Adding Sounds

[firehawkordy 34]

There have been two topics on adding sounds for certain events, ie; popping Chaff/Flares and Jetting external stores. It has been pointed out by those much talented and probably more even tempered than me that the sounds are coded to a specific event and those two were not coded. I am all for a realistic experience, however, as an Aviation Ordnanceman with 20 years of working on different US Navy platforms let me share this knowledge with you all.

 

1 Jettisoning stores / releasing weapons-

Having done countless Jett checks from inside and out of an aircraft the sound you think you want to put into the game is not the sound that I or any AO or Aircrew would hear. How we would do a check would depend on the rack, if it was in a P-3 the releases were done by solenoid so those were cocked by hand and then tripped in the cockpit, what we would hear would be a rapid series of very loud thuds, like the sound of a cars rear hatch being released by the remote only louder. We would also feel them releasing too. If the racks were CADed as on the A-6, F/A-18, actually most tactical aircraft, we would just do the release and control checks through a test set. To actually fire a CAD on the flight line is a bad thing that will get you DE-CERTED and end your career as an Ordnanceman in a New York minute. The pilots I have talked to stated that the only way they new a store was released was by a shift or change in the aircraft's weight, the would feel it as opposed to hearing it. Look a pilot is sitting at least five or six feet ahead of the racks, the engine is running, he has a helmet on, sometimes has earplugs in his ears. The comms are going off in his headset and there is the wind noise outside, you think that a cartridge about a quarter to half the size of a 12 gauge shot shell is going to be heard in that environment? Not likely. As to a P-3, I have been on a Torpedo Exercise a long time ago as well as a MINE-EX, I never heard the racks release, but I sure felt them, I have heard the CADs that launched the Sonobouys fire off but I was standing right next to the launcher. Sounded like a nail gun from a couple of houses over.

 

2 Popping Chaff and Flares-

The cartridges that deploy counter measures are smaller than the CADs on the bomb racks and the dispensers are placed somewhere inconvenient for the Ordies to load, most of the time on the belly behind the intakes (F/A-18) under the tail between the exhausts (A-6) or on top, in the tail or somewhere else the engineers can think of sticking them to make our lives more difficult, but I digress. The point is that you can't hear them go off, if you do it means your engine is off and you are not moving. Even when I was riding hH-60H's we could never hear the ALE-39 fire, it is on the tail boom in blister looking things, you have rotor noise, you are wearing a helmet and ear plugs and the ICS is constantly active. Add gunfire and other noise, well you get the picture.

 

The point of all this, and I do have a point, is this, don't worry about adding a sound that you would not normally hear in real life. You want to play with sound? find or make a good WAV file for the smaller helicopters, the Allouette and Gazelle use a generic file, the engine produces a higher pitch that is a louder screech than whine, and H-6 series is a unique sound of itself. Make a file for those and the helo guys would be grateful.

 

Okay enough of my ranting for today.

Edited May 12, 2011 by firehawkordy

[Lexx_Luthor 57]

Thanks fw that is great meat to read. I guess there just isn't much variety of sounds to hear in cockpits, so gaming souls search for anything to listen to. I solve that problem in one swift stroke. See below.

 

I think a big problem is the Sims of Old, the Sims of Reknown, offered cheese sound effects that have become industry standard for The Devs and players alike. Its a shame The Devs went down that path and took the players with them, when other things could have been modeled, like AI not seeing in the dark. In 20 years, The Devs never did figure that one out, and probably never will, and so with a few exceptions, neither will the players.

 

I don't even have sound on my computer. My way of setting up game sound is best: When I play, I JAM stereo real loud during the Dogfight. It kinda calms me down. I also add thrust reversers to all my SAC bombers. My bombers are faster forward or backward than any fighter in Russia. I figure its important to fly out of trouble faster than flying into it. When I fly penetration escort, all the PVO planes have bigger missiles, so I carry a Nike Hercules LOD underwing. It scares the hell out of the AI.

 

 

If a B-70 flew in the forest and dropped a bomb, could you hear the bomb releace from a mile forward in the nose? Probably no better than being able to drop a bomb from a "real" B-70.