37 replies to this topic

[Tash]

File Name: Sounds of the Sword Coast
File Submitter: Tash
File Submitted: 21 Jul 2014
File Category: Miscellaneous Released Mods

This small mod for Baldur's Gate repairs various sound files in the game which suffer from audible compression artifacts or some degree of clipping. The original spell casting voices are especially affected and often unpleasant to listen to.
 
There are a few additional components, all of which attempt to improve the sonic experience of the game. Naturally, the mod is aimed at the enthusiasts of Baldur's Gate who still prefer to play the game as it was originally designed.
 
Consult the readme for more information about Sounds of the Sword Coast.
 
Note: This mod is only posted in the Baldur's Gate II section, as Spellhold Studios does not currently have an appropriate category for Baldur's Gate.
 
Update: The file uploader is out of order. Please download the latest version here.

Click here to download this file

Edited by Tash, 04 October 2015 - 10:30 AM.

[Tash]

Here are a few samples:
 
Priest Casting a Spell (Original)
 
The Same Priest Casting a Spell (But Fixed)
 
Melf's Acid Arrow Has Been Hurled (Original)
 
And Melf's Acid Arrow Again (But Fixed)
 
Chunked Death Sound Effect (Original)
 
Chunked Death for Sadists (Alternate)

Edited by Tash, 09 February 2015 - 12:16 PM.

[Tash]

Here are the changes in version 1.9:

• Redone "Tweaked Bow Combat Sound Effects."
• Slightly attenuated Spiritual Hammer completion sound effect.
• New component: "Restored Glyph of Warding Completion Sound Effect."
• New component: "Consistent Spell Casting Completion Sound Effects."

Edited by Tash, 05 March 2015 - 04:35 PM.

[Tash]

Phew. Version 2.0!

 

Alright, so what I did, I carefully put all the spell casting audio resources into a spreadsheet and analyzed any visible patterns and irregularities. (To my eyes) it turned out that some of the spells were messed up a little bit; they often used sound effects reserved for other spell casting schools. Especially spell expiration sound effects were totally random in most situations!

 

One thing that some spell designer(s) probably missed or forgot about is that Priest post-casting sound effects skip Illusion and start from Abjuration (EFF_P01) all the way to Alteration (EFF_P07). Naturally, this caused some mess-ups here and there. To make things even more complicated, BG2 added an eighth sound effect (EFF_P08) and assigned it to Alteration. This, in turn, shifted the original EFF_P07 to Necromancy. That's why some Priest spells sound weird in BG2, at least to my ears. For example, Cure Wounds seemed like an Alteration spell for somebody used to BG1. I'll have to take a look at Infinity Sounds as soon as possible.

 

This may have been a bad decision, but I've also brought a little more consistency to spell expiration sound effects. These audibly follow the standard order of Illusion - Alteration, but this isn't reflected in spell files at all! So, here's the pattern I used for the new version:

 

EFF_E01 - Illusion

EFF_E02 - Abjuration

EFF_E03 - Conjuration

EFF_E04 - Divination

EFF_E05 - Enchantment

EFF_E06 - Invocation

EFF_E07 - Necromancy (the audio file clipped badly, so I've fixed it)

EFF_E08 - Alteration

 

And all of these kind of fit their respective casting sound effects, so it makes more sense now. Everything is optional, of course, as a separate component.

 

Do enjoy    d( -.-)b

Edited by Tash, 31 January 2015 - 12:09 PM.

[Miloch]

Nice work. Judging from your comments, some of this might be actual fixpack material perhaps?

Edited by Miloch, 31 January 2015 - 01:27 PM.

[Tash]

Nice work. Judging from your comments, some of this might be actual fixpack material perhaps?

 

Hi Miloch,

 

To save your time: all of these are optional tweaks to the game. None of the things I patched prevent the player from finishing or otherwise enjoying the game in its vanilla state.

 

Who is it for?

- People who are aware of the sounds around them.

- Those who like sounds but dislike compression artifacts.

- Fellows who think that the game designers were too cool a bunch to have some kind of scrutiny over their work.

- Players who want to rely slightly more on their ears when spells fire off or expire; "Alteration is Alteration, not Necromancy."

 

In other words, these aren't critical bug fixes.

[Mad Mate]

Thanks Tash!
Will any of this go to Infinity Sounds, as it is one of my favorite mods for BGT?

[Tash]

Thanks Tash!
Will any of this go to Infinity Sounds, as it is one of my favorite mods for BGT?

 

I hope you'll like it . I'm working on Infinity Sounds right now!

[Tash]

I've restored a few ambient sound effects which were missing in some areas. They were often reported during TuTu installation, for example: here.

 

I'm also thinking of including Sam's fixed THUNDER3, following this discussion. Might as well wrap it all up, you know?

Edited by Tash, 01 March 2015 - 05:32 AM.

[Tash]

I could already see all those sneers, so I've changed the method of implementation (^^.) to area patching in v2.1b.

 

I've also changed the sound effects played in the abandoned cabin to match the surrounding area. Naturally, they will be played at a lower volume.

Edited by Tash, 01 March 2015 - 05:33 AM.

[Dakk]

I could already see all those sneers...

[Tash]

Sorry, I'm churning these out like a madman. I never knew I'd have so much time during this winter break! But this is the last incremental update for now, I promise. I wish I could simply remove all the previous litter...

Edited by Tash, 01 March 2015 - 05:33 AM.

[Salk]

Well, personally I am only too grateful for frequent releases.

 

Thanks for sharing!

[Tash]

I've been here for a while, but it only just occured to me that this is basically free storage, kindly provided by our Admins here, and that we all share it. So, it's probably not a good idea to machinegun everything. Forgive me, I'm new, and I'm still learning .

Edited by Tash, 10 February 2015 - 05:56 PM.

[Tash]

This is version 2.3:

I've spent some time learning more WeiDU. It was actually fun! Looks like I'm not as maths-dumb as I'd previously thought. I'd like to thank Mike1072 over at the Gibberlings3 for introducing arrays to me.

• Improved the code quite a bit; there isn't a single REPLACE_TEXTUALLY now. The bulk of my code relies on smart-patching, so compatibility is higher. Everything should be more readable, too.
• Merged all the separate spell patches into one component: "Consistent Spell Casting Sound Effects."
• Corrected Friends, Flame Arrow and Shadow Door spell casting schools.
• Corrected Protection from Evil (Innate) and Larloch's Minor Drain (Innate) sound effect parameters.
• Restored Dryad Teleport casting sound effect which is used by some NPCs, eg Tenya (same as Dimension Door).
• I've played through the whole game and the restored horse ambients didn't make much sense. I decided to swap one of the resources for a slightly more appropriate variant (only used once in the unmodded game), reduced their playback volume to fit the background better and added some pitch/vol variance so that they don't always sound the same. It's all a bit more lively now.
• Restored missing day/night ambients to houses, cabins and lodges clearly surrounded by wilderness. These include: Tenya's house, the fishing village, Aldeth's hunting lodge, the abandoned cabin west of High Hedge, Cloakwood Mines ground, the farmlands and the Treehouse in Cloakwood.
• Minor volume tweaks to the modified audio files.

Edit: I'll update the official submission once this version is confirmed to work without any issues. Updated.

Edited by Tash, 19 April 2015 - 09:25 AM.

[Tash]

Thanks for your interest! Here's a quick rundown:

 

Sounds of the Sword Coast is only for BG1.

 

Infinity Sounds is only for BG2/BGT.

 

Some of the changes have already been included in Infinity Sounds.

Edited by Tash, 22 April 2015 - 01:12 PM.

[Tash]

I've just learnt how to modify the original BG1 dialog.tlk-based creature soundsets through WeiDU, and I'm going to correct some of them. From what I've gathered so far, Horse.cre and Cow.cre both have unoccupied "Dying" slots and won't play proper sound effects -- these are now fixed.

 

What other creature or minor NPC soundsets need some finishing touches?

 

Oh, and I'm also thinking of boosting the volume of Tranzig's audio files as he's almost inaudible in the original game.

[Lollorian]

Is it possible to use all the stuff in this mod that infinity sounds does not contain by doing the following?

- install this into BG1
- use that BG1 install as a base for BGT
- profit????

Or is there a simpler way?