Live Forum Q&A - Audio!

UniverseCoaster · May 12, 2016

I have some questions.

1. Can we import our own music?
This tool will be really helpful.

2. Can you guys turn down the wheels sound on the track?
The wheel track sound unrealistic.

3. On coasters, will there be coaster types with speakers?
Like Space Mountain in HongKong and Space Mountain mission 2 in Paris.

4.Maybe less music on the flat ride more real sound?
less music on flat rides.

Great job so far. I [heart] The Game!

Preston1 · May 12, 2016

I don't know too much about audio in games, but i'd love to know what you guys personally felt was lacking/missing in the audio in previous theme park games and how you approached the idea of fixing those issues in this game. Also what other games have you all worked on in the past.

marc73 · May 12, 2016

So many questions...
Will there be speakers that can be placed throughout the park? And different styles of speakers? Also, could it be possible to theme the music to the themed areas while still having different music in queue lines? And will general park announcements go on throughout the park? Or advertising announcements? Queue line tvs... Will they have audio?
I love the audio so far and obviously so much thought has and is going into it. Keep up the great work!

EndDays · May 12, 2016

Awesome work on the audio. Audio was one thing I was worried about early on for this game because I don't think a lot of gamers or developers realize how important audio is for immersion and then it just becomes an afterthought. Thanks for not letting us down!

Questions about your audio engine tech...
- Does the engine account for different environments and nearby surfaces to effect the characteristics of the sound? I think I have noticed that when the camera is on the other side of a wall from a sound source that the volume is reduced. What about reverb from nearby hard surfaces (or within caves or enclosed areas)?
- Could you talk about how does the engine generate the varying sounds for the roller coasters based on speed and forces on the coaster?
- The sounds already give a lot of "living UI" feedback about the park. Could you talk about your efforts toward providing gameplay feedback with the sounds? (Will rides sound more "squeaky" if they are past due for maintenance?)

Feedback...
- I hope the different coasters and tracks have different (authentic) sounds as different coaster types have different sounds.
- I like the feedback of the wheel sounds for the lateral forces on the coaster but feel like they are mixed too loud. I've never been on a modern roller coaster that has that much "screeching" sound during those turning elements. (However I would buy it with older coaster types or older rides with poor maintenance.)

Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions and for the great, hard work you've already put into the game!

Steamloco87 · May 12, 2016

Will the miniature train ride make the proper chuffing and whistle sounds as it trundles down the track?

UltimateAirtime · May 12, 2016

Will we be able to blast the Planet Coaster theme song everywhere in our parks with speakers? I mean the one that plays when you open the game. It sounds great!

Chaosgod_Esper · May 12, 2016

Hi there

Good work so far doing Audio in the Game - especially the really realistic SFX of the Coasters are fantastic!

To my Questions:

1.
Will we be able to play custom Music with Speakers (Scenery)?

2.
Any idea if we will be able to play our own Music during ride (in-seat speakers)?

3.
I asked that Question for rct3, too.. And now again - some years later xD..
Any chance to have Custom SFX, that can be triggered by ride or peeps?

Thats alle from me Folks - The rest of the Audio is, as said, incredible!

Evolution · May 12, 2016

1.Can we hear the sounds of Gulpee?

2.Will we be able to have concerts?

3.Will we be able to put our own soundtrack on rides instead of just having one song on a ride like in RCT3? Also maybe can we have connections to local radio stations and listen to it on our rides? I know it'll be a bit tricky on that last one.

Kombiice · May 12, 2016

My classic: Will there be a ca-ching sound when people pass a ticket booth, right in front of the ride? (Ear heaven with 30 peeps in a row) [squeeeeee]

MKelley · May 12, 2016

Hope you answer this question.

how long did it take to get the sounds and timing to complete each ride or coaster? And what was the ride that gave you the most problems? And if there speakers in the game are they going to small enough to hide in the park?

WingardiumLevicoaster · May 12, 2016

Hello,

The audio/sound in the game is just wonderful. My favourite is the sounds played at Twilight. It just sounds so magical. It reminds me of playing Final Fantasy X in the Macalania Woods, which makes me feel so happy. I also love the satisfactory sound of placing barrels. I could do it all day.

1. What kind of inspiration do you use to create such beautiful ambient sounds?
2. Will there be a soundtrack. Would love to listen to it at work, perfect for stressful days.

CrimsonOrpheo · May 12, 2016

Hi to the team!

First of all, thanks for the amazing sound work on the game already

Here are a few questions:

1°) Who wrote the PC theme that we have on the launch menu? Will we get other musics from this composer? I could listen to this all day long ah ah, It fills me with joy almost instantly and as a musician, I laughed when I noticed the whole 7/4 thing!

2°) How many emotions/reactions do you plan to integrate in terms of audio for the peeps? We saw on the first live that peeps now react to near bands and so on, what about being afraid / scared in haunted coasters for example? How large is the emotion scope going to be? Is it going to be dynamically handled with nearby scenery or buildings etc?

3°) I noticed that if you come close to isolated peeps, you can hear them talking. What's the language? How did you create this?

4°) Do you plan to add music when we zoom out from the park? I think it was the case in RCT3 right?

Thanks a lot!

Life Paused · May 12, 2016

Sounds and music are brilliant well done.

I have noticed that it does not mater if you 2 people on your ride or 10 people on your ride the sound of them is the same. Will you be doing a scaled version depending upon how many seats have been filled up.

SymphonyX · May 12, 2016

Which real life coasters did you use for the sounds for the current Arrow and B&M coasters in Alpha 1?

What is the process for recording coaster sounds and how do you take the sounds and synchronize them with the simulation in game?

The sounds in game so far are amazing and I can't wait to hear more! Thanks Mat and Jon!

Dazz009 · May 12, 2016

Hi guys! First of all a big thank you to the audio team for the work they all have done so far. The audio is one of the best things about Planet Coaster so far!!!

So my question for the team:
What ride/coaster would you like to add to the game because of its sound or music?

If it ever shows up in the game or not does not matter, I'm just curious how you guys look at rides from an audio engineer perspective.

Thanks in advance and keep up the good work!!!!

Fizzman · May 12, 2016

Hi Guys, a few questions from me......

1. As with lots of others, speakers around the park and in queue lines which are editable with types of sounds would be great.

2. Re the above, can we differentiate between 'Music' and 'Sounds' as we may want to make more of an ambiance rather than a tune.

3. When in first person mode, will we hear more such has sounds of shops, cooking, cash desks etc, other sounds like, trash cans flip lids and cash dispense machines etc ?

4. Finally, depending on how the actual simulation will work, different sounds for different notifications would be great so that we can tell whether its related to money, staff, ride breakdowns, peeps etc. Really so that perhaps we can tell if it's an urgent attention required or something that could wait whilst finishing something else ?

Thanks and keep up the great work - Looking forward to Alpha 2 - Terrain tools looking great !!

Cheers.

Nolfy · May 12, 2016

Great music and sound effects in this game!

1. Could you tell us more about how a rollercoaster or a flat ride is recorded? Like do you use multiple microphones to record sounds at a close distance and microphones to record ambient noise, any difficulties to record moving rides or roller coasters, any problems with for example wind noise that you need to filter out.

2. How big is the audio team?

3. How much do you work together with the programmers to write or adjust code that is written for the audio part in the Cobra engine? I can imagine you can't just throw 20 layers and a number of infinite sound effects on a coaster or ride, because that will impact the game performance.

4. Could we get custom music that starts when a coaster train starts and uses fade out effect when it arrives back in the station? This combined with an option to use custom music in stations would be awesome. Oh and of course custom music for rides and speakers we can place as scenery pieces (i think someone mentioned this already [tongue])

Some of these are probably a bit to much to answer in a written Q&A, but luckily question 2 is easy to answer with just a number.

Schabrackenaal · May 12, 2016

Hi everybody, thank you for taking your time to answer our questions and for your effort into the game. Some of my questions may have been asked before or may vary a bit. My apologies in that case ;-)

1. What methods do you use to make sounds for the different styles of rides such as the pirate ship in example? Do you go to theme parks to record audio or do you mix it together yourself?
2. Will there be the possibility to add your own MP3 files into the game (I'm sure that has been asked before) AND would you have to chose a theming for your MP3s so that you have to make sure that your chosen MP3 file fits into the scenery/theming you place it in?
3. What audio you are currently working at?
4. Will there be special commercial sounds for the different brands in the game (such as Cosmic Cow/Chief Beef or a new brand) ;-)
5. Will there be some special sounds for the maskots you can chose yourself? (i.e. for the Pirate mascot, sounds may vary between a very friendly and welcoming pirate or a more aggressive one for scary rides).
6. Will there be sounds you can trigger via a rollercoaster, for example a mean scary laughter before a coaster car drops down after the lift or something like that. Or sounds that are triggered by peeps walking by?
7. Will there be festival sounds or marches for bands or a stage for a band?

[big grin][yesnod][hehe][rolleyes]

jrose323 · May 12, 2016

1. Any intentions to put it some form of ride announcements potentially in the language of the peeps with a filter if it coming over the load speaker?
2. Any intention to expand on the sounds of the coaster station? Example: clicking of restraints coming down (on some coasters), sound of electric motors as the train departs, etc

Angelis1 · May 12, 2016

Nothing to ask that has not already been asked, so ... Just : hi guys [big grin]

During lunch after the London conference, I predicted that this game would be a "+15 million copies" game.
After seeing the new livestreams : I still confirm !

Keep the good work ! [up]