Explosion sounds...

As you point out (and it seems I was not clear enough), there is sound in space, the problem is that there is not enough of a medium to transport that sound (gases, liquid or solid objects).

Some of the medium that transport the sound of the explosion is expelled by the doomed ship along with debris. However, if you aren't very close, then the quickly expanding ball of gas will lose much of its sound conducting power, as the individual gas molecules move apart further and further. So, in 10 to maybe a hundred meters you might have some sound transmitted through your hull, further out it might not be even noticable anymore.

What should also be considered is, that the only thing that there is always only a limited amount of gases in the destroyed ship and that the explosion force most likely will not even form a regular globe, as the gas, and therefore the explosion, can only exit at the points where the hull breaks. If those breaks point away from your ship, you wouldn't be able to hear any explosion.

There is, however, another thing to consider, your shield. If it is up, the gases expelled by the explosion would impact on it first, so no sound would be transmitted to your ships hull, therefore no sound. Only if your shields are down, would the gases impact on the hull and be able to transmit some force onto it, creating some sound, though very likely inaudible over all the other sounds of your ship, unless you were really close to the source.

What would create more of an effect, would be small debris flying towards you, though, again the shield would first act as a barrier and you'd only have the visual effect of something impacting on the shield. Only if it is down, would debris impact on your hull and create a sound.

So, yeah, there is sound in space, just not enough sound conducting material and explosions lose a lot of their force very quickly in space as there is nothing they will have to push against (like an atmosphere), meaning you'd have to be in the explosion to hear it and you don't want to be there.

However, from a gameplay perspective I do understand the need for explosion sounds, even though someone in this thread mentioned that realistic depiction of certain elements is no fun, that is only partially true, as there are quite a lot of people that do like simulations.

Ahh. I'm not saying that the gas conducts the sound of the explosion rather that the sheer speed the gas is traveling at will have a quite a impact on your ship, it would be like being hit by a heavy wind. That is what you would hear. I doubt the gas will manage to transfer the sound of the actual explosion at all.
 
i would like the option to have realistic sound. so no sounds in space, except sounds from your own craft resonating through the hull.
This could be a option in the options menu.
 
Ahh. I'm not saying that the gas conducts the sound of the explosion rather that the sheer speed the gas is traveling at will have a quite a impact on your ship, it would be like being hit by a heavy wind. That is what you would hear. I doubt the gas will manage to transfer the sound of the actual explosion at all.

I believe there is something you are missing. The amount of gas contained in the smaller ships, e.g. the Sidewinder or Hauler would be minimal. Also, a huge part of the conductivity of the sound of the explosion is the air pushed away due to difference in air pressure, same with the air movement of wind, which is caused by differences in air pressure and the system always looking for an equilibrium.

You don't have that in space, at all. The cloud of gases, while they will move at a certain speed, will also scatter fairly quickly, due to the huge amount of differing movement vectors the individual molecules of the gas have.

These contribute to a system that is quickly in a state where it won't have any effect on larger moving bodies, e.g. the ship that fired the last shot. It won't even feel like a strong wind. All your preconceptions with this are based on the thinking of someone that has lived his whole life within an atmosphere and it is somewhat biased because of that.

I also mentioned that the gases would only be able to be expelled through cracks and breaks in the hull of the destroyed ship, meaning you wouldn't even have a nice ball like mass of gas expelled, but rather a multitude of several smaller jets. Even this will only happen where there are gases that can react with each other and only until most of those have reacted. We certainly can infer that explosions are likely, since the ships will have an atmosphere close to earths (about 21% oxygen, 78% nitrogen, a bit carbon dioxide and trace gases) and the drive and generator systems use hydrogen fuel. Once the tanks are cracked and the hydrogen starts diffusing into the standard atmosphere even a small spark would be enough to cause an explosion.

Where the hull would crack, is a different matter entirely, though, suffice to say that it won't crack evenly.

Bottom line is, you won't feel a wind, unless your shields are down and you were very close (within a few meters) to the ship destroyed and faced one of the cracks in its hull. If those circumstances are not met, you won't feel a thing and even if, there won't be much effect, maybe a bit more than when you enter a docking bay.
 
i would like the option to have realistic sound. so no sounds in space, except sounds from your own craft resonating through the hull.
This could be a option in the options menu.

Fine for single player, but how many pilots in multiplayer is ever going to deliberately put themselves at a combat disadvantage just for the sake of immersion? A small minority I would think.

We had a long discussion about sound and sound toggles last year:
http://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4221
 
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Fine for single player, but how many pilots in multiplayer is ever going to deliberately put themselves at a combat disadvantage just for the sake of immersion? A small minority I would think.

What disadvantage? I don't need to hear other ships exploding of lying by. seems in space it seems silly. I would be able to hear them in station tho.
And if i wanted to play it like that than why not. The choice would be mine.
 
What disadvantage? I don't need to hear other ships exploding of lying by. seems in space it seems silly. I would be able to hear them in station tho.
And if i wanted to play it like that than why not. The choice would be mine.

Of course, that's your choice. Sound is an advantage though, especially stereo sound. Being able to hear engine and weapons fire when ambushed? Being able to judge direction and range, even if only roughly, with a immediacy that even a glance down at the radar can't achieve?
 
i would like the option to have realistic sound. so no sounds in space, except sounds from your own craft resonating through the hull.
This could be a option in the options menu.

why its a sci-fi game. Not everything needs to be "realistic"... i wouldn't complain if it had high quality Battlefield like sounds implemented
 
why its a sci-fi game. Not everything needs to be "realistic"... i wouldn't complain if it had high quality Battlefield like sounds implemented

It is not about the sounds, it is about the choice to turn them off in the options menu. :D
 
It is not about the sounds, it is about the choice to turn them off in the options menu. :D

But there is sound in space and your ships computer is amplifying that sound and feeding it back to you. Its a design decision. i am not sure why an "alternative" is needed and I am not sure it is necessarily that easy to implement. Sure, its not rocket science (har de har), but alternative sound options are not something I believe are going to be high up on the developers list.

An excellent logical reason has been given for it many moons ago. Appreciate we all want options, but there are many many other items on the list that should be higher up IMVHO.
 
But there is sound in space and your ships computer is amplifying that sound and feeding it back to you. Its a design decision. i am not sure why an "alternative" is needed and I am not sure it is necessarily that easy to implement. Sure, its not rocket science (har de har), but alternative sound options are not something I believe are going to be high up on the developers list.

An excellent logical reason has been given for it many moons ago. Appreciate we all want options, but there are many many other items on the list that should be higher up IMVHO.

Correct, should not be high in the to do list. But just as an option would be nice.
 
I think that outside view should be enabled, but only in Single Player mode if playing the game, or in a Replay mode only if playing with multiplayer (only accessible when quitting the mp game). This would mean no unfair advantages when PvP action is taking place and would also allow all those film-makers to make their movies too.
 
I want to hear screaming over the comms when my target's ship is about to blow up. That was very satisfying in Freelancer. Not sure why they chose to transmit their screaming sounds to my ship as their final action, but nice nonetheless.
 
But there is sound in space and your ships computer is amplifying that sound and feeding it back to you.

Well, there isn't really. Unless you came into direct contact with an object and heard it through your hull, there would be no detectable sound to amplify. Sound requires physical contact with a medium. The sound synth module is supposed to be triggered by EM sensor input- visible light from weapons fire, explosions, engine exhaust, reflections from ship hulls, plus IR from ship heat, plus maybe X-rays, gamma rays or whatever it uses to interpret certain ship actions such as impending boosts or hyperdrives. Some stuff is interpreted as sounds, other stuff as simple verbal warnings.
 
First, it's a ship computer with synth making those sounds, i think they work perfectly.

Second, you will be customize sound set (including turning them off) used for synth, and FD most likely will sell some well made sets additionally. It is known for ~5 months already.
 
First, it's a ship computer with synth making those sounds, i think they work perfectly.

Second, you will be customize sound set (including turning them off) used for synth, and FD most likely will sell some well made sets additionally. It is known for ~5 months already.

I forgot about the options coming, just read it last night in a "meet the team post. Awesome stuff!

Sounds for those that want them and the deep silence of space for those that don't. My understanding is that almost all sounds will be optional in space. :D
 
I forgot about the options coming, just read it last night in a "meet the team post. Awesome stuff!

Sounds for those that want them and the deep silence of space for those that don't. My understanding is that almost all sounds will be optional in space. :D

o really? can you post a link please. it true that would be awsome
 
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