[Algorithms] 3D Sound Was: Disable People Was: Verant ? Was: ishadowmap

[Daniel R. <Dan...@ho...>]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Forsyth" <to...@mu...>
To: <gda...@li...>
Sent: Friday, November 10, 2000 3:28 PM
Subject: RE: [Algorithms] Verant ? Was: ishadowmap


> Computer games are unfair on many people - the blind, the colour-blind,
the
> disabled (one-handed Quake anyone?), people who can't type, and even the
> left-handed in some cases. Not to mention the stupid and the slow-witted
> (though some absurdly well-selling games seem to be designed expressly for
> the hard-of-thinking). The deaf have it easy IMHO - most games are
extremely
> graphics-based, and have very little reliance on sound in them.
>
> Having said that, if you play Counterstrike with no sound, you might as
well
> play it one-handed for all the use you'll be. Footsteps are a vital part
of
> gameplay.
>
> Tom Forsyth - purely hypothetical Muckyfoot bloke.

exact tom ... i think so too ... ever thought about people which have
tendency to epileptic reations ?
=0]


> > Charles Bloom wrote:
> > > I'm just saying that we can't rely on the game players actually
> > > HAVING a good sound setup yet, so we can't make it a major factor
> > > in gameplay.  eg. you couldn't make a really dark area that had
> > > only auditory clues, because only 1% of the audience actually
> > > has a surround-sound system, and maybe 5%-10% have "3d" sound cards.
> > > Yes, you can get some locational cues out a stereo setup,
> > but nothing
> > > like a real positional audio setup.

i believe creating a total black szene and relying on 3d audio is absolute
dumb, even when a 1A set-up surround system is given.

normally i would create a very dark szenario ... and change the ambient
brightness for objects against the "background" scene... then i DO rely on
good 3d audio hardware (here arround me in germany, yes the funky country
where 50% off all game players und 20 are hardcore game player with 300$+
graficaccelerators ;o) because it's very common to me that most gamers have
it ... fewer have correct 4point surround systems (and even fewer have
correct speaker position set-up's =O)
so i create 3d sounds and rely on them ... and if a player hears them (as
tom mentioned the to-day standard footstep sounds) and has no
4pointsourround he can get from his eyes the information that NOTHING is
visible on the screen and in mostcases from his ears that the sound source
is not CENTERED (on a stereo system !) so he needs to turn his player in the
direction to the sound source ... and thus has the sounds direction ... and
can react on it (seeing the sound-source or even when seeing still nothing
;o)

..

another thing i'd like to talk about 3d audio is correct occlusions ... ever
thought about playing quake in your own flat ?
you'll never here the mg firing through 5feet thick walls the same as 2inch
in front of your nose !

has anyone did research or knows about good results for algorithms which
cope with this ?

thx,
    Daniel "SirLeto" Renkel [D.Renkel@FutureInt.de]
    technical design director - creactivity and technowhow
    Future Interactive [http://www.FutureInt.de]