Why are there still no ambient noises?

[Sunbather]

They already introduced two full-blown DLCs and yet there aren't even ambient noises / environmental sounds in the base game.
What kind of immersion should that be?!

[Sir Duckyweather]

There's crickets chirping at night, but that's about all I can think of off the top of my head. What kinds of things would you like to see hear?

[Sunbather]

The crickets are tied to the music, they are actually baked into the music. It is like with the waves in the very beginning. At first there were no noises at all save for my footsteps. Then the music kicked in and with it the waves.
Hands down, I have never seen such a poor implementation of ambient noises.

What I want to hear is what I see on the screen. When I see a tree shaken by the wind, I want to hear it right then. And I don't want it to be some scripted thing but 3D audio that actually travels.
Just like literally every other game does it.


Edit: Sorry for the rant but the lack of sound design acutally destroys the whole game for me which is sad because it seems like a great game.

[Sir Duckyweather]

Originally posted by Jeb:

The crickets are tied to the music, they are actually baked into the music.

Are you sure? I could've sworn I still can hear crickets after I pause the game but the music has stopped.

Originally posted by Jeb:

Edit: Sorry for the rant

Nono, I actually appreciate the detailed explanation. Thanks. I agree that it would be interesting to have more auditory feedback from the environment for immersion.

[Sunbather]

Maybe there are crickets sounds in the game. But even then they are just a single audio track and it doesn't matter whether or not you are standing near some crickets.
I still can't get over it that not even the waves crushing against the shore make noises in Outward...

However, this debacle made me buy Vintage Story. A much better game and the immersion is through the roof (despite the voxel graphic which I normally despise).

[BudaKhan]

Is this really the best thing you found to whine about regarding Outward? You're focused on the wrong things about Outward if this is the case.

[Sunbather]

Dude, you are free to state what you think the biggest problem is. For me it is the complete lack of ambient noise. That's it and that's how I feel. Don't come here to whine about me having a different opinion than you have.

Gosh, please let me have just one thread here without some cave troll showing up.

[koan]

Why start a discussion in the discussion forums when you'll just get mad when people disagree with you?

[Waldo1090]

I think you need to look at your audio settings or turn your volume up. When I was playing last, walking through Enmerkar Forest, there were plenty of ambient noises. I could here insects chirping, birds chirping, etc.

[Sunbather]

There are only audio settings for effects and music.
Maybe those ambient noises you speak of are only produced for some places (like the said Forest). More likely, however, is that those ambient noises are embedded in the music track that is scripted to play when you walk through this specific forest.
When you turn the music volume to zero in that forest, do you still hear ambient noises?

[Sceles]

Sounds that have no actual sources are not immersive, only distracting.

[Xritsken]

This was made by 10 people by the way, the fact you got anything is pretty amazing.

[Sunbather]

@Sceles: Exactly! Especially when they not only have no sources but are insonsistently embededded in a music track.

@Xritsken: Just wow! How lazy is that argument? And how stupid? Valheim was made by 5 people and it just came out and it has overall better production value than Outward already; Mist Survival was made by 1 guy and it has better sound design (and tbh overall production value) than Outward; Vintage Story which I bought recently is also made by less than 10 people and has actual ambient noise with actual sources.

[Erei]

Originally posted by Sunbather:

@Xritsken: Just wow! How lazy is that argument? And how stupid? Valheim was made by 5 people and it just came out and it has overall better production value than Outward already; Mist Survival was made by 1 guy and it has better sound design (and tbh overall production value) than Outward; Vintage Story which I bought recently is also made by less than 10 people and has actual ambient noise with actual sources.

And Valheim have no story, no quests, no factions, no cities, etc... Not that you care, since all the titles you mentioned are survival, which Outward isn't. It's a RPG with survival aspect.
Doesn't mean it's a worse game, it's just a different game, and they focused on what they wanted (survival and sandbox), while outward focused on their vision (quests and RPG mechanics).

Now, I agree that the ambiant noise is lacking, and like 2-3days before this post I was actually thinking about it. Which is suprising since you can find ambiant noises packages for cheap. They are not the best ever, and the player will obviously have heard them before, but they are better than nothing.


Anyway, it's obvious you came here to troll, picked on something, then made a mountain out of a molehill. Outward is janky at times, and it sure is obvious it's low budget on many aspect, but there are good stuff in it. I mean, I played oblivion, skyrim and morrowind so much I can't anymore. And there aren't many games to scratch that itch.

[Sunbather]

For ♥♥♥♥'s sake, what is it with the people nowadays? How is it trolling when I say that sound design is very important to me and here it is not only bad but missing entirely?! I just stood there in Vintage Story right now and listened to the rain for a bit. Then I asked myself: what if I am going into a cave? Will the sound suddenly stop? Turns out, it slightly decreases and gets muffled the further you go into the cave. Marvelous!

Anyway, it's obvious that you can't think that other people don't like a game because of a reason you don't seem to be important at all.

[Erei]

That's because you came as aggressive with no opening to discussion. Your posts feel like you are angry against the dev/game, and just want to be mean. It doesn't feel you have a point, just an excuse to pick a fight. Such things NEVER amount to anything but escalation.


Now, if you came and said ambient noises are important to you, and the lack of them in the game was an issue, that would have been both constructive and open to discussion. Heck, in fact I would even have joined you and agreed.