Footsteps: Clawed and metal feet

[KasparoVv]

 

At 1:45am GMT a patch was pushed to test footstep sounds.

 

Among the bugs were ideas, and here are a few. I'll keep the scope of this post limited.

 

I haven't looked too deep into the code, but this suggestion contains two parts: a 'volume flag', and sound type-- both dependent on each other. You'll see why.

 

I suggest 'clacky' sounds for organics with bare, clawed feet-- also drones.

I suggest 'clanky' sounds for players with metallic (read as: prosthetic, borg with actual legs, or IPC)

Perhaps a specific sound to be shared between wheelchairs/wheeled vehicles/tugs and borgs like the landmate engiborg and the mopgear rex janiborg who don't use legs to move.

 

As for players with a mixture of organic and mechanical limbs, I propose either the mechanical sound override the sound their feet would make depending on which limb's got the greater volume flag value. i.e. bare clawless feet are the quietest, clawed bare feet slightly louder, prosthetics/borglegs loudest.

OR a mixture of the sounds with the volume decreased if more than one limbtype is detected (a mix of organic/nonorganic). I feel that clawless and clackyclawed feet sounds wouldn't need too much of a volume drop, but this all depends on the sound design.

 

That's all.

 

[saywat_the_15th]

 

Jackboot sounds alone are driving me insane.

But this could be kinda cool, needs a mute button in the menu if added though.

 

[NTSAM]

 

Jackboot sounds alone are driving me insane.

But this could be kinda cool, needs a mute button in the menu if added though.

 

Do you mean footsteps in general cuz I thought footsteps got merged after some controversy with the enable/disable steps thing

 

(Yet again I only look at the github from time to time so fuck if I know)

 

[saywat_the_15th]

 

Jackboot sounds alone are driving me insane.

But this could be kinda cool, needs a mute button in the menu if added though.

 

Do you mean footsteps in general cuz I thought footsteps got merged after some controversy with the enable/disable steps thing

 

(Yet again I only look at the github from time to time so fuck if I know)

 

I dunno man, i never look there. What i meant was that if more walking sounds were added i would lose my sanity. Jackboots and clownshoes are annoying enough ;_;

 

[Professor Cupcake]

 

+1 for differing footstep sounds based on footwear and/or leg anatomy.

 

Though it's worth stating that footwear should always override the shoeless foot sound. Kinda obvious, but surprisingly easy to overlook.

 

[Professor Cupcake]

 

So this thread re-invigorated my sound design side, and I started thinking about producing footstep sounds for various things on SS13. Here are my notes so far:

 

 

FOOTSTEPS

 

-Footstep sounds ONLY play when on "run". Walking is silent.

 

Materials:

 

-Wood

-Desk?

-Plank?

-Actual wood flooring?

-Record some sounds of creaky floorboards too?

-Metal

-An actual sheet of metal?

-Some metal bending/creaking?

-Rock

-Concrete/rock outside should do, but may have problems with noise

-Pebbles being kicked around?

-Carpet

-Actual carpet?

-Clothing, e.g. dressing gown

-Sound of things brushing over carpet?

-Kitchen/bathroom/whatever tiles

-Actual kitchen tiles

-Possibly just borrow a single tile

 

Unshodden feet:

 

-Human (also the same for greys, shadow people, and the default if not already set)

-Generally a dull, blunt thud, sometimes accompanied by a "slap" of the skin, depending on the flooring

-Possibly just record me actually walking on various materials?

-Tajaran/Vulpkanin (probably silent)

-Footstep itself is silent, but floors can still sometimes make sound (e.g. creaky floorboard)

-Unathi

-Claws tapping on floor, possibly a slight scrap over it too, in addition to the dull thump of the actual flesh hitting the floor.

-Possibly use Freeway's claws?

-Probably not Simba's, though.

-Use my nails?

-Search house for vaguely claw-esque items and try them.

-Combine claw sound with human footstep sound to produce final.

-Skrell, and other such slimey types

-A wet slap, with a little squelching

-Washing-up liquid

-Kidan

-The sound of insect skittering

-Edit the "squelching" of above to sound like a creaking exoskeleton

-Pins

-IPC/Cybernetic

-Metal feet, but otherwise nothing too fancy. Possibly some acoustic effects from any internal cavities on the cybernetic limb.

-Find something metal and use that? Like a wrench, maybe?

-Cybernetic limbs are also part plasic - so maybe find some thick plastic container to represent a plastic casing?

-Vox

-Vox are hyperactive, therefore maybe have 2 or 3 steps for each tile moved.

-Similar to the Unathi one, but without the dull thump - just claws.

 

Footwear:

 

-(Jackboots and clown shoes can be skipped, as they are already present)

-Standard shoes (also the default if not set)

-Just use some actual shoes. I have plenty available. Canvas ones might be best, as that is what the shoes appear as in-game

-Dress shoes

-Use my fancy boots?

-Galoshes

-Use my boots?

-Sandals

-Depends on what the sandals are actually made of.

-EITHER use some actual sandals (if they are rubber-soled),

-OR use a block of wood (if they are wooden)

 

Extra:

 

-Xenos

-Combination of a heavier footfall and the unathi claws?

-Different sounds for different castes? (drones would have lighter footsteps than the queen, for example)

-Cyborg

-Relatively quiet servomotor sound, combined with the unshodden cybernetic sound.

-Don't bother making a different sound for each sprite - just not worth it.

-Maint. drone

-Metallic skittering.

-Might be able to "borrow" some of the Morrowind sounds for this; they would be perfect. Probably not, though.

-Pins?

-Nails?

-Some other sort of tool?

-Spiders (& 'lings)

-Skittering

-Possibly modify the Kidan sound, making it faster (for the 6 extra feet...)

-Spess carp? (they don't have feet... and they float... so, probably not)

-No.

-Space ninja should NEVER have footstep sounds, obviously

-Possibly also mime?

-Hoof sounds for hoofed mammals

-I don't even know where to start with this

-On the bright side, this one set of sounds covers like, 10 different critters.

-Adorable chicken footstep sounds? (probably not worth it)

-Like the minecraft ones?

-Hardsuit

-Heavy metallic "clomp"

-A (much) heavier version of the cybernetic sound?

 

(For context: Freeway is my dog and Simba is my cat)

 

Looking for suggestions/additions, gonna probably have a go at producing some of these in about 4-5 hours from now. Fully expecting to not be able to produce all of them to an acceptable quality, but hey, if I manage at least one I'm happy.

 

Quality might be a little low, especially since I have no studio or really any sort of soundproofing available to me, so I'm gonna have to remove any background noise in post, but it should be good enough for SS13 (... that kinda sounded like a subtle dig at it. It was not meant to.)

 

[Plotron]

 

Quality might be a little low, especially since I have no studio or really any sort of soundproofing available to me, so I'm gonna have to remove any background noise in post, but it should be good enough for SS13 (... that kinda sounded like a subtle dig at it. It was not meant to.)

Even if we record it using quality condenser microphones (stereo or mono), the sounds may not fit the game, considering that with proper microphone technique it's possible to get some really realistic and immersive material. And you don't even have to break the bank. Even budget gear like Steinberg UR22 + AT2020 combo is pure magic in stereo. That would not mix well with generic shit we have at the moment.

When it comes to my input, I doubt I'll have enough time/opportunities to record anything, considering that this gear belongs to my friend (we picked it together). And as I said, there's no guarantee it would mix well at all.

 

I mean - most of the sounds we have are like... royalty free? Oh, that's an idea! Why not get the sounds online?

 

[Professor Cupcake]

 

Quality might be a little low, especially since I have no studio or really any sort of soundproofing available to me, so I'm gonna have to remove any background noise in post, but it should be good enough for SS13 (... that kinda sounded like a subtle dig at it. It was not meant to.)

Even if we record it using quality condenser microphones (stereo or mono), the sounds may not fit the game, considering that with proper microphone technique it's possible to get some really realistic and immersive material. And you don't even have to break the bank. Even budget gear like Steinberg UR22 + AT2020 combo is pure magic in stereo. That would not mix well with generic shit we have at the moment.

When it comes to my input, I doubt I'll have enough time/opportunities to record anything, considering that this gear belongs to my friend (we picked it together). And as I said, there's no guarantee it would mix well at all.

 

I mean - most of the sounds we have are like... royalty free? Oh, that's an idea! Why not get the sounds online?

 

My past experience with royalty-free sound banks is mostly just trawling through so many things, finding maybe 1/10 of the sounds I'm looking for and then just giving up and producing something really shitty but more fitting myself.

 

... Although I did just remember that the Counter-Strike footstep sounds have been used all over the place, and nobody has been punished for it. They're not bad sounds; perhaps those could be used for some of them (i.e. the human ones)?

Problem there is we'd have trouble keeping consistency.

 

[mrturkeytoe]

Perhaps Taj/Vulp should have a medium volume carpet and quiet claw effect when barefoot?