This is really feedback for the devs but IDK where else to post this other than “general discussion” so I guess here it is for other players to read and discuss too.
Is it just me or do the projectile weapons in eve sound kinda rinky-tinky, small and tinny? like the ships are massive in scale, but the guns sound…small. Here’s an example of a 200mm autocannon firing in EVE Online:
Compare that to the sound of a .50 caliber M2 machine gun (12.7mm diameter)
Does that not sound much better? It’s meaty, impactful, and satisfying. It sounds ■■■■■■■ awesome, at least compared to the rinky-tinky sound of the 200mm autocannon. Remember these two clips are comparing the sound of a 200mm round (the size of a ■■■■■■■ basketball) vs a 12.7mm round… and it’s not just the 200mm AC that sounds weak, all the way up the chain to 800mm (the biggest I have fired), the sound just doesn’t feel satisfying to me. I just wanted to put this feedback up on the official forums. I’m pretty sure these sounds have been in the game for a long time but sound design is very important, Elite dangerous sound designers for example did a phenomenal job in their game. If I’m firing basketball sized rounds of depleted uranium (almost twice the density of LEAD), which could blast through 2 feet of reinforced concrete, I want it to SOUND like it.
For some odd reason, every few years CCP comes along and changes the weapon sound effects. The trend seems to be making them softer/more techno/plingy. Lasers now sound like cheap trampoline springs.
I think this is maybe the 3rd or 4th time they’ve changed them? And to the best of my memory, it’s not something anyone asks for and it’s not generally well received. It just seems like something they do so the sound effects guy isn’t spending the whole day playing ESO.
Wow 2015. Glad I’m not the only one who has brought this up. It’s something that’s always bugged me in EVE Online and I never figured it was worth my time to say anything until just today.
I think if the sound guys want to maintain the small sounding bullets, maybe put that sound on the smaller guns like the 125mm, the dual 425mm, etc. Then if you wanted to hear something that sounded like a handheld submachine gun, you could equip a gun that sounds like it on all classes of ships. And if you want something with more oomph to it, you can put the higher class guns like the 200mm, 800mm, etc.
I still miss the old Tachyon Laser hit sounds from before the last sound update. They had this searing effect that made you really feel how the lasers scorched the armor of the targets away.
That weapon crew sound is pretty great… if CCP were to use it though, I think I’d prefer it on the larger caliber guns. (Or use something with even more bass.)
The small ac’s definitely need more brrrrrt though.
Not weapons but years and years ago the mining lasers sound was changed. Before it was a good solid-stuff-breaking-apart sound. Like when you hear glaciers splitting before they fall in the ocean. Now, bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
C’mon man.
Something I noticed was very obvious in the Halo games. Halo CE the plasma weapons had a real thud to them, Halo 2 imagine saying “pew” in the highest pitch you can.
Ohhh man Halo is such a good game to study for sound design. Hey… ccp sound designers. check this video out!
I think they might have had a pretty big budget for their sound team but still, so cool
A point to study with the Halo sound design team is when they talk about the low frequency punch, the low-end thud, that gives the sound force when shooting a gun. It’s at the 1:12 part of the video linked in this post. They talk about using the mechanical component the tactile and high frequency part of the sound … come to think of it… there isn’t really any reload sound for the weapons in eve, is there? … sounds like an opportunity to me!
Okay one more point to bring up that I think is important, and relevant to the laser enthusiasts in this thread who are frustrated with the sounds of lasers in eve online. Check out what the halo sound designers are saying at the 3:04 mark in the video: “a common misconception among a lot of sound designers is that it all has to be synthesized or come from an unnatural place” and then…listen to the sound of the slinky. It’s so satisfying.
