Problem: Player with multiple clients open are having hard time figuring out which of their clients gives sound effects. Using directional audio already in use in the game this problem can be helped.
Solution: Directional audio libraries are passed coordinates along the audio information. Add an option to overwrite all of those coordinates with fixed values for all audio calls for that specific client instance. Advanced solution would be to automatically disable this option when the game instance is in full screen, enabling full game experience.
Result: All audio from the game instance will be played “mono” and from fixed position. A player having several clients on the screen will be able to hear sounds for specific clients from specific, predefined direction. This will reduce the immersion slightly, but improve distinction between game events between active game instances.
OR ya could be puttin’ every client on a different volume level and learn which one’s which. Ya i’m stupidly assumin’ ya ain’t runnin’ a ■■■■■■■dozen clients.
But ya ain’t needin’ it in the first place! You set yaself a minimum and maximum loudness and set each client on a seperate step on the scale between them. so with 4 client’s ya’d be having the first at 25% volume and the last at 100% volume. Then ya could distinguish between them easily, if ya just spend a minute learning which one’s which. All i’m sayin’ is that ya’ve been askin’ for a way to distinguish between ya clients using audio and that’s a way to do it.
I understand this is kind of hard to understand, but neither of you are correct on this.
Volume settings do not work, you can’t tell if 25% volume sample was played from 100% volume client or if 100% volume sample was played from 25% volume client. Hence, need for directional sound.
Balance mixer does not work, as that is all about controlling volume, which is not how sensing audio direction works.
We people, like other mammals, have built in hardware for determining the direction of the sound. (See: binaural hearing, directional sound). Eve uses audio library that is able to produce directional sound output; you can figure this out easily by simply spinning the view around a bit while in space.
Implementing this feature isn’t either major or work intensive task as all of the pieces are already in the game.
Further reading: first three sections of forum section rules.
@CCP_Fozzie: You know who should take a look at this. Don’t make me come again over there and push ideas into your heads over beer, that hurts my wallet. (It has been few years already though).
That’s not an bad idea; some kind of per client audio spectrum display would be somewhat simple as well, you could tell from waterfall display what kind of sound it was and when it was played; might be helpful for deaf players as well.
Directional sound still feels smart way to go, as the support for it already exists both in game and in players heads.
Mike: Use of alts and multiboxing is another thing; I do not care much about that, but it is the approved reality of EvE.