CK2 Dev Diary #30 - Audio Mix

[Metal King]

Greetings!

After showing Doomdark some of the subliminal messages in a few tracks by Judas Priest and delving into deeper studies of other groups and media, I decided that I needed a break and put my mind into something else for now. So... a perfect opportunity for me to write a new Dev Diary! I would love to talk about some of my findings so far but I need to do more research to be sure that what I have discovered is true.

For this entry I’ll talk about something both I and other people have wanted me to do with Crusader Kings II for a long time:

Mixing!

What kind of sorcery is this?

This is a process that you’re usually doing at the end of production which I was able to do for Stellaris & Hearts of Iron IV, but never got to do for Crusader Kings II for the simple reason that it was released before I started working at Paradox.

It means that I have gone through all current audio assets and adjusted the overall audio volume for them. Later on I mixed and adjusted all the different audio assets ingame, so for example all the ambient sound effects are lower in the background until you zoom in. Also, interface sound effects play at a pleasant volume and do not interrupt the music. I can also reveal that I have mixed all music in the game, including all the separate Music DLCs, which means that now you don’t have to worry about the Metal music exploding your speakers when you turn on the game.

So, in brief this means it will feel like a new experience for you once you start the game with the new mix. Perhaps you will start hearing audio you have never noticed before, and discover that the notification sound effects are a bit “softer”.

 

[Darkrenown]

Sounds good; really looking forward to it.

Is there a reason that wasn't the case from game release? Seems like a strange thing not to do.

"Not having a sound director" was the main reason, as the DD says

 

[Metal King]

There is an option in one of the game options (probably under audio), where you can set it to disregard requirements on songs. Otherwise some tracks will only play under very very restrictive conditions. And then you'll get it really often when those are fulfilled.
If you toggle that off you get a pretty even mix in my opinion; the only bad thing being that it then also mixes in the Christmas song which is annoying when you aren't in the Christmas Season. @Metal King any chance of that disregard requirements toggle not disregarding real World triggers. I.e. so that song, like the Christmas one, which has a requirement only to play in certain real World months still won't play at other times of the year? And still will play frequently in December, like intended.

You can find a option in "Settings" and under "Audio" which is called "Context Sensitive Music".

This function is implemtented before my time at Paradox so I don't know how it works, It is probably on a code level that I would need help with. So unfortunately I don't have any good answer before doing my own investigation.

 

[Metal King]

Pffft, that's the only acceptable way of starting up a game of CK2.

It is perhaps the most Metal way start the game? \m/

 

[Metal King]

Cheers for the DD Metal King, and great work on the mixing . I've always held the soundtrack/soundscape as key features in games, and the soundscape in Paradox games these days is top-notch . Question (perhaps not entirely serious....) - do you think it would be as good if, instead of being into metal, you were heavily into Justin Bieber instead?

Thanks for your kind words! I'm glad to hear that you enjoy my work.

Well.. It would perhaps been a interesting mix in that case. Don't if I would have started to through VO line in such as "Baby, baby, baby" whenever a child is born.

 

[Metal King]

i think it means more the birds'n'stuff

You're right. Now it will be easier to hear ambient sounds such as birds, winds and city ambients.

 

[Metal King]

Needs more Wilhelm Screams.

Nah, Wilhelm Scream is so mainstream. We need more Howie Scream