[2019] Anthem Weekends Audio Feedback Thread

Originally posted by Alizaea

Quick question, since we are this close to the demo, are we able to talk about our audio experience from the alpha to kinda way in on this topic? If not, its totally fine.

Originally posted by axon589

I think something that would make the gunplay feel better is if the player had some faint audio feedback when bullets hit targets AKA something similar to that hitmarker sound from many shooters such as Warframe, CoD or Planetside.

What do you guys think?

Originally posted by Moday4512

Besides working on missions/content in general, what does an Audio team usually work on in a live service like Anthem? Does it consist primarily as tweaks to existing designs, or can it extend to building new audio systems that couldn't be realized during the initial release?

Originally posted by MuNansen

Sup, Jer.

This is Moller. Game's looking awesome and can't wait to play it. Loving all the audio I've heard so far.

Say hi to Bes and Kent for me.

Originally posted by TranscendentalHoot

Honestly only a handful of games have immediately created a sense of wonder and atmosphere for me. Just the small section of music at the demo screen resonated with me similar to the way the soundtrack from the original Halo did. One of my all time favourite game soundtracks.

One question, does anyone know how we’ll receive the official soundtrack if we’ve ordered the Legion of Dawn edition?

Originally posted by Viicafc

Sorry if this has been asked before, but does your game support “Dolby Atmos”

Originally posted by Cmr00851

I'll be sure to take note of any audio bugs. Thank you for reaching out, this dev team amazing!

Originally posted by Karddon

If you ask me, this is the first thing that came to my mind about quality gun audio, this is how it supposed to sound if you fire a gun in the mid of the city or in some valley near Fort Tarsis.

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https://www.youtube.com/attribution_link?a=5ENM0oi3HK4&u=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DZL9fnVtz_lc%26feature%3Dshare

Originally posted by USMarty

When you are talking to chars while in your javelin, adding some static and an effect so it sounds like it's over comms vs a perfectly clear voice would be cool.

Originally posted by Far_ice

Heyy I launched the demo client and it doesn't have sound at all. Not sure if this is a good place to post this. I'd like to ask if anyone is facing the same issue as me? I tried reinstalling and it didn't help. Hope for some guidance on a fix. Thanks in advance!

Originally posted by BronzeKnight

This didn’t get much attention when it was posted (also it’s not mine). But I really liked it, so I’m going to put it here for the BioWare fokes.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AnthemTheGame/comments/ai2wnv/a_nice_piano_version_inspired_by_anthems_valor/?st=JRA273F1&sh=5ae072e4

Originally posted by pig666eon

here is some general feedback, any new game that gets released all of the volume is up to 100% and blows the hearing out of everyone until they can make it into the settings to turn it down, is there any chance you can start a new trend of having everything at 50% by default? there is no one that has it that loud 99% of the people will have to turn it down, it would save the majority of people messing with their audio/ headset until its turned down, it would also save people having ringing in their ears for the first hour of playing

Originally posted by ClockSlave

I will check back here after the demo as recommended, but one thing which is not entirely pertinent to the sound crew but I thought could be taken into account is pilot voice during combat.

The chaotic mosaic of sounds and bullets and explosions are amazing from what I have seen, but I feel like the enemies "talk" a lot. Even monstrous Titans, which is very cool, but the pilots don't chime in on the battle as far as I have seen/heard.

I was thinking it would be nice to have pilots shouting or taunting enemies with lines like "take that, time for payback, dodge this" and other cheesy lines, interjections, screams and things of sorts during combat. Not to the point of being annoying, but something with a low chance to happen and tied to events like triggering abilities, critical damage taken or dealt...

Thoughts?

edit: formatting

Originally posted by ZEE_THE_CEO

The weapons sound great to me.

Originally posted by Haezeus369

The music in all the streams have been awesome but waaaay too quiet... hope there are good audio sliders or it is rebalanced to make the music at the forefront. Most games now act so ashamed of their music and never want to put it front and center anymore. Cant wait to crank the awesome OST and play!

Originally posted by Tonybear94

Hey so I know you've probably received feedback from this already, but I want to bring attention to the sound and audio feedback from weapons. It sounds great as it is but I think the guns deserve more of a "umph" in firefights. Some of the footage I've seen and audio I've heard doesn't seem to do justice to these mechanical deathbringers. It doesn't seem as viceral as how I would imagine it would sound, seems kinda softer than how I was expecting it. On one end you have the cheesy "pew pew" gun sounds from transformers, and on the other you have the gritty terminator 2 minigun scene.

Originally posted by Far_ice

It's PC

Originally posted by chammer88

The menu music is frickin' awesome. Looking forward to experiencing more of what the audio team has to offer in the demo!

Originally posted by Haezeus369

Customized comms feedback sounds like it would be amazing, cant think of a game that does that!

Originally posted by pig666eon

yeah keep it at - 23 lkfs @ 100% volume but please have the slider at 50% by default, we all have decent pcs that we set our audio levels then along comes a new game at with the audio up at max when you launch it, happens every game and causes alot of messing to turn it down without losing your hearing. i would be nice to see by default the volume slider at 50% by default and if people need to turn it up they can

im not sure also if you have considered the opening volume levels? there is a few games that has the credits at the start of the game that is set to max volume also with no way of controlling it, can you see if there is anything like that in the full release that would be like that? my audio setup is finely tuned by myself around lots of different programs, most games i would set to about 20-40% master volume from ingame settings, along comes the opening credits at 100% volume every time you launch it, i would usually have to take the headphones off for the 20 secs while it was going on, can you see if something like this is in place that the master volume controls all aspects of it rather than just the portion when you actually enter into the game, when you get past all of that then volume goes to what you set it to and everything is good again

i know your focused on consoles i get it and the this is not something that is a issue when your turning everything up and down with a tv remote but if its possible to maybe have a look at what ive mentioned, first time being asked by a audio dev so i just wanted to share some grievances i have with most games on pc, plenty of memes out there about it also so im not alone :)

quick question also what hz do you think best suits the game/ engine? 441/480? 16 or 24bit?

Originally posted by Haezeus369

You guys are so responsive, it is simply amazing! As a huge PC player I love getting my hands on as much customization options as possible. I hope there will be just as many graphical options (for pc obviously). I'm the kind of person who will spend hours getting the perfect settings setup to my liking or customizing my characters. Excited for both!!! (Also this game is my most anticipated OST since witcher 3 or mass effect 3 hands down)

Originally posted by demonikpanther

What sound mixing will the game be getting? This would be a good game for Atmos sound mix

Originally posted by leeharris100

Sound is a huge deal for me in games. It really adds to the feeling of power when your guns and abilities have epic sounds.

Some of the gunshots and gun sounds in Anthem feel a little weak and I was initially thinking this is by design as they want "standard" guns to sound standard so that "legendary" guns can have incredibly beefy sounds to match their rarity.

But since you asked for constructive feedback I thought I'd mention this. Truthfully, I enjoy more punchy unrealistic sounds than realistic sounds. Look at COD BLOPS 4 for example. The Paladin has the most unrealistic Sniper sound ever, but it feels SO GOOD when you shoot and land a kill with it.

Crunchy, bassy, heavy sounds should be used for guns that fit. It seriously makes a big impact when you're using headphones.

Originally posted by Far_ice

Sure if you're free. Should I PM you after demo launches in case it is fine when servers are up and I can tweak setting?

Originally posted by WarViper1337

Yay! I just want to say the sound of the various explosions are on point! I imagine I will be having a lot fun with the big boy collossus and all the exploding goodness that it brings. Thanks again.

Originally posted by snekky_snekkerson

talking to zoe and the echo in her voice is very noticeable. it doesn't sound natural to me considering how close she is and...i'm not very good at describing audio, sorry. all i can say is it feels unnatural and it has something to do with the echo in her voice. i noticed it in the tarsis videos too on her and other tarsis characters that were outside.

ah, and one more thing, npcs are all quiet. i'm looking and them and they are obviously deep in conversation but i can't hear them, do random npcs not have like background chatter convos? there's also no music in the bar.

Originally posted by snekky_snekkerson

yeah i googled early reflection and that sounds like it. the reverb doesn't seem to accurately portray the size of the space or the characters positioning to me when we are in dialogue.

and yes, more walla, especially in places like the bar or the populated market, and music in the bar too. i think sound effects are also very low, i could almost hear the sizzling sound of a guy frying a blue bit of meat, but it was almost inaudible and i only heard it because that entire upper tarsis area is deathly quiet.

Originally posted by hyperion_x91

The problem I'm noticing is that the audio settings are loaded after a little ways into the loading screen. So when I first launch the game the audio starts at 100% blasting my ears in my headset, and then about 40% into loading it jumps down to the % I have it set to in game.

Edit: Ok after testing multiple times, it is actually 100% audio levels until around 75-80% of the loading bar then instantly drops down to the % I have it set to.

Originally posted by gogogadgetcontroller

I'm on ps4, I noticed quite a few times with talking to some characters like zoe it sounds like they are talking through a can, same thing for the main character when talking to said person. Almost echoes a bit. Is really annoying.

Originally posted by hyperion_x91

Thanks for the reply, this is a complete guess on my part as I am by no means a game dev or anything of the sort, but I imagine it is loading the games assets in and toward the end of that load it looks at your graphics settings to tailor the last piece toward your settings. I would guess that at this last bit it pulls the graphics settings and at the same time pulls the audio settings. Probably wrong, but that's how I imagine it working lol

Originally posted by dork555

Hard to explain but the music that sounds like it’s playing on a radio on the walk through the bazaar towards your javelin is super jarring as is... hopefully I’m not the only one that dislikes this

Originally posted by suedeyoung

I'm not sure if this is something that others have reported but I didn't see it in the thread.

I noticed when launching the game that my Audio would be randomly staticy for a second or two at a time but all other programs like discord and Spotify the audio was coming through without any issues. I also tried launching the game without any other Audio outputs or programs running but ran into the same thing.

So far, I've only done a quick login to make sure that game started before work but the issues were happening on the loading page after you enter the game while it's loading me to the first spawn point in the game. Has anyone had any issues like this? If so were you able to fix it?

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I was able to get a quick recording to confirm that I could capture it in OBS. I did a verify through the installer before the recording to see if that would fix it but no luck. Heres a quick little clip of the audio glitching out that I mentioned:

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https://youtu.be/7ozXDXTtNl0

Originally posted by dork555

Oh no, the score is glorious, no problem there! Just walking past those booths just kinda is an unpleasant experience in my headphones. And there’s no option to kindly ask the owner of the unruly boombox to turn it down. If I have to get the sentinels involved for the noise complaint I will...

It’s not the style of the music itself, more so just the current volume of it

Originally posted by EndeavorJLT

I definitely love the kaboom audio aspect on sniper rifles and on the Colossus ultimate. One thing I find strange was that sometimes the audio on the gun disappears randomly, especially on high stress fights or when my health is low. Is it intended to be like that?

Originally posted by Thalarian17

Not sure what exactly is causing this, but as a Playstation user, I noticed the audio blacked out after about 4 hours of playing the game. It causes the PSN chat to muffle those I'm talking to and cuts all audio from the game to my playstation menu. After restarting the console the audio is completely fine. I was able to get this to happen again twice within only an hour from each other after. Nothing else has ever caused this kind of audio issue. I played about 8 hours ago and stopped due to the issue seeming to come from my console or TV itself, but I have played other games and watched YouTube with no audio errors at all. I did notice the Anthem audio prickles or slightly crackles at the higher pitch sounds.

Not sure if this is an error on my end or from the game. Another player I talked to had the same audio issue occur, but was not able to re create it unlike myself.

Originally posted by dork555

And this sort of simple interaction is why I shelled out for the legion of dawn. Keep doing great things!

Originally posted by Muppsie

Yo, the guns are so much better than they were previously in terms of sound. They used to sound repetitive and annoying but now it feels like there is more variation.

Not sure if you're the same team that worked on inquisition but I have to say, the audio work done on the abilities in that game and this is incredible. Every one of my abilities feels hefty and recognisable with a unique audio cue. Thanks for all the hard work, hope you're all proud!

Originally posted by InspiredOgre

Audio feedback here:

Honestly, the audio is one of the biggest flaws right now, IMO. The game has a lot going for it, but the soundscape is not one of them. I am hopeful this is related to the demo being slimmed down for us, but audio is not a big size sink, and the demo is pretty big... Needless to say I am concerned.

Here is the feedback in no particular order:

• The biggest issue is something I will call "reliability" there are times that the sounds are just not reliable. I will shoot off a rocket and it connects somewhere in the middle distance and.... nothing, not even a whompf. Other times in very similar conditions I hear a sound.
• Radio chatter filters need to be looked at, I FEEL like they got better from the alpha and from the footage I have seen, but the "Hey, this is a radio transmission, nerd!" effect is a bit much.
  • Related, but THANK you for making the voice switch from radio effect to local when you get near the speaker.
• Tarsis sound-scape needs to be taken out back and shot (hopefully with a reliable sounding gun (seewatididthere?). The little ditty in the bazaar is fine, but turn that down a little, make it so it does not loop every time, or just give us the entire song, surely that 10 second clip is not all there is? At the same time, I need more chatter from the people, they feel like disney puppets ATM. But for the love of god, give them some variety of speech, and make a LOT of mundane speech. Not everyone is talking about me or my adventures all the time!
• Echo is sometimes a problem when NPCs are speaking directly to me. I get that you are trying to make it make sense given where the NPC and I are standing, but cmon, its one thing to emulate reality, its another to distract me.

Originally posted by Ultramarine6

Reporting a bug! After about 2 hours of play, I heard an explosion, the ringing sound of shellshock, and my audio never came back. Silence and crackling, even when I left the game.

The PS4 menu was also reduced to crackling until I rebooted.

For other feedback:

• bullet ricochets cut off and sound broken. Like half the sound effect plays then abruptly ends. It could use a trail off or reverb to smooth it out maybe?

• Music seems too quiet. I rarely notice it in game

• I feel like the audio for Auto Cannons could use a low end boost to differentiate their sound from assault rifles. I would like for it to sound like youd feel that in your chest

I'm no pro, that's just my bit of feedback. Great work on the title!!

Originally posted by djtrvl

Not sure if this thread is still being monitored, but the bazaar music that you hear non stop while at the forge playing non stop over and over got me to a point where I shut the music off ingame entirely. I mean the little jingle it plays is fine... I just can't listen to it over and over every time I hit the fort.

I like most of the other music in general, but I hope the bazaar music can be deep sixed.

Originally posted by j0sephl

My audio thoughts

Fort Tarsis: The crowd noise if there is quiet. The radio music by the forge is very loud. Missing some ambient sounds like hammering or welding sounds. It’s just not there. Overall sound wise Tarsis feels empty. Feels empty sound wise.

Guns I am fairly happy with the guns for the most part. Maybe some more low end? I can’t be too picky not listening on sound monitors. So far I am liking the sound. The charge up on the explosive sniper needs more better audio cue. I can’t really tell if it is ready to fire audio wise.

Abilities For Storm it’s like a mixed bag. Some of the abilities sound great and some don’t. Like the fire orb thing that causes like an incendiary burst lacking some power behind the sound. I think mostly the abilities feel like they just happen. If that makes any sense.

For Ranger clearly his sound is the most polished. Everything sounds great. The melee has that nice electric low end hit. Plus the Grenade ability sounds like it his hard.

Bugs? The sound will cut out for a second . Like my pistol will be completely quiet and then the sound will come back.

Overall I like what I am hearing but it’s missing that something that I can’t quite put into words. Needs more polish and elbow grease.

Originally posted by LP-Gaming

Once I start an expedition, I can play fine with nice sound for about 5-10 minutes and then audio screeches, then cuts off for the whole game. I continue playing just to finish what I’m doing and the audio is screeching ever so slightly but not coming back. Once I exit the game fully the audio begins to work again on my PS4 menu.

Originally posted by hyperion_x91

The lightning abilities on the Storm sound good, but they don't sound very impactful. I think adding some sort of bass to it, such as something like the sound of a thunderstrike as an undertone with some leftover rumbles of thunder would make it pop more.

Originally posted by WarMachine425

Here's a small thing... but there's no audio cue when dismantling weapons or unlocking cosmetic armor pieces.

Just might feel a little more satisfying to get some sort of feedback to let you know the gun was broken down, or piece was unlocked.

Edit: Actually there's a few things in the UI like this, for example: Unlocking your next Jav at lvl 12... you'd think after holding "A" to unlock it there would be a satisfying "plink"/ "woosh"/ "clank"/ etc. But there's just silence, and it makes it feel a little less... epic.

Originally posted by fuujow

I'm having this same issue. Hoping someone has a fix for it. I already tried restarting comp and uninstall/reinstall game.

Originally posted by Thalarian17

Linear PCM. And exactly, which is why this is so confusing. I played Anthem again this morning without a headset and the only audio error I received after 40 minutes of playing was the audio got mostly cut off (but the playstation menu sound was fine!) for a few minutes and then it ficednitself.

Again, after testing the sound in other games and YouTube, I was never able to replicate it outside of the Anthem Demo.

Originally posted by darahalian

The audio panning of dialogue in Fort Tarsis seems a bit wonky, at least through headphones: an NPC can be just slightly off center in your view, but it will sound like they are all the way off to one side of you.

Originally posted by suedeyoung

Yeah I was thinking that it should happen to other things so I launched up other games like Overwatch and Destiny 2 while chatting with my Streaming group on discord but never happened again until I did the recording on Anthem again.

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I'm currently going through a Roland VT-3 for my headset and microphone but I can try to use the motherboard output directly. Though I'm curious, if it would only be on the sound card to the headset I don't think that OBS would have been able to pick it up from the system audio right? (might be wrong there, correct me if I am lol)

Originally posted by Ultramarine6

Sounds great! I also love the communication from your teams (thanks for responding!), and the amazing art (both visual and audible) that have been put into the game.

I'll watch for those changes when it officially releases. :)

Originally posted by Rikkard

While on Tarsis I get basically zero sound. I don't know if it was like this the entire weekend, but it sounds way way quieter than any other location. Even the UI sounds quieter there.

It's like a spooky ghost town where Zoe occasionally says something, but I can barely hear it.

Originally posted by MOCDETH

I get a tinnitus ear ringing sound every couple of hours!!! All other audio cuts out and I just hear a long beep until I reboot.

Originally posted by MOCDETH

Hahaha, I hope not! I use headphones plugged into my DualShock 4 so that might be difficult but I’ll try. It’s ever so subtle so I don’t know if you’ll hear it through my tv speakers. The sound completely cuts out first then the ringing happens, it’s happened 3 times in the Tyrant Mine stronghold and a few times in freeplay I’ll try to monitor what triggers it, but right now it seems like it’s random.

Originally posted by WarMachine425

I booted up the game one time and had the main menu theme music still playing even after loading in to Fort Tarsis. Overlapped on top of the market radio music too.

Originally posted by MOCDETH

It’s never happened on any other game or movie or anything like that, completely unique to this demo. Like I say, the audio cuts out, it does it regardless of the headphones but when I am using the headphones I hear slight ringing, I thought this might be important info to maybe get to the bottom of the problem but maybe not lol. I can deal with this kinda thing it’s no issue for me quitting and loading the game back up. Hopefully you can get to the bottom of it by launch. Other then that problem the audio in this game is fantastic! P.S I have altered the audio settings in the client, I set speaker configuration to ‘headphones’ and dynamic range to ‘wide’. Could this be something to do with it?

Originally posted by Metalwell

Hello, I don't know if this is addressed or actually relevant, based on my prior gaming experiences there can be something wrong with "low frequencies" of the abilities that causes some FPS drops. Can this be related? Everytime a Storm uses a fireball or lightning the game fps drops with a huge low frequency skill sound. Maybe you this can be something.

Originally posted by Thalarian17

I was able to test for a couple hours today. All I did was switch my in game audio settings from stereo to headset and I have been unable to replicate it since. I have had sound effects blackout and become mute for a short period, or stutter slightly, but it always fixed itself later on. I was in the PSN chat as well and nothing on my console was effected.

If there is anything else you need to know, I will be happy to assist! If you need form of audio recording to hear the issues, I will be happy to send some when it occurs again tomorrow.

Originally posted by MiskatonicUStudent

I know I'm kind of late, but I thought the guns sounded great. I only used the starting assault rifle and an LMG but they both sounded heavy without being so loud that they drown out all the other sounds. Good job.

Originally posted by Metalwell

All right! Because in other games, I have reported that "sounds" were causing issues especially the reverb effect and they fixed it, therefore I thought it may be related!

Originally posted by elementalsilence

I think more ambient sound would make fort tarsis feel more alive

Originally posted by Thalarian17

The problem has been replicated and recorded. It effected my menu, but closing the app fixes the issue.

https://youtu.be/YcYGqRYpOUA

Originally posted by vhqr

Pasting the content I made into other post:

I don't know if this is already sorted out on the main build. The game had many flaws, but what unsettled the most was the audio. I'm not even a guy who understands anything about audio design or sound in general. I just thought it felt wrong several times when I was playing. I don't mean to bash, just provide my honest feedback. Here some points I had experienced.

• Music didn't play at times, leaving an awkward silence.

• Other times, the music playing didn't match what was happening on screen. Specially in Fort Tarsis.

• Picking up a codex sounds like throwing a hard cover book on the wall.

• Audio in the menus felt off and contributed to make the UI feel unresponsive. The volume of beeps and boops didn't always match the action, if you can tell what I mean.

• I once got a bug where the game went completely silent and I had to restart. Never seen a bug like this in 20+ of gaming.

• Interceptor melee sometimes go total quiet. You're shredding something to pieces and you don't hear the satisfaction sounds.

• The worst is the reward screen post mission. When you see those numbers XP going up, medals earned etc. And you don't listen to anything which is happening.

TL;DR: the game sounds bad even for a guy who doesn't usually pay attention to this. Sorry por poor english.

Originally posted by dfiner

Not sure if you guys are still checking this (flagging u/BioWareJer), but I'll throw in my 2 cents after playing a lot this weekend.

• The sound effects for most guns and abilities was absolutely top-notch. Same goes for the sound effects of flying both on a storm and other javelins (I got to try all 4 at the end). The sound effects of the Javs running are meaty and solid and really make you believe they are a strong exo-suit.
• The above applies to when they work. Guns often cut out audio while shooting (the faster they shoot, the more this happened.
• The storm's abilities are especially noteworthy as awesome-sounding. Glacial Spear (Spike?) is one of the most satisfying audio's for an ability I've ever heard, especially when it triggers a combo.
• The colossus's abilities are mostly amazing.
  
• Any explosive/mortar type ability is perfect IMO.
• Interceptor Glaive/star attacks seem fine, as do ranger grenades.
  
• Combos are also perfect, although I have a hard time differentiating between them based on sound (is there even a difference? I didn't pay a ton of attention). If each kind of detonation had it's own sound, that would be amazing.
• Occasionally audio would die completely and the client would need to be restarted.
• Sound settings don't apply to bioware splash screen or the initial load screen. Please stop trying to deafen me :(

As for audio that could use a bit of work, IMO:

• Shotguns, as a class, don't sound quite right. It's hard to describe it, but I feel they are too deep and too dull. They sound to me more like a potato gun then an actual gun.
• Audio is dulled too heavily when you are downed.
• Audio being dulled when you are low health actually makes it harder to not die. Not sure of a better approach for this, but I wasn't a fan. Audio is key for survival and awareness in this game.
• I can't even quite put my finger on what happens to audio when you pop the interceptor's ultimate, but I'm not a fan. I'd like to not alter my audio experience, if possible (and also remove that annoying yellow glow on the UI, if you can pass that on to the UI folks).
• The interceptor melee, in general, is a little too high pitched and "knife on metal" sounding to my liking, but it's not a big deal.
• I've never been annoyed by Music in a BioWare game before, but one of the songs that plays in Fort Tarsis is SUPER annoying. Can we have a radio object to turn it off when we interact with it?
• Colossus rail gun: I wish this was a little deeper and louder, with a more noticeable charge up sound. Doesn't sound like it has as much weight as the ability actually has.
• Interceptor's Tempest Strike: I'm not even sure this ability has audio, but I feel like given how strong it is, it should have some kind of more visceral sound.
• Finally... support abilities. Given the nature of these abilities, I feel like they should have distinct audio queues that can be heard by nearby teammates, so that people know what's happening and when. When I mark a target on my interceptor to take more damage, I'd like my team to both know by sound, AND see (which isn't your department, but again, could you pass on a suggestion to make a giant arrow or something?)

​

Originally posted by drwiki0074

After playing the demo I would say that I did run into a couple of audio bugs:

• At points when there was a lot of stuff going on sometimes the sound would cut out. I noticed it the most when I was doing runs through the stronghold.
• The other audio bug I ran into was in Fort Tarsis. On the map screen while I was moving the cursor around at times the ambient sounds of Tarsis would cut in and out.

Suggestion:

In the mission queue screen when you are getting ready to embark on an expedition, I noticed that when in the social tab where you would invite other players there was no audio feedback from inviting someone. It seemed like it didn't work, although it did because I was in party chat with them and they received the invite, but there were no audio queues that let me know I had sent an invite, just a small visual queue that was pretty subtle. I feel like if there was some type of sound it would feel a little better and not seem like it maybe didn't work.

Originally posted by Gridoverflow

I tried the shotgun in the game but it felt kind off frustrating to use to me, it feels like the downtime between shots is too long and there is little auditory/visual feedback to tell me that I can't fire right now, this was especially noticeable when trying to use the shotgun in between melees with the interceptor. I would love it if the visual recoil and auditory re chamber sound would be more noticeable so it doesn't feel as frustrating when I keep clicking with nothing happening. I had similar feelings about the sniper rifles, the re chamber time felt too long for the visual and auditory feedback making the sniper just feel kind of weak and unsatisfying. In that aspect I hope they make the weapons a bit more like they were in Mass Effect Andromeda which felt better to me, or at least the Black Widow did.

Originally posted by Rikkard

Near the end of the stronghold in the dead spider-thing room, I was hearing other player's shooting and abilities in a loop. I thought someone was rhythmically shooting for a while, but then a colossus used an ability and it just kept going.

I flew away and it stopped eventually.

Originally posted by Thalarian17

That's great to hear! Thank you very much for listening! Amazing game btw. The sounds are great and the visuals are stunning! Keep up the great work!

Originally posted by dfiner

Np. Thank you for doing an outstanding job. Criticisms I had were probably half bugs, or mostly fixed already. To be clear, the audio experience of the game, when it worked, was top notch, and I loved most of it. Keep up the good work, and thank you for contributing to an amazing game.

Originally posted by Smokron85

I mainly played interceptor. Felt the audio was weak across most aspects of the demo but on the interceptor it wasn't very strong overall.

Most abilities were lacking in punch. Shurikens barely made any noise. Spark dash didn't do any noise. Same with most abilities.

Sound on the ultimate could have been better. You get this echoey kind of sound but the slices could have been more guttural imo.

Originally posted by Haezeus369

Sharing my comment made in the other audio thread

"Why does no one ever mention reload sounds? They were/are non existant... there is nothing quite satisfying while reloading like nice loud pops, clinks, guncocks, or bullet clanks. Reloads were so dull and mute the only way I knew I was reloading was the words "reloading" popping up on screen. No good visual or audio backup to this! What happened to the super satisfying reloads from mass effect 2 and 3 for instance?!?! Bioware knows how to make good impactful gun n reload sound effects!!!"

Originally posted by Haezeus369

This was another concern of mine I had forgotten. Made the game much more silent than it needed to be even when audio wasnt being buggy. Thanks for all the awesome followups, cant wait to hear how all the audio has turned out when I get to play early access on the 15th!

(Btw you said on another post you are alot of the same people from the inquisition audio team, those sound effects popped so well! You guys did an awesome job there!!!)

Originally posted by BronzeKnight

My quick thoughts on sound.

Fort Tarsis people sounded a bit echoy and I don’t get why?

Guns were all a bit quiet would like them to have a bit more punch.

Auto cannon the two fast fireing cloud and Torrent should sound different from each other.

Colossus ult sounds great! But when you have a team of 4 colossus ult at the same time it sounds weird. As if each shot is competing for attention. Not sure what can be done about that though.

Originally posted by IAmTheCheese007

This is not a bug, but rather a design oversight that will add a dramatic QoL change to how you experience the conversations that occur in Tarsis.

The reverb and echo effects used on voice actors in Tarsis are completely overdone. I was listening to people speak outdoors, no ceiling, and no walls next to us and having massive amount of echo. It was like they wanted everyone to sound like they were talking into a big metal silo, and it sounded terrible. This is pretty nit picky, but I can imagine how distractingly annoying this will get after playing for several hours through the campaign.

Originally posted by TeaSwiz

Posted this in another thread, the sound effects are great, of course the usual "issues" will be fixed but this is something that really bothered me - I hated the muffled sounding bazaar music in the hub area. It sounded as if I was in the javelin. To make it even worse, I wasn't. Which indicated that it was coming from the area, though it was a constant level with no direction so it didn't feel like it was part of the area at all, just literal background music. Make it come out of some sort of radio in the shops area, or maybe a PA system throughout. But make it sound better please.

Originally posted by JudahYannis

Not sure if this has already been addressed.

Also not sure if this is a bug or intended.

The audio for the Interceptor is very lackluster. The attacks don’t have that UMPH behind them. When you hit enemies with any of the shuriken moves or even your melee, it doesn’t make sound...like you’re making contact with the air or something.

If I hit a metal enemy, I should hear the swoosh of my blade or shuriken followed up by a clang or something once it makes contact. If I hit a monster or person...I should hear the swoosh of my weapon followed up by a fleshy slice kinda sound once it makes contact.

Again, idk if this is a bug or intended.

Originally posted by Flailing_cucumber

I must say you've nailed the sounds for the Colossus, sounds nice and meaty! The interceptor's abilities on the other hand, as others have mentioned aswell lacked this feel. This gave them a weaker feel than they actually are (shurikens suffer from this alot imo).

Whilst flying I noticed that if explosions were happening nearby, or just alot of different sound sources, the sound of the thrusters would cut out. Now I assume this is to help those sounds seem more impactfull, but the sound of the thruster came back too late. This gave it a laggy/disconnected feel. These stood out the most to me, i do love the sound of the rotating gun barrels though....really satisfying rattle when it slows down!

Originally posted by JudahYannis

Awesome. You guys are doing a swell job.

Originally posted by CroogQT

I admitadly didn't read all 297 comments, but I didn't see this in u/BioWareJer replies:

Myself and one of my fellow freelancers both had the game audio stop playing back completely. My experience was during the final encounter for "Inverse Functions". My buddy's experience wasn't during the same quest, but we can't remember exactly where it happened.

I'm not sure if you're only looking for design thoughts here, or if this is the right place for that more technical issue. I'll gladly put it somewhere else if needed.

Aside from that...I played the Colossus. My chest hair grew an inch, my voice dropped an octave, and I'm pretty sure I can speak with bears now. Everything y'all did for the Colossus was brilliant in my book.

Originally posted by TeaSwiz

YUS! I love that yall are staying so involved with the community, best I have seen in a long time, especially given the rough demo launch. Truly appreciate the acknowledgement.

Originally posted by CroogQT

Ashamed at my inability to report issues, I will sit in the corner and think about what I've done.

Both of us were PC users.

I can't speak for my buddy, but I'm:

Windows 10, Build 17134

Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-5960X

32 GB RAM

Game is installed on an SSD

Two valid connected audio outputs (One Logitech wireless headset, the other is a sound card that was not in use).

The only resolution we could come up with for the issue was to restart the game. I tried:

1. Adjusting the in game audio settings, hoping that having those values update would remind the game to play audio.
2. Changing default audio device in Windows 10 around, but it didn't seem like the audio was going to the wrong output. For what it's worth, I was using my headset when the issue occurred, but the rest of my computer's audio was unaffected, and still played from my headset like expected.
3. Restarting the game.
   

Hope that helps. Glad to provide more details if needed. :)

Originally posted by linuxguyz

One thing I noticed:

We were just a small sample size of around 7 people. The two people who were on the pro never had the issue on PS4. But of the other 5 who had OG PS4s, IIRC 3-4 of them got the bug where they claim the audio just shuts off.

Originally posted by Biggy_DX

I've heard that the NPC's in Fort Tarsis don't make any noise when getting up close to them. Is this is a sound bug, or just a design decision? Does it become noisier as more of Fort Tarsis becomes unlocked?

Originally posted by tonberryjr

There should be a distinct audio cue for spawning enemies and, if possible, some kind of audio cue to let you know where they are on the map (i.e. a distinct walkie talkie squelch, or some kind of Destiny or Metal Gear patrol-like chatter between enemies)

When an ally is knocked out of the fight, there should be an audio cue (i.e. "Freelancer/Javelin Down") so you know to go repair them.

Originally posted by benjamin_noah

I played the demo last weekend and had an audio bug that required multiple game restarts.

If I switched audio outputs in Windows from my speakers to my headsets, or vice versa, it would break the game's audio. When I switched from speakers to headphones, it sounded like everything, including voices, was slowed down to quarter speed. When I switched from headphones to speakers, the audio played at normal speed but sounded like it was skipping several times every second. It would be fine again if I switched back to the device that was active when I booted the game, but I'd need to restart the game with the other device active if I wanted to switch. There was also some static and skipping with the launch music every time I booted the game, but that went away once I was in control of my character (as long as I didn't try switching the audio device).

If it helps, I'm running the latest build of Windows 10. My speakers are Klipsch "The Sixes" and my headphones are SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless.

​

But, all that said, let me say how much I loved the sound design! Seriously, bravo! I can't remember ever telling friends about how good a game sounded before this. It's amazing.

​

Originally posted by Biggy_DX

Yes. The NPC's animate (like using arm gestures), but they dont seem to be speaking. I'm just wondering if this was intentional

Originally posted by benjamin_noah

No dedicated sound card, just my motherboard's onboard audio (MSI x299 Gaming Pro Carbon AC).

The speakers are set to 24-bit, 44100 Hz. Headphones are set to 16-bit, 48000 Hz.

FWIW, I haven't noticed any audio problems with other games or applications. And - aside from stuttering in the loading music - I didn't notice any issues with Anthem's sound, so long as I didn't try to change the audio output while in-game.

If there's anything else you'd like to know or would like me to try, please don't hesitate to ask. I'm happy to help!

Originally posted by DBloedel

I felt this too, I think the world feels alive but I think it could feel even more so with little background noise details like this:

For example, when in freeplay it’d be awesome to hear creatures roaring way off in the distance and like background insect type noises (especially at night). Then in Fort Tarsis, I think it could use some more background chatter around the market (think of a crowded restaurant), maybe some more mechanical/welding type sounds, and steam running through pipes. Fort Tarsis just sounded a little quiet to me as well.

Thanks Jer for taking the time, not sure you’ll see this but hope you do :)

Originally posted by NeillMcAttack

I suspect your game did damage to the sound card in my PS4 pro.

During the VIP demo, the audio got so bad whilst running the stronghold, that it started to make crackling and snapping sounds, then completely crashed leaving the game in silence. Shortly after the entire game application crashed.

Now whenever I turn on my PlayStation the audio drops in and out. I use a gaming headset, this headset is also used on my PC, where it works perfectly.

After I do some more troubleshooting, I will be taking it to a professional if it’s definitely the sound card, and then if needed I may have to contact you further.

I know this sounds odd. But the PlayStation is less than 3 months old, and I thought you may want to get ahead of this. I feel I can’t be the only one. This is not the first time historically that certain games or applications have damaged an individuals hardware.

Edit; I read through this thread and tried switching the formats with zero effect. Same issue. The only reason I am realising it now is because I haven’t been playing since the open demo and only played a very short time, and put the issue down to the game. I only got back onto the PS yesterday (to try out apex legends) and the issue is still present. I never had any issue when playing through Red Dead (the last game I would have played before Anthem).

Originally posted by NeillMcAttack

Hello sir, Thought you deserved a follow up regardless of the delay. So first off apologies on the delay I’ve been working a lot, and also had a trip up the country for a few days. Anyway, I did the troubleshooting and found it didn’t actually do any damage to my PS4. But it did damage my turtle beach mix amp pro.

So here is how the mix amp works, it has 4 settings on the back depending on which system you are using. I use two of these, one for the PC, and the other for the PS4. What they do is simply control the different settings required for the system. For example, when I am set to PC and using the PS4 my audio is fine but the chat is very low. After the demo weekend, my PS4 audio is now permanently “crackling” when set to the PS4 setting, but when on my PC with it set to PC it is fine. In the end I can no longer use the mix amp for my PS4.

Have you guys had any other reports of this kind of thing occurring?

Originally posted by NeillMcAttack

Hello sir, Thought you deserved a follow up regardless of the delay. So first off apologies on the delay I’ve been working a lot, and also had a trip up the country for a few days. Anyway, I did the troubleshooting and found it didn’t actually do any damage to my PS4. But it did damage my turtle beach mix amp pro.

So here is how the mix amp works, it has 4 settings on the back depending on which system you are using. I use two of these, one for the PC, and the other for the PS4. What they do is simply control the different settings required for the system. For example, when I am set to PC and using the PS4 my audio is fine but the chat is very low. After the demo weekend, my PS4 audio is now permanently “crackling” when set to the PS4 setting, but when on my PC with it set to PC it is fine. In the end I can no longer use the mix amp for my PS4.

Have you guys had any other reports of this kind of thing occurring?

Originally posted by NeillMcAttack

I hope this link is ok, I’m currently on mobile and the link is the exact device but on eBay. The turtle beach website has too many pop ups. https://www.ebay.ie/itm/123603920312

And I was connected via the digital optical port.

Originally posted by NeillMcAttack

I tried all settings available. I really wanted that to be the case of course. And I’m currently using the same cable right now on my older Astro mix amp without issue. Everything else bar that PS4 setting on the mix amp is working perfectly after the demo weekend.

Originally posted by ardoreal

Hey man thanks for clarifying. I realize some people don't get the answer they like but I appreciate you posting here. I sure hope Atmos makes it in sometime, and if you are ever able to share news on that many of us will be checking into it.

Thanks, and enjoying Anthem using Windows Sonic for now. Appreciate your time.

Originally posted by Zeepjes

This is still an issue in the final game btw, I just tried switching audio devices, and it actually sped up everything, not only the audio. The animated intro went at double the speed, along with the sound speed increase, and horrible static.

Originally posted by wampastompah

...Is that common? I've never heard of a system like that.

Originally posted by wampastompah

Huh, good to know, that's super cool! Thanks so much!

Originally posted by ProfessorAntonHa

please fix the audio issue, as soon as i installed the game opened it, the audio on headphone mode on my asus strix raid dlx sound card is distorted, alot quieter and echoes. its horrible. even reinstalled windows to check and as soon as i installed and opened the game it happened again. changes the game makes to sound are permanent and couldnt resolve it anyhow

Originally posted by Gronti

Can I please have the audio file of the Colossus' Cloudburst? I want... no, I NEED to make a 10 hour loop of it starting up and firing, over and over and over. It's soooo satisfying!

Originally posted by ProfessorAntonHa

Hey Jer, thanks for your comment. tried all these and no changes. fresh install windows aswell, as soon as i installed the game and run it, sound went bad again. and i tried different headphones and earphones 3.5mm jack direct into sound card. it is certainly with the game

Originally posted by byron_hinson

Might be an old thread but wanted to say while I’d love Atmos. The sound mix on my speaker system is superb. Some of the best I’ve heard.

Originally posted by BreadGoneBad

I'm having an issue regarding the sound. Whenever I'm moving from one area to another, like moving through doors in Tarsis, or in intense scenes with lots of action and enemies spawning and explosions happening, the sound crackles an awful lot. I have tried reinstalling the game, changing HDMI, changing HDMI port on my screen, change the whole screen, changing sound setting on the PS4 (Linear PCM, Bitstream (dolby) and Bitstream (DTS). I have tried with different headsets and speakers. Nothing seems to clear the problem. It takes away a lot of the joy of playing the game hearing crackles every time I use a gun or jump in the air during a fight or when I'm just walking around Tarsis. Do you have any suggestions as to what might be wrong? I'm not getting the same crackling in any other games.

I'm on a regular PS4

The crackling sounds are almost identical to the sounds recorded in this video from BF1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40jiLtFDMK0