Combat Sounds

[Hronin]

First of all I hope that combat will be at least as "noisy" as in DAoC. Nothing is worse than a huge but "silent" battle. I like the sound of shields as they bash opponents or defend blows, the roar of offensive spells, the clashing of swords, etc-etc.

Few days ago I saw an interesting idea in a gamer forum. It says that the same spells should have different sounds in different levels. For example a lvl 1 Fireball sounds like a cigarette lighter while a lvl 10 Fireball roars like thunder. It could help you to guess the power or skill of the opponent even when you can't see him. I think it could hardly work in a magic-heavy game with hundreds of spells, but in WH magic is rare so probably the implementation would be easier because few spells don't need too many sounds.

I haven't got programming skillz so please don't flame me if the idea is completely stupid :D

[Kazek]

Hmm.. While I agree with battles having the chaotic sound of a real battle about them, I'm not sure on the scaling of sound vs. level.. The sound would have to correspond to the actual effect, so if the fireball was to sound like a lighter, it would also have to be the sise of a golf-ball, while a only a huge fireball would sound like thunder passing through the air..

[Hronin]

...if the fireball was to sound like a lighter, it would also have to be the sise of a golf-ball, while a only a huge fireball would sound like thunder passing through the air.

The wizard's voice could reflect the power/type/lvl/etc of his spell as well. (Probably it would be annoying after the 100th time but who knows...) In WoW your character speaks when you emote something. Why not attach speech to spells in the same way? I've seen decent spell casting moves already, but sometimes I miss the real scary deep bass of a wizard as he's casting a destructive spell or something.

Also, during battle it often uncomfortable that you must read chat or rotate the camera to get feedback when your hands are already full. From the wizard's speech you could know what he's doing: giving some backup or teleporting out to safety :)

[Kilrogg-WHA]

Magic won't be rare in WAR as it is not really "rare" in Warhammer. Mark has already stated magic will play a large role in the game.

[Kazek]

Well, magic playing a large role and having every 3rd player use magic is hardly the same thing.. Magic (being a force a nature almost) influences all things.. Beings who can manipulate these energies are quite rare though..

And as for the voice idea, I really like it! Maybe the complexity of a spell could be reflected by the amount of words used?

[Hronin]

And as for the voice idea, I really like it! Maybe the complexity of a spell could be reflected by the amount of words used?

Yes, and maybe the tone. For example a wizard's voice becomes more deeper as he uses more complex offensive magic. If I remember correctly, nice caster voices and chanting were implemented in Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale and probably other Forgotten Realms games too. I think it would be a cool feature in WH.

[Gharunkal]

This could sound awesome, but I don't like that he says it everytime he uses that spell, otherwise you could better play such 'beat 'em up a la Japanese game' When they even yell: "Roundhouse kick." everytime they kick. I Don't like to see that in WAR. But once in while, with a deep booming voice, a more fantasy sentence (best in an unknown language) with some extra special effects would be awesome. More of the like of a wizard hovering a bit from the ground, creating fire ball in his palms and shouting: "Obscurum Infernum," or the like.

What also sounds cool, is a Goblin shaman shouting Waaagh when he casts an immense powerful spell, which really gives you the feeling that there exists a risk of his head exploding.

[erloas]

yeah, hearing sharukin (or something like that from the street fighter games I think) ever time any wizard cast any spell would get very old very fast.

However I could see them having something special like that if they happen to cast something with irristitable force (or critical hit depending how they do everything) so its not happening all the time.

[Hans_von_Hohenstaufen]

I would like some hideous screaming from people when they die.

Would be very cool I find.

[GreyGriffin]

The aural input of games is often neglected when designing them, but I think that having more audio input could really help belay "Sensory overload" in fast-paced mass battles. Check out my bit on Musicians in Formation Combat in the Development board.

[Halios]

Yah, complex spells that are on a timer should have some kind of fantasy noise, and this is VVAR, so I`m really hoping for some disembovveling and dismemberment. Or at least a lot of blood. And screaming. And thudding and crunching. And heads asploding.

[darkblade_the_Great]

I dont' think you are going to see a lot of blood and things like that as the game is going to be rated T.

[Halios]

weak.. well, Jedi Academy was rated T and it had dismemberment.. and VVoVV had blood.. VVAR`s gotta have some kind awesomeness.

[darkblade_the_Great]

I just ment probably not the gushing of blood fountains and body parts flying everywhere.

[Halios]

Yah, that`s too bad. They`ll probably at least try to push the T limit, to bring it as close to the random violence that we all desire as they can.