9 replies to this topic

[Furry Fox]

Hello, all!

Two of my questions, in addition to a related question by Chimera1138 , were answered during last night's Town Hall Meeting. For those who did not attend, I would like to present Russ's responses. Feel free to share your thoughts, and to discuss the possibilities!

[Recording]
3:18:20
[Question]
Will you ever sell soundpacks, or alternative weapon sounds, even if they're client side only? Or, will the current weapon sounds ever be revamped?
[Answer]
Russ: I think there's a very good chance that the existing laser effects and sound effects that you have will be revamped. For sure. I've been thinking a lot about that lately. I think the audio could use a full-on revamp. That's kind of a separate issue, of course, to soundpacks. As to soundpacks, I think we're making strides. Just today I was talking about some things that would allow us to do that. So, I'm sorry, that's as far as I can go today. Uhh, yeah, we could possibly get there. I think there's two questions, though. I think they're unrelated, you know, revamping the audio, and then of course releasing soundpacks. Will you see both in 2016? I can't promise that. Will you see one of the two happen in this year? I think there's a probable chance.


[Recording]
3:22:45
[Question]
On the topic of soundpacks: Stance on use of Shivaxi's MechWarrior 2 and MechWarrior 3 sound mods. Will they get banned?
[Answer]
Russ: Here's my stance: you won't see Piranha employees, or Piranha people, or Piranha associates, like NGNG and others, specifically promoting or displaying said soundpack files officially in any way, shape, or form, because we're not there to demonstrate something and advertise something that isn't our game. We're here to advertise the game as it is for when the player first says "Oh! I've never heard of this game before! Oh my god! There's a new MechWarrior game out" and they go to Steam, or our website, or whatever it is, and they download our game and they go and play it. That's what we're here to advertise. We're not here to advertise add-ons, or add-on packs, or things like that. So, you won't see any of us officially advertising any of those things: soundpack files. But no, we're not on a witch hunt for people running and displaying soundpack mods. Do not ask us to support them in any officially way, because we will not, but we're not on a search to find you with your custom sound files and ban you.

[TL;DR]

• There's a good chance that the existing sound effects will be revamped.
  
• Russ is looking into the possibility of generating official soundpacks.
  
• Players will not be banned for using unofficial soundpacks.

Personally, I am ecstatic to hear that weapon sound effects, notably laser sound effects, will receive attention in the future. I strongly believe that immersive, powerful, satisfying in-game audio is even more important than good graphics, which we have already (arguably). The prospect of official soundpacks is also very exciting! Even if they're client-side only, I would gladly pay for alternative weapon, warning system (Bitching Betty), and 'Mech sounds. Until that happens, it appears that using unofficial soundpacks will be tolerated.

Edited by Furry Fox, 27 February 2016 - 07:10 AM.

[Queen of England]

It's good to get some official clarification on third-party sound packs.

[Alistair Winter]

I'm cautiously optimistic. A revamp isn't necessarily good. A lot of the sounds were better before the previous revamp. Several of the ballistics and the ppc, for example. I believe I preferred the old gauss too, but it's been so long, I can't remember.

[Johnny Z]

Queen of England, on 27 February 2016 - 08:08 AM, said:

It's good to get some official clarification on third-party sound packs.

Players cant use anything third party in online games.

I am big time into mods for offline games but I wouldn't even consider using mods in an online game. Because its just uncool.

Players using third party anything in an online game I simply cannot understand.



Totally aside from any personal feelings, if players do any file replacing or file injecting or hooks and they can be banned. Period.

This goes for any online game and don't let anyone tell any one else different because they are lying.

Anyone trolls me on this and your not even lying to yourself at this point.

More on topic. The audio for auto cannons is broken in this game and they are nearly forcing players to not use them, turn off the volume, etc......

Edited by Johnny Z, 27 February 2016 - 08:36 AM.

[MoonUnitBeta]

Yay! That's the answer I was looking for. [insert multiple images of cats that look happy]

[Queen of England]

Johnny Z, on 27 February 2016 - 08:30 AM, said:

Players cant use anything third party in online games.

I am big time into mods for offline games but I wouldn't even consider using mods in an online game. Because its just uncool.

Players using third party anything in an online game I simply cannot understand.



Totally aside from any personal feelings, if players do any file replacing or file injecting or hooks and they can be banned. Period.

This goes for any online game and don't let anyone tell any one else different because they are lying.

Anyone trolls me on this and your not even lying to yourself at this point.

More on topic. The audio for auto cannons is broken in this game and they are nearly forcing players to not use them, turn off the volume, etc......

So, you're saying you didn't read the OP or listen to the town hall, then?

[Johnny Z]

Queen of England, on 27 February 2016 - 08:37 AM, said:

So, you're saying you didn't read the OP or listen to the town hall, then?

It doesn't change the anything when it comes to getting banned. Caught file replacing or injecting files or hooks and it can be a ban everyone knows that.

Your saying players cant be banned for that? Seriously?

Edited by Johnny Z, 27 February 2016 - 08:40 AM.

[Queen of England]

Johnny Z, on 27 February 2016 - 08:38 AM, said:

It doesn't chance the anything when it comes to getting banned. Caught file replacing or injecting files or hooks and it can be a ban everyone knows that.

Your saying players cant be banned for that? Seriously?

Your claim is that PGI will ban you for things that the president of the company specifically stated they won't ban you for?

[Johnny Z]

Queen of England, on 27 February 2016 - 08:40 AM, said:

Your claim is that PGI will ban you for things that the president of the company specifically stated they won't ban you for?

I don't see where it says they wont ban players for that.

When it comes to strictly sound files I am not saying they will ban. What I am saying is they can easily. I have no idea if they will or not.

Replacing or injecting textures is getting really into cheat territory...

Theres another game that players were replacing the foot steps sounds to get an unfair situational awareness. I wouldn't bet on them not banning for sound files.

Yep its all about file checking and it really depends how fast they can do that and how accurately.....

They are talking perma bans here for anyone flirting with this. Better to hear it here than an "oh **** I cant log in"

Edited by Johnny Z, 27 February 2016 - 09:06 AM.

[Furry Fox]

Sorry for not responding to any comments until just now (have been busy)!

In response to the notion that using unofficial soundpacks in MWO constitutes cheating, I strongly disagree. Players don't use them to gain an advantage over their opponents, they use them because the existing in-game audio is flat and uninspired. I'm happy that Russ acknowledged this.

Furthermore, though amplifying footsteps may offer an advantage in games with constrictive maps, like Counter Strike and Call of Duty, where hearing another player yields an accurate estimate of their position, and thus allows you to get the drop on your opponent, there's no audio analogue to that in MWO. In MWO, the maps are wide open, and we roam around in big stompy robots, so we are often aware of the location of our opponents long before get close enough to hear them. We also have player spotting, UAVs, and seismic sensors, which make it very difficult to sneak around without going unnoticed.

If I am wrong, and if someone does manage to generate an advantage, then PGI could always prohibit those select files from being manipulated. There's no reason to prevent us from using more satisfying weapon sound effects and warning system prompts to make the game more enjoyable, though. Learning of the MW2 soundpack is what pulled me back into playing MWO and spending money on MC after a nine month hiatus!