Weapon Sounds: Remastered

[[DE]erichdigital]

Hi everyone,

I’m Erich, from the Warframe Sound Team. As sound designers, we are always looking for ways to make your play experience more visceral through audio. This year’s focus for us will be on remastering the sounds for many of the bullet-based and arrow-based weapons in-game, and I’m here to explain some of the changes that have already taken place, as well as what to expect in the future.

Our goal with the weapons remaster is to add more impact, energy, and clarity to weapon sounds while maintaining as much of their original character as possible. Additionally, we want to ensure that all weapons sound powerful on speaker systems small and large, as well as through headphones.
In last week’s PC update, the first of these remasters were added to the game. Below are before and after comparisons of the Braton, Lato and Paris:

 

Before the remaster, each time one of these weapons was fired it would play two sounds: the main shot layer and the mechanical layer. The main shot layer contained the punch and the power of the sound, while the mechanical layer contained its mechanical details. That’s a lot of audio information to convey with only two sound layers!
After the remaster, firing the weapon now plays three sounds: the main shot layer, the mechanical layer, and a separate punch layer. By adding a separate punch layer into the mix, we are able to remove some audio information from the old shot layer, giving greater focus, clarity, and energy to each layer in the overall sound. We also remastered the shot and mech layers to create a “pumping” effect when the weapon is fired, adding even more energy to the combined weapon sound.

This new approach has given us more control over how each layer interacts with echo in the environment, how the punch layer interacts with other sounds  - we can now use it to tell other sounds to play quieter, giving even more room in the mission’s mix for the weapon to “speak” - and creating a more organic sounding weapon by randomizing sounds in three layers versus the original two.

More weapon sound remasters will be coming with each update, so keep your ears and eyes open for when those changes take place. We hope you will enjoy them as much as we do!

Sincerely,

[DE]erichdigital

[Skythin]

It´s really nice to discover, how many details you have added to the game. The first impression from the game are "Wow" and when you take a closer look into the game, you´ll discover all the details and the hard work that is needed for that (and even more "Wow"). Keep it up!

 

And welcome to the forum, Erich. :)

[Valiant]

Praying you don't drastically alter the core of the Lato prime and Latron Prime's sounds

Love them both, especially Lato Prime D:

[GTX49]

Best of luck guys :D we are awaiting for these remasters 

[Skythin]

Just now, Naith said:

and Latron Prime's sounds

Nice that you mentioned it. I love the silenced sound of the latron prime aswell, keep it silenced and (please) change the weapon firing sound to zero, so that it is a true silenced weapon. :) 

[Tyrian3k]

Maybe I'm just bad at hearing nuances, but the two Paris ones sound exactly the same to me.

Edit: Okay after paying closer attention, I can hear a slight difference in the sound when fired.

Not something I'd notice if no one told me, though.

[AuroraSonicBoom]

Can't wait to hear what you'll be doing with Infested weapons.

[Thundervision]

Now this is some serious soundporn we got here, hahaha. Lovin' Lato & Braton's sounds

28 minutes ago, Skythin said:

Nice that you mentioned it. I love the silenced sound of the latron prime aswell, keep it silenced and (please) change the weapon firing sound to zero, so that it is a true silenced weapon. :) 

I'm in the opposite camp of Latron sounds, heheh, 'cause I was devastated when we got the new Latron sounds

Spoiler

Old but badass (even with re-used assets)

New but «phew»

Though, Primed version sounds OK-ish

 

 

To be fair, same goes for Gorgon as well. I remember DE changed its sound 'cause of: a) it was too loud, b) they changed the way sounds worked (to more layers).

But I still miss this badass RATATATATA indicator of sheit getting real (sounded heavy and serious):

...I wish we could get it back remastered with the same badassitude :c

 

[[DE]erichdigital]

26 minutes ago, Naith said:

Praying you don't drastically alter the core of the Lato prime and Latron Prime's sounds

Love them both, especially Lato Prime D:

Naith,

We love these sounds too! One of the main objectives of the remaster is to stay as true as possible to the original core character of each weapon. 

--[DE]erichdigital

[Valiant]

4 minutes ago, [DE]erichdigital said:

Naith,

We love these sounds too! One of the main objectives of the remaster is to stay as true as possible to the original core character of each weapon. 

--[DE]erichdigital

Awesome, good to know. Was slightly worried!

[Sunako.Kirishiki]

Lato sounds pretty awesome now.

[Chroia]

Thanks :)
btw, you're not on the forum's dev feed.

The Lato sounds amazing, the Paris' fire sound made my eyes pop (wonder what it'd sound like with earphones).
The only one I'm not sure remains true to the previous sound is the Braton. I lack the vocabulary for this, but: the new one sounds deeper, like maybe it's a higher caliber and with more echo from the barrel?
Not bad by any means, just not the same.

 

Looking forward to hearing more of this as it rolls out.

[Azamagon]

My quick opinion:

Paris - Hardly any difference

Lato - Sounds way better, no longer has the "pop pop pop" feel to it.

Braton - Sounds worse now, the old sound sounded way "meatier" and "beefier", imo.

[Darkmatt3r]

Noice

I dont think sound changes rolled out for vandal weps, my lato vandal sounds the same which i dont mind :D

[Egg_Chen]

The new Braton one grew on me, I like it (not heard the others in game yet). Appreciate the work you guys put in, I do think the sound overall in Warframe is awesome, and many other games I play feel lifeless in comparison.

Just please do the Braton Prime justice, it is basically my go to weapon for any mission, don't let me down!

[tnccs215]

Are you considering doing a similar upgrade to melee sounds?

Personally (so take it as you will) I find melee itself seems much more lacking in audio feedback (and feedback in general) than guns and bows, and it demands it so much more (since, technically. You are hitting the enemy directly, not through indirect means such bullets).

[Khunvyel]

Sound is always such a subjective and touchy topic. For example, I really enjoyed the Braton "rattle" but I do like the new sound it got. That being said, I'm happy the Braton Prime stayed as it is so far because it definitely feels like having more firepower in my hands than with the regular Braton.

I understand the decisions for sound changes, and as much as I was one of the people who heavily criticized the Gorgon sound, it got the iterations it required in the end. But here are a few things I hope to get addressed in this batch of overhauled weapon sounds:

1. Please prioritize weapons according to the ones that are the most "broken", soundwise. Some of the weapon sounds have a terribly delayed echo. I think that was part from the batch of where the sound team recorded live fire sounds including said "reverb". Examples: Akstiletto. The reverb is terribly loud compared to the shot and in addition to that it sounds like some guy always makes an "unnnnnnh" sound. That's pretty absurd. Another example is weapon sounds that are simply not fitting. Magnus for example, or Snipetron. They sound like airsoft guns. *pfwish, pfwish*
2. Weapons with "silenced" sounds should also have a smaller AI detection range. Everything else feels wrong and doesn't make sense, and you confuse the players by things that are not. I hope in time we also get an actual sound detection range for guns that is visible in the ingame stats, but I digress.
3. Reverb should be part of the environment, not the weapon sound. If you add extra reverb that comes with the weapon, it so far is always clipped with the next shot. I understand why, but again, weapon built-in reverb simply isn't good. Some weapons simply have way, way, way too much standalone reverb as it is. It feels extra wrong when you stand in a tiny room, and it sounds like you fire the gun on a hill. 
4. Weapons that will be used by AI enemies as well should get a treatment that is similar to "common" and "uncommon" to have a sonic awareness for enemies that should be prioritized. For example, on the Grineer side, guns like the Karak / Grakata and Hind will dominate a certain soundscape, so you want to have the "heavier" weapons stick out from that. This is what the old Gorgon sound did so well. You immediately heard it. The new one, even with all the iterations never caught up to the instantaneous recognition value, albeit coming close.
5. Flyby effects should be revisited. Something that is more dangerous and likely to kill you when flying by should alert you more than regular gunfire does. Those sniper shots go unnoticed a lot, not to mention those rockets. You see the impact more than you hear it. I remember old Kela's launcher. That had a fantastic aural experience when it comes to fly-by awareness.
6. It would be pretty neat if the "silencer mods" would actually do something to the gunsound.

An "orchestra of gunfire" should be treated as such, like mixing music. Everything needs to have it's place in the mix, so it doesn't matter how good something sounds individually when it simply shares too many frequencies and soundscapes with other instruments. Similar, a staccato of transients will be blended together just as much if not treated with frequency range emphasis.

Edit: You did the same error with the new Braton sound. built-in Reverb at only the last shot, the rest being chopped off and not audible. Also the problem with Paris is that the issue with it more sounding like someone push-blowing into a tube still isn't fixed. Curb those "hollow" frequencies and turn down the length of it to make it feel more like an arrow that goes loose, not someone blowing darts through a tube at someone.

[(PSN)ThatPersonInMars]

@[DE]erichdigital Please give new firing sounds to Soma prime and Burston prime, their current firing sounds are like a plastic weapon toy

[Azamagon]

If I could chime in on a weapon I personally think needs a better firing sound: Dex Sybaris.

Everything statistically about the Dex Sybaris is superior to the regular version, but the sound of the Dex is really weak, flat and "tinny". It sounds like a slashproc, but more... annoying. The firing sound reminds me, for some reason, of someone shutting a thin metal door.

Then we have the regular Sybaris, which sounds more like a proper rifle.

Allowing us to swap sounds on weapons (within a weapontype ofc, so you can't swap sounds between a Braton and a Stradavar, but you can swap a Braton Prime's sound with a regular Braton etc) also seems like a good idea, and would help in the case of stuff like the Sybaris mentioned above. I mean, why just customize stats and looks, why not audio too? :)

[Yaerion]

I love to hear changes to sounds, it's like a breath of fresh air. You feel that something changed, the game experience is somehow new, but you don't know why... Until you find out that it comes from those fancy new sounds. It's like magic sometimes.

I send many thanks to the team for the dedication on improving all of these details in the game. They don't always get as much attention (from us) as other aspects of the game (looks heavily at visual design), but your work & efforts are really appreciated.

 

Does this ongoing-remastering of all the weapons soundsalso concerns the sounds of projectiles hitting different kinds of surfaces? (Solid ice, metallic, hollow metallic object, snow, water, soil, etc) Or is it a separate thing that you'll consider on its own later eventually?

Anyway, keep the awesound level, and have a great day!

[taiiat]

in favor of the three Weapons adjusted so far, added extra details to the sounds, which makes them more interesting to listen to.

and as always Firing Sounds and Et Cetera is more stuff that is a good candidate for monetization - like idle poses or 'Armor' pieces, wide arrangements of options that let one choose preferences.
for sounds, any options you'd have would be made for that Equipment ofcourse, making a Soma sound like a Hek would be pretty annoying to listen to, Et Cetera. but can still provide various options for Players to purchase... that have different styles and feels, but still keep with the 'theme' or 'character' of that piece of Equipment.

[Robert_Cop_2]

8 hours ago, [DE]erichdigital said:

Our goal with the weapons remaster is to add more impact, energy, and clarity to weapon sounds while maintaining as much of their original character as possible.

I don't mind a complete overhaul actually, especially on the snipetron, prisma gorgon and paris prime while charging the arrow.

[PopeUrban]

Disagree with the posters floating the idea of sound customization. Between skins and coloration it can be very difficult to pick out the primary differences between weapons already. This, combined with the speed of the average session of warframe makes it extremely difficult to identify weapons that don't have exotic ordinance.

This is important in conclave for obvious reasons (You literally have a loading tip instructing players to learn conclave weapon sounds) but it's also important in coop. Being able to tell the difference, in terms of audio, between the guy using a soma and a guy using a braton is pretty important moment to moment information, and audio grounds a lot of the player's spatial awareness in the chaos. Learning what those weapon reports are influences decisions. If I hear the guy next to me is wielding a soma, and I see him get mobbed by infested, I know that he's in for a lengthy reload and I might want to cover him for a few seconds. If that guy is wielding a braton, I'm reasonably sure he can just slide or juke long enough to finish his reload, and I can cover a different enemy vector. If I hear the cycling sounds of certain launchers, its going to influence my decision whether or not to pass in front of the guy wielding it, etc.

For audio to be a useful cue, it has to be consistant. Allowing people to swap around weapon audio makes using audio for information about your allies much more difficult in an extremely chaotic playfield. It isn't uncommon that come combination of gunfire, weapon effects, and people's ridiculously colored warframe effects obscure visibility to a degree that you're relying on audio for orientation within the environment.

[(PSN)RenovaKunumaru]

Cool. These additions will really help the immersion

[Khunvyel]

1 hour ago, PopeUrban said:

Disagree with the posters floating the idea of sound customization. Between skins and coloration it can be very difficult to pick out the primary differences between weapons already. For audio to be a useful cue, it has to be consistant.

While I generally agree with you on the fact that people should not be able to swap out sounds, I don't understand why this counterpoint keeps cropping up, as it is not thought through. Why would it occur to nobody else that these customizations could be local only? So if you modify your Opticor sound, but I don't, then only you get to hear it. To me it would sound just like the original. Another question would be if these sound changes would also affect the same weapons that enemies have. If that was the case I would actually consider swapping out gun sounds of things I don't even use so I can make them out better on the enemy side of things. But even that would just be outsourcing a problem to player decisions while milking their wallets and I do think there are much better ways to gain income.

Again, I will keep disagreeing with everyone who wants to customize their weapon sounds but not on the basis of "unable to hear crap" but rather because these things simply should not happen. The sound of a gun is based on it's design and the ammo it is firing. In order to customize a sound, one would require to physically modify the gun. Which is why the only kind of sound alteration I would welcome is the one I previously mentioned, where a "hushed" gun actually changes the sound to be more suppressed and softer. Maybe even other extremely subtle changes could indicate the one or the other mod that is inside a given gun, but that is just a wild thought and had no more thought applied to it. Even for that there should be an option in the audio menu that would disallow custom sounds like that. And while people argue "if you want that option, why are you categorically against custom sounds?" I just repeat my previous point. Gunfire changes don't come from nowhere. Sounds of tangible weapons is based on tangible physics. If you create a Whip that draws it's energy from the Void and has it's properties and damage based on the wielders Energy levels and other stats? Sure, go nuts with sound options. Magic things get magic changes.

Another thing where I want the sound to be more layered is when you actually use different properties of the gun. The charged sound of a bow should not be equal to the uncharged one. The only thing that changes with the current Paris iteration is the loudness of the "release" sound, which in my opinion is not enough, as it also doesn't reflect how bows behave in the real world.

Another area where I would totally see an option for more sound layers is within Warframe abilities. If you use an Augment, there could well be a slight alteration to the sound. Simply because it isn't the same skill any more. Of course, here too, should be the option to disable that.

But then again what am I talking about. Do we even hear the sound over our friends talking via VoIP? *just kidding*