Sound modding

According to the DCS.log in 2.1 the

mount_vfs_sound_path 

is now obsolete. How do we mount our custom sounds to our aircraft?

DCS May or Maynot detect SDEF Files automatically now, will double check.

I am trying to mod the RWR audio with FC3 aircraft.

Can anyone help me interpret this lua script. Its the default audio script for search radars.

function onEvent_search(emitterType)
if sndSearchDefault ~= nil then
	ED_AudioAPI.playSourceOnce(sndSearchDefault)
end
end

I added my new sound file (the SA-6)as so

sndSearchDefault = ED_AudioAPI.createSource(host, RWR_soundsPath .. "SearchNewUS")
SA6acqsnd        = ED_AudioAPI.createSource(host, RWR_soundsPath .. "SA6acq")
sndLockDefault   = ED_AudioAPI.createSource(host, RWR_soundsPath .. "LockNewUS")
sndLaunchWarning = ED_AudioAPI.createSource(host, RWR_soundsPath .. "LaunchWarningUS")
sndNewThreat     = ED_AudioAPI.createSource(host, RWR_soundsPath .. "ThreatNewUS")

The audio is placed in the correct place. What I need help with is the function command to trigger the audio when say an SA-6 search radar is on, vice some other radar.

I tried to alter the function like this

function onEvent_search(KUB_1C91)
if SA6acqsnd ~= nil then
	ED_AudioAPI.playSourceOnce(SA6acqsnd)
end
end

Am I going about this the wrong way?

Sound tweak help

Hey all

New guy here, and wanted to try a sound tweak i found the sound i liked and edited it to a wav and the the same time about as the original sound wav in the folder. but when i changed it. Restarted and tried in game it is still the old sound even though i took that away.?? I ve looked and read for and tried to find a video about it and most say the same just replace what wav you want and restart. But not working can someone help, thanks.

DCS 2.5

Backdraft

Hi

Having downloaded the mod putting the martians tripod and flying saucers in the mission editor, I would be interested to give them a more sci-fy sound than engines of a jet or a tank.

We can easily find sci-fy sounds in sounds banks on the net and recording them in all kind of files (ogg, wav) but how affecting after, these sounds to this mod ?

According to the DCS.log in 2.1 the

mount_vfs_sound_path 

is now obsolete. How do we mount our custom sounds to our aircraft?

Re-asking this - anyone have suggestions/input?

Good question I_Gamer!

There are some really good old mods that are totally silent now.

Those Mods usually contains a "Mods" folder and a "Sound" folder. But it seems almost impssible to get them to work.

Would really appreciate some guidlines how to get them to work.

The lack of knowledge in sound development in DCS is frustrating, really. Or should I say, lack of transparency?

There are few, myself and Moltar included, that actually know a thing or two about DCS' current sound handling.

Good, no, great sound design is imperative to an immersive product. Crappy sound = crappy immersion IMHO. DCS does not have "crappy" sound design by any means, but the current way of doing things is inefficient for the community to learn, or adapt to, new tech that the developers implement. I would love to see more developers interacting on threads like this; to give insight and direction to something that isn't totally clear. I'd love to help more, but I have hit a brick wall since the important bits of the sound engine are hidden inside encrypted DLLs. :\

The lack of knowledge in sound development in DCS is frustrating, really. Or should I say, lack of transparency?

 

There are few, myself and Moltar included, that actually know a thing or two about DCS' current sound handling.

 

Good, no, great sound design is imperative to an immersive product. Crappy sound = crappy immersion IMHO. DCS does not have "crappy" sound design by any means, but the current way of doing things is inefficient for the community to learn, or adapt to, new tech that the developers implement. I would love to see more developers interacting on threads like this; to give insight and direction to something that isn't totally clear. I'd love to help more, but I have hit a brick wall since the important bits of the sound engine are hidden inside encrypted DLLs. :\

I totally agree with you !

Even in some old modules of FSX, sounds are much more better than in DCS.

A nice environment is important but if you want a real immersive simulation you have to combine this environment with realistic and immersive sounds

...despite some efforts I think there is still much to do on this topic.

I really love this one

10 years ago !!!:music_whistling:

Re-asking this - anyone have suggestions/input?

I think I have the answer to what you want to know. It depends on if you're talking about in-pit sounds or external sounds.

For external sounds, there is a line in the AIRCRAFT.lua file (ie. F-104T.lua) for this. It is "sound_name" and refers to a directory path to the Sounds folder, ex. as "aircraft\F-104T\Sounds". For in-pit sounds, I am honestly not so sure as I am still trying to look into that as well.

I hope I was able to help answer your question. There is indeed a lack of knowledge in this area that I wish was fully more covered over beside the examples that we have been given in modding.

I think I have the answer to what you want to know. It depends on if you're talking about in-pit sounds or external sounds.

 

For external sounds, there is a line in the AIRCRAFT.lua file (ie. F-104T.lua) for this. It is "sound_name" and refers to a directory path to the Sounds folder, ex. as "aircraft\F-104T\Sounds". For in-pit sounds, I am honestly not so sure as I am still trying to look into that as well.

 

I hope I was able to help answer your question. There is indeed a lack of knowledge in this area that I wish was fully more covered over beside the examples that we have been given in modding.

Unfortunately, that does not. :(

What we need to be able to do is assign new audio files to a specific aircraft. Take the Hornet for example. I want/need to be able to tell the sound engine that I want "X" sound file to activate differently than it is, and I also need to tell the game that there are new sounds - and how to use them. The only way to do this, from my investigation, is via the ED Audio API which is encrypted in a DLL.

This way you could start implementing "per aircraft" sounds instead of having specific sound sample shared across multiple aircraft. Proper access to this information would also allow a greater level of customization on developing better sound mods or overhauls, since you would no longer be limited by what samples the developers decide to implement.

ArmA 3 is great like this, because you have almost full control over how sound samples are handled for any given vehicle or object. The level of detail I was able to implement into my aircraft sound mods in the later days for ArmA 3 is so simple - compared to how complicated it is for the same information to be accessed in DCS.

For example; this is a code taken from the F-16C Audio Overhaul I did in A3 a year or so ago.

class rs_f16c_EngineLowExtFront_SoundShader
{
	samples[]=
	{

		{
			"RealSoundF16C\snd\exterior\16_idle_rear",
			1
		}
	};
	frequency="1.0 min (rpm + 0.5)*(rpm factor[0, 1])";
	volume="machcone*engineOn*camPos*(rpm factor[0, 1])*(thrust factor[0.75, 0])";
	range=800;
};

Each class of sound is completely customizable, in the sense that as long as you're calling up these sounds in the init file of the aircraft - they will get loaded, and used! This means you're only limited to how many samples the game can play at any given moment (my max on the F-14, my most recent, was up to around 15 unique samples just for the exterior in-flight sounds alone, compared to the 3 or 4 that are usually included stock). The DCS Hornet has quite a few, however, can be improved upon by changing definitions and adding new samples to fill gaps.

The actual definition of how the sounds are played is defined by the "frequency" and "volume". This particular aircraft has a simulated pitch increase, since ArmA doesn't do too well of matching pitch with throttle input - I decided to do it myself by writing several different variables that did it without having to make multiple samples that were just increased in pitch, saving in both system resources and overall workload. That's just only scratching the surface in the ArmA 3 audio world...

So - as you can see, we don't have anywhere close to the same access of information that we would need in order to be as creative. But, every developer and company is different.

We may never get access to such tools, but as long as I'm around - I'll keep trying my best to find new ways for things to sound better and better - both on the ground and in the air. :pilotfly:

What I dont get is this:

1) This post is still tagged as "Sticky". Originally posted by an ED Team member. And it´s now been +6 YEARS! since a developer paid any attention to the comments. Or at least it looks that way.

2) There are a lot of ships mods and stuff that we still can download from User files, that add real value to the game which ED gets for FREE! Especially when you design missions. But they have no working sounds anymore.

3) Why can´t they just fix this. Give a simple instructions for example how to add cannon sounds to the ships etc.

4) It looks like ED have a really devoted community of modders. That's a valuable resource, but seriously do they get the attention they deserve?

Each class of sound is completely customizable, in the sense that as long as you're calling up these sounds in the init file of the aircraft - they will get loaded, and used! This means you're only limited to how many samples the game can play at any given moment (my max on the F-14, my most recent, was up to around 15 unique samples just for the exterior in-flight sounds alone, compared to the 3 or 4 that are usually included stock). The DCS Hornet has quite a few, however, can be improved upon by changing definitions and adding new samples to fill gaps.

 

The actual definition of how the sounds are played is defined by the "frequency" and "volume". This particular aircraft has a simulated pitch increase, since ArmA doesn't do too well of matching pitch with throttle input

This sounds like something that would have to be done by having an EFM, but I have no definitive answer on this. Besides being able to control the sounds of your intakes, afterburner, (external and cockpit) throttles on idle and rear engines, I don't think you have any other way by default to control your sounds. I also have no idea exactly how to create an EFM but there is a good demo here on the forums by CptSmiley (now a 3rd party dev) for the F-16.

For your definition on controlling sound by frequency and volume, I believe the only default sound able to have this applied to is your external "throttles on idle" sound which also mimics engine RPM.

This sounds like something that would have to be done by having an EFM, but I have no definitive answer on this. Besides being able to control the sounds of your intakes, afterburner, (external and cockpit) throttles on idle and rear engines, I don't think you have any other way by default to control your sounds. I also have no idea exactly how to create an EFM but there is a good demo here on the forums by CptSmiley (now a 3rd party dev) for the F-16.

 

For your definition on controlling sound by frequency and volume, I believe the only default sound able to have this applied to is your external "throttles on idle" sound which also mimics engine RPM.

I was just making an example of how much control we "don't" have over sounds in DCS. The sim already simulates the throttle movement in the pitch/frequency of the engine, I was just trying to make a point is all.

Anyway; I don't think an EFM would solve this - as it's really only supposed to be used as a flight model. You don't need access to that data, at least to my recollection. Yes the sound engine can pull info from the flight model to perhaps define certain characteristics of said file. You would need access to the API responsible for linking sound files/SDEF files to specific aircraft. And I have no idea how that would happen - the developers would have to be more open about how they can help us achieve what it is we're looking to do. :music_whistling:

@Benedictus de Suede - I know, like I said - their lack of transparency is frustrating at best. There's not been much talk about this by ED directly in a long time, not sure why. I would think that they have a dedicated audio team for stuff like this? After-all, someone had to come up with the system to begin with - right? :huh:

@I_Gamer

All of your perceptions are correct and there does not appear to be a way add new external sounds or replace the filename for existing external sounds without using the Sounder API, which is not publicly available. (Yes, even after this many years)

Internal cockpit sounds are very much under our control to do as we please. I created this short how-to on the subject a few years ago. It looks like a couple others' mods have used this format.

Got to say i agree with some here saying sound is very important for immersion. I do not hear that enough in other sims too and its a bummer to see that great flightsimdevelopers just havent sound as a top priority.

Because you (the community) dont complain enough or for long enough , ive been sound modding flight sims for over 10+years and not once dose a community like the one here at ED ever stand together and say its unacceptable the f14 is a prime example of that f.sure there are a few gripes here and there but they will die away when as always there is little or no response from Heatblur or Ed ... now they've got your money , always has been like that probably always will be.

Cheers

Jafa

Because you (the community) dont complain enough or for long enough , ive been sound modding flight sims for over 10+years and not once dose a community like the one here at ED ever stand together and say its unacceptable the f14 is a prime example of that f.sure there are a few gripes here and there but they will die away when as always there is little or no response from Heatblur or Ed ... now they've got your money , always has been like that probably always will be.

 

Cheers

Jafa

I think the issue here is that people in the DCS community often settle for "good enough", without really knowing how good things CAN and SHOULD sound in a high-fidelity sim like DCS. Even if we did group up together and stand up to ED, I'm sure it will still go without them saying anything about it... like most things they've been promising for years now. It really is unfortunate, DCS could be so much more than just a combat sim, but I'm afraid the folks at ED don't look at it that way.

If ED handled their business practices differently, this sim could provide the foundation of the next era of flight simulation - even down to a civilian / GA level. I could get into how they could accomplish this, but I'll leave it to my dreams for now. ;)

Question: Is it possible to add lines of code like the "cones" to sdef files that do not have them? I'm trying to get the A-4E to sound more like a Skyhawk and less like an Su-25, but as it uses the default Su-25 sound files and sdef files, those do not have any parameters except for gain and inner/outer radius. I currently have it sounding quite like an A-4 on the ground, but spooling up the throttle and flyby sounds are still very lacking.

Yes you can add the lines.

Hey guys, it’s been awhile since I made the Huey Sound Mod but I have noticed some new things in the SDEF files of the F-14 and I don’t see an explanation for them in the example.sdef. For example what is nodopplar, etc. I’m not at my computer and I can’t remember the other ones I saw but can someone point me to a list of all the sdef calls?

I think I've missed a lot of the answers I'm looking for. I've narrowed modding sounds down but still cannot get them to work. If I want the Su-25T to use the F-15's sounds, how am I able to do that? I've added the mount into the entry of the Su-25 and have placed the F-15's sound folder into that Su-25's folder and the entry SHOULD mount the F-25's sounds but it doesn't in game.

I think I've missed a lot of the answers I'm looking for. I've narrowed modding sounds down but still cannot get them to work. If I want the Su-25T to use the F-15's sounds' date=' how am I able to do that? I've added the mount into the entry of the Su-25 and have placed the F-15's sound folder into that Su-25's folder and the entry SHOULD mount the F-25's sounds but it doesn't in game.[/quote']

 

Really all you'd need to do is copy the F-15 sounds and re-name them to replace the SU-25 sounds. Non destructive way of doing this would be go find the SDEF and point the various sounds to use F-15 samples. Unfortunately, there's hardly any documentation on sound-modding in DCS. It's a lot of trial and error.

 

Hope this helps.

Is there a way to script the pilot's communication with the tanker and vice versa. The current call isn't very realistic and I was wondering if it is possible to have the voice files read in the following sequence/format:

“SHELL 77, BLADE 51. Inbound, FL160 (or angles 16), noses cold, switches safe. Request Port

Observation. 51 is side number 205, BLADE 52 is side number 200”

Definitions:

$INSTALL_DIR = game installation directory

$WRITE_DIR = C:\Users\<LOGIN>\Saved Games\DCS

 

DCS searches for sound (both .sdef-files and wav/ogg samples) in the following order:

 

1) $WRITE_DIR\Sounds\

2) in the Sounds subdirectory of each mod from $WRITE_DIR\Mods\

3) in the Sounds subdirectory of each mod from $INSTALL_DIR\Mods\

Mods are searched backwards from the registration order

4) sdef are searched in $INSTALL_DIR\Sounds\sdef\, samples - in $INSTALL_DIR\Sounds\

 

 

There are two ways to replace game sounds:

1) put your versions to $WRITE_DIR\Sounds\ in a correct subfolder with a correct name

2) create your own mod and place it into $WRITE_DIR\Mods\

C:\Users\<LOGIN>\Saved Games\DCS\ is not touched by the updater, except for it's own files:

autoupdate.cache

autoupdate.lock (normally exists only why updater is running)

Config\autoupdate.settings

Logs\autoupdate.log

Sup guys

Still an option to modify sounds like that ?

C:\Users\<LOGIN>\Saved Games\DCS.openbeta\Sounds\Speech\Sound\ENG\Common\Ground Crew\Messages

cause im having some troubles adding files with the exact same name .wav