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CK2 Dev Diary #30 - Audio Mix

Greetings!

After showing Doomdark some of the subliminal messages in a few tracks by Judas Priest and delving into deeper studies of other groups and media, I decided that I needed a break and put my mind into something else for now. So... a perfect opportunity for me to write a new Dev Diary! I would love to talk about some of my findings so far but I need to do more research to be sure that what I have discovered is true.

For this entry I’ll talk about something both I and other people have wanted me to do with Crusader Kings II for a long time:

Mixing!

What kind of sorcery is this?

This is a process that you’re usually doing at the end of production which I was able to do for Stellaris & Hearts of Iron IV, but never got to do for Crusader Kings II for the simple reason that it was released before I started working at Paradox. :)

It means that I have gone through all current audio assets and adjusted the overall audio volume for them. Later on I mixed and adjusted all the different audio assets ingame, so for example all the ambient sound effects are lower in the background until you zoom in. Also, interface sound effects play at a pleasant volume and do not interrupt the music. I can also reveal that I have mixed all music in the game, including all the separate Music DLCs, which means that now you don’t have to worry about the Metal music exploding your speakers when you turn on the game.

So, in brief this means it will feel like a new experience for you once you start the game with the new mix. Perhaps you will start hearing audio you have never noticed before, and discover that the notification sound effects are a bit “softer”.
 
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all the ambient sound effects are lower in the background until you zoom in
That is a great idea and I cannot wait to hear it implemented.
now you don’t have to worry about the Metal music exploding your speakers when you turn on the game
I have nothing against good metal music but it indeed seemed a little out of place so I am really looking forward to hear the new mixes.
Great work, thanks!
 
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I wish you change baby cry sound effect too. It is really annoying when you become big family and babies born in every 3 months. I am using THIS to remove It but It would be better for new, not irritating sound effect :)
 
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This means the baby cries will no longer stab us in the ears? Excellent news.

Although... I generally mute all the sound and listen to Taylor Swift while playing, but I might have to give an 'atmospheric' campaign with audio on a go to try this out.
 
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Sounds good; really looking forward to it.

so for example all the ambient sound effects are lower in the background until you zoom in.
Is there a reason that wasn't the case from game release? Seems like a strange thing not to do.
 
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Everytime I start up CK2 I have to lower my volume. The first time I booted it up, I woke up the house with that dramatic intro. Lovely intro, sweet music, but the sheer volume :)
 
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I can also reveal that I have mixed all music in the game, including all the separate Music DLCs, which means that now you don’t have to worry about the Metal music exploding your speakers when you turn on the game.

Speaking of which, how about future Sabaton DLCs? Maybe not so much for CK2, but for EU4 and especially HoI4, because I love them and they fit well :)
 
Terrific to hear. The notification bell and startup music are frustratingly loud. I had gotten so used to the deficiency, you’ve truly sold me something I didn’t even know I wanted.

Now, is there any thought to tweaking the system for which music plays? I play with all DLCs, all switched on, and I get the strong sense that there is “weighting creep” or even outright replacement by the newer DLCs. Seems like I hear a lot of the same music again and again. Great for the first couple weeks when it’s new, and then it just makes me want to turn music to 0.
 
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Now, is there any thought to tweaking the system for which music plays? I play with all DLCs, all switched on, and I get the strong sense that there is “weighting creep” or even outright replacement by the newer DLCs. Seems like I hear a lot of the same music again and again. Great for the first couple weeks when it’s new, and then it just makes me want to turn music to 0.
There is an option in one of the game options (probably under audio), where you can set it to disregard requirements on songs. Otherwise some tracks will only play under very very restrictive conditions. And then you'll get it really often when those are fulfilled.
If you toggle that off you get a pretty even mix in my opinion; the only bad thing being that it then also mixes in the Christmas song which is annoying when you aren't in the Christmas Season. @Metal King any chance of that disregard requirements toggle not disregarding real World triggers. I.e. so that song, like the Christmas one, which has a requirement only to play in certain real World months still won't play at other times of the year? And still will play frequently in December, like intended.
 
There is an option in one of the game options (probably under audio), where you can set it to disregard requirements on songs. Otherwise some tracks will only play under very very restrictive conditions. And then you'll get it really often when those are fulfilled.
If you toggle that off you get a pretty even mix in my opinion; the only bad thing being that it then also mixes in the Christmas song which is annoying when you aren't in the Christmas Season. @Metal King any chance of that disregard requirements toggle not disregarding real World triggers. I.e. so that song, like the Christmas one, which has a requirement only to play in certain real World months still won't play at other times of the year? And still will play frequently in December, like intended.

You can find a option in "Settings" and under "Audio" which is called "Context Sensitive Music".

This function is implemtented before my time at Paradox so I don't know how it works, It is probably on a code level that I would need help with. So unfortunately I don't have any good answer before doing my own investigation.
 
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Cool man. Cant wait for the new dlc. That notification bell starts to get annoying after a while.
And now that it has been mixed, it's going to be pleasantly annoying!

On a serious note, great work. Although I know it's early days, will there be a new mechanic in this DLC or will it focus on flavour and player suggestions and long time wants/improvements?

I'm curious as to what we might be getting here as it sounds a little like everything. I know the DLC is small like WoL was but WoL had the small focus mechanic. Will this DLC be getting the same treatment or will it purely be improvements, long time requests, fixes and flavour? I don't expect any detail, I'm just curious, as I said.

No matter what it is, I'm excited and can't wait, regardless.
 
You can find a option in "Settings" and under "Audio" which is called "Context Sensitive Music".

This function is implemtented before my time at Paradox so I don't know how it works, It is probably on a code level that I would need help with. So unfortunately I don't have any good answer before doing my own investigation.
It was Context Sensitive Music I meant; just couldn't remember its name. And as mentioned it disables all requirements. Pretty sure it disables the weights too, since it in my opinion gives a diverse mix of the tracks instead of mainly repeating a few ones. And in general I find it really good.

As mentioned it's just a bit annoying to have the Christmas track start playing when it IRL is July. And given that the Christmas track has a requirement, where it much be December IRL to play I speculated whether that specific requirement could be exempt from the Context Sensitive Music button. Since IIRC only the Christmas track uses an IRL month trigger. Though I understand that it might well be outside your comfort zone. Though it would be a really nice thing to get fixed sometime in the future---assuming it's not too hard to do of course. Since opening the console and typing nextsong whenever it starts playing isn't too hard, but it's annoying to have to do.
 
It's not going to break my music mod, I hope?
 
gib ecksamples