A discussion on a different thread alluded to this, but I think this is worthy of a thread all to itself.
One of the most incredible, awe inspiring and sadly lost (by virtue of its medium) elements of any war and particularly World War II are its sounds. Today one tank sounds awe-inspiring. I was lucky enough to see the Tiger I moving at the Bovington Tank Museum and it's an incredible sound. Imagine ten or twenty of them moving up together, to the sound of barrages and gunfire all along the lines.
Then imagine the artillery. Toward the latter stages of the fighting on the Eastern Front, the concentrations of artillery that the Soviets were able to create were truly awe inspiring. When I achieve something similar, when I have an ungodly amount of artillery lined up wheel to wheel, everything has been prepared and all that is required is for Comrade Marco to give the go ahead, I want to hear it.
I want to hear, seconds after I've given the attack orders (alright, I'd probably have it all scheduled but never mind), the gunfire rising to a thunderous crescendo. When I zoom in to focus on a particular area, to hear the clang of shells and breeches opening and closing and when I zoom back out to hear a (red) orchestra of noise. If I want to look at Moscow say or a quiet part of the front, I want to hear the dull boom of artillery in the distance. If it's the day of Barbarossa then as I'm being invaded I want to hear an equally savage artillery barrage fall on me. When the individual units have drawn in close for proper fighting I want to hear continuous gunfire, which will likewise reverberate across the map. When the skies of Britain are a battleground themselves, as I try to work out how to salvage the situation and keep Fighter Command operational I want to hear dogfights and gunfire when I zoom in on what's happening over the channel.
This is a war whose aftershocks reverberate around the world today. Let its thunder reverberate in game too.
I'll be frank, the sounds in all HoI games I've played (HoI3&DH) are nigh on terrible. A desperate battle is brought down to a pissy few repeated tracks of generic gunfire. A tiny little bit of tank engine noise for an order or marching boots for infantry. That stuff doesn't immerse the player. It merely reinforces, to an average newbie player, how dry and boring a game is. There is no drama or tension to it. The game (as many other games of this genre do) focuses on one sense, the eyes, yet everyone knows how exciting sounds make any medium. Whilst bad sounds doesn't make a bad game or film, good sounds make great games.
Let's hear this in Hearts in Iron. Maybe not at release, it's too late for that. But... Paradox loves its DLC, so... who knows.
In short. I don't want to hear the crappy sounds we're used to and I don't want to have to click on some unit to hear its fighting (it's too jarring frankly). I'd like good sounds which can be heard in some form (preferably increasing and decreasing depending how close I am to them and acting in some way to what units are involved, I don't want to hear tanks in a battle between two mountain units) from all over the map.
Immerse me Paradox!
(Shout out to fabius and blue_yonder in another thread for crystallising my thoughts
)
One of the most incredible, awe inspiring and sadly lost (by virtue of its medium) elements of any war and particularly World War II are its sounds. Today one tank sounds awe-inspiring. I was lucky enough to see the Tiger I moving at the Bovington Tank Museum and it's an incredible sound. Imagine ten or twenty of them moving up together, to the sound of barrages and gunfire all along the lines.
Then imagine the artillery. Toward the latter stages of the fighting on the Eastern Front, the concentrations of artillery that the Soviets were able to create were truly awe inspiring. When I achieve something similar, when I have an ungodly amount of artillery lined up wheel to wheel, everything has been prepared and all that is required is for Comrade Marco to give the go ahead, I want to hear it.
I want to hear, seconds after I've given the attack orders (alright, I'd probably have it all scheduled but never mind), the gunfire rising to a thunderous crescendo. When I zoom in to focus on a particular area, to hear the clang of shells and breeches opening and closing and when I zoom back out to hear a (red) orchestra of noise. If I want to look at Moscow say or a quiet part of the front, I want to hear the dull boom of artillery in the distance. If it's the day of Barbarossa then as I'm being invaded I want to hear an equally savage artillery barrage fall on me. When the individual units have drawn in close for proper fighting I want to hear continuous gunfire, which will likewise reverberate across the map. When the skies of Britain are a battleground themselves, as I try to work out how to salvage the situation and keep Fighter Command operational I want to hear dogfights and gunfire when I zoom in on what's happening over the channel.
This is a war whose aftershocks reverberate around the world today. Let its thunder reverberate in game too.
I'll be frank, the sounds in all HoI games I've played (HoI3&DH) are nigh on terrible. A desperate battle is brought down to a pissy few repeated tracks of generic gunfire. A tiny little bit of tank engine noise for an order or marching boots for infantry. That stuff doesn't immerse the player. It merely reinforces, to an average newbie player, how dry and boring a game is. There is no drama or tension to it. The game (as many other games of this genre do) focuses on one sense, the eyes, yet everyone knows how exciting sounds make any medium. Whilst bad sounds doesn't make a bad game or film, good sounds make great games.
Let's hear this in Hearts in Iron. Maybe not at release, it's too late for that. But... Paradox loves its DLC, so... who knows.
In short. I don't want to hear the crappy sounds we're used to and I don't want to have to click on some unit to hear its fighting (it's too jarring frankly). I'd like good sounds which can be heard in some form (preferably increasing and decreasing depending how close I am to them and acting in some way to what units are involved, I don't want to hear tanks in a battle between two mountain units) from all over the map.
Immerse me Paradox!
(Shout out to fabius and blue_yonder in another thread for crystallising my thoughts
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