TheQuickFox.3826 Posted March 19, 2018 Share Posted March 19, 2018 To the developer team: Would it be doable to add hardware accelerated 3D sound support to Guild Wars 2 via OpenAL? This allows players who have advanced sound cards like the Creative Audigy and X-Fi series to enjoy superb 3D surround sound with EAX effects while offloading the sound processor from the CPU to the APU (Audio Processing Unit on the sound card) I loved the sound system in games like Thief and Guild Wars 1 but this used DirectSound3D which has been killed off by Microsoft. Instead, hardware 3D sound can be accessed via the [OpenAL API](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenAL "OpenAL API"). Users with non-supporting hardware can still use [OpenAL soft](http://openal-soft.org/ "OpenAL soft") and experience the full set of OpenAL 3D audio with EAX/EFX effects rendered in software instead of hardware. OpenAL support could be entirely optional, allowing players to choose between the current sound system and OpenAL support. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rojak.1894 Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 What kind of EAX was in the first Guild Wars? I did not notice it, where do you hear the most obvious use? I doubt Anet would implement OpenAL, it is used in very very few modern games despite its benefits for positional audio, only indie titles like Devil Daggers is the most recent one i can think of, make use of it. I guess with OpenAL you don't need a Creative card anymore. EAX is deprecated and requires a Creative card or software solution to work on modern PCs, something that most average users don't use now. OpenAL's EFX System, an alternative to EAX is used now but requires the game engine to support it. Game devs these days don't pay much attention to audio in games, far less on HRTF / positional audio, all we get is surround sound support which is different. Just look at game remasters / updates like Beamdog remasters, Kotor II, Half Life 1, Bioshock, that removes the EAX support completely in remasters of these games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawdler.8521 Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 Does it even work? Last time I checked OpenAl drivers where just haxxor modified unofficial versions since Win8. I had an Audigy X-fi Forte once but even my last motherboard had superior sound to it and CPUs has been fast enough for software for a while. The current motherboard even better with built in headphone amplifier. I cant really see why there is a need for this. GW2 already have excellent 3D sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rojak.1894 Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 > @"Dawdler.8521" said: > Does it even work? Last time I checked OpenAl drivers where just haxxor modified unofficial versions since Win8. I had an Audigy X-fi Forte once but even my last motherboard had superior sound to it and CPUs has been fast enough for software for a while. The current motherboard even better with built in headphone amplifier. > > I cant really see why there is a need for this. GW2 already have excellent 3D sound. GW2 does not use openAL afaik so no you don't have 3D sound. seems like it is using FMOD engine and can output discrete 5.1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawdler.8521 Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 > @"rojak.1894" said: > > @"Dawdler.8521" said: > > Does it even work? Last time I checked OpenAl drivers where just haxxor modified unofficial versions since Win8. I had an Audigy X-fi Forte once but even my last motherboard had superior sound to it and CPUs has been fast enough for software for a while. The current motherboard even better with built in headphone amplifier. > > > > I cant really see why there is a need for this. GW2 already have excellent 3D sound. > > GW2 does not use openAL afaik so no you don't have 3D sound. seems like it is using FMOD engine and can output discrete 5.1. FMOD has 3D sound. And as far as I know GW2 plays its sound in the 3D space based on distance and direction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheQuickFox.3826 Posted March 20, 2018 Author Share Posted March 20, 2018 > @"rojak.1894" said: > > EAX is deprecated and requires a Creative card or software solution to work on modern PCs, something that most average users don't use now. OpenAL's EFX System, an alternative to EAX is used now but requires the game engine to support it. > You may read EFX where I write EAX as EFX is the successor to EAX in OpenAL but EAX is still used as marketing term because it is far more widely known. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rojak.1894 Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 > @"Dawdler.8521" said: > > @"rojak.1894" said: > > > @"Dawdler.8521" said: > > > Does it even work? Last time I checked OpenAl drivers where just haxxor modified unofficial versions since Win8. I had an Audigy X-fi Forte once but even my last motherboard had superior sound to it and CPUs has been fast enough for software for a while. The current motherboard even better with built in headphone amplifier. > > > > > > I cant really see why there is a need for this. GW2 already have excellent 3D sound. > > > > GW2 does not use openAL afaik so no you don't have 3D sound. seems like it is using FMOD engine and can output discrete 5.1. > FMOD has 3D sound. And as far as I know GW2 plays its sound in the 3D space based on distance and direction. > yes, but i don't know how well is the spatial audio in GW2 implemented, if any. @TheQuickFox.3826 if you have a X-Fi card and use headphones, maybe you can try CMSS-3D, which creates virtual surround from Windows Audio (set to 5.1 for Windows and headphones in Creative). i'll need to check Guild Wars 1 and try that 3D Sound/EAX option, any good areas? i really don't remember if it was any different on and off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawdler.8521 Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 > @"rojak.1894" said: > > @"Dawdler.8521" said: > > > @"rojak.1894" said: > > > > @"Dawdler.8521" said: > > > > Does it even work? Last time I checked OpenAl drivers where just haxxor modified unofficial versions since Win8. I had an Audigy X-fi Forte once but even my last motherboard had superior sound to it and CPUs has been fast enough for software for a while. The current motherboard even better with built in headphone amplifier. > > > > > > > > I cant really see why there is a need for this. GW2 already have excellent 3D sound. > > > > > > GW2 does not use openAL afaik so no you don't have 3D sound. seems like it is using FMOD engine and can output discrete 5.1. > > FMOD has 3D sound. And as far as I know GW2 plays its sound in the 3D space based on distance and direction. > > > > yes, but i don't know how well is the spatial audio in GW2 implemented, if any. Spatial and 3D audio is the same thing. If your character run past a talking NPC 10m on the right, do you hear the voice from the right side of your headset? Does that treb shot in WvW sound like its flying over your head? Did you hear a thief pop smoke field and leap through behind you? If yes, there is spatial/3D audio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rojak.1894 Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 > @"Dawdler.8521" said: > > @"rojak.1894" said: > > > @"Dawdler.8521" said: > > > > @"rojak.1894" said: > > > > > @"Dawdler.8521" said: > > > > > Does it even work? Last time I checked OpenAl drivers where just haxxor modified unofficial versions since Win8. I had an Audigy X-fi Forte once but even my last motherboard had superior sound to it and CPUs has been fast enough for software for a while. The current motherboard even better with built in headphone amplifier. > > > > > > > > > > I cant really see why there is a need for this. GW2 already have excellent 3D sound. > > > > > > > > GW2 does not use openAL afaik so no you don't have 3D sound. seems like it is using FMOD engine and can output discrete 5.1. > > > FMOD has 3D sound. And as far as I know GW2 plays its sound in the 3D space based on distance and direction. > > > > > > > yes, but i don't know how well is the spatial audio in GW2 implemented, if any. > Spatial and 3D audio is the same thing. > > If your character run past a talking NPC 10m on the right, do you hear the voice from the right side of your headset? Does that treb shot in WvW sound like its flying over your head? Did you hear a thief pop smoke field and leap through behind you? If yes, there is spatial/3D audio. yea it means the same. honestly, i don't remember hearing it sounding like in other games that support 3D audio, hence why we are bringing it up. it has surround sound yes and left/right panning, but i can't really tell where the sounds are from like with spatial audio where you can 'see' the location of the sound, it's more accurate in that sense. in games that support HRTF, it's easier to pinpoint the distance/location instead of just left/right/front/rear, and you can tell if it's from top or bottom. the most obvious difference is for sounds passing behind you. it even has a little ASMR effect. here are some examples of it in games (stereo headphones only): Rapture3D Audio Demo in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Half-Life 2 Stereo vs 3D sound (CMSS-3D HRTF) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-j3T-pDrYkI Thief Gold - EAX 2.0 + OpenAL Soft HRTF https://youtu.be/cYIc7HLpk-w Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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