Valve buys Impulsonic, Creator of 3D Audio system for Video games - Polidicks

[url]https://www.impulsonic.com/[/url] [QUOTE]We haven’t been super-active on our blog or Twitter lately, and some of you have been wondering what we’ve been up to. Well, today, we’re excited to finally announce that Impulsonic has been acquired by Valve! We’re confident that with the resources and expertise that Valve brings to the table, we will be able to push Phonon and VR Audio to an exciting new level. The Impulsonic team will be transitioning to Valve HQ over the coming weeks, but our work will continue uninterrupted. For those of you who are already using Phonon, there is nothing you need to do at this point.[/QUOTE] you can download the software on their page right now and try it out in unity/unreal 4/fmod/wwise/etc. Valve uses this system for HRTF in CS:GO, and heres a youtube demo [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5MC1FJ1pec[/media]

This would be great for horror games. Are there any games that use this besides GO?

Looking forward to seeing this put to use in whatever VR title they end up pushing out. Should make a really big difference for presence.

I'd invest in a VR set if the market ever got saturated enough for them to be cheap.

[QUOTE]video[/QUOTE] this is impressive, but am i the only one who thinks the change is a little harsh on the first example? though i imagine that's a problem you could solve by changing the settings, not something wrong with the technology.

[QUOTE=Zukriuchen;51662806]this is impressive, but am i the only one who thinks the change is a little harsh on the first example? though i imagine that's a problem you could solve by changing the settings, not something wrong with the technology.[/QUOTE] That's just to demonstrate. This is really cool, Source has sound reflection (DSP) already but occlusion is something I've yet to see in any game. [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hrx9a313d1E[/media] [editline]12th January 2017[/editline] For other people bored and interested in sound engineering, this is another system that goes unused - physically based audio, like PBR. [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdoGlKOvzKk[/media]

[QUOTE=Zukriuchen;51662806]this is impressive, but am i the only one who thinks the change is a little harsh on the first example? though i imagine that's a problem you could solve by changing the settings, not something wrong with the technology.[/QUOTE] I agree, while the simulation was solid and felt accurate I feel like they kind over applied all of the effects they demoed. This is the sort of thing where subtlety is better than over saturation. I don't feel like you'd get that much reflection in a room that small for example. I assume they kinda took the effects to 11 to make the demo more flashy and noticeable but I imagine there is plenty of tuning control.

YES This can only mean really good things to come for source 2, and possibly the industry as a whole. [video]https://youtube.com/watch?v=cS_Fbueh7F4[/video] This sort of thing is early 90s tech, but game developers would rather focus on better depth blur and a focus on shitty stories than actual immersion. This shows valve is making a step in the right direction.

I haven't really given much thought on the sound in video games however from the demo that I have just watched I am really impressed. I am especially impressed by occlusion, I never seen its use before. I am eager for future games not only made by Valve but also by other companies who utilizes SoundFlow as if used properly can make for a game experience that can truly be memorable

Nice to finally see sound technology in games making progress. A whole lot of nothing was happening until VR came around This demo is from 1998, still sounds better than most games today [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oSlbyLAksM[/media]

glad to see a true successor to aureal

[QUOTE=Medevila;51663695]Valve is waiting for VR tech to reach their demands before they release HL3 as a VR-only title[/QUOTE] riots in the streets

[QUOTE=Citrus705;51663905]riots in the streets[/QUOTE] -novr in the command line. It's how you can play Robot Repair without a Vive.

I like HRTF. It's an excellent technology that sounds great done right. Interstellar marines is the best example i can think of. The current implementation of it in CSGO is unbelievably awful and should never have been released. Maybe these new hires will tell them how to do it properly or something because right now some dumbass just winged the implementation and its bad enough to make me queasy when i have it turned on.

This is the 1st time I see Valve buying a studio, especially when it's about the 3D audio. Creative won't be happy about this.

[QUOTE=KenjiKusanagi;51664399]This is the 1st time I see Valve buying a studio, especially when it's about the 3D audio. Creative won't be happy about this.[/QUOTE] They've absorbed a number of small teams in the past.

[QUOTE=KenjiKusanagi;51664399]This is the 1st time I see Valve buying a studio, especially when it's about the 3D audio. Creative won't be happy about this.[/QUOTE] creative hasnt done anything good in a long time anyways

[QUOTE=FlamingBlizza;51664486]creative hasnt done anything good in a long time anyways[/QUOTE] It's better to reffer to their dickish move of their hostile suing against Aureal back then. Despite the fact that Aureal won in these cases, the legal cost were too high for them and had no choice but to fill the bankrupcy. After that Creative bought their assets and eliminated their only competition to the gaming audio market. Even John Carmack had no choice but to use EAX in Doom 3 instead of his own. Some rumoured that Creative was blackmailing him. I just hope Creative dies for that.

That's really great hopefully it means they can improve the sound engine in cs go because its absolutely garbage in its current state even with hrtf while cs 1.6 and even some older source games have better sound quality.

[QUOTE=KenjiKusanagi;51664399]This is the 1st time I see Valve buying a studio, especially when it's about the 3D audio. Creative won't be happy about this.[/QUOTE] Portal guys studio (narbacular drop), Turtle Rock Studio, Hidden Path Entertainment collab..?

[QUOTE=CruelAddict;51664828]Portal guys studio (narbacular drop), Turtle Rock Studio, Hidden Path Entertainment collab..?[/QUOTE] Along with the developers of the successful mods Team Fortress, Counter-Strike and Day of Defeat.

Shit, now I feel dumb. Forgot that TF,CS and DoD was a mod at 1st. Although i wasn't aware of the Portal one.

I have a 5.1 surround sound setup for my PC, and there's been plenty of games that totally fuck up implementation of it, so I end up just using my headphones. Most devs consider sound an afterthought even though it helps with immersion as well as spatial orientation. It really helps gaming competitively when you can accurately hear the footsteps of another player above and to the right of you to react faster than you can see, and the cinematic feel of certain games becomes incredible with proper surround. With a lot of games you get issues like center speakers not having audio, or having voice come out of the center speaker only and all other sounds coming from other speakers, sounds not properly changing with distance or direction and are simply on/off per speaker, pretending they support 5.1 but instead have stereo sound come through all the speakers, etc. [URL="http://satsun.org/audio/"]This site[/URL] is helpful in determining how well some games support surround, and has a guide on how to properly set up your PC for surround sound. Any kind of tech that makes sound more realistic is a good thing IMO.

[QUOTE=Jackald;51665209]Can't wait for Valve to implement this in one of their exciting upcoming games like _____________[/QUOTE] Even if Valve don't make anymore games it'll be awesome for others to use the engine.

[QUOTE=SleepyAl;51667943]I have a 5.1 surround sound setup for my PC, and there's been plenty of games that totally fuck up implementation of it, so I end up just using my headphones. Most devs consider sound an afterthought even though it helps with immersion as well as spatial orientation. It really helps gaming competitively when you can accurately hear the footsteps of another player above and to the right of you to react faster than you can see, and the cinematic feel of certain games becomes incredible with proper surround. With a lot of games you get issues like center speakers not having audio, or having voice come out of the center speaker only and all other sounds coming from other speakers, sounds not properly changing with distance or direction and are simply on/off per speaker, pretending they support 5.1 but instead have stereo sound come through all the speakers, etc. [URL="http://satsun.org/audio/"]This site[/URL] is helpful in determining how well some games support surround, and has a guide on how to properly set up your PC for surround sound. Any kind of tech that makes sound more realistic is a good thing IMO.[/QUOTE] It's actually funny how we've went from 5.1 to 7.1 back to doing stereo properly. I remember my friend getting a ~400€ 7.1 system back in the day and it sounded fucking awesome playing games and listening to music. Then we grew up and now be both just use sennheiser phones all the time [editline]14th January 2017[/editline] Also shitty gimmicks that I've borrowed from my friends and they have never wanted them back: 5.1 headphones by some ~gaming~ company. They sounded so shit I couldn't handle them for more than 5 minutes. Those ~gaming~ half keyboards where you have wasd and a joystick, borrowed it from a friend, tried once and it has been sitting in a closet for 7 years

[QUOTE=gukki;51667965] Those ~gaming~ half keyboards where you have wasd and a joystick, borrowed it from a friend, tried once and it has been sitting in a closet for 7 years[/QUOTE] Hey now, those can actually be pretty nice for some games, like Elite dangerous.

[QUOTE=AnonymaPizza;51663400]YES This can only mean really good things to come for source 2, and possibly the industry as a whole. [video]https://youtube.com/watch?v=cS_Fbueh7F4[/video] This sort of thing is early 90s tech, but game developers would rather focus on better depth blur and a focus on shitty stories than actual immersion. This shows valve is making a step in the right direction.[/QUOTE] If they didn't warn me, that knock on the wall would have made me shit myself god damn

[QUOTE=Bread_Baron;51665012]Along with the developers of the successful mods Team Fortress, Counter-Strike and Day of Defeat.[/QUOTE] And Alien Swarm.

[QUOTE=I_love_garrysmod;51663657]Nice to finally see sound technology in games making progress. A whole lot of nothing was happening until VR came around This demo is from 1998, still sounds better than most games today [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oSlbyLAksM[/media][/QUOTE] hope valve doesn't do the same and just kill it completely

From the last example from the video, sound should still bleed slightly thru the wall. Don't know why it's eliminated entirely from the wall. Should be a way to simulate that effect by throwing some hard eqs to the sound source thru the wall, but have a harder drop-off when falling back. This is all dependent on the volume of the sound and wall type of course.