So far there has been a few annoying things such as the sounds for some units. I haven't heard all the unit sounds but one of them I did hear on one of HDStarcraft's vids was the Ultralisk....
The attack sounded like some psi blade/pew pew from wraith. It sounds so weak!! Come on blizzard what were you thinking??? That awesome growl from the SC1 ultra was gone, now reduced to this??
listen at 7:29 on HDStarcraft's vid
And is anyone else finding the hydra spitting sounding weak and hard to follow? First I can't really see anything or what the hydras are attacking second it sound as weak as those midgets and their blow darts in DiabloII.
I agree, the game is looking great but suprisingly the big weak point is the unit sounds. Both Hydra and Ultralisk are dissapointing to name but a few. The real question is, how easy is it to fix? I imagine the sounds were probably done months ago. Will there be time to change them before release? It's probably possible but it would be a huge hassle for Blizzard. Will they bother?
Mutalisk sound was perfect in SC1, they made it this really weak screech in SC2, I don't like it. :\ Actually, all Z sounds sound a bit weak. The other races seem fine though.
On February 23 2010 05:28 Jyvblamo wrote: Mutalisk sound was perfect in SC1, they made it this really weak screech in SC2, I don't like it. :\ Actually, all Z sounds sound a bit weak. The other races seem fine though.
over all i feel zerg is the least polished out of the 3
I think part of it is we've been hearing the same unit sounds for 10 years now, and a change will take some getting used to. I also feel that way about the graphics (terran/zerg especially), but I'm sure I'll get to like them just as much (if not more so)
The "getting used to" factor is obviously huge and we can't discuss these things from a completely unbiased POV, but even with that in mind, some of zerg sounds are just horrible. Ultralisk sound is just atrocious.
I hate almost all of the unit sounds in zerg. Drone used to buzz. Overlords used to sound confused. Mutas used to screech. Ultras used to roar. Eggs used to crackle when you clicked them and when they hatched. Everything on zerg seems muted.
Also I have turned down the sound to silence that hissy narrator (kerrigan?) so I can barely hear the unit sounds when I'm playing.
On February 23 2010 05:37 moopie wrote: I think part of it is we've been hearing the same unit sounds for 10 years now, and a change will take some getting used to. I also feel that way about the graphics (terran/zerg especially), but I'm sure I'll get to like them just as much (if not more so)
True...in general but I got a feeling that if blizz keeps the current ultra sound, it'll still sound like crap even after like 10 years of listening to it.
The complain that it doesn't sound the same it's that it doesn't sound like how it looks if that makes sense the ultralisk is a huge looking unit in game but it doesn't sound like it it sounds no louder then a hydralisk.
On February 23 2010 06:09 stormtemplar wrote: I'm pretty sure blizzard said sounds are just placeholders. Dun worry.
I'm starting to think you are right, you gotta be a complete idiot to not notice such an ugly sound. Unless blizz has hundreds of deaf employees, they will deliver a polished game with the REAL sounds.
I really don't think this deserves its own thread, there are already at least two about unit sounds, and I mentioned the weak sound of the ultra attack in both of them. Btw iirc the sound of the anti building attack of the ultra wasn't bad, just the anti-unit attack sound.
the greatest part of the attack/death sounds in sc1 was the personality of many of the units. mutalisks, scourge, utralisks, zealots, their voices/screams/growls could be heard when attacking. zerglings attacking had a very impactful sound, hydralisks acid spitting, lurker spines tearing.
and you could hear the screams of every biological unit dying
I feel the whole zerg soundset for attacks and unit responses should be redone. They just don't compare to sc1, and on their own they sound rushed and all sound alike. There is no character, no personality, just the exact same method to make squishy noises used for every single sound.
Zerglings: Weak sound Zealots: Weak sound. Psi-blade sound in SC1 is heavy and hardcore Hydralisk: Weak sound.. spitting sound in SC1 is much better Tank: Sounds weak. Turret: Doesn't make high pitch rocket sound. Not scary at all anymore.
Completely agreed with all the comments posted so far. The only sound I've enjoyed so far is the wet ripping sound that zerglings make when they attack their opponents. When did Hydras start shooting spines? Didn't they spit acid in the first game? I think they should've kept it at that...there's nothing more satisfying than hearing the acid splats of 85398195 hydras. The 'zwip' of the ultralisk swipe is not so bad in itself (since it denotes the slice of metal), but it should be accompanied by the creature's trademark roar.
Seems to me like the entire Zerg audio is bad. There doesn't seem to be any music--most of the streams I've seen so far have no distinguishable music from what I can hear. Only track 2 seems have a recognizable tune--seems like they went way too far with the ambiance and whatnot. The original zerg themes had ambiance portions, but they always spiraled into a riff or melody--ambiance or silence for minutes straight was never the order of the day. Also, the Kerrigan voice itself is not so bad, but the voice acting is awful. Every sentence sounds forced, like it's being said sarcastically or by a retard trying to emphasize every syllable. The phlegm-congested voice of the original was much more sinister and well voice-acted.
The worst part is that I don't think any of this will change before the official release. The game literally looks exactly the same as it did 4 years ago when it was previewed at Blizzcon. I doubt they'll do a drastic overhaul at this point.
On February 23 2010 07:11 Whalecore wrote: Noticed the same with many other units.
Zerglings: Weak sound Zealots: Weak sound. Psi-blade sound in SC1 is heavy and hardcore Hydralisk: Weak sound.. spitting sound in SC1 is much better Tank: Sounds weak. Turret: Doesn't make high pitch rocket sound. Not scary at all anymore.
im ok with the new zeal sound just because the SC1 zeal sound made absolutely no sense at all lol
On February 23 2010 07:29 j2choe wrote: When did Hydras start shooting spines? Didn't they spit acid in the first game?
Lorewise hydras always shot spines, the goo was just the propellant of the spine that you didn't see. So they removed the goo, the other difference is that they now shoot one large spine instead of hundreads of small ones. I think a problem with the goo shot they had before is that it would either disrupt your vision a ton in the 3d engine or it would have a sucky look. The best way is probably making it back like marine fire with invisible bullet and instead have some firing animation with goo.
we need more exaggerated, emotional sounds. in bw, when lurkers rape the shit out of mnm, they scream so DAMN loud. now zerg player knows he just had some epic win moment.
when you watch a colossus burn the shit out of the opponent units, and you actually see them burn. "u just got owned" will come to mind.
in beta, when hydras shoot tiny spines with puny noises, i think "i brought those land monsters from diablo2"
I think hydralisks were intended originally to shoot acid, but have you looked at one? Does it look like an acid shooter? So on their website and in their manuals it said they shot spines, even though clearly in the game they are spitting. I guess they decided to rectify it.
On topic, even the hydra spines are pretty poor. There is no sound of shooting and there is no impact sound. They should make it sound different depending on the unit it hits. That would be interesting.
agreed 100%. the one major thing that's been bugging me about sc2 is that most of the sounds aren't as badass sounding as they were in sc1. hopefully most of them are just place holders. blizzard said themselves that beta's priority is bug/balancing checking, while polishing up graphics and the like come up at the end.
On February 23 2010 06:47 7mk wrote: I really don't think this deserves its own thread, there are already at least two about unit sounds, and I mentioned the weak sound of the ultra attack in both of them. Btw iirc the sound of the anti building attack of the ultra wasn't bad, just the anti-unit attack sound.
Sorry I didn't see the other posts, if I did I would've posted there, but since the SC2 forum has been exploding with activity it's hard to know what has been discussed or not. By the way i have read the other 'sound' posts and they both haven't talked about the ultra specifically, but I do see your point.
In general, from hours of replay watching, I was impressed by how good the sounds were IMO. The exception is some of the zerg attacking sounds. Hydra sounds like it's shooting a needle rather than spitting acid. If that's what they were going for, good I guess. The lings attack sounds a bit wierd too. I haven't seen an ultra yet though.
I guess other than that, I liked the theme music, I liked a lot of the unit response sounds. Only non-zerg problem I can think of is the immortal attack seemed to drown out the sound of everything else because it's so loud.
Watching live streams of pro-games on a crappy stream / connection really made me appreciate the BW sounds. You can discern a lot of what is going on just by listening, even when the video freezes. Lurkers cutting into MnM is particularly effective, and also I like the tank shot / dragoon death combo sounds for some reason.
This may be slightly off topic but I thought that ultralisk was Duriel when it attacked. The hydra attack sounds like that of the summoned Quilbeasts from WC3.
I have found that most of the sounds are very low volume and not impacting enough even if turned up. Especially melee attacking units. zerglings vs a probe: ,tap, tap, tap.
Also, a lot of the unit selection and movement noises are terribad. Especially the mutalisk. mutalisk going to carve a path of destruction and ownage: heee, hiiii, ahhh
I have also noticed the zealot attack sounds really lame... in SC1 you know exactly when he has struck his prey because it's a big BAM not a gradual swipe that sounds like someone swiping with a lance of some kind.
On February 23 2010 10:21 Ret. wrote: this is gonna be changed soon ... for sure ! at least i hope !! hehe this shit sounds horrible ..
why would you register with that name ._. ot: I like SOME of the protoss sounds...but I like every protoss unit sound in sc1, especially the carrier...the way it said "Carrier has arrived" was so forceful, its like it was basically saying "you're fucked now"
On February 23 2010 08:26 onmach wrote:On topic, even the hydra spines are pretty poor. There is no sound of shooting and there is no impact sound. They should make it sound different depending on the unit it hits. That would be interesting.
Another interesting point. It is attention to little details like this that I expected from a game that has been in development hell for the better part of the last decade. I want upgraded weapons to sound and look different from un-upgraded ones. How about choosing which voice you want to announce your status (like being able to customize and choose whether you want Kerrigan or some random cerebrate voice)? How about having weather effects for certain games?
There are so many things they could have done to improve this game that go beyond just the typical 'new units' type of thinking. So far, this looks like a glossier version of the original with less character and charm.
On February 23 2010 06:09 stormtemplar wrote: I'm pretty sure blizzard said sounds are just placeholders. Dun worry.
I'm starting to think you are right, you gotta be a complete idiot to not notice such an ugly sound. Unless blizz has hundreds of deaf employees, they will deliver a polished game with the REAL sounds.
Apparently he is wrong. I just had to bump this thread because I am SO PISSED OFF right now at the sound. I mean CMON!
Sound in general is a dissapointment in SC2 in my opinion. Attack and death sounds are halfassed, and the voices as well. In SC1 the sounds are so epic, they get you so pumped up.
"YES SIR" "READY TO ROLL OUT" "BE GLAD TO DO, SIR"
and
"It is a good day to die"
etc
In SC2 the voices are so lame. Compare Zeratul in SC to Zeratul in SC2. It's sad. Attack and death sounds are also less characteristic.
Also, the Zerg unit sounds are much more characteristic in BW. Every unit has its own feel, but in SC2 they all sound like the same clay going "clophsopbosclhops". Lame.
SC2's Tank arclite explosion also sounds less threatening. But if they had to upgrade it then the Thor's boom need to be upgraded as well. Another one I noticed was Psi-storm but maybe that was just a personal irk.
There are a couple sounds that I think were very well done. The marauder attack was very well done. It's very in your face and when you get a large group of them it sounds pretty good. The void ray sound is also very well done and fits the unit very well. The battle cruiser is OK. The zerg unburrow sound is very good because it is very sharp and announces that the unburrow has happened. The nydus worm is also well done, but other than that I don't like any of the sounds. The zealots don't sound like zealots any more. The definition of zealot before starcraft is a warlike, radical, patriotic, savage worrier. It sounded exactly like that. Now the zealot has turned into something refined sophisticated. This is not the zealot of BW. Hydralisks sound like they're amazon worriers using dart guns now. Zerglings sound like a baby in a bathtub smacking the surface of the water.
Well regarding the SC2 sounds the high templars' psi storm sounds pretty cool in my opinion. It sounds kinda *boom* *slash* *stooooooorm* *badabam*....or something like that.^^
It really lets you feel the energy of that psionic attack...especially if there are multiple storms going down.
The Ultras attack..ok could sound a little bit more powerfull but it's ok in my opinion. The Kaiser Blades have that kind of swinging sound which is like someone is attacking with a sword and the headbut sound is ok too.
On August 25 2010 19:16 Zerksys wrote: The battle cruiser is OK.
I despise what they have done with the BC, as far as voice goes. They took the mightiest ship in the Terran fleet and turned it into a comedic sidekick. Yay.
On August 25 2010 21:37 leveller wrote: The weakest, most disappointing one is for sure "We cannot hold".
Almost all Protoss units sounds weak compared to the hard, deep voices of the BW Protoss. And the Archon almost makes me cry.
Over all, I am very displeased with what Blizzard has done with sound effects/voice in SC2.
On a positive note, the rest of the game is great, so the crappy sound is bearable.
On August 25 2010 19:16 Zerksys wrote: The battle cruiser is OK.
I despise what they have done with the BC, as far as voice goes. They took the mightiest ship in the Terran fleet and turned it into a comedic sidekick. Yay.
On August 25 2010 21:37 leveller wrote: The weakest, most disappointing one is for sure "We cannot hold".
Almost all Protoss units sounds weak compared to the hard, deep voices of the BW Protoss. And the Archon almost makes me cry.
Over all, I am very displeased with what Blizzard has done with sound effects/voice in SC2.
On a positive note, the rest of the game is great, so the crappy sound is bearable.
I was referring to the firing sound not the voices. I don't like the voices of any of the protoss or terran air units. They all sound kind of to soft and not all that serious. I HATE HATE HATE the new carrier voice. The deep "CARRIER HAS ARRIVED" has turned into ...carrier has arrived... The zealots especially really need a voice redo. Zealots are supposed to love combat and be ready to die at any second. "WE CANNOT HOLD" just does not match that style.