SOUND and gameplay feeling

**Nigrinus** · May 11, 2009, 08:05 AM

What is the problem with CA and the sound in this game?
I have experienced all the total war games and they were perfect from the sound. Totally bettlefield feeling from Shogun to Medieval 2...why is this not so in Empire?
I have to start from Vanilla unpatched...actually the sound threre was perfect...nearly...musket firing from a distance was fine, still there could be more screaming, and battle orders crying nice to her, from AI and from the players units, to get a more intense feeling of being in the middle of a battle, but it was fine till then. Then there came the patches...sound screwed up...sometimes no sound at all.
Now the great gameplay patch.
Sound works, BUT...
The musketsounds are afully silent. I can hear bullets whizzle and dead bodys drop into the snow and these sounds are louder than the musket firing?!! NO! I want to hear a lot of muskets actually firing, not just bulletflybysounds and people drop on the ground.
Although i must say the meelee sounds are better now more screaming and action is here, but please CA Tweak a little on the sounds...it just comes up with the right feeling and the sound was great everytime so far in previous total war games.

Anyone an opinion to that? Would like to read if more people confirm that.

Thanx and greetigs

Nigrinus

**Turbo** · May 11, 2009, 08:12 AM

For whatever reason, Empire has had a lot of problems with sound. At the time of release, the sound worked fine for some while others had nothing but problems. The successive patches have been more about getting the sounds to work than the immersive aspect to the game.

**AngraMainyu** · May 11, 2009, 09:13 AM

Agreed, you'd probably want to use some mods for weapon fx and marching drummers & pipers. I actually find sound pack that comes with Smoke & Blood Full 3.1 mod very nice.
Without it the musket sounds like some child's BB gun and music is if not horrible than totally uninspiring.

**Nigrinus** · May 11, 2009, 09:30 AM

I actually using sound mods, and modded the sound for myself by taking the best sounds and putting it alltogether., also using the drum and fife mod and smoke& bloodmod. It is just like there are some sounds that are too loud compared to other sounds, which is actually sounding weird right now.

**priam11** · May 11, 2009, 09:51 AM

The sound is much better with the latest patch (as I was one of those that had their sound fubar via an earlier patch). But there are cases where certain sounds are almost overdone in volume. I had the headphones on during a late night and I zoomed in on my 1st heavy rate while it released a broadside.

Pretty much crapped my pants

**Ightenhill** · May 11, 2009, 10:14 AM

I think there is an issue with the sound engine and the way it interacts with different drivers and devices... I note that I can zoom in on running lines of infantry and have them create that echoing sound in a swimming pool effect on one set up but have it sound fine on another....

**merka** · May 11, 2009, 10:43 AM

This was my prime dissapointment when the game came out (and trying the game).

If Medieval 2 was 8/10 on a sound scale (no awesome rock music or something

), Empire landed at 2/10. After patches, maybe 3.

Sounds like the drumbeat still crackle (while M2 played all sounds perfect), melee sounds is HORRIBLE and so poor it feels like a alpha version, not to mention the patches seem to have introduced a retarded-beyond-belief death sounds. It sounds like they're falling 20m and hitting pavement. Every. Single. Death. A cavalry charge is just... Wrong.