Reaper Leviathan "roar" sound has no direction / position - bug or intended?

mlemle Switzerland Join Date: 2016-04-04 Member: 215316Members
in Subnautica General Discussion
Hi, so I've bought Subnautica, even though I thought i wouldn't buy early access titles anymore. But it looked interesting, and the Trello Board and regular updates convinced me that this is being actively developed.
And damn it took me by surprise, this thing is friggin' amazing!!! The only annoying thing imho is scavenging for blueprints.

Anyway, my question: The Reaper Leviathan makes this awesome, bone-chilling scream / roar. But this sound is always only on the left channel, and I can't tell where the Reaper is based on sound. Which makes it even more scary, I guess...
Is this a bug / not yet implemented, or is it intended that way?
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Comments

  • BobythebeeBobythebee France Join Date: 2016-03-09 Member: 214045Members
    The blueprints scavenging is in a new experimental phase, so this isn't definitive at all :)

    That's a good question, I haven't tested Subnautica with headset..
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  • TenebrousNovaTenebrousNova England Join Date: 2015-12-23 Member: 210206Members
    I've never been able to tell where a reaper is based on sound until it's too late. My advice is to just be very vigilant when you start to hear their roars.
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  • RainstormRainstorm Montreal (Quebec) Join Date: 2015-12-15 Member: 210003Members
    Most of the time Reapers come to me straight from the inside of a mountain/sand dune lol. It has a bad habit of clipping hard thru terrain and get you from where you expect it the less :smiley: I've got a feeling that this isnt intended but it must be fairly low on their priority list im guessing.

    The month of July (if my memory serves right) will be mostly dedicated to fine tuning the game so my guess is that it might happen then. For the time being their main attention is focused to Content Development.
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  • crane476crane476 United States, Tx Join Date: 2015-08-07 Member: 206850Members
    Rainstorm wrote: »
    Most of the time Reapers come to me straight from the inside of a mountain/sand dune lol. It has a bad habit of clipping hard thru terrain and get you from where you expect it the less :smiley: I've got a feeling that this isnt intended but it must be fairly low on their priority list im guessing.

    The month of July (if my memory serves right) will be mostly dedicated to fine tuning the game so my guess is that it might happen then. For the time being their main attention is focused to Content Development.

    I've seen some cards on Trello addressing issues with the Reaper, including fixing how it spawns right in your face sometimes.
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  • ChaosKnight626ChaosKnight626 Minnesota Join Date: 2015-08-05 Member: 206783Members
    This has bugged me too. I'll hear the reaper, get ready, and only jump a little when it finally spawns in a couple meters from my Cyclops.
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  • project_mercyproject_mercy Aurora Engine Room Join Date: 2016-03-27 Member: 214884Members
    I've put in feedback/bugs on this before. I don't have my VR headset yet, but while it's vaguely annoying with a normal monitor, I feel it's going to be super annoying when I'm in "VR" and the sound position is in that same odd left-channel position. Sound cues are important.
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  • BobythebeeBobythebee France Join Date: 2016-03-09 Member: 214045Members
    When entering the Reapers teritory I always go down along the cliff. One time a reaper went out of the cliff at 10 meters of my Seamoth :s
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  • MyrmMyrm Sweden Join Date: 2015-08-16 Member: 207210Members
    I play the game wearing headphones and I haven't noticed it only coming into one ear; I'll listen out for it when I next play. One thing I have noticed though is that the roar of the Reaper seems to be a lot quieter now [31095] until it is right on you, like about to bite.
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  • VenomarVenomar Finland Join Date: 2016-03-05 Member: 213876Members
    Well since sound travels 300 times faster underwater it's logical that you cant hear the roars origin because the sound travels so fast.
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  • mlemle Switzerland Join Date: 2016-04-04 Member: 215316Members
    I'm currently using a Asus Xonar Essence STX II which presents a 7.1 System to Windows, and then mixes the signal using DolbyHeadphone to create virtual surround (binaural) on the Headphone output. Sounds awesome, and works great for all the sound in Subnautica (and all other games, movies, etc.), except the Reaper, and I think the Reefback.

    I haven't had any problems in other games yet, so I don't think it's an issue with my setup, but to make sure I thought I'd ask, hence this thread. I haven't tried the plain stereo mode yet.

    If you look in different directions, while the sound plays, does it change direction, or does it keep the same?

    In any case, this is only a minor issue, it just broke the immersion a bit for me, which is why I thought I'd ask around.
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  • project_mercyproject_mercy Aurora Engine Room Join Date: 2016-03-27 Member: 214884Members
    mle wrote: »
    I'm currently using a Asus Xonar Essence STX II which presents a 7.1 System to Windows, and then mixes the signal using DolbyHeadphone to create virtual surround (binaural) on the Headphone output. Sounds awesome, and works great for all the sound in Subnautica (and all other games, movies, etc.), except the Reaper, and I think the Reefback.

    Yeah, I have a Soundblaster Zx that I run both surround to headphones, as well as Dolby out to an Astro A40 and also to speakers sometimes in a 4.1 setup. I haven't noticed issues with the Reefback, but I guess I probably just tune it out, since I know what biomes I'm going to hear them in and I don't really care much where they are compared to the Reaper. It's also less annoying in general. I like whale sounds :)

    I'll try to pay attention next time I'm around one and see if the positional cues are correct.


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  • IntergalacticIntergalactic Canada Join Date: 2016-04-06 Member: 215403Members
    If this game intends to be realistic in this regard, the previous poster Venemar is correct. Water is so much denser than air that sound travels MUCH faster through it. If a human brain is translating these sounds, the difference in time between one ear hearing a sound and the other ear hearing the same sound is SO SMALL that your brain can't distinguish them. Which means you can't tell sound direction underwater. Try it for real in water. Have two friend crack rocks together underwater, one on either side of you, and you will not be able to tell which is which.
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  • mlemle Switzerland Join Date: 2016-04-04 Member: 215316Members
    Wow, yeah I guess you're right, never thought about this... (Venomar posted while I was typing out my last post, so I hadn't seen their reply, sorry)
    Hmm, but that would also mean it would make sense to remove all existing positional audio, and do just mono sound. I'm not really sure if this would be more "enjoyable", even if more realistic....

    In any case, that's an interesting point. I guess it's a case of "it's not a bug, it's a feature" ;)
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  • ObraxisObraxis Subnautica Animator & Generalist, NS2 Person Join Date: 2004-07-24 Member: 30071Super Administrators, Forum Admins, NS1 Playtester, Forum Moderators, NS2 Developer, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Silver, WC 2013 - Supporter, Subnautica Developer, Pistachionauts
    This should be fixed in the lastest patch. Please re-check :smile:
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  • mlemle Switzerland Join Date: 2016-04-04 Member: 215316Members
    What, sacrifice myself to the Reaper voluntarily? pfff, right... ;)

    Just kidding, re-checked, works great now! Thanks for the quick fix, that is some awesome customer service! :)
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  • project_mercyproject_mercy Aurora Engine Room Join Date: 2016-03-27 Member: 214884Members
    Positional audio is still off for Sound Blaster Zx. The roar is always positioned about 30-40 degrees left and about 30-40 degrees up from center. I just tested it and the reaper was actually about 50 degrees right of center and probably about 10-15 degrees up.

    It's also too quiet now. By the time you can actually hear it, its too late.

    I like that you're working on it though!
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