Sound design in SCE

[mister dog]

The misses gave me a headphone for my birthday last month, and it really helped me to get a proper impression of sound design in racing game as one might expect.

On that note; I find SCE to be an orgasm to the ears. People always praise R3R for its sound design, and with regards to engines and transmissions that is definitely deserved, but overall i think SCE is on par if not better.

- I have the impression there is way more diversity in the tyre sounds than in other games. Most games just take one sample for tyres squeal and that's it more or less (on/off), but in SCE i pick up a lot more diversity in the tyre sounds. The tyres make a wider range of different noises depending on how you abuse them and sometimes I have the impression you can even hear individual tyres at work when they are under a bigger load than the rest.

- Engines, gear changes, off throttle noises and the doppler effect in replays are all excellent. I guess the smaller car count gave the devs more room to perfect things and it shows. Even the rental kart sounds like the real thing.

- Proper wind noise in open cockpits! I have been wanting this in most other sims but it is always underdone, but here you really hear the wind hitting your helmet whilst increasing speed.

Anyway; might seem like a strange thread but i think Reiza deserves as much praise for their sound design as for their FFB, so that's why i wanted to spread the word in the hope they do not alter it too much for Automobilista

 

[Snajjder]

The sounds in SCE are definitely good, but I think R3E has the edge. The sound mix is better, more dynamic and the attention to detail is second to none. SCE sounds slightly cold and sterile in comparison, but it's not far off.

 

[BattleOvce]

SCE sounds slightly cold and sterile in comparison, but it's not far off

Thats true but still awesome. They feel studio like, steril as you said I was thinking how it could sound with slight echo effect. Maybe it could add 'something' to the sound.
I imagine it like recording sound of electric guitar amplifier. When you are listening to the live playing, the sound has 'something' what missing sound recorded by microphone. I hope that you understand me what I mean. Its like concert and mp3 studio record or mp3 live record, still huge difference

 

[mister dog]

The sounds in SCE are definitely good, but I think R3E has the edge. The sound mix is better, more dynamic and the attention to detail is second to none. SCE sounds slightly cold and sterile in comparison, but it's not far off.

Well i went back to R3R this evening, then played some AC and finally SCE again.

Consider me a fanboy of SCE now
All 3 games are good, i had fun with all 3 of them but when i end up with SCE it convinced me again this was the game that both feels and sounds superior. They added volume sliders in R3R so i had the chance to lower or amplify different effects which i found too loud or lacking, but even with the ability to tweak those different sliders in R3R, the sounds in Stock Car Extreme sound a bit more natural and convincing to me on default. I'm quite sure that everyone loves R3R mainly due to the excellent attention to detail with regards to the engines and transmissions (which make up most of the sound you hear when racing), but SCE does a better job mixing all SFX together in my humble opinion.

 

[Snajjder]

Thats true but still awesome. They feel studio like, steril as you said I was thinking how it could sound with slight echo effect. Maybe it could add 'something' to the sound.
I imagine it like recording sound of electric guitar amplifier. When you are listening to the live playing, the sound has 'something' what missing sound recorded by microphone. I hope that you understand me what I mean. Its like concert and mp3 studio record or mp3 live record, still huge difference

Yeah, they've captured the sound characteristics and acoustics of a cockpit better in R3E. The slightly muffled, in-a-box kind of sound, whereas in SCE it tends to sound a bit harsh and dry. Might come down to poor samples too.

I wish we could just combine the audiovisuals from Raceroom with the physics and FFB from SCE.

Well i went back to R3R this evening, then played some AC and finally SCE again.

Consider me a fanboy of SCE now
All 3 games are good, i had fun with all 3 of them but when i end up with SCE it convinced me again this was the game that both feels and sounds superior. They added volume sliders in R3R so i had the chance to lower or amplify different effects which i found too loud or lacking, but even with the ability to tweak those different sliders in R3R, the sounds in Stock Car Extreme sound a bit more natural and convincing to me on default. I'm quite sure that everyone loves R3R mainly due to the excellent attention to detail with regards to the engines and transmissions (which make up most of the sound you hear when racing), but SCE does a better job mixing all SFX together in my humble opinion.

SCE is my favorite racing sim, hands down, but I don't agree with you on the sounds though. To each his own.

 

[BattleOvce]

I am going to turn on my guitar amp modeling software and I edit sound of one car. I try to add there echo, delay, reverb... I try to combine them and I hope I will get better sound with more dynamics, space, more wet... Im going to pick Marcas

 

[Mark Breslin]

I feel I'm missing something or maybe as I'm getting on a bit, a bit deaf.!!
Because while I do agree that the sound generated IS impressive, I find SCE is lacking in audio cues. i.e Tyre noise!!? As its very hard to hear any cue when your tyres are loosing grip or in fact that you've locked your front, rear or all wheels.!!?
Instead visual cues (in my mirrors) are all that I can rely on showing plumes of smoke from the tyres!!!
If I'm wrong then please, point me in the direction of rectifying this issue, then I too can be in full agreement with the sound generated within this simulation!

 

[JeffL]

It seems to be an RF1 thing. I noticed the same thing in a couple of great RF1 mods. Be great if there was a solution to this.

 

[Will Mazeo]

Well in F Truck tire noise is loud, so loud it gets on my nerves

 

[JeffL]

But not in gsce? I was just wonderin' if it was settings I had wrong.

 

[roby13]

sliders like in gtr2 would solve everything

 

[Heitor Facuri Cicoti]

There's another thread about this somewhere else. You can adjust it in the .plr file.

Vehicle Scrubbing VolMult="0.0000610352"
Vehicle Scrubbing FreqGrip="-0.25000"
Vehicle Scrubbing FreqSpeed="0.00195"
Vehicle Skidding VolMult="0.0001220703"
Vehicle Skidding FreqGrip="-0.25000"

One of these...

 

[Mark Breslin]

There's another thread about this somewhere else. You can adjust it in the .plr file.

Vehicle Scrubbing VolMult="0.0000610352"
Vehicle Scrubbing FreqGrip="-0.25000"
Vehicle Scrubbing FreqSpeed="0.00195"
Vehicle Skidding VolMult="0.0001220703"
Vehicle Skidding FreqGrip="-0.25000"

One of these...

Thx for the info Heitor.
I had briefly played around with "...........Voltmult=", briefly but didn't noticed much difference. But I'll have a look about the forums.

 

[mister dog]

What's up with the engine sound of the 'Copa de Petrobas Marcas' cars though?
They sound a bit like i'm driving one of those Mazda rotary engines, there's this distinct sound there in all of the brands represented in that class.

 

[William Wester]

I don't drive them, it's like fingernails on a chalkboard irritating for me. Maybe they sound like this IRL, not something I like though.

 

[mister dog]

I don't drive them, it's like fingernails on a chalkboard irritating for me. Maybe they sound like this IRL, not something I like though.

I went and looked for some onboards on youtube and they don't have that 'rotary' whine at all, i suppose it's a sound effect that's way overdone and drowns out the normal engine sound.

 

[William Wester]

There is this: http://www.racedepartment.com/downloads/marcas-minor-sound-mod-v1-0.7252/ ... a "little" better.

 

[Renato Simioni]

I went and looked for some onboards on youtube and they don't have that 'rotary' whine at all, i suppose it's a sound effect that's way overdone and drowns out the normal engine sound.

As per the Youtube description:

Since 2013, all cars in our simulators are recorded from the real cars, using our own high-fidelity recording equipment, then mixed & tuned for best results with the game´s sound engine by our audio engineer.

This particular recording was done from André Bragantini´s Mitsubishi Lancer GT, on his run to 2nd place at Interlagos in July 21st 2013.

Onboard sounds will vary depending on the placing of the camera. Positioning and recording quality will have a big effect on accuracy. One may not enjoy how the Marcas engine sounds, but it´s fairly accurate
And I agree with the OP that Dom deserves all the appreciation in the world. The upcoming V10 is like nothing else

 

[mister dog]

As per the Youtube description:



And yeah, I agree that Dom deserves all the appreciation in the world. The upcoming V10 is like nothing else

Well i'll be darned. I was looking for Chevy Cruz vids on youtube but had to make do with WTCC examples. Can you explain what is different in the Brazilian version that it creates this 'bumble bee' sound?

Also even though you switch brands (Chevy, Toyota, Ford or Mitsu), they all have the bumble bee mixed in there.

And indeed, Dom is doing a great job these were the only cars so far i had doubts on, the rest all sound fantastic and so do the environmental sfx

 

[Will Mazeo]

If you watch the real life series you know the in game sounds are good enough from the TV camera that captures a "clean" sound. Amateur onboard audio is always "dirty" and some professionals too, especially WEC LMP1
That said: good lord I hate how these cars sound D: still better than an EV