The Sound Problem - Guild Wars Guru archive powered by Guild Wars Legacy

Omega X

Ninja Unveiler

Join Date: Jun 2005

Louisiana, USA

Boston Guild[BG]

W/Me

18 Mar 2006 at 19:54 - 161

Quote:

Originally Posted by tlr1293

I have this theory: if only a few of the many, many thousands of people playing complained about something, and then only a few times and let it be...nothing gets done, or if the problem is noticed by the developers, high priority is not assigned to it. On the other hand, if a whole crap load of players complain, and do so until the cows come home...the problems really gets noticed and a higher priority is set on it...if nothing else, then to shut everyone up.

That is the problem. Anet already knows about the problem and is trying to fix it. But NOOOO, people don't want to hear that bit of good news. They just keep posting the same thing over and over like a broken record.

Have you submitted any hardware info to Anet?

Have you described the problem exactly?

Have you even TRIED to troubleshoot your OWN system first?

I haven't seen much of anykind of info like that. All I see is "the sound cuts" "its distorted". "Anet needs to put in a revert switch."

None of that is helpful to anyone.

Anet is NOT going to revert the sound engine if it can be fixed. Posting weak descriptions will not help them to fix it.

koa_Torqual

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Mar 2006

London

W/Mo

18 Mar 2006 at 19:56 - 162

As the friendly Omega indicated, there is also a thread about this in IGN, so to save time, here's the response I got from Gaile Gray which is pretty encouraging. The main thing is that ANet acknowledge the problem and are working on it.

We do continue to have problems with sound, and are incorporating changes right now that should fix those. With the work on the FPE, we are sure that the changes will be rolled out in one of the builds sometime next week. We're sorry for the inconvenience, and please do try toggling to the center (default) level or lower. The right-hand side is for audio hardware acceleration in Guild Wars, and it's really not essential and may be causing some of the glitches that you're experiencing. In the short term, please give the toggle a try and we'll continue to work on fixes for the bugs in the long term.

Thanks for your patience!

So I now agree with the charming Mr Omega, who despite a lack of social skills, makes a good point - that since the problem is 'officially' acknowledged and a patch is being developed, we might as well wait for it and then give feedback once it's happened.

Nater

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Nov 2005

Illusion Of Skill

W/

18 Mar 2006 at 21:14 - 163

I wonder if the sound problem is really even Anet's fault. I'm more inclined to think its the programmers at nVidia, Creative Labs, etc that cause the problems, as they tend to go outside of DirectX specs to gain some bragging rights for speed increases and whatnot.

Wasn't the texture problem more the fault of video drivers than guildwars.exe?

EternalTempest

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Jun 2005

United States

Dark Side Ofthe Moon [DSM]

E/

18 Mar 2006 at 21:24 - 164

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nater

I wonder if the sound problem is really even Anet's fault. I'm more inclined to think its the programmers at nVidia, Creative Labs, etc that cause the problems, as they tend to go outside of DirectX specs to gain some bragging rights for speed increases and whatnot.

Wasn't the texture problem more the fault of video drivers than guildwars.exe?

DS3D is a set standard (universal, been around for a long time) but setting up in game can be challenging. When you’re trying to do 3d position’s off of two speakers to create "virtual" 3d how it works with your graphic's engine and location of sounds, etc it could take a lot of tweaking. Since DS3D is not used that much (from the games I have - very large collection) It could be driver related.

Unlike video cards, audio tech is very stale / dead with Creative being top of the world with no real completion. In the past there was Aureal and A3D (at the time IMHO A3D > EAX) but two business mistakes and constant law suits from creative killed them.

Only way I see innovation in 3d sound is Microsoft starts creating there own and pushing it with DX10, 11, etc at this point in time.

The next "major" completion could be nvidia soundstorm... I say could because it’s doubtful they would make this a stand alone card instead of being on motherboard's only.

Since they are pushing 3d sound where it's not been the past, making sure you have up to date sound card driver's is getting to as improtance as up to date video card drivers with guild wars.

Nater

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Nov 2005

Illusion Of Skill

W/

18 Mar 2006 at 21:30 - 165

Amen on the A3D. I used to have a Turtle Beach Montego II, Unreal was..well..Unreal sounding at the time

Anyways, looks like this thread has served its purpose, and is just going to turn into a flame war. We've all heard from Gaile, we know the fixes are coming.

In the meantime just move the audio slider back and forth once or twice after you logon and it'll more then likely fix your problems temporarily.

Omega X

Ninja Unveiler

Join Date: Jun 2005

Louisiana, USA

Boston Guild[BG]

W/Me

19 Mar 2006 at 00:39 - 166

Quote:

Originally Posted by koa_Torqual

As the friendly Omega indicated, there is also a thread about this in IGN, so to save time, here's the response I got from Gaile Gray which is pretty encouraging. The main thing is that ANet acknowledge the problem and are working on it.

We do continue to have problems with sound, and are incorporating changes right now that should fix those. With the work on the FPE, we are sure that the changes will be rolled out in one of the builds sometime next week. We're sorry for the inconvenience, and please do try toggling to the center (default) level or lower. The right-hand side is for audio hardware acceleration in Guild Wars, and it's really not essential and may be causing some of the glitches that you're experiencing. In the short term, please give the toggle a try and we'll continue to work on fixes for the bugs in the long term.

Thanks for your patience!

So I now agree with the charming Mr Omega, who despite a lack of social skills, makes a good point - that since the problem is 'officially' acknowledged and a patch is being developed, we might as well wait for it and then give feedback once it's happened.

Oh so now you develop intelligence? How interesting.

I've been posting patience notices until even I began to get impatient with the babies here. But that quote is a valid answer. (It should get sticked to avoid spam)

Omega X

Ninja Unveiler

Join Date: Jun 2005

Louisiana, USA

Boston Guild[BG]

W/Me

19 Mar 2006 at 00:46 - 167

Quote:

Originally Posted by EternalTempest

Only way I see innovation in 3d sound is Microsoft starts creating there own and pushing it with DX10, 11, etc at this point in time.

I doubt that they would since most games now use Dolby Digital processing. I guess Anet didn't go with the double D is that they might have to pay royalties to use its APIs and what not. Not to mention that it could affect those who don't have a DD capable sound chip(even though they should).

Though the way Microsoft is trying to revamp the PC gaming market, anything is possible.

Nater

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Nov 2005

Illusion Of Skill

W/

19 Mar 2006 at 07:42 - 168

Chill. Thread --->Chill.

Gaile has spoken. All be cool

I love you man.

X-Bomb

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Jul 2005

Black Widow [Wi] / Team Dangerous [DnG]

W/Mo

19 Mar 2006 at 19:01 - 169

well i havent posted since opening, but i had an additional problem with the sound, this was after the "fix" was introduced and it took me forever to figure it out.

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...d.php?t=139115

Peewee

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Nov 2005

London, England

I Uprising I [RAGE]

R/

20 Mar 2006 at 13:39 - 170

Hmm, they bug fixed it a while back, and many sounds are back in operation, but i am still not getting normal sound. I am forced to choose between dull lifeless sounds, sounds that seem to 'come from the wrong place' sounds that cut out when another comes on top of it, and i am still getting THE most horrible excuse of a sound from lightning spells.

Please, for the love of all that is holy, fix it before i go mad an start using a wammo in RA. *crys silently*

gou

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Mar 2005

globally warmed england

the discarnate

20 Mar 2006 at 17:05 - 171

Previously the only problem i had was some effects missing completely and others continously looping. But...

Update - Tuesday March 14
Fixed a bug that caused some users to experience sound dropouts.
Fixed a number of audio glitches and performance problems in the Fire Island Chain.
Fixed an issue that caused DirectSong to stop playing music after the first song.

Since that patch, the looping is fixed but I now suffer from sound dropouts and the music stopping after the first song.
:/

Interestingly, when a guildy on teamspeak says mid game "dammit just lost half the sounds again" it's always followed by a slew of "me too"s

GraceAlone

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2005

Phoenix, AZ

Semper Reformanda [SeRe]

21 Mar 2006 at 00:38 - 172

Here is what Support had to say for me:

Quote:

Hello Matthew,

Make sure you have the latest sound drivers installed from the manufacturer of your audio card:

Creative Labs™:
http://www.creative.com/language.asp...port/downloads

AC97 (Realtek):
http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/...&Software=True

nForce (NVIDIA®):
http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp
Turtle Beach:
http://www.turtlebeach.com/site/support/ftp.asp

If this does not resolve the issue, please check your IRQ assignments:

In Windows® XP/2000:

Click Start, right click on My Computer and select Properties.
Click on the Hardware tab and then the Device Manager button.
Go to the View menu and select 'Resources by type'.
Expand the computer below (if it hasn't been already) and expand 'Interrupt request (IRQ)'.
Make sure your audio card is not sharing the same (PCI) number as your video card or network interface card. If it is, you will need to move your audio card to a different PCI slot on the motherboard. If you do not have an available PCI slot to move it to, or if your audio card is integrated into the motherboard, you will need to enter into the BIOS and reassign the IRQ manually. If you are unfamiliar with this procedure, please contact the manufacturer of your motherboard or computer.

In Windows 98/ME:

Click Start, Settings, and then Control Panel
Double click on the System icon.
Click on Device Manager tab
Double click on the Computer icon in order to get the Computer Properties window.
The IRQ's should be listed by default. Make sure your audio card is not sharing the same number as your video card or network interface card. If it is, you will need to move your audio card to a different PCI slot on the motherboard. If you do not have an available PCI slot to move it to, or if your audio card is integrated into the motherboard, you will need to enter into the BIOS and reassign the IRQ manually. If you are unfamiliar with this procedure, please contact the manufacturer of your motherboard or computer.

Once finished, try playing again. Let us know if your situation improves.

Thanks!
Guild Wars Tech Support

I did find that there is a conflict with the IRQ's but that shouldn't have been an issue since it wasn't before the update. Not sure what changed however, but I'm looking into getting it changed (I'm on a laptop so no choice of moving the card).

Nater

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Nov 2005

Illusion Of Skill

W/

21 Mar 2006 at 02:32 - 173

Conflict with IRQ's? IRQ's are shared in WinXP these days more than Jenna Jameson has been.

GraceAlone

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2005

Phoenix, AZ

Semper Reformanda [SeRe]

21 Mar 2006 at 04:32 - 174

I'm not sure that they really is the issue anyway since nothing has changed since except the update. So if it wasn't a problem before, why is it now? *sigh* just have to wait I guess.

jimmy_logic

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Sep 2005

R/

21 Mar 2006 at 12:31 - 175

Meh a canned response to buy more time... the sound worked perfect before so we know its not our computers!!! Just revert to the old sound till ANet have figured it out. Still can't believe that it got out of QA like this. -_-

GraceAlone

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2005

Phoenix, AZ

Semper Reformanda [SeRe]

21 Mar 2006 at 13:18 - 176

That's my issue with this response. Nothing in my system has changed so it has to be something with the update. I'll go ahead and make the change (if I can) just to placate them but the fact remains that it was not an issue before this "update."

koa_Torqual

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Mar 2006

London

W/Mo

22 Mar 2006 at 15:38 - 177

Gaile Gray has posted on IGN that the are having teething troubles, but Anet are not going to provide rollback when they want to provide more options.

This would seem to exclude the option of rollback, which would be quite a popular option.

For the moment there is no other information I know of for us to go on.

GraceAlone

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2005

Phoenix, AZ

Semper Reformanda [SeRe]

22 Mar 2006 at 16:18 - 178

Great, so we are pretty much screwed. I tried playing with the IRQ settings but my BIOS has a CMOS password from the previous owner. I really don't feel like ripping apart my laptop for the sake of reseting the CMOS password and making a change in the BIOS to the IRQ for the soundcard. This really shouldn't even be necessary since it was working just fine before. Also I have an integrated sound card in my system so the likelyhood of being able to change it is really slim anyway. The way that my laptop is configured is that I have an integrated ATI 9200 card in my laptop so my guess is that it is sharing the IRQ from the soundcard and the video card. I'm not convinced that that is the issue though.

Carinae

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jun 2005

Inside

Fifteen Over Fifty [Rare]

22 Mar 2006 at 16:57 - 179

Lowering the audio selector to the second lowest position, really improved my situations. It's basically like it has always been.....things go fine for hours/days but eventually ALL sound will drop and I'll have to restart.

Nvidia SoundStorm.

EternalTempest

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Jun 2005

United States

Dark Side Ofthe Moon [DSM]

E/

22 Mar 2006 at 18:39 - 180

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nater

Conflict with IRQ's? IRQ's are shared in WinXP these days more than Jenna Jameson has been.

Windows 2000/XP both...

Default install uses ACPI power mangement that has to control ALL of the IRQ so it can do things like, low power mode, hibernate, etc... It will load 2-3 devices on most IRQ's easily.

If you try to switch the system to APM power mangement you might have a chance but you can't turn that on in bios if you have that little Windows Logo sticker on your box ><

To get windows XP logo sticker the system must have ACPI turned on and the option to turn it off removed from the bios.

Orbberius

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Sep 2005

22 Mar 2006 at 21:12 - 181

For what it's worth, I love the new sound engine. The game runs much smoother now, and the occasional stuttering has gone down greatly.

koa_Torqual

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Mar 2006

London

W/Mo

24 Mar 2006 at 01:28 - 182

So, there's just been a big update.

I haven't had much time to experiment (will post full report tomorrow) but:

Sound suddenly seems a lot better.
Audio definitely seems camera-centered once again (praise the Lord).
Axe hits are audible.
Sword hits are no longer far too loud...
Music is no longer drowned out by SFX.
I now have music, background and SFX all at 75% again.

Looking good people!!!! I don't want to be precipitate without giving this 1hr's thorough look but it seems to have fixed all my issues - especially the camera centric one. Try running round the fire at Yak's or the fountain at Lion's - zoom in and out and hear the difference.

Will give it a thorough look tomorrow, only had 10 mins. Please post feedback on here, especially if positive. Looks like ANet staff may have been reading after all....

kvndoom

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jul 2005

Communistwealth of Virginia

Uninstalled

W/Mo

24 Mar 2006 at 02:03 - 183

I went into Observer Mode right after the big patch and selected several different characters, and zoomed and rotated and scrolled, and everything sounds a LOT better. I didn't get to play much myself, unfortunately, but it's definitely improved over the travesty that was.

GraceAlone

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2005

Phoenix, AZ

Semper Reformanda [SeRe]

24 Mar 2006 at 11:11 - 184

Mine is all better as well. My guess is that it has something to do with the DirectX9 support now, but what do I know. Now just have to get everything to the right levels and I'll be all good.

Witchblade

Polar Bear Attendant

Join Date: May 2005

24 Mar 2006 at 11:56 - 185

i ve a problem with the Assassin Dash skill.. after a few uses .. no more sound till i restarted GW

koa_Torqual

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Mar 2006

London

W/Mo

24 Mar 2006 at 13:39 - 186

I wonder if anyone for ANet read this thread or the one on IGN and it shaped their thoughts or actions in any way?

Am looking forward to giving this a proper road test tonight, but so far am hearing positive things about the patch. Congrats to ANet if they have really sorted out the issues in this patch.

The change in positional audio back to a camera-reference is as surprising as it is welcome. Hoorah.

Maybe some people round here might learn a lesson that feedback threads on forums can play a role in keeping customers satisfied.

eudas

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Feb 2006

Tx, USA

The Infinite Monkeys [TYPE]

W/

24 Mar 2006 at 15:38 - 187

Quote:

Originally Posted by koa_Torqual

Maybe some people round here might learn a lesson that feedback threads on forums can play a role in keeping customers satisfied.

Or that patience will let things get fixed soon enough without all the drama.

eudas

INFERNO2K

Academy Page

Join Date: Apr 2005

Toronto

Clan of Elders COE

E/Me

24 Mar 2006 at 18:56 - 188

I dont have any sound effects as of this new preview weekend.

I only have music.

I am testing this in the factions campaign.

samborarocks

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Jul 2005

Texas Justice

W/E

24 Mar 2006 at 20:06 - 189

Im with Inferno2 on this, not sound effects since the Factions 3/23 update.

Rask Finn

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Apr 2005

TOOT

24 Mar 2006 at 21:29 - 190

Same. No sound effects, just background music.

koa_Torqual

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Mar 2006

London

W/Mo

24 Mar 2006 at 22:11 - 191

Hmm, Ignite Arrows doesn't make an explosion sound any more when it hits.

UPDATE - this seems fixed now. Think there may have been a mini patch later this evening.

swiftygem

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Dec 2005

26 Mar 2006 at 09:40 - 192

After the Factions (DX9) update, the sounds of axe hits are now pretty much random for me. Before I couldn't hear them at all, but after moving the audio slider around, it was fine. Now in larger battles, it seems like there are sometimes too many sounds and some simply don't play. Funny how my computer has no audio problems in this cheap and lame game called Battlefield 2

kvndoom

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jul 2005

Communistwealth of Virginia

Uninstalled

W/Mo

26 Mar 2006 at 11:19 - 193

I played for several hours yesterday, and right now it seems on-again, off-again. Sound would be perfect, then some sounds would be missing, then sounds would be back, then NO SOUND EFFECTS AT ALL, then some, and on and on...

Toying with the slider and dragging it back and forth helped some, giving me some sound when there was once none at all, but that's hardly a fix. This sound glitch has been the single most frustrating thing ever to happen to me as far as Guild Wars goes. Sound cues are important, so having to play in complete silence just to keep from having my nerves wracked is a true pain.

Mrs Ne

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Jun 2005

London, England

Mo/

26 Mar 2006 at 11:37 - 194

I've had a lot of sound problems, I was in an alliance battle and could only hear the music - with effects and background noise on full.

swiftygem

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Dec 2005

26 Mar 2006 at 11:42 - 195

I had some other technical problems before (graphics and such), but I never wrote to GW support. This time I will and I suggest that everyone else with this problem does as well.

DutchGun

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Mar 2006

Washington, USA

26 Mar 2006 at 13:27 - 196

Quote:

Originally Posted by swiftygem

After the Factions (DX9) update, the sounds of axe hits are now pretty much random for me. Before I couldn't hear them at all, but after moving the audio slider around, it was fine. Now in larger battles, it seems like there are sometimes too many sounds and some simply don't play. Funny how my computer has no audio problems in this cheap and lame game called Battlefield 2

Setting the audio slider to the top two positions turns on audio acceleration - the lower three are software mixed. So, if you crank the audio quality all the way up but have a less-than-stellar audio card, it's possible you won't hear all the sounds play. Its sort of analogous to your frame rate dropping if you have a mediocre vid card and you turn up all the graphics options.

Try setting the slider to the middle position - it should be the most stable setting while still providing good quality (about the same as pre-update).

Also, just FYI, hardware acceleration is more finicky than software mixing. I had to upgrade my drivers on my home system (Turtle Beach Monte Carlo) to fix a volume problem (2D voices sounded way too soft). So, it's a bit cliché, but update your drivers if you haven't done so. It may help.

96TSi

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Dec 2005

Fort Worth

Clowns of Wrath[CoW]

W/R

26 Mar 2006 at 13:39 - 197

i never play with any of my in game sound on to notice anything wrong

im usually listening to music