The problem with walkie-talkies

[Jake]

I'm aware that a huge pull of this game is its atmosphere and aesthetic and the sound design does tie into that heavily - the way your friend's screams echo through the rusted metal halls is absolutely flawless.

I know that the walkie-talkie is supposed to play into that; the company you're working for is clearly more invested in themselves than their employees, which is why you're given really crappy walkie-talkies that aren't the best quality but it's all you got.

My problem is sensory overload. For those who are unfamiliar with the term, allow me to give a brief, very simplified explanation:
I am autistic. Among other things, I am hypersensitive to various stimuli, especially sounds, but generally all 5 senses. This means that when there's too much stimulation all at once, I am unable to cope or focus and become very disoriented and frustrated.

So when I'm in-game, and I'm in the building with some friends and someone tries to talk to me over the radio, I'm having to contend not only with crappy walkie-talkie audio, but also the people near me talking (amplified due to the reverberation from being indoors), as well as the environment ambience such as the steam pipes or doors opening or items being dropped, as well as all of the footsteps from other players and monsters.

It's unfortunately so bad that I'm pretty much always forced to be the person who stays in the ship, or I have to be the only person without a walkie talkie.

My proposed solution:
I would like to suggest a keybind that simply lowers the volume of everything except for the person talking on the walkie-talkie, by like 75% (or a configurable amount). If you need some way to have it make sense from a gameplay perspective, you could equate it to holding the walkie-talkie up to your ear to better hear it, at the cost of awareness to your surroundings.

Though I can understand if this could potentially be seen as hindering the atmosphere in a sense, so I'd even just be happy if any modders reading this would be up to the task. I'd greatly appreciate it.

[The_Dipl0mat]

Originally posted by Chaos:

Originally posted by The_Dipl0mat:

Did you really delete then repost your comment for relevance? I could have sworn I saw this 20-30 mind ago word for word

Sorry I edit something, but don't really like the edit tag. (like this one)

Skill issue tbh

[Chaos]

Originally posted by The_Dipl0mat:

Originally posted by Chaos:

Sorry I edit something, but don't really like the edit tag. (like this one)

Skill issue tbh

Yeah no denying that, still got to check word more carefully from now on.

[Jake]

Originally posted by Chaos:

Originally posted by Jake:

Openly admits he has been intentionally antagonizing and offending me for a laugh. Has since deleted his posts as he keeps getting called out for it.

But I didn't do anything? It's all still there.
If you wanna pull me back into this cesspool again at least have a good reason for it okay?
As I very much prefer to watch this dumpster fire from the sideline.

I could not find your comment so I had assumed you had removed it, I could only get it from a message quoting you.

Don't act like you had no part in this. This is a dumpster fire you poured gasoline on from the beginning, at my expense, for your own amusement.

[Chaos]

Originally posted by Jake:

Originally posted by Chaos:

But I didn't do anything? It's all still there.
If you wanna pull me back into this cesspool again at least have a good reason for it okay?
As I very much prefer to watch this dumpster fire from the sideline.

I could not find your comment so I had assumed you had removed it, I could only get it from a message quoting you.

Don't act like you had no part in this. This is a dumpster fire you poured gasoline on from the beginning, at my expense, for your own amusement.

Well in my defense which is not going to be a good one.
I didn't think there would be so many people that want to "contribute" to where I left off.

[Jake]

Originally posted by Chaos:

Well in my defense which is not going to be a good one.
I didn't think there would be so many people that want to "contribute" to where I left off.

You're right - that's not a good defense.

Even if nobody had "contributed", you still chose to make me a punching bag for your own amusement when I had not done anything to you, which is not cool.

But anyway, I've truly spent way too long trying to defend myself from unwarranted hate, so please, unless you have constructive feedback towards my suggestion - which, to clarify, is either an accessibility option or a walkie-talkie mechanic that allows you to attenuate the sounds around you when someone speaks in a walkie talkie, which I'll elaborate for the final time, I understand is not a priority, nor is it required for most people who play or for me to continue enjoying the game, nor is it an essential feature, nor do I demand its inclusion, it would just be a nice thing to have later on down the line when convenient to the developer - then let's just drop the discussion for everything else.

[Naijiro]

Much respect OP for acknowledging it's a personal thing but also proposing a solution for not just you but for other people who may find that the fix you proposed may be their ideal way to play.

I think anyone telling you to "just play something else" is arguing in bad faith as the game is in EARLY ACCESS and the devs are looking for feedback as to how to improve their game, this includes accessibility options.

I never get people who just say "just play something else" when the criticism is constructive.

[Naijiro]

Originally posted by Technoci:

Originally posted by Jake:

Sensory overload is not linked to epilepsy.

This is not the only game that bothers me. It's not common that it happens enough to affect my gameplay.

Never heard about Sensory Overload and is an uncommen thing. Weirdly it's linked with a autism. I should or might have it too. But I may or don't have that on certain way. Still weird tho.

Hope you can enjoy Lethal Company in the future.
Like you said. You played horror games sinds your childhood LOL.

You must live under a rock then because sensory overload is a common phrase even used by non autistic individuals. When someone talking too much, too many lights and sounds are happening, play 10 youtube videos at a time in full blast and you'll see how it feels.

[Foster]

Hey Jake, I absolutely sympathize. I'm autistic too and I haven't had a sensory overload in years until I played this game.

Specifically turning on and off the walkie talkie again. I think there should be a mod or an option in the menu to help select the person you want to be 'loud' and to eliminate certain frustrating noises.

I do love the audio design of this game, I absolutely do, but sometimes it can be far more annoying and frustrating.

The amount of ableism coming from this discussion is quite crazy. Though its to be expected. Don't let what they say get to your head.

[Valec]

Originally posted by Jake:

Originally posted by Chaos:

Well in my defense which is not going to be a good one.
I didn't think there would be so many people that want to "contribute" to where I left off.

You're right - that's not a good defense.

Even if nobody had "contributed", you still chose to make me a punching bag for your own amusement when I had not done anything to you, which is not cool.

But anyway, I've truly spent way too long trying to defend myself from unwarranted hate, so please, unless you have constructive feedback towards my suggestion - which, to clarify, is either an accessibility option or a walkie-talkie mechanic that allows you to attenuate the sounds around you when someone speaks in a walkie talkie, which I'll elaborate for the final time, I understand is not a priority, nor is it required for most people who play or for me to continue enjoying the game, nor is it an essential feature, nor do I demand its inclusion, it would just be a nice thing to have later on down the line when convenient to the developer - then let's just drop the discussion for everything else.

Hang in there bud. You didn't do anything wrong and your request was reasonable from the very start.

[Blender Alien]

I am experiencing the same problem as you. To at least mitigate it, you can turn down every players volume in the esc menu and turn up the radio guy.
And I think this issue is dumb in the sense of realism. Either, you have an earplug in your right ear, so that you can only hear the world around you very faintly but have excellent clarity radio on your your right ear (and others around you cannot hear the walkie talkie) OR the walkie talkie is a loud sound source in your room but everyone can hear it.
Currently it's the worst of both worlds.

[Alias Aya]

Originally posted by Jake:

I'm aware that a huge pull of this game is its atmosphere and aesthetic and the sound design does tie into that heavily - the way your friend's screams echo through the rusted metal halls is absolutely flawless.

I know that the walkie-talkie is supposed to play into that; the company you're working for is clearly more invested in themselves than their employees, which is why you're given really crappy walkie-talkies that aren't the best quality but it's all you got.

My problem is sensory overload. For those who are unfamiliar with the term, allow me to give a brief, very simplified explanation:
I am autistic. Among other things, I am hypersensitive to various stimuli, especially sounds, but generally all 5 senses. This means that when there's too much stimulation all at once, I am unable to cope or focus and become very disoriented and frustrated.

So when I'm in-game, and I'm in the building with some friends and someone tries to talk to me over the radio, I'm having to contend not only with crappy walkie-talkie audio, but also the people near me talking (amplified due to the reverberation from being indoors), as well as the environment ambience such as the steam pipes or doors opening or items being dropped, as well as all of the footsteps from other players and monsters.

It's unfortunately so bad that I'm pretty much always forced to be the person who stays in the ship, or I have to be the only person without a walkie talkie.

My proposed solution:
I would like to suggest a keybind that simply lowers the volume of everything except for the person talking on the walkie-talkie, by like 75% (or a configurable amount). If you need some way to have it make sense from a gameplay perspective, you could equate it to holding the walkie-talkie up to your ear to better hear it, at the cost of awareness to your surroundings.

Though I can understand if this could potentially be seen as hindering the atmosphere in a sense, so I'd even just be happy if any modders reading this would be up to the task. I'd greatly appreciate it. :heart:

Wow this thread sucks, I am not autistic but I could see how this benefits us, I hope the dev takes it into consideration and I’m sorry for all the ableist comments you get, if you’d ever like to play together with more compassionate people just add me

[desick]

Originally posted by Jake:

I'm aware that a huge pull of this game is its atmosphere and aesthetic and the sound design does tie into that heavily - the way your friend's screams echo through the rusted metal halls is absolutely flawless.

I know that the walkie-talkie is supposed to play into that; the company you're working for is clearly more invested in themselves than their employees, which is why you're given really crappy walkie-talkies that aren't the best quality but it's all you got.

My problem is sensory overload. For those who are unfamiliar with the term, allow me to give a brief, very simplified explanation:
I am autistic. Among other things, I am hypersensitive to various stimuli, especially sounds, but generally all 5 senses. This means that when there's too much stimulation all at once, I am unable to cope or focus and become very disoriented and frustrated.

So when I'm in-game, and I'm in the building with some friends and someone tries to talk to me over the radio, I'm having to contend not only with crappy walkie-talkie audio, but also the people near me talking (amplified due to the reverberation from being indoors), as well as the environment ambience such as the steam pipes or doors opening or items being dropped, as well as all of the footsteps from other players and monsters.

It's unfortunately so bad that I'm pretty much always forced to be the person who stays in the ship, or I have to be the only person without a walkie talkie.

My proposed solution:
I would like to suggest a keybind that simply lowers the volume of everything except for the person talking on the walkie-talkie, by like 75% (or a configurable amount). If you need some way to have it make sense from a gameplay perspective, you could equate it to holding the walkie-talkie up to your ear to better hear it, at the cost of awareness to your surroundings.

Though I can understand if this could potentially be seen as hindering the atmosphere in a sense, so I'd even just be happy if any modders reading this would be up to the task. I'd greatly appreciate it. :heart:

I really like this proposed solution. It would make sense, even make it to the point you only hear it from one side of your ear. That way it would be really like an actual walkie-talkie. Deadening the noise around you or just muffling it could be done as well, as people who have used phones in a noisy bar, just plugging your other ear with your finger. Its something I've done when i can't hear things through a phone or walkie-talkie before.

I don't see why this is such a hated idea. I get that it may be a pain to do in the main game, but I'm sure with this wonderful modding community someone would pick it up.

[Jake]

Originally posted by desick:

I get that it may be a pain to do in the main game, but I'm sure with this wonderful modding community someone would pick it up.

Funny enough, a friend of mine saw this thread and decided to pick up modding to try and make something like this. Early days, right now we just have a .dll that can temporarily lower all sounds at the push of one button, but I'd imagine it shouldn't be too much more work to get what I'm thinking of.

[The Fountaineer 🖋]

I'm pretty sure I left a +1 somewhere in this thread essentially saying I agree. I'm not autistic (afaik) but I do have Auditory Processing Disorder (basically audio dyslexia) and having to chime over other people to talk can be tiresome. This kinda thing doesn't happen irl because you have the benefit of people naturally shutting up and also not talking directly into your ears.

I would say either a dampen toggle key in the settings, or a separate radio voice slider in the main menu would function nicely. And thankfully, Zeekers seems on board with adding accessibility options so its not something I'm super worried about.

[Jake]

Originally posted by The Fountaineer 🖋:

I'm pretty sure I left a +1 somewhere in this thread essentially saying I agree. I'm not autistic (afaik) but I do have Auditory Processing Disorder (basically audio dyslexia) and having to chime over other people to talk can be tiresome. This kinda thing doesn't happen irl because you have the benefit of people naturally shutting up and also not talking directly into your ears.

I would say either a dampen toggle key in the settings, or a separate radio voice slider in the main menu would function nicely. And thankfully, Zeekers seems on board with adding accessibility options so its not something I'm super worried about.

I remember your name and well thought-out response. You definitely +1'd before, the thread just got bumped up randomly. Thank you again!