There is no audio at all. [SOLVED]

[KernowShark]

Downloaded and installed from Steam today, and there is no sound or music whatsoever, despite having it set to maximum in preferences. I am playing on Windows. Inspecting the game folder, the music folder is empty except for a file named deathmusic-chopinbminor.ogg. Trying to verify the game's file cache through Steam it says that 62 files cannot be verified every time, but then doesn't download anything. I seriously think there is a problem with this game when you download it, with the sound files missing from the installation.

[Hanako Games]

That's not the issue. Most of the music is packed into a separate file archive. That one file is not inside the packed distribution because it was added to the game later.

It is normal for several files to no longer match every time you launch the game, because those files are adjusted on your computer when the game launches.

Nothing has been changed about the game recently, but windows DID just push a huge pile of updates a couple of days ago, which may be affecting sound playback. We are investigating - Spiky may have more specific questions for you shortly.

What version of Windows are you running?

[spikycaterpillar]

I assume other games play sound fine for you, and that you have not played LLtQ before on this computer?

Things to check:
Look at your mixer settings with the game playing and see if any of the sound outputs are muted or set to a very low level - sometimes LLtQ's idea of what the default sound device is is different than your computer's idea of what the default sound device is.

Does the problem persist across a reboot?

Is some other program locking the sound devices? (Skype has been known to do that.)

If you have any of our other games (or demos thereof), which ones have working sound and which don't?

What manufacturer and model number are your sound devices?

[KernowShark]

Hi, thanks for the replies. I'm running Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit. I have RealTek HD Audio integrated into my Asus Maximus VIII Hero Alpha motherboard, which has the latest firmware updates and is connected to a large set of speakers, and I get sound just fine from every other game and program that's meant to have it. I actually have played LLtQ on this rig before, I've had the game for quite some time and only reinstalled it earlier. Rebooting seems to have no effect. I had sound the last time I played it, back in January. The only hardware changes since then are I've upgraded to a GTX 970 GPU and added additional SSD storage, neither of which I would imagine could suddenly result in a sound issue with just this one game. Skype isn't even installed, nor are any other video/audio messengers. I don't have any of your other games so far as I am aware, though I do have other RenPy based interactive novels, and the sound is working okay. LLtQ does show up in my sound mixer by the way, and it isn't muted - there's simply no sound.

[KernowShark]

I just downloaded the demo for Magical Diary: Horse Hall, seeing as it was free and after checking I do not own any other of your games. The sound in that works perfectly.

[KernowShark]

Okay, on a whim I tried experimenting setting the HDMI audio output to my monitor's inbuilt speakers as the default, rather than the external speakers connected to my motherboard's sound ports. And lo and behold, I suddenly get music from LLtQ. It doesn't seem to like RealTek HD Audio very much, but is happy to output through the NVidia HD Audio... I can't figure this out, as everything else is just fine with the speakers. I normally have the NVidia audio disabled in the control panel, because the speakers built into my monitor sound awful. Changing all my system audio settings and defaults every time I want to play LLtQ isn't optimal, so I'm hoping you have some other suggestions.

[spikycaterpillar]

I suspect that what's going on here is probably a compatibility issue between your sound drivers and the version of Ren'Py that LLtQ is built with. (If your mixer app shows what programs use sound and LLtQ isn't there, that's almost certainly the reason.) There might be some toggle somewhere in the sound driver settings that will fix it - IIRC one of our games had a problem that was fixed by disabling the vendor's fancy high-quality sound option and letting it go back to legacy mode.

The GTX probably actually DID come with new sound chip(s) of some sort, since HDMI monitors support sound.

(EDIT and you found the workaround while I was typing)

[KernowShark]

The audio on the GTX is normally disabled though, as I explained in my follow up comment. With further experimentation, though, I think I've solved it. My RealTek normally uses an Asus-made high-quality sound driver called Sonic Suite II. I disabled that, switching to the legacy RealTek driver, and wayhey! I get sound from LLtQ through my RealTek and the external speakers. It used to work, Sonic Suite II has been on this rig since I built it, but Sonic Suite has been updated since I last played LLtQ and apparently they no longer like each other. The fact remains that LLtQ is the only program on my entire system that refuses to work with it, which is baffling. But so long as I remember to turn Sonic Suite off, I should be okay now.

Thanks anyway.

[KernowShark]

Well, for now I'll just have to remember to switch from the Asus Sonic Suite II drivers to the legacy RealTek one whenever I play.

Thank you for your help. It's nice to have a dev respond so quickly (or at all for that matter), and I appreciate it, even though I ultimately had to figure it out for myself.

[spikycaterpillar]

We may be updating LLtQ to a newer Ren'Py in the future, in which case that will probably fix this sound bug; in the meantime, I suspect your workaround will fix similar bugs for other players. Thanks for your research!

It may be worth reporting it to Asus, I suspect they probably will want to fix Sonic Suite so it doesn't break older games.

[KernowShark]

Every time I've tried to report something to Asus in the past they've been less than helpful, but I'll email them anyway in the vain hope they'll do something about it. Asus' ROG gear is brilliant until it decides not to work, when troubleshooting it can be a pain in the hole, and Asus' support don't seem to want to know. In the meantime, I'll stick with switching to the legacy driver whenever I play LLtQ, and keep an eye out for any updates to the game in future. It must be a clash between the drivers and older Ren'Py versions as you say, because the four or five other games I have that use the engine seem not to have any issues.

[KernowShark]

On a side note, I saw The Royal Trap is on offer, and was so happy with your trying to help that I now own two of your games!