Lasers and Arc Thrower: Loud audio playback?

[Lyzak]

Has anyone else noticed that the laser weapons and arc thrower firing audio clips are... ah, quite loud? I noticed this back in 1.2 and it made me want to get rid of all my laser weapons as fast as possible... I was hoping it would be fixed in 1.3 but I guess no one felt it was an issue.

It's hard to describe the audio qualities of these weapons, but if I were to take a guess, it sounds like laser weapon and arc thrower firing sounds were taken directly from the old XCOM EU/EW games (for nostalgia's sake - which I have nothing wrong with ) and plopped into Long War 2... but it's almost like they don't have 3D-audio properties. They just always play back at max volume, everywhere.

This is particularly noticeable when you fire a laser shotgun, fire a laser cannon, or especially when you suppress with a laser cannon. Can't hear anything for the rest of the damned turn.

[Clibanarius]

While I haven't noticed this, I have noticed an XCOM2 vanilla/base game issue where audio doesn't properly respect sliders sometimes after starting up/alt-tabbing between the game and other programs. What's happening in your case, I'm speculating, is that it is playing crap at max volume, at least for certain things, when the slider for sounds is set at probably 70%? I think 70 or 80 is the default position. I'd recommend upping everything to max and then turning the Overall Volume or whatever the top slider is down to whatever you desire, then it'll be immediately noticeable to you if the problem is happening, because EVERYTHING will be of incorrect volume, instead of just a few specific things. Here's hoping this helps, if it even ends up being the problem to begin with!

[tracktwo]

I'm not sure where the arc thrower sounds came from, but I am to blame for the laser sounds (and you're right, they did come from the EW laser SFX. Partially for nostalgia, and partially because it was the path of least resistance with respect to getting new sounds into the game since 2K already owns all those sounds so there aren't any copyright issues to worry about).

I do see a bug in the laser cannon where it doesn't have the correct attenuation node to let the sound volume fall off when the camera is far from the shot, which would definitely cause your loudness issues while suppressing. The shotgun and arc thrower are also missing an attenuator, but since those can't suppress it should be less of an issue, at least for close-up shots. Are you playing with the action cam disabled? I didn't do the arc thrower, but for the other weapons I tried to balance the sound volumes when using the action cam close-up shots so the volume was approximately balanced with the volume of the beam weapons. If you *are* using the action cam (you get the glam close-up shots while firing) then I can try tweaking the volume down a bit more. If you aren't using it, they're absolutely going to be way off for those weapons. The assault rifle and SMG should have attenuators already though, do you find those ones as bad?

Unfortunately XCOM2 uses a proprietary sound engine for almost all of the sound effects used in the game, and it's almost completely unmoddable. We have to use the normal unreal sound system to add any custom sound effects, and they don't always mix in exactly the same way as the rest of the sounds since they're using two completely different systems, so they're never going to sit exactly the same as the vanilla sound effects, which really bums me out.

[Alketi]

I do see a bug in the laser cannon where it doesn't have the correct attenuation node to let the sound volume fall off when the camera is far from the shot, which would definitely cause your loudness issues while suppressing.

Yep. Faleg once had a troop column where he laser-suppressed almost every turn. Enjoy the aural fireworks: https://youtu.be/nTExe10PROQ?t=23m40s

[Lyzak]

[...] I do see a bug in the laser cannon where it doesn't have the correct attenuation node to let the sound volume fall off when the camera is far from the shot, which would definitely cause your loudness issues while suppressing. [...] The assault rifle and SMG should have attenuators already though, do you find those ones as bad?

Yes, that's exactly the behavior I'm noticing; all the other weapon noises seem to have a position in space, but the lasers play as if they're right... well, "next to you" isn't accurate. More like inside you. For my personal tastes - though everyone else's mileage may vary - even the action-cam shots (for all the laser weapons) are a tad loud. But suppression is by far the worst offender, for reasons it sounds like (heh) you understand perfectly.

Regarding the rifle... I've not tested it in v1.3, but in v1.2, suppressing with a laser rifle was just as bad as suppressing with a laser cannon. And in terms of the audio balance I've not paid close enough attention, as the other laser weapons (cannon, shotgun, sniper maybe?) have definitely been the focus of my aural frustrations.

This 'unmoddable sound engine,' how big of a problem is it? Maybe my perception is skewed, but I don't think I recall COIL weapons having this kind of problem in v1.2, and I think those are non-vanilla sounds as well?

[tracktwo]

The coilguns use basically the vanilla conventional shot fx so that's why they don't have the same problem. They do have some slight customization, but not in the same way as the lasers. You can reuse any existing sound from the xcom2 system, you just can't add any new ones.

Nothing with the laser sounds have changed in many months, so if you found laser rifle suppression too loud in 1.2 it still would be. They should have the attenuator on them, though. I'll play with them. If you wouldn't mind, could you take a screenshot of your sound settings so I can try with the same ones?

[Lyzak]

The coilguns use basically the vanilla conventional shot fx [...] If you wouldn't mind, could you take a screenshot of your sound settings so I can try with the same ones?

Ah, I thought they were custom sounds. That explains it.

As for my audio settings, they should be default; I don't think I've touched them. I'll look anyway, just in case.

EDIT:
Orrr maybe they're not default! Maybe I tuned down the SFX because of the lasers >.<

https://www.dropbox.com/s/w0rrrnchw44be ... 0%20AM.png

Mr. Gunner With A Laser Cannon standing conspicuously beside the audio settings pane was totally a coincidence

[Manifest]

While we're at it, I play with all sounds turned down, but the volume for the initial cutscene (unlike other cutscenes) you get when entering the commander's quarters (the spokesman talking to you on the monitor) also doesn't seem to be affected by turning ingame sound down, so it's always very loud for me.