3D sound FX Using Neverwinter Nights PC game.

[HibLaGrande]

I originaly posted this at Halloweenforum.co fourm so I thought I would pass it on here also. just in case nobody seen it there.

This is what I use in my yard for surround sound creepy noises. it works great and did not cost me any extra cash. Well' the speaker wire. but that was it. I had everything else. It may sound tuff, but it is very easy and sounds great.

it requires.

1 Computer with suroundsound audio card. I use a soundblaster audigy
1 Neverwinter Nights PC game from Bioware/Atari
2 stereo amps one for front left/right the other for rear left/right.
4 house speakers.
and a bunch of speaker wire.

I think you can pick the game up for 20 bucks now. There are a bunch of sounds to chose from.... more than most sound effect cd's. and they are very good quality.
Neverwinter nights comes with a game editor you can use to place and edit game sounds and music in a 3D environment. There are hundreds of sounds to chose from.Aything from creaking boards,screams,crows,owls,zombie moans ect. or these sounds can be set to 'pop' up at random times in random places in "3D" or qudraphonic sound. They can also be set to a fixed positon. It also has ambient sounds that loop like crickets,frogs, wind thunder rain ect. Position, volume, time interval, pitch ect.. can be adjusted for each sound.

I set up using my computer audio outs front left/right into one stereo amp and rear left/right to the second amp. and set the computer to 4 speaker quadrophonic. I place 4 speakers one on each corner of my yard pointing towards the center. and run the speaker wire.


Using the Aroura tool set game editor is really easy. You start off by creating a module, I called mine "Halloween FX". Then create an area(room to start in). A simple sqare room will do. You will then need to place a start point directly in the middle of the room. This will act as the focal point for the sound and is where your character will stand when the game starts. All sounds are based on the characters positon. So for seting a fixed position soundsay a "campfire" you just place the "sound object" where you want it to sound like it is coming from.For an atmospheric type sound like the cricket loop you just paint it in the room and adjust the position to "sounds from everywhere in location" under the sounds properties menu.Then its just a matter of going through the list selecting and "painting" sound objects where you want them in the room.

It sounds pretty impressive from the street, but once you walk up towards the door the whole neighborhood sounds haunted. Last year I had mine set up so that all of my props had their own fixed position sounds layerd over a constant "crickets" and "frogs" loops that played over the entire area. the witches culdron had a campfire sound and a bubbling sound coming from the same "area" where the witch was standing, The zombie would gurgle and moan at random times from it's own spot ect. But the really cool sounds where the random screams, yells, wolves. ect that came on at random times at random positions.They sounded like they came from somewhere else in the neighborhood. (example) A womans scream sounded like it came from the block behind my house. the next time it sounded like it was acorss the street.

the fun is endless.

Anyway, I just thought that I would post this and hope someone else gives it a try. If you have any questions feel free to post it. I will be happy to answer it if I can.

[Zombie-F]

I have this game and the sound effects for it are amazing. Great idea (and I said so on HF.com too). I will have to try this some day. :D

[maxcarnage]

hell, for 20 bux, I'm gonna give it a shot......I've spent more on stuff that didn't do anything half as cool as that....thanx for the tip

[Zombie-F]

Plus maxcarnage, it's an absolutely awesome game! The module creator is mind-bogglingly deep and worthwhile!

[HibLaGrande]

You can also import your own custom sounds into the game. I have not played around with this yet but I do have a nice sample of the warewolf howl from "American Warewolf in London" and a few choice phrases from "Evil Dead II" that I would like to incorporate into the soundscape.

[SpookyDad]

I was just wondering if any version of the game will work?
I can find the gold edition online for about $12
There are also various expansion sets available.

SpookyDad

[Zombie-F]

Get the Diamond Edition if you can. It's got every expansion and the editor for about $19.

But if you're just interested in the editor, then any version of the game will have the editor. The expansions alone DO NOT have it, but the Gold, Diamond, and original edition of the game has it.

[DeathTouch]

The game Pain Killer has some awesome sound effects. And they are already MP3. I used one for my video.

[HibLaGrande]

wow, this thread is back from the dead! so has anyone played around with this yet? I would really like to hear your thoughts. :D

If anything else we could get a group together on-line and play a game or something. Sorry, that movie that pete posted a few days ago keeps coming to mind! LOL

[HibLaGrande]

I'm seriously thinking about lugging this set up to Ironstock this year. to give a tutorial of sorts, and give you guys a better idea of what it sounds like. I might have to bring the truck :D

[HibLaGrande]

HERE IS A SAMPLE OF THE NEVER WINTER NIGHTS SOUND SCAPE.
Neverwinter Nights sound sample. (http://media.putfile.com/NW-halloween-sample)

a five minute MP3 loop in stereo. 3D sound is much better but I don't know how to record it yet.

let me know what ya think. :D

Enjoy!!!
John

[heresjohnny]

Thats nice Hib, good background soundscape.

[Gothikim]

I showed the DH this thread last night. He's been into NWN for 10 yrs or so, so he was all over this concept. Guess who's getting a new soundscape for her cemetery this year :)

Thanks, Hib!

[HibLaGrande]

I Hope you do Gothikim,. :D tis' lotsa fun!

Heres one for you haunters that like to do the strings hanging down in a dark hallway.
house-of-flies (http://media.putfile.com/house-of-flies)

Idealy the left speaker should be at the far end of the hallway facing the entrance or above the area with the strings and the right speaker should be placed near the entrance facing down the hall. :D

[Fright Yard]

I still love the main theme from the old game phantasmagoria!

[slightlymad]

not much of a gamer but this sounds interesting especialy since we want sound this year
LOTS OF SOUND

[HibLaGrande]

Neverwinter NIghts 2 is coming out soon, I hope it has the same toolset features and new sounds. I now have 2 computers with surround sound ,hehehe.
right now I'm busy making new speaker columns using some cheap indoor outdoor speakers I bought at Best Buy they seem prety decent for $20.00 a pair. My buddy is working on letting me use his brothers klipsch (sp?) powered subwoofer to fill in where the little speakers fall short.

[shaunathan]

I still love the main theme from the old game phantasmagoria!

meh, The 7th guest and the 11th hour forever :D


Old man Stauf... shame I already have a name for my main bad ghostie..

[HibLaGrande]

well, I went out and bought another Neverwinter Nights Game, The Diamond edition, has all the expansion packs, for $20. now that I have 2 computers I wonder what dual quad sound would do? It may be a bit much for just a simple front yard decoration. :D But next year!!!

[Mikelele]

Hey guys!
I'm new here and I'm glad I cam upon this thread. It's a great idea and I think I can manage doing it - except that I recently had a computer crash and I had to buy a new main hard drive. For some odd reason, I can't seem to install my NWN Gold on this thing. It keeps saying that it's not in the install directory. I've posted an query on both the Atari and the BioWare forum sites but does anyone know what might be wrong? I'm quite eager to try out this idea of hiblagrande's. You can PM me to keep this thread on topic. Thanks! =)

[Mikelele]

Ok guys nevermind! I got it to work. Some situation with an external harddrive switching the drive identifiers about. Now I can plot my own soundscape! yipee. =)

[HibLaGrande]

Have Fun Mikelele! :) I would like to hear how it works out for you.

I found out that the quad speaker set up works better than the surround 5.1 system as far as positioning. I think this has alot to do with having two stereo amps that allows more control over the volume front and back. SS seems to fade the rear speakers too much to be useful.

As a side note I just wanted to pop in and tell you guys that the new NEVERWINTER NIGHTS 2 is a bug laiden festering pile of crap don't watse your money! Obsidian developed this one and seems as though they threw out what was good in the first one and slapped neverwinter on a totaly different game I can't really go into all that is wrong with this game. I just strongly recomend you pass on it. It also re uses the same sounds that were on the first edition, so it does not even have a use there. It seems to me that Atari and Obsidian are just cashing in on the original NWN name and huge fan base.

:finger: :mad: This ones for you Atari and Obsidian :mad: :finger:

[dynoflyer]

I wish I'd read your post BEFORE I bought it. It won't load because there's a bug on disc 2! #$#%@$%$^%*&*()%^#$$^*&&!!!!

[HibLaGrande]

disc 2? my NWN2 game only came with 1 DVD... Oh yeah it was also packaged with D&D online free trial. they offer the D&D online disc because ....

MULTIPLAYER IN NWN2 IS A JOKE!.

[HibLaGrande]

I wish I'd read your post BEFORE I bought it. It won't load because there's a bug on disc 2! #$#%@$%$^%*&*()%^#$$^*&&!!!!

is that for Original Neverwinter Nights or the New Neverwinter Nights 2????

[dynoflyer]

Beats me, there's
Installation Disc 1
Installation Disc 2 and
Play Disc

It's just called Neverwinter Nights copyright 2002

[HibLaGrande]

yep, thats the first edition, the good one. I'm not aware of any real nasty bugs witht the first one. I'll look around and see if there is a known problem for it. you might try disabling auto run for your cd/dvd rom. (just an initial sugestion)

original post by Viron @ the Bioware Forum.

Possibilities:

Your Hard Disk is damaged (unlikely)
You have a bum memory stick (which strangely produces CRC errors)
The media is corrupt
There is a virus on your PC
You have run out of memory
Your Uninstallation is incomplete.

WHAT FOLLOWS IS ADVICE ONLY!!
This is strictly your decision, because Registry key deleting is tricky, and can irrevocably damage your operating system. If you feel you are inexperienced with it then do not try this! You have been warned!

FIRST: Uninstall the game nornally. Then delete any remaining folders to do with Bioware and/or NWN, unless you have saved games, if so move this folder(saved games) to the desktop temporarily.

1. On the windows desktop, open the START menu
2. Goto the option; RUN, bottom right
3. Type REGEDIT in the command line
4. The registry editor is now up. Goto HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and expand it by pressing the boxed + sign next to the name.
5. Find SOFTWARE, and press the expand + next to that.
6. Find the yellow folder that is named "Bioware"
7. Delete it by right clicking on the folder and deleting. Say yes to confirm deletion.
8. Collapse (close all the expanded +signs)
9. Close the regedit window normally
10. Try a reinstall

it seems that alot of these problems point back to a faulty memory stick or an incompatable cd/dvd rom burner.

[dynoflyer]

Thanks for looking at this, HIB. I'll give it a try this weekend and post the result.

[dynoflyer]

Hib,

I deleted NWN in Control Panel. Used regedit and deleted the Bioware folders.

Same thing happened again during the reinstall. The CD drive spins like crazy after putting in Install disc 2 and the 'puter locks up solid. Something wrong with the 2nd disc, methinks. F it, deleting it for good this time.

Anybody want a slightly suspect Neverwinter Nights game? Free to the first requester.

P.S. - I also struggled with King's "Tower" series, got to # 6. Is # 7 worth reading?

[HibLaGrande]

Hib,

I deleted NWN in Control Panel. Used regedit and deleted the Bioware folders.

Same thing happened again during the reinstall. The CD drive spins like crazy after putting in Install disc 2 and the 'puter locks up solid. Something wrong with the 2nd disc, methinks. F it, deleting it for good this time.

Anybody want a slightly suspect Neverwinter Nights game? Free to the first requester.

P.S. - I also struggled with King's "Tower" series, got to # 6. Is # 7 worth reading?

I am sorry that it is not working out for you. I would take it but I have two NWN sets already ,one for each computer. I am betting that the copyright protection is giving your cd/dvd rom drive fits. it is rare but not an unheard of problem.
also might try cleaning the cd with some windex and a soft cloth

As for the tower series. I read it to be done with it. I won't spoil the end, for you, but I was really let down.

[dynoflyer]

Thanks for the help, HIB. Merry, merry, Ho Ho

[Dr Morbius]

A NWN cd? I'll take it..if it's still available!

[dynoflyer]

Okay, pm me with the address and I'll get it out to you for Christmas. Remember, I couldn't get it to load.

[Dr Morbius]

oooooo.. a NWN game that might work for Christams! I appreciate you sending it. If I DO get it to work, well, we'll talk.

[Dr Morbius]

Woo hoo! I got the package today. Thank you VERY much for taking the time to send it, dyno. The first disk loaded fine, and then it prompted me for the second. I put it in and.....it loaded! After prompting me for the play disk, loaded, and then again for disk 1, I was treated to a cut-scene of a warrior battling a bull-like creature before seeing the main menu for the game. It all loaded flawlessly for me, which tells me the copy of the game is fine. It must be your machines, and I must admit the second disk took a while to load, and appeared to hang in the middle of the progress bar, but allowing it to take it's time (30 seconds or so) it continued progressing and finished doing it's thing. What kind of computer do you have? Graphics card..memory?

[dynoflyer]

Doc,

When I loaded it the second disk hung for twenty minutes before I had to restart, tried twice, same result. My machine just won't work with it.

My son's laptop hard drive is almost full so that's the likely cause there.

Desktop is a Dell Dimension 3000
1 GB Ram
2 GB virtual memory
Intel 82865G Graphics controller, it's like built into the motherboard, not a separate card.
342 MB avail. physical memory

Everything else works fine. Enjoy the game, I only wanted it to make mp3's of spooky sound effects anyway, not much of a D&D guy.

Merry Christmas!!

[HibLaGrande]

I do think the game needs about a gig worth of HD space. :( sorry I did't even think to ask you if you had enough space on your HD.

I would be happy to make you some spooky sond FX from my game, if you could give me an idea of what you were looking for. :)

OH Dr M. be sure to update, there have been alot of stuff fixed from the original release. lot's of MB to download.

[Dr Morbius]

Cool..dyno, I am real sorry the game didn't work for you. I will be happy to burn all the sounds onto a CD and send it to you. PM me your address. I no longer have the packaging material you sent.

[Dr Morbius]

I do think the game needs about a gig worth of HD space. :( sorry I did't even think to ask you if you had enough space on your HD.

I would be happy to make you some spooky sond FX from my game, if you could give me an idea of what you were looking for. :)

OH Dr M. be sure to update, there have been alot of stuff fixed from the original release. lot's of MB to download.
Do I need the update to use the sounds? Do the expansion packs help or are they even necessary for using the sounds?

[dynoflyer]

Doc and Hib

Thanks to both of you for the offer of sound fx. I'd appreciate that.

I'll PM each of you after the holidays are over, too much going on now to worry about it.

Merry Christmas and have a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

dynoflyer

[HibLaGrande]

The expansion packs add a few more sounds, new tilesets and monsters etc. Shadows of Undertide and Hordes of Underdark add some cool new things. But ,no you don't need them to start playing with sounds. However, the updates should make the toolset a bit more stable.

Happy Holidays to you too Dyno

[berzerkmonkey]

I apologize for the thread necromancy (though I do believe it is appropriate in this forum...) butI cannot figure the editor out for the life of me!

Is there a good tutorial somewhere on this toolset? Also HibLaGrande, how were you able to pull your final product off and convert it to an mp3? And can you just pull the sounds out of the game directory?

I'd really appreciate any help on this one, because it seems like a great tool.

[HibLaGrande]

http://nwn.bioware.com/builders/

Sorry I took so long to reply,this link should help get you going.
my sound card lets me capture anything that can be heard on the computer, I use Goldwave sound editing software. I started the toolset and hit the record button on the sound editor and left it to record for a few minutes.

[HibLaGrande]

Oh.

I'm not sure how to pull sounds off the game directory....but you can add your own sounds to the directory. the toolset comes with a converter that will turn wav files into a format that the game use.

[HibLaGrande]

I'm Sorry for the whole slew of huge pics

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a228/HibLaGrande/NWNscreenshot010.jpg
Here I selected a sound object called "Cave Bats" and pasted it front/right of the start arrow, it has the green box around it.
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a228/HibLaGrande/NWNscreenshot011.jpg
I then right click on the object and select properties. this brings up the following menu and options.
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a228/HibLaGrande/NWNscreenshot012.jpg
The basic tab allows you to listen to each sound clip that makes up the sound object and set the master volume. you can add or remove sound clips or import your own to create custom sound objects. I think the options in the next two pics are easy to pick up on.
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a228/HibLaGrande/NWNscreenshot013.jpg

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a228/HibLaGrande/NWNscreenshot015.jpg

[Dr Morbius]

I've been playing with this more, and managed to achieve importing my own sounds into it. I loaded the Hak-pak directory with the Beach Boys' and placed the sound on top of a fountain I placed in the module ( to test it, you know). I set the sound for directional and when I tested the module I just laughed my ass off when the character walked up to the fountain and out came Good Vibrations! I had to convert the mp3 to WAV using audacity and also make it a mono track, as the editor has a hard time using stereo tracks with directional sound. It IS ok, however to use stereo sound for "plays everywhere" feature. Oh, this is gonna be great. I can't wait to start mixing new tracks with this. I highly recommend the game for this purpose!

[frstvamp1r]

guess my computer isn't up to date to run the editor, I get an error. Oh well, maybe next year when my budget is up again.

[Dr Morbius]

Oh.

I'm not sure how to pull sounds off the game directory....but you can add your own sounds to the directory. the toolset comes with a converter that will turn wav files into a format that the game use.
You can't pull sounds off the directory, because they are in a file format only NWN understands. Unless you do what Hib does and record them from your soundcard, you're stuck listening to them through the game.

[DeathTouch]

Does anyone have them recorded to share with everyone. I know they have a file sharing site that Melty has.

[Dr Morbius]

That's a mighty tall order, DT. It would require someone to go through all 200 or more sounds, one by one, play them and record them off thier sound card, save them as new files and make them available for download. Not sure anyone would be willing to do it, I don't have the kind of soundcard Hib has to record them.

[Dr Morbius]

Ok this is wierd. I don't have Cavebats. Or ghosts. The sound listing is there, but when I put it in the area, it just makes a blank list under the "Areas" section on the right, and clicking proprties shows no sounds loaded in the library. I gaet the rest of the sounds fine though, do I need an expansion pack to hear those?

[HibLaGrande]

I 'm sorry I thought this thread went bye bye. That is strange Dr M. did they get deleted? or maybe they need to be added to the list from the resource directory. Ill take a look at mine and see what sound source is used to make those sound objects.

[HibLaGrande]

I'm not sure if an expansion is needed or not.these are the files that make up the cave bats and the ghost object try adding them and then saving, they may have been removed. Look and see if the exist in the game resource section.
as_anx2cvbat1
as_anx2cvbat2
as_anx2cvbat3
as_anx2cvbat4
as_anx2cvbat5
as_anx2cvbat6
as_anx2cvbat7
as_anx2cvbat8
as_anx2cvbat9
as_anx2cvbat10

as_hr_x2ghost1
as_hr_x2ghost2
as_hr_x2ghost3
as_hr_x2ghost4
as_hr_x2ghost5
as_hr_x2ghost6
as_hr_x2ghost7
as_hr_x2ghost8
as_hr_x2ghost9
as_hr_x2ghost10

[HibLaGrande]

Now that I think about it,I think the x2 in the file name does refer to an expansion pack.

[Dr Morbius]

Yea, it must, because I see the files NAMES in the directory, just no FILES themselves. Oh well. It's still fun and useful!

[HibLaGrande]

my computer that I was using to run this set up for halloween just gave up the ghost. :( I think I popped a cpu, lucky this can run on now obsolete machines...should be a cheap fix. :)

[Dr Morbius]

As long as you still have surround sound on it, my old computer can run NWN in surround and it's almost 5 years old now. I'm loving "obsolete" technology!

[frstvamp1r]

(grumbles and mumbles) I wish my old computer could run NVN...(grumbles some more)

[Dr Morbius]

NVN...is that the German version? heheh.

[jaege]

I used to play that game and would never have thought to use it for sound. Hib you are brilliant. You haunters are one creative and resourceful group of people. You guys should be running the country.

[fritz42_male]

I second that - after all we are a perfectly sane and sensible group!




Ahhha ahahha ahahhhaaaaa haaaaaa!