Shogun 2 Bows sound like Cannons (still!)

[Vengeant]

I imagine some veteran Shogun 2 players are shaking their heads out there. "Another one of these threads!", and I can sympathize, but for a different reason: I have been dealing with this problem, often with temporary success, for a long time, and have read (as far as I know) all the threads out there which have anything intelligent to say on it. Nothing so far has fixed me for good. More than a year later, with varying temporary success and inevitable failure, I'm finally out of patience and I'm at a loss on how to finally and permanently fix the issue.

The first time I experienced (or even heard of) the issue was when I decided to try a mod (Darthmod). First battle I was in, I heard my archers firing with cannon sounds instead of the whoosh of arrows. From the very start, I went to Google and found a lot out there, most of them pointing back to the thread linking and introducing Sinfonia Semplice. I removed DarthMod (didn't like it anyway), used Sinfonia, and it seemed to fix my issue when I tested it, but it came back when I fired up a co-op game with a friend. Since then, this sound issue comes and goes as I try to fix and then test, fix then test -- often in weird ways (I've had it once where it sounded right on bow ashigaru but was broken on bow kobayas). I've read through tedious page after page of content in every thread I can find speaking intellligently on the topic, in the hopes of curing it for good.

In short, I'm hoping someone can help if I raise a topic for myself.

WHAT I HAVE DONE
My first attempt to solve the problem was to remove DarthMod, completely remove the game content and then reinstall the game back to pristine vanilla condition. This did restore the sounds to normal, for a time, but eventually it broke again when I went and got hold of the Assembly Kit + BoB and made my own unit stats mod for solo/multi with friends.

Since then, I'm stuck in a cycle of seeming to fix the sounds, and then the cannons come back. Short of removing the game and re-installing again, I've done every remedy I've seen out there. To be clear, I have never subscribed to any mod other than my own or Darthmod -- I've seen screenshots in some of these threads with people who have a crapton of these things in the list and I have to think the complexity of trying to figure out which one is causing the issue is impossible. If I apply the Sinfonia Semplice and un-check my mod, and check Sinfonia Semplice in the launcher (these are the only two in my list anyway), I have gotten the sounds to normalize until sometime later, usually the next time I play.

What the catalyst is, I haven't been able to figure out. I've tried leaving it alone, and I've tried just using my mod (which I prefer to vanilla, due to game balance edits I've made). I usually play with a friend cooperatively, but occasionally I'll have a solo game going. My friends who play -- and there are several -- all have experienced the issue when subscribing to one mod or other out there. Through all of this, the problem can sometimes be made to go away with a run of Sinfonia Semplice and then launching the game, but only temporarily, even if we don't subscribe to anything new or change anything. I've even asked my latest game partner to not play solo games in between our coop sessions to see if that's somehow changing it to cannons.

Shogun 2 Fan community, I'm counting on you :)


PS - By the way, I have long wondered if the whole reason this problem exists is because the game's DLC and expansions have added units to the database, and the modding tools were created prior to the release of these DLC/expansions and therefore did not take into account the additional unit and sound references that the DLC/expansions added. If I'm right, then the sounds meant for cannon units in the vanilla game may have been patched and moved around in the database since the release of the mod tools to allow for the additional clans and hero units packs, but the mod tools (written for a previous version of the game) stamp the cannon sound reference to an index in the database now assigned to bows. This would explain why everyone (as far as I have seen) who has this bows-sound-like-cannons problem has used a mod at least once.

[Destin Faroda]

The sound bug was introduced by CA in the last Shogun II patch and they don't care about it.
It appears whenever you use a mod that alters the units tables.
To fix it, you have to create a new sound table with Sinfonia Semplice which can be found on twcenter.net

[Nick Naughty]

I have only used one mod and that was 12 turns per year, no problems with any sounds, but I was concerned at the time.

I haven't tryed any other mods because they all seem to have the warning about sound issues, feels like the warning about nuts on food products even if there isn't any nuts.

[Spicy Lobster]

Originally posted by Nick Naughty:

I have only used one mod and that was 12 turns per year, no problems with any sounds, but I was concerned at the time.

I haven't tryed any other mods because they all seem to have the warning about sound issues, feels like the warning about nuts on food products even if there isn't any nuts.

Yea mods like DarthMod may ♥♥♥♥ you up, that´s what happened to me, other times they sounded like rifles instead of cannons, but i had found a fix later, so you dont to worry.

[Nick Naughty]

I was looking at the hattori cost reduction, then there was the warning about sound and I thought no.

[supertrooper225]

To be fair.....that is an amazingly awesome problem to have.

[Iceira]

has all also added the darthmod sound fix ? as he mention all steam user need,,,

[Vengeant]

Destin Faroda, I know about that :) It's in my original post. My point is that it doesn't fix me permanently, sometimes not at all. I cannot find a pattern that causes it to crop back up, either.

supertrooper225, I know what you mean, but after a while the novelty wears off and the annoyingly loud volleys when playing/enjoying the battles are grating.

[The_Yogi]

Exactly.
As per my observation, only mods that edits unit tables got scrambled sound

And its not only projectile voices, but also unit reports (I've encountered Onna Bushi sounds like men, Shogun 2 Boats reporting as Kasuga Steam Corvette)

Curiously, pre patch 15 Shogun 2 does not have the problem - at the time, no matter how many units you modded, the voice are okay. It was reportedly Napoleon that has the scrambled voice problem, as Sinfonia Semplice are originally made for that game.

Most of the time, Sinfonia Semplice only shuffles the problem to other units than really fixing it.

However, there are some mods that so far, the soundfix works perfectly. So far, Sekigahara Campaign internal, included-in-the-pack soundfix works, and that soundfix was of course made using Sinfonia Semplice.

Perhaps all the units table mods should be compiled into a single pack so the Sinfonia Semplice works? That's sadly isn't helping for modular modders as I do.

[Diamondeye]

There is a file that fixes the sound issue when using darth mod. A link is given where you download the darth mod. You must manually place that file in the proper place.
If you remove darth mod you must then manually remove that file.

[Diamondeye]

***You NEED also this Audio FIX***
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?p=12073038
(Repairs gun/bow/cannon sounds for some units)

From steam workshop

The file comes compressed so unzipping is required. The unzipped file is called "sounds_fixed.pack"

[Vengeant]

Thanks Diamondeye. I've seen this one before, and tried it as well. Isn't this for Darthmod? That thread seems like it is. I tried Darthmod only temporarily, more than a year ago.

In any case, I've tried it even without Darthmod and it doesn't seem to make any difference for me. Sadness.

[Destin Faroda]

Originally posted by Diamondeye:

The file comes compressed so unzipping is required. The unzipped file is called "sounds_fixed.pack"

That file was generated by sinfonia semplice and only works for Darthmod.

[The_Yogi]

Destin beats me to it. That particular soundfix is for Darthmod only - You have to use it with Darthmod and Darthmod only, with no additional unit-editing mods outside of Darthmod itself.
(Campaign and Battlemaps are okay)

[Vengeant]

Makes sense, and it is something I've wondered before -- thanks for confirming. Now to fix the problem, as I don't use Darthmod.

[Alan]

Same problem here - It's clear there isn't a fix. Darth mod fix dose not work.