Hi, first post here, so be gentle ;-)
I’m watching AC’s development with extremely high interest. I’ve never had the opportunity to experience NK or FVA first hand, but other people’s opinions are high enough to convince me that AC will be the benchmark for all sims going forward.
My specific question – and forgive me if this has already been covered here or elsewhere, but I didn’t see anything specific on my trawl – is what are Kunos’ plans for sound design in the software. So far, it looks like most other boxes have been ticked; graphics look amazing, handling is unlikely to be anything less than spot on, online and offline racing is being tackled, and the game is to be moddable from the start. So far, so very good. But I haven’t seen that much from Kunos on sound, apart from the sounds we heard in the videos to date were placeholders, and that sitting above the pits at Vallelunga all day serves a fairly up-front reminder that it’s been a neglected aspect of racing sims up to this point.
I’m not a programmer or anything, but I know enough about it to realise that modelling sound anywhere near real life is probably very difficult and resource hungry, but are we anywhere near a stage where we can incorporate realistic behaviour such as in this vid (Monza, appropriately):
I don’t know the technical terms enough to try and use them without mixing them up and confusing people, but it should be immediately obvious what I mean; the echoes off the trees and barriers, the backfiring on the over-run and on the gear change, and (probably the most difficult but perhaps the most important effect) the way the sound ‘carries’ and ‘floats’ as the car storms off round the Curva Grande. Is this possible? Is it feasible?
Another aspect that I’ve never seen captured is the difference in engine note from different ends of the car; the huge differences between induction and exhaust noise, suitably demonstrated by this vid of the Merc SLS GT3:
Again, it’s fairly obvious what I’m talking about. The induction noise of the car coming towards you couldn’t be any more different to the exhaust noise (if you can even call it a ‘noise’. Perhaps ‘force’ would be a better description :-D ) Again, I’ve no idea how difficult it would be to model on a scale that could be used in a simulation, but I’m asking the question anyway: Is it possible? Is it feasible?
If graphics are scaleable for different system levels, why can’t we do the same for sound if resources are an issue?
As more than a few people have noted, sound is often the most neglected aspect of racing sims. I’ve heard the samples Simbin put out as GTR3 teasers, and they were definitely a step in the right direction, assuming they hadn’t been enhanced post-production. I’m not convinced we’ll ever see GTR3 though, and AC has already captured a lot of attention from a lot of fans. If AC get the sound right, I doubt I and a lot of other people will need to go looking elsewhere for a while.
Cheers
I’m watching AC’s development with extremely high interest. I’ve never had the opportunity to experience NK or FVA first hand, but other people’s opinions are high enough to convince me that AC will be the benchmark for all sims going forward.
My specific question – and forgive me if this has already been covered here or elsewhere, but I didn’t see anything specific on my trawl – is what are Kunos’ plans for sound design in the software. So far, it looks like most other boxes have been ticked; graphics look amazing, handling is unlikely to be anything less than spot on, online and offline racing is being tackled, and the game is to be moddable from the start. So far, so very good. But I haven’t seen that much from Kunos on sound, apart from the sounds we heard in the videos to date were placeholders, and that sitting above the pits at Vallelunga all day serves a fairly up-front reminder that it’s been a neglected aspect of racing sims up to this point.
I’m not a programmer or anything, but I know enough about it to realise that modelling sound anywhere near real life is probably very difficult and resource hungry, but are we anywhere near a stage where we can incorporate realistic behaviour such as in this vid (Monza, appropriately):
Another aspect that I’ve never seen captured is the difference in engine note from different ends of the car; the huge differences between induction and exhaust noise, suitably demonstrated by this vid of the Merc SLS GT3:
If graphics are scaleable for different system levels, why can’t we do the same for sound if resources are an issue?
As more than a few people have noted, sound is often the most neglected aspect of racing sims. I’ve heard the samples Simbin put out as GTR3 teasers, and they were definitely a step in the right direction, assuming they hadn’t been enhanced post-production. I’m not convinced we’ll ever see GTR3 though, and AC has already captured a lot of attention from a lot of fans. If AC get the sound right, I doubt I and a lot of other people will need to go looking elsewhere for a while.
Cheers
