poseyjmac
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- Sep 13, 2003
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this can be helpful to both mappers and clients in hl2dm, because for clients, you may not be hearing all the sounds that are available in the custom map you are playing! and mappers of course want the sounds they place in their level to be hearable by all.
so after many tests, ive isolated the issue of looping ambient_generics not playing for some clients.
there is vital information about sounds in your level in the .cache file thats located in the soundcache folder of your maps folder. this .cache file is generated when you start a server with your map. if a client does not have this, he/she will NOT hear any ambient_generics you have that are constantly looping, whether they are 'playing everywhere' or hearable by radius. <- only these sounds are affected. ones that play and stop on timers or triggers aren't affected. once you have this .cache file, you're set, when you are a client on any server with that map, every looping sound will play.
remember that when you autodownload a map, you aren't getting this .cache file. you won't get it unless you start a server and generate it, or the mapper has it included in a redistributable archive that you download.
theres a mappers' solution, an end-user solution, and a developer solution(valve).
- the mappers' solution would be simply to distribute this .cache file with your map release
- the end-user solution would be to start a server with a map you want to play as a client first, so the game can generate this needed .cache file.
- the developer solution is that valve would make the client generate this same file when a client joins a game, in the same way its generated when you start your own listen server. (its either this or have the auto downloader download the .cache file, but the previous method would be quicker)
so, if you are playing custom maps on servers, start your own server, get that .cache file loaded, then you will hear all there is to hear in a map if they are looping ambient_generic entities. many of you already do this to check out new maps, so you don't notice anything, but for those who just auto-download maps when they join servers and never start a server, there is probably more that the mapper intended to be heard.
soundscapes are unaffected by this as far as i know, and generally in the future mappers should use these instead of ambient_generics for ambience. i realize this issue is very specific, but it especially affects those mappers who can't make custom soundscapes for the contest, but want looping ambience in their map to be heard by all. when you submit your contest entry( if you haven't already) you might want to include the .cache file. not sure if would do any good. but yeah
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and for mappers that don't want to rely on the .cache file for their ambience to be played all the time. there is a workaround. it involves a logic_timer and 2 copies of the ambient sound you want looped. for both copies, you start silent, and NOT loopable.
on the timer, start copy 1. then about .5 seconds(Depending on the clip) before copy 1 stops, start copy 2, so it appears seamless. with this method, clients don't need the .cache file to hear the ambience.
so after many tests, ive isolated the issue of looping ambient_generics not playing for some clients.
there is vital information about sounds in your level in the .cache file thats located in the soundcache folder of your maps folder. this .cache file is generated when you start a server with your map. if a client does not have this, he/she will NOT hear any ambient_generics you have that are constantly looping, whether they are 'playing everywhere' or hearable by radius. <- only these sounds are affected. ones that play and stop on timers or triggers aren't affected. once you have this .cache file, you're set, when you are a client on any server with that map, every looping sound will play.
remember that when you autodownload a map, you aren't getting this .cache file. you won't get it unless you start a server and generate it, or the mapper has it included in a redistributable archive that you download.
theres a mappers' solution, an end-user solution, and a developer solution(valve).
- the mappers' solution would be simply to distribute this .cache file with your map release
- the end-user solution would be to start a server with a map you want to play as a client first, so the game can generate this needed .cache file.
- the developer solution is that valve would make the client generate this same file when a client joins a game, in the same way its generated when you start your own listen server. (its either this or have the auto downloader download the .cache file, but the previous method would be quicker)
so, if you are playing custom maps on servers, start your own server, get that .cache file loaded, then you will hear all there is to hear in a map if they are looping ambient_generic entities. many of you already do this to check out new maps, so you don't notice anything, but for those who just auto-download maps when they join servers and never start a server, there is probably more that the mapper intended to be heard.
soundscapes are unaffected by this as far as i know, and generally in the future mappers should use these instead of ambient_generics for ambience. i realize this issue is very specific, but it especially affects those mappers who can't make custom soundscapes for the contest, but want looping ambience in their map to be heard by all. when you submit your contest entry( if you haven't already) you might want to include the .cache file. not sure if would do any good. but yeah
---
and for mappers that don't want to rely on the .cache file for their ambience to be played all the time. there is a workaround. it involves a logic_timer and 2 copies of the ambient sound you want looped. for both copies, you start silent, and NOT loopable.
on the timer, start copy 1. then about .5 seconds(Depending on the clip) before copy 1 stops, start copy 2, so it appears seamless. with this method, clients don't need the .cache file to hear the ambience.
