Sound Query

[Nimrod]

Are the sounds of the ball hitting flippers, bumpers drop targets etc recorded for each table?

It seems like every table uses the same SFX for the ball hitting things, and honestly it doesn't sound that great, maybe because it's too quiet. All the videos I've seen of pinball machines on youtube and the like the sounds of the ball hitting various parts is pretty loud and sounds very different to that in TPA.

Anyone else think this too? Are the sounds recorded separately for each table or just the same for all of them?

 

[Kratos3]

Completely agree. What's missing is that visceral nature of the sounds a pinball machine makes. It's probably hard to recreate, but the pop bumpers should have a weightier sound to them, and the flippers should have a louder, sharper sound.

JMHO, of course.

 

[Metalzoic]

What audio setup you're using will have a big impact on this as well.
Are you just using some small stereo media speakers? A full blown home theater etc...

I can say that the PC version running through two 4" car audio speakers and a small sub sounds better than the PS4 version running through my multi-thousand surround sound. The sound on PS4 is pretty rough.

 

[Crazy Newt]

It would be interesting to have the option to hear the sounds with or without the glass on, too.

 

[Nimrod]

What audio setup you're using will have a big impact on this as well.
Are you just using some small stereo media speakers? A full blown home theater etc...

I can say that the PC version running through two 4" car audio speakers and a small sub sounds better than the PS4 version running through my multi-thousand surround sound. The sound on PS4 is pretty rough.

Corsair SP2500s with an ASUS Xonar Essence STX soundcard here mate. But it's nopthing to do with the quality, nor how loud the overall game is, it's the actual sound of the ball collisions, and the volume of them compared to the electronic noises from the speakers of the machine.

 

[mpad]

I requested separate mechanical volume control like two years ago. Doesn't seem to be high priority or doesn't bug too many people.
Pro pinball had this ages ago.

And yes the overall sound sample quality could be a bit better / more realistic.
But being able to crank it up would already help a lot.

 

[Kratos3]

I requested separate mechanical volume control like two years ago. Doesn't seem to be high priority or doesn't bug too many people.
Pro pinball had this ages ago.

And yes the overall sound sample quality could be a bit better / more realistic.
But being able to crank it up would already help a lot.

Pumping up the mechanical sound volume would be a good start. Something....

 

[Tann]

It would be interesting to have the option to hear the sounds with or without the glass on, too.

Yeah, and the option to put or remove the glass, like in PHoF: Gottlieb & Williams Collection. The visual FX was pretty fancy and very realistic.

 

[Robert Misner]

I agree there needs to be a seperation of Music, Digital sound effects and mechanical Table effects..
The sound of flippers,ball Roll on the table, the sound of the ball rubbing against the metal Rails and general clunky sounds are all absent or so quiet..the ball makes a slight Tink sound when it hits metal or wood..vs. a Thwack sound ..

 

[SilverBalls]

I also would love to crank up mechanical sounds including ball rolling and collision sounds and tone down ROM sounds.

 

[Locksley]

As long as there is a slider

I would really like to hear that they sample each table specific. Not use a generic bumper sound or 'clack' of the flippers. And where is the 'hum' on our EMs?
Sound is a really great way to bring that little bit extra in there.

Well, Farsight got tons of stuff they could do if they had the time and money

 

[otto4711]

All the videos I've seen of pinball machines on youtube and the like the sounds of the ball hitting various parts is pretty loud and sounds very different to that in TPA.

yep that exactly what i thought.
the real pinballs have all a unique flipper and ball rolling (on playfield and ramps) and target hitting sound (and may be all a unique plunger sound too ) which is missing in tpa.
when a ball is ejected from a hole it sounds different on real machines too


the sound of the flippers seems to be the same for all tables in tpa :-(
and there is no "ball rolling sound" from the playfield.

hope there will be a future sound update to emulate non rom pinball sounds

as far as i know fs has all real machines
so it should be possible to record flipper and ball rolling and hitting sounds from each table


may be fs should delay a season 5 and add a sound update and fix the huge bugs list first

 

[mpad]

OK specific sounds for each table is a bit overkill, even for me
Take in consideration that every table sounds different depending on age, state of maintenance, air temperature and humidity,....

And sound files are still pretty large, so this would be really resource hungry, not speaking of FS work resources.

If they could just improve the overall mech sound quality and volume handling, that would allow for a greater experience...

 

[Locksley]

OK specific sounds for each table is a bit overkill, even for me
Take in consideration that every table sounds different depending on age, state of maintenance, air temperature and humidity,....
<snip>

I see it now - we need a humidity slider as well!

 

[EldarOfSuburbia]

Beer slider? Carpet stickiness slider? Kid hanging around kibbitzing you slider?

 

[The loafer]

For those who are not aware, It's important to remember that most pinball YouTube videos are filmed with the glass off to limit glare so that the video looks better. this in turn boosts the audio of everything that is usually muffled by the glass so those videos do not faithfully represent how pinball sounds for the majority of those playing them for real.

Options are never wrong so yeah, would be a cool idea to implement a glass on/off option

 

[Robert Misner]

ya but even playing real tables at the local theater with the glass on has way more pronounced mechanical sounds...its dramatically different

 

[Locksley]

Table specific noises aside (tables that sound very distinctive in there mechanics that is), the mechanics are just that, noise. I would think if table designers could rid themselves of much of that extra layer of unwanted noise they would be very appreciate.

That being said, I don't wont them removed just some more specific and also as mentioned, a bit more control over mechanical stuff volume.

 

[rehtroboi40]

What audio setup you're using will have a big impact on this as well.
Are you just using some small stereo media speakers? A full blown home theater etc...

I can say that the PC version running through two 4" car audio speakers and a small sub sounds better than the PS4 version running through my multi-thousand surround sound. The sound on PS4 is pretty rough.

Wow! The PS4 version has been out for 18 months, and still sounds bad even now? Even I find that hard to believe LOL. If they still can't fix the sound on a current-gen game after all this time, what can they do?

I will say that the 360 version took a serious dive in sound quality since the new tables came out. Now the PC version sounds even better than the 360, which IMO, formerly had the best sound quality. Maybe just having 10 tables available wasn't such a bad thing after all.

 

[Nimrod]

ya but even playing real tables at the local theater with the glass on has way more pronounced mechanical sounds...its dramatically different

There are pinball tables at theatres in Canada? Do you go see Phantom of the Opera, come out and have a few games on the pinball machine after?