BGS - The BackgroundSet

[Svengali]

F2 screen > Game Options... > Spoken Messages = On

Yep, that's the baby - eSpeak is integrated in Oolite and will collide with all bigger soundpacks (BGS, Captain Berf Engineer, Captain Berf Pilot, Captain Berf Pilot Alien, Captain Berf Tactical Officer, CustomSounds OXP, Halsis and Hawksound). These OXPs are using voices in the soundfiles. Some of them were done before eSpeak was integrated, the others are doing it, because the quality is a lot higher with sounds instead of a ingame generated voice.

Don't get me wrong. eSpeak is a great step forward, but for BGS a higher quality was one of the goals. That's why it uses a modified CustomSounds.oxp. And the script in BGS can't simply disable a few sounds. Declarations in customsounds.plist can't be modified on the fly.

But you still have some options:
- Switch off spoken messages
- Or remove entries from BGS customsounds.plist
- Or use BGS-I and BGS-M (not BGS-A or BGS-C)
- Or rename the _descriptions.plist in BGS to descriptions.plist

I wouldn't think so, like if my car engine is making noise (or not), it should not matter which windshield I'm looking out of. But again, I don't know how computer programming works.
However, upon even further testing, I have now discovered that I don't have to change view screens. The engine sound(s) will stop, start, remain intermittent as well - even when I have them completely turned off (speed = 0). This is beginning to become a very deep mystery...

What I've said .-) For me it's not a question of how programming works, it's more a question of giving feedback. A player should be aware of the status whatever he is doing and BGS supports this, regardless of the screen the player is currently on. And the sounds are (at least on my box) not starting at a full stop. It either means that your speed is not zero or that there is a conflict. Latest.log may contain a hint, so please post it here or send it via pm.

[JazHaz]

Having seen the wonders of the new BGS hyperspace sequence on trunk, it brings to mind the following related question.

Can the docking sequence also be improved?

[Svengali]

Can the docking sequence also be improved?

Yes, it can be done - I only haven't got the right idea yet...

[Cody]

Can the docking sequence also be improved?

Yes, it can be done - I only haven't got the right idea yet...

<puts his thinking sombrero on, and summons his awesome graphics abilities>

[Svengali]

<puts his thinking sombrero on, and summons his awesome graphics abilities>

<leans back, opens a bottle of his finest and awaits patiently results>

[Cody]

<puts his thinking sombrero on, and summons his awesome graphics abilities>

<leans back, opens a bottle of his finest and awaits patiently results>

Ha... there are two 'if onlys' there: oh that I could, and oh that I could join you! Single malt, yes... Knockando?

[Svengali]

Ha... there are two 'if onlys' there: oh that I could, and oh that I could join you! Single malt, yes... Knockando?

Yep .-)

[JazHaz]

In an ideal world, instead of the docking boxes, I would like to see a view of the inside of the station as the ship moves to a berth. It could be a room the same shape as a coriolis with static ships on the inside faces. I doubt that BGS could do that currently, but one day I hope to see it.

[doctorfrog]

Is there a setting for idle engine or cockpit noise? I'd like to mod in a quiet background hum that is always present when in your ship, but generally noticeable when thrust is set to zero. What I have right now is a quiet, phased effect that sounds like a life support system doing its work, interspersed with very quiet scanner pings. The idea is to breathe a bit more life into those moments when your thrusters aren't on.

One of my goals is to eventually create my own modification of BGS with 'harder' space sounds. I may or may not succeed in this, but at the very least, I'll be replacing quite a few of the defaults.

[Svengali]

Is there a setting for idle engine or cockpit noise? I'd like to mod in a quiet background hum that is always present when in your ship, but generally noticeable when thrust is set to zero. What I have right now is a quiet, phased effect that sounds like a life support system doing its work, interspersed with very quiet scanner pings. The idea is to breathe a bit more life into those moments when your thrusters aren't on.

Not yet. It would be possible to tweak it in though .-)

One of my goals is to eventually create my own modification of BGS with 'harder' space sounds. I may or may not succeed in this, but at the very least, I'll be replacing quite a few of the defaults.

He .-) Feel free .-)

The current set in BGS is in my eyes only a starting point. If other Packs are done (like Pagrooves) it will give players more options. A good thing, I'd say .-)

[Diziet Sma]

Is there a setting for idle engine or cockpit noise? I'd like to mod in a quiet background hum that is always present when in your ship, but generally noticeable when thrust is set to zero. What I have right now is a quiet, phased effect that sounds like a life support system doing its work, interspersed with very quiet scanner pings. The idea is to breathe a bit more life into those moments when your thrusters aren't on.

Ok, this reminds me of a very minor niggle I've had with BGS for a while. I get constant randomly timed engine up/down sounds at idle. I've been poking about in the code, but don't see a ready way to deal with it, short of disabling the engine sounds altogether, which I don't want to do, they sound great..

It's to do with the way throttle settings are handled for joysticks. With keyboards, the number of up/down settings is pretty limited, but joystick throttles, being a proportional device, are measured in tiny increments. I believe GNUstep uses +/- 32,768 distinct values.

Unfortunately, there is a certain small amount of random "jitter" present when the throttle is set to minimum or maximum. (this is also the reason "dead-zones" are needed for joysticks) Oolite itself ignores this, and the engines won't come "on" until a definite movement is applied to the throttle.

BGS, however, reacts to every tiny random jittering change in throttle value by triggering the engineUp and engineDown sounds. It's not so bad for small periods of time, such as at a refuelling station/satellite, but when loitering by a station to hitchhike through somebody else's wormhole, where you can easily be waiting an hour or so for the right one to come along, it gets to be a pain. Hitchhiking is one of my preferred tactics on certain long-jump Random Hits missions, so you can see my problem.

I don't know if it's possible in script to de-sensitise BGS to tiny throttle changes, I suspect something would have to be added to the game-engine, but if you can think of a way to do it, I'd be most grateful. As things stand, even if doctorfrog does release an "idling" sound, I'd almost never get to hear it, as my engine sounds constantly cycle up and down.

Sorry to be a pain, it really is a small irritant in a brilliant OXP, but I wouldn't be surprised if it affects at least some other joystick users too.

Edit:
Looking at the code, this seems to be the relevant routine..

Code: Select all

while(i--){
		if(cond===b[i].start){
			if(b[i].src===1){
				b[i].init = 1;
				if(c && player.ship.scriptInfo.bgs_engine) b[i].sound = player.ship.scriptInfo.bgs_engine;
			}
			if(c && b[i].change===1 && player.ship.scriptInfo.bgs_engineUp) b[i].sound = player.ship.scriptInfo.bgs_engineUp;
			if(c && b[i].change===-1 && player.ship.scriptInfo.bgs_engineDown) b[i].sound = player.ship.scriptInfo.bgs_engineDown;
			b[i].cmp = 0;
			a.push(b[i]);
		}
	}

I'm assuming by the values "1" or "-1" that .change is a flag? Is there a way to de-sensitise the check?

[Cody]

... but I wouldn't be surprised if it affects at least some other joystick users too.

I'll have to check that... I use the keyboard for throttle control, rather than the 'stick throttle.

[Svengali]

Unfortunately, there is a certain small amount of random "jitter" present when the throttle is set to minimum or maximum. (this is also the reason "dead-zones" are needed for joysticks) Oolite itself ignores this, and the engines won't come "on" until a definite movement is applied to the throttle.

BGS, however, reacts to every tiny random jittering change in throttle value by triggering the engineUp and engineDown sounds.

Hmm. Good point, Dizzy.
As I'm a keyboard user I don't have the jitter. I could implement a threshold though (as property so users can adjust it). But I really need to know how big the jitter is to choose a working default setting. BGS checks the player.ship.speed (so Oolite doesn't ignore it, but probably the actual movement is nearly zero).

Re-reading the code, I think I may have located a possible solution..

Nope. This only pushes the sounds in the current active array. The actual checks are happening in the last part of this.doBGSTimer.

Code: Select all

switch(this.bgsCurrentSet[i].change){
  case 1: if(cu>this.bgsCurrentSet[i].cmp) this.changePlay(this.bgsCurrentSet[i],1); break;
  case -1: if(cu<this.bgsCurrentSet[i].cmp) this.changePlay(this.bgsCurrentSet[i],1); break;
  case 0: if(cu!==this.bgsCurrentSet[i].cmp) this.changePlay(this.bgsCurrentSet[i],1); break;
  case 2: if(cu!==this.bgsCurrentSet[i].cmp) this.changePlay(this.bgsCurrentSet[i],1); break;
}

[Cody]

I just tried using the 'stick throttle, and I don't seem to get any 'jitter'. When I'm stationary, I get no engine sounds at all. Like you, Diz, I spend a fair bit of time loitering around the station aegis, waiting for a lift, and if the engine sound was constantly up and down, I reckon it could get somewhat annoying.

[doctorfrog]

I have an older joystick with a twitchy throttle, so I experience this as well. I ended up just using the keyboard for throttle, partly because of the constant "wooshing." In the middle of firefights, I still end up reaching for that dang throttle anyway.