fuck. and according to their comments 2/3 of them didnt understand gamemechanics after 20k battles…
Now all we need is a big blinding muzzleflash & dustcloud that prohibits sight for a minute and we are done
pretty funny that when it comes to sound, WG does not care much for how good the sound system is of their playerbase, but when it comes to graphics they accomodate the playerbase with the relative not-so good computers
I really don’t care how they did new sounds and how many deaf service men who served on tanks they got now, but what I do care is that WoT is no War Thunder and as WG puts more and more money to make it even more popular with e-sports, this arcade type game should have clear and simple sounds that will go with it’s arcade style and give player some feedback, but now you either have to buy not cheap 5.1 surround system or USB headphones or USB sound card that can handle mixing sounds from wide range into normal headphones, because now sounds are great to hear on wide range, but using typical sound cards(checked on 2 configs) and headphones it is hard to tell what’s going on around but can tell more less what was size of the gun that fired since they are more clear. On narrow range sounds are crappy compared to wide range, but again using headphones I can finally tell at least from what direction sound is coming better but then it is harder to tell what gun just fired or can’t tell if that something behind me was my ally in O-I firing or enemy SPG that overshoot me and hit ground behind me because they so confusing.
Except six sense sound that sounds like WG EU servers failing lately more and more and critical hits copy/remixed/pasted from WoWs what I really dislike about new sounds is this confusion they make if you don’t use some fancy hardware or use worse quality to be able to say where the enemy is behind some cover. And in addition to what sir The_Chieftain said, I’m not good or bad, just some green player, by personal record I’m still in top 70 000 of players, so there are many more behind me for sure, so what I want to say is most people who really could use some clear simple feedback from sounds either have good enough headphones or sound systems and keep their high scores in check because they invested money in hardware to do so, or on the other hand are so bad or not care that much so they don’t even bother to notice that something is wrong and they just keep playing. I don’t believe that people who say new sounds have some issues are not real feedback and should be ignored.
We need hollywood sounds, not real shit. Realism out there go to military.
Whiners do always seem to be the loudest, which is why the NA forums are so awful. Personally I do think WG did quite well with 9.14.
I am guessing that the majority of player setups involve either small speaker setups or gaming headsets plugged into basic sound cards which are incapable of presenting the sounds at their best. I am fortunate that I use a surround setup based on hi-fi speakers with a powerful subwoofer and to me the new sounds are a vast improvement with improved placement of sound effects.
on the other hand they optimized the game over years for potato-laptops from 2005 and interweb-speed you have on your mobile when you travel the borderlands of somalia.
Probably could have done away with this guy for all your sound needs: http://allthingsd.com/files/2013/05/michael-winslow-police-academy.jpg
https://youtu.be/P0jo8VQ-zBY
So we bring out the WG employee to reinforce what they are doing is right.
Ok “The Chieftain” consider me prodded to do so!
No! I do not care for ANY of the Bread and Circus’s WG uses on the weaker minded. I do not care about the “cool” sounds, I could care less about the “pretty” tanks.
WG has lost HALF it’s player base in less than two years on the NA!
{{{{{{{{ F I X T H E G A M E }}}}}}}}
AW NA server is a ghost town, and WT NA server is empty as well, although they have the good sense to have an option to play on any server directly ingame.
The NA population is just weird as fuck is what I’m getting at.
Also, weaker minded? You have quite a superiority complex there bucko. Anyone who enjoys the new sounds and physics is weak minded compared to you?
Will you be needing equestrian riding lessons to learn how to handle that very high horse of yours?
He’s totally wrong about the NA server losing half its population.
But he’s right that if you’re swayed by a WG employee to believe that the new sounds are great, then you’re weak minded.
Haha k
I didn’t need anyone telling me that the sounds were good to appreciate a good crisp cannon firing sound,
Sounds to me like you simply have a hate boner for anything WG-related, and a feeling of superioty because of it.
How do you know that NA lost half of the player base? What is with people always saying “Fix the game”?, fix what? What about design your own game and let see how good it is.
Those who complain about the new physics are simply not willing to move on and if they hate them so much just wait for someone to make a mod of the old sounds.
woops I meant to say sounds not physics lmao
Don’t care how and where they recorded new sound. For me they still suck.
Geting hit with a pee shooter and arty sounds the same. Engine fire and being spoted also same. I’ve seen more than few lights fliped just beasuse they hit some small before insignificant rock.
If new sound and physics passed the test and nobody complained then they were tested by WG staff only.
Now tell me, how exactly the old sounds were better? (and your comparisons are pretty bad)
The worst part about the new sounds are the gun sounds. The normal gun sounds, being able to distinguish exactly what was shooting at you, were great.
The normal penetration and bounce sounds were much better too.
A lot of the new sounds just bleed together and give the player less information than they ever did before.
Ha, there’s the problem right there…you don’t like change, and would have prefered to keep the older, worse quality sounds that sounded like someone was firing the fuckin moon-cannon from Jules Vernes’ “From the Earth to the Moon” everytime a gun larger than 105mm went off.
It all makes sense now.
That’s why a penetration sounds like someone smashing a pan inside your tank ?
Because, you know, that’s the biggest complain, not about gun shots. There is so much unwanted noise (like shown here) that people can’t distinguish the needed information, like when your tank is receiving hits. Eventually you get used …. but in the first day it was a shock.
The problem is not if 9.14 sounds are realistic or not. Think 3 rd person view is realistic?
The problem is that SOUNDS of RICOCHET / PENETRATION are TOO MUCH SIMILAR, as impact from huge / medium / small caliber and GAMEPLAY LOST A LOT. Im field commander since 2013 and i’m used to gather information from the environment, but now i find hard manage my tank and feel isolate from team because:
– is not clear if me or tanks around me are targeted by moderate fire or heavy, and the zone is “hot”;
– is not clear if me or tanks around me are bouncing or be damaged, how much (you need to peek hp pool every shoot), who fire at me and from where (this is really important for rotate hull properly)
– is not clear if me or tanks around me are under arty;
I must admit that i find hard to play because the game experience is frustrating because of this situation
Why would anyone dislike the new sounds and/or physics ? They are a great step up from the previous state, and add a welcome dose of reality to WoT. Tanks finally feel like real tanks and not lawnmowers with bb guns. I applaud the new changes! Keep up the good work Wargaming. 🙂
Like to Chieftain original post about this http://forum.worldoftanks.com/index.php?/topic/488051-wg-thanks-for-the-new-sounds/page__st__60__pid__9950450#entry9950450
The important thing to remember about forums is that 80% of posts are bitching, 10 % of posts are useful content and the remaining 10% are people bitching about people bitching.
The sounds are new and are IMO a huge improvement over the old ones. I used ot use sound mods, my last one sounded a lot like the ones in game now. I don’t like the 6th sense sound but that’s because I miss Jingles saying “bollocks” when it activates.
The mere fact that SOME sounds were recorded doesn’t mean they were actually implemented into the game.
The facts speak for themselves – all tanks in the game sound almost same engine- and cannonwise.
And blaming players’ systems for not delivering sounds like they are expected is like making super-dooper graphics that can only be achieved on some test-rig system at developers’ office and then blaming players for having incompatible PCs. Well, that’s typically WG though – if anything fails – blame the cust.
I like the new sounds. Those that don’t either don’t want realistic sounds, have a bad sound system or are just stupid (or a bit of all three).