#18934 - Lupin - Thu Apr 08, 2004 1:22 pm
I am thinking of implementing sound in my game, but i am too lazy to write that on my own (because i have no idea about sound programming) and now I am searching for an engine/library that is easy to use and provides features such as midi/mod file playback and normal wave playback (i want to use the midi/mod for background music and the wave sound for effects).
Any input about sound programming would be appreciated :)
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#18958 - jd - Thu Apr 08, 2004 6:26 pm
At the risk of blowing my own trumpet, you could try my system:
http://www.apex-designs.net/tools_aas.html
#18961 - Lupin - Thu Apr 08, 2004 7:15 pm
I heard about your audio mixer, but I have to add a splash screen to my game, right? Well, though adding a splash screen doesn't make the game any worse but everyone would know that I did not write the sound stuff by myself hehe ;P
Well, i will try it out anyway, i am sure it will suit my needs
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#18966 - jd - Thu Apr 08, 2004 9:36 pm
| Lupin wrote: |
I heard about your audio mixer, but I have to add a splash screen to my game, right?
|
If it's going to be freeware, then yes. Sorry about that.
#18987 - Sweex - Fri Apr 09, 2004 8:50 am
Nothing wrong with adding a splash screen to your game/demo imho. And there's nothing wrong with not writing your own audio engine either I think. I've used Apex in Critical Velocity (compo entry) as it was pretty easy to get running and has support for playing samples.
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#19006 - Miked0801 - Fri Apr 09, 2004 10:06 pm
Krawall Sound System is what we use and it does a wonderful job without too much CPU overhead.
#19014 - abilyk - Sat Apr 10, 2004 2:02 am
Mike, I'm glad to hear that coming from a professional. I've been planning on using Krawall for our upcoming game, and it's always nice to hear success stories from someone else before jumping fully on board. If you could share any tips, suggestions, crazy stories, etc., I'd appreciate it.
Thanks,
Andrew
#19043 - yannis - Sat Apr 10, 2004 5:03 pm
I'd personally try MASO.
http://maso.r0x.free.fr/ - we used it in RickXMas
Krawall is cool, but MASO is just as good.
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#19052 - Lupin - Sat Apr 10, 2004 7:31 pm
JD, i tried your sound engine and it's really great!
I noticed that the GBA can process stereo sound (my knowledge about the gba sound hardware is quite low :)), but is it really worth using stereo sound? Since the gba sp only got 1 speaker i think it might not really have a large effect on the overall sound...
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#19053 - Gopher - Sat Apr 10, 2004 7:36 pm
stereo is useless unless the player's using headphones. For most GBA-type games there really doesn't seem to be much point in stereo sound anyway, since they operate more on suspension of disbelief than any real immersion.
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#19059 - poslundc - Sat Apr 10, 2004 8:57 pm
There are varying opinions on this. It would seem that most publish-standard games feature at least some stereo support, even if it's just fixed panning (ie. some channels are 100% in the left side, others are 100% in the right side).
It has been my experience that the mediocre quality of the GBA headphone jack tends to cause some signal leak from one side into the other anyway, so the benefits of full-panning are debatable. Still, many choose to implement full panning in their mixers.
Dan.
#19070 - abilyk - Sat Apr 10, 2004 9:32 pm
Most people probably won't use headphones when playing the GBA; I know I don't. But I bet a significant number of people will use the Gamecube's Game Boy Player, and almost all TVs nowadays are stereo. For that reason alone I plan to support stereo sound.
#19072 - Gopher - Sat Apr 10, 2004 9:55 pm
Hmm. I never payed any attention to whether any of the gba games I own were stereo or not. To me it just seems like a waste of cpu time/resources, unless the stereo sound is communicating something about the game world that the player couldn't know otherwise. I should've said that was an opinion, though.
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#19079 - Miked0801 - Sat Apr 10, 2004 10:51 pm
Ok some stories about Krawall :)
We've now used it in I believe 4 published titles and a few to come out soon (Lord of the Rings - Two Towers and Return of the King,and Sims - Bustin Out, and Digimon Racing.) Our sound artist loves it due to its good support of MOD style music files. The interface is very easy to use and the library has a few options to allow for either larger memory foot-print or faster execution. In high-quality mode (which uses linear interpolation at the mixer level to really improve sound quality), it takes 15-28% of our overall CPU with 16 stereo channels playing at 16Khz. The varience depends on the music actually playing and the library mode we use. We've yet to have any weird problems using it which is a big bonus when compared even to the Nintendo Musyx crap. That and its artist tools pretty nice too. I've not had much experience with other players though so I'm willing to hear other stories as well :)
Sebastian should be paying me for this ;)
Mike
#19084 - poslundc - Sat Apr 10, 2004 11:31 pm
| Miked0801 wrote: |
| In high-quality mode (which uses linear interpolation at the mixer level to really improve sound quality), it takes 15-28% of our overall CPU with 16 stereo channels playing at 16Khz. |
Gah, waste of cycles if you ask me. :)
Dan.
#19097 - Miked0801 - Sun Apr 11, 2004 5:31 am
For a fast-paced action game - stereo is probably a waste. For a turn-based RPG, not at all. If you've got the cycles, use them. It only costs a touch of battery life so why not give to the people who play with head-phones?
Mike
#19175 - Sweex - Tue Apr 13, 2004 11:58 am
It is a shame that sound/music still isn't getting much attention imho. It can add SO much to a game, EVEN on Gameboy Advance. Music is perfect to get a player in a certain mood, and subcontiously decide whether he/she finds the game ie. challenging or annoying...
Just my 2 cts anyways!:)
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#19178 - Lupin - Tue Apr 13, 2004 12:33 pm
Sweex, you are right, but for me as a hobby programmer it is more challenging to create good music than creating good images. I am probably going to steal some free music somewhere :)
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#19194 - tepples - Tue Apr 13, 2004 11:02 pm
"free music"? Isn't that almost an oxymoron nowadays, given that there exist a limited number of legally distinct melodies? Are there any major sources for free music on the Internet other than, say, Mutopia?
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#19199 - ScottLininger - Tue Apr 13, 2004 11:48 pm
If you're just wanting some nice music for a non-commercial game demo, Peter Hajba (aka Skaven) lets you use his MOD music for free.
He's a really nice guy about it, too.
http://www.futurecrew.com/skaven/
-Scott
#19295 - headspin - Fri Apr 16, 2004 12:05 pm
There is a brief comparison of seven of the more popular music libraries out there on my site. Not totally comprehensive but may be helpful.
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