Why are we not using NS2's amazing soundtrack?

EvolutionaryMiracleEvolutionaryMiracle Join Date: 2013-06-07 Member: 185503Members, Reinforced - Supporter
I've been loving the NS2 Deluxe Edition soundtrack so far, but its always bugged me how UWE only uses the main menu theme and a 40 second snippet of Evolution in NS2 itself. Sure, hugh uses it extensively in his videos, but that's about it.

I think that we should all get to work on a soundtrack overhaul. Imagine hearing the bass-y part of the main menu theme while you're deep in alien territory, or hearing gorilla as you run into sub-sector just as the power go out. Or maybe the "heroic" part of Rush as you literally rush into a marine base. The coding is there - You hear a variant of Exosuit as you kill the hive. A mod that would add more instances - say 6 marines and 6 aliens in a single room would trigger a snippet of Main Menu - in my opinion wouldn't be that hard.

What do you think?
On a side note, I'm new to lua and have no NS2 modding experience.

Comments

  • IeptBarakatIeptBarakat The most difficult name to speak ingame. Join Date: 2009-07-10 Member: 68107Members, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Diamond, Reinforced - Shadow
    edited November 2013
    Competitive players.

    As in people who dislike ambient noise because it gets in the way of position tracking.
  • Cannon_FodderAUSCannon_FodderAUS Brisbane, AU Join Date: 2013-06-23 Member: 185664Members, Squad Five Blue, Squad Five Silver, Reinforced - Shadow
    I turned off my music since the hive sound bug way back (could be B249), when it won't stop playing. Is the sound for that fixed? I haven't heard music in this game for a while now and have forgotten how it sounds.
  • EvolutionaryMiracleEvolutionaryMiracle Join Date: 2013-06-07 Member: 185503Members, Reinforced - Supporter
    Competitive players.

    As in people who dislike ambient noise because it gets in the way of position tracking.

    I could still hear skulks and everything over the hive death music. And you could always turn it off

  • TheriusTherius Join Date: 2009-03-06 Member: 66642Members, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Supporter
    I never even remember that this game has music. It was literally the first thing I turned off even before joining a server for the first time, and I never turned it back on.
  • SamusDroidSamusDroid Colorado Join Date: 2013-05-13 Member: 185219Members, Forum Moderators, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Gold, Subnautica Playtester, NS2 Community Developer, Pistachionauts
    That was fixed like 3 builds ago. Yes this game has music. Yes the soundtrack is partially used in game.
  • Squirreli_Squirreli_ Join Date: 2012-04-25 Member: 151046Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    I prefer to keep my NS2 soundtrack and my NS2 gaming separate, thank you... But I do have the soundtrack on my phone and I do listen to it sometimes ;)
  • 0ni0ni Join Date: 2012-08-30 Member: 156991Members
    Therius wrote: »
    I never even remember that this game has music. It was literally the first thing I turned off even before joining a server for the first time, and I never turned it back on.
    Did the exact same thing. Checked res, fiddled with keybinds a bit, turned off music and then set off on a journey that's consumed almost 800 hours of my life. Didn't even realize there was music until I saw this thread.

    Is it any good? What kind of music? UWE broke my audio two builds ago so I can't go try it. :/

  • Squirreli_Squirreli_ Join Date: 2012-04-25 Member: 151046Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    0ni wrote: »
    Therius wrote: »
    I never even remember that this game has music. It was literally the first thing I turned off even before joining a server for the first time, and I never turned it back on.
    Did the exact same thing. Checked res, fiddled with keybinds a bit, turned off music and then set off on a journey that's consumed almost 800 hours of my life. Didn't even realize there was music until I saw this thread.

    Is it any good? What kind of music? UWE broke my audio two builds ago so I can't go try it. :/

    As a reply and as a PSA: If you have the deluxe edition, the full soundtrack can be found in your game folder as music files (MP3 if I remember correctly).

  • DeskLampDeskLamp Australia Join Date: 2013-02-03 Member: 182783Members
    I agree with the OP. It would be great to hear some more ingame music. Maybe it could be triggered by certain actions and proximity to that action (eg build of certain structures, stepping on infestation, deaths, beginning of rounds etc.)
  • xen32xen32 Join Date: 2012-10-18 Member: 162676Members, Reinforced - Supporter
    I think Decoy played on round start before? Is round start music gone now?
  • IeptBarakatIeptBarakat The most difficult name to speak ingame. Join Date: 2009-07-10 Member: 68107Members, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Diamond, Reinforced - Shadow
    edited November 2013
    AuroN2 wrote: »
    Competitive players.

    As in people who dislike ambient noise because it gets in the way of position tracking.

    We just turn it off. but sometimes we do feel like being immersed too.
    Blaming us for the lack of the full OST in the game is unfounded kthx.

    If the majority of the target audience disables something that takes effort to add, it is unlikely to see the developers continue working on it.

    I love the ambient sound effects and music found in some of classic ns1 maps, it really made the game world feel alive. The game worlds in ns2 feel like big arena shooters in comparison.
  • joshhhjoshhh Milwaukee, WI Join Date: 2011-06-21 Member: 105717Members, NS2 Playtester, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Supporter, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow, Subnautica Playtester
    Wait... theres music in this game?
    lol
  • BeerTentBeerTent Join Date: 2012-11-11 Member: 169639Members
    Part of the problem is that Music hinders both competitive, and pub players. The L4D team noticed this, and had to look to a unique element to ensure that players would want the music playing. (The piano ticks for spawning) NS2 doesn't really have anywhere where we could use something similar with the exception of music being used to buff a particular location, but that's something the mapper needs to decide. (Which is why I don't like the NSL maps, as they remove all sounds. What are you thinking?!)

    The only other thing is to build a Tutorial map, or a SP Campaign that serves as a tutorial. We can get some pretty sweet cinematic moments with this music. Or perhaps include the music as part of the loading menus, and allow it to fade out when the player is spawned into the RR.
  • joshhhjoshhh Milwaukee, WI Join Date: 2011-06-21 Member: 105717Members, NS2 Playtester, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Supporter, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow, Subnautica Playtester
    edited November 2013
    NSL maps were designed for competitive players only. Several pub servers run them because the maps significantly reduce the massive fps drops you get from vanilla maps. Like previously said, almost all of us prefer no ambient sounds and/or music to ensure accurate sound positioning of lifeforms. L4D did have piano sounds for spawning but the competitive community removed those relatively quick. Knowing what loadout the enemy had was stupid since you can change the way you took chokes in the map. They also told you when spawns were up. (source: 4 years of comp l4d)

    Music and immersion are fine for single player games to add a second level of immersion but for this type of game, it really doesn't work well without hindering personal performance. (Unless your name is Golden and you listen to music during our scrims lol)
    BeerTent wrote: »
    The only other thing is to build a Tutorial map, or a SP Campaign that serves as a tutorial. We can get some pretty sweet cinematic moments with this music. Or perhaps include the music as part of the loading menus, and allow it to fade out when the player is spawned into the RR.
    This would be cool. ^
  • DC_DarklingDC_Darkling Join Date: 2003-07-10 Member: 18068Members, Constellation, Squad Five Blue, Squad Five Silver
    I always said that ambient noises and dark areas and random stuff do belong in comp maps. I find it part of skill to work with pure random elements on its own & to use a area's special things.

    Guess I am in the small group on that one.
  • Squeal_Like_A_PigSqueal_Like_A_Pig Janitor Join Date: 2002-01-25 Member: 66Members, Super Administrators, NS1 Playtester, NS2 Developer, Reinforced - Supporter, WC 2013 - Silver, Subnautica Developer
    I love music in games, and we definitely started out with the intention of having more music in NS2, but as things progressed it became apparent that, like with NS1, too much music interfered with the gameplay. Sounds, such as listening out for the clicking of skulk claws coming closer, are such an important element of NS2 that the majority of players would have just disabled the music completely if it was any more prevalent that it currently is. Also, with the vast amount and variety of sound FX in the game, layering more music on top of that just starts to get cluttered and messy.

    We fully expect UWE's future projects to make much more use of music then NS2 does.
  • EvolutionaryMiracleEvolutionaryMiracle Join Date: 2013-06-07 Member: 185503Members, Reinforced - Supporter
    I do agree with Cory that too much music would interfere with the gameplay. However, "too much music" would not be the case. Music is played when the hive is being killed, music is played in bar, and music is played at the start of a round. It works. For the most part the map is silent so you can hear skulks skulking around in the vents and marines clunking around the map.
    Also, if you don't like it, you could disable it. A lot of people - and I've pitched this idea to a lot of people on steam - feel the same way. People like me would keep it on all the time. And also on another side note, I could hear skulks in vents even during the danger theme - voice communication is louder in my opinion.

    What I'm looking forward to seeing is a minimalistic change to OST usage in the game. Say, a portion of Main Menu during a large battle push on a forward base. Or the beginning portion of Decay at the start of a round. You wouldn't be hearing music constantly - just during those giant, cinematic battles that make NS2 so appealing.

    What really drew me to purchase NS2 and later upgrade to Deluxe was the launch trailer. However, after playing NS2 for a considerable (300+, which is the most I've ever played for a game), the giant marine base sieges and rushes felt rather bland. Nevertheless I still love NS2, but it'd be a wet dream if I could experience the same feeling I had when I first saw the trailer.
  • TurbineTurbine Join Date: 2012-09-13 Member: 159160Members
    They poorly implemented music to the point it's unnecessarily loud at some points or when you're trying to talk/listen to people.
  • EvolutionaryMiracleEvolutionaryMiracle Join Date: 2013-06-07 Member: 185503Members, Reinforced - Supporter
    Turbine wrote: »
    They poorly implemented music to the point it's unnecessarily loud at some points or when you're trying to talk/listen to people.

    Amen. Regardless of how they want to implement it, NS2 really needs a music overhaul.
  • Zomb3hZomb3h Join Date: 2011-01-27 Member: 79241Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    Why are we not using NS1's amazing soundtrack?
    Fixed.
    gibe shum jeremy SOULE
  • joohoo_n3djoohoo_n3d Join Date: 2012-10-30 Member: 164703Members, Reinforced - Onos, WC 2013 - Supporter
    @Squeal_Like_A_Pig the theme/tunes in original NS weren't as busy as the compositions for ns2. more drummer boy & less philharmonic.

    also, although i haven't played in a year or so, i recall the ns1 music being short at the start of a game and quickly fading itself out and weren't there also env sounds blended as part of the tune?
    it really helped pull me deeper into a game environment from the start!
    i really miss the sound of footsteps in the first moments of a game with that synth string fading out in the background 8->

    idk maybe i just need to turn the music up again and give it another go

    incoming off topic rant...
    in the dark metal hallways of the original NS there was always this sensation of mysterious solitude, a feeling that this facility must be explored and conquered before further development or inhabitation...like the kharaa and the frontiersman were fighting for a hold on something in progress - that's missing from NS2, everything is already filled in with shiny fancy complexity...which is very cool but it's everywhere. with all these fancy staircases and arched supports i'd expect more chaos e.g. a cafeteria in NS1 with only 4 tables and a few knocked over glasses made sense - in NS2's rich environments i would think they would need to feed more people..
    rant, done.

  • lone0001lone0001 Ontario, Canada Join Date: 2013-08-07 Member: 186616Members, Reinforced - Silver, WC 2013 - Supporter
    Would love to see more use of the NS2 Soundtrack in NS2 itself as well. It seems like so many people are missing out on many great tracks. :(
    BeerTent wrote: »
    Or perhaps include the music as part of the loading menus, and allow it to fade out when the player is spawned into the RR.

    So much THIS! I played hours upon hours of C&C: Red Alert 2 when I was younger, I had a slow computer so loading maps took a bit, and that loading music is so stuck in my head now (and it is awesome).

    NS2 really could do with some loading music, have it play a random song during the loading screen even perhaps. :)

  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Join Date: 2003-11-28 Member: 23688
    edited November 2013
    I'm going to request "thirsty onos" next time I'm in a nightclub.
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