Dev blog #67: The sound of hell, part 1

Hi everyone, here we are with a new dev blog. We want to thank you guys for the overwhelming reactions to our previous blog, that was really motivating. Keep it up guys!

This time, we would like to tell you about the sound(s) in the game and how we research and use them. Of course we also show you some of the results and ask you what you think of them.

This is a challenging subject for any developer.
Most Hollywood productions are useless as a source; except for just a handful of movies, they use the wrong sounds and equipment for almost everything. Does it sound familiar to you? You watch a ww2 movie and you hear yourself say “that’s a fake explosion” or “that’s the wrong tank” or “that equipment doesn’t belong here” every couple of minutes. As an example, check out JG2’s “FW190”s below:

https://youtu.be/t0gcap1hjPI
Even though this is an iconic movie, this bit just isn’t right at all.

So we can do several things: we can travel to museums and events where we can capture the original engine sounds of war (which we sometimes do), or buy the sounds.
Some of our weapon sounds are live recordings, some are acquired from 3rd parties. The right tank gun sounds were also difficult to find, just like engine sounds, but we got some already!
There again, unless we have had the extremely rare chance to do a live recording, it will have to come from elsewhere.

Last but not least we need explosions (lots of them ːsteamhappyː) and since we are not allowed to detonate anything at Barbedwire studios ːsteamsadː, we have to find another way to get those as well.
In the end, you don’t have to worry, we will make sure we get it absolutely right.



Are you one of those that can tell the number of cylinders when you hear an engine running? Allow us to reassure you with some of our assets then:

https://youtu.be/9xd8eV7h128
This is what the Maybach HL230 P30 sounds like.

https://youtu.be/gHuS82OL2bo
This is what the Model V-2-34 diesel engine sounds like.

We move on to artillery. Many games have a limited array of sounds for all guns. However, in reality, different shells make different sounds.
Let’s have a quick look at the use of larger calibre howitzers in- game. Logically, if we want to see an impact, first we have to fire the shell:

https://youtu.be/93djAdM7rNM
Friendly or enemy, if an artillery shell was incoming, everyone on the battlefield would duck for cover.

https://youtu.be/S-wi7vPvXD0
How do you like our sounds? Do you have any improvements to suggest?

• The first series of Panthers was rushed into battle at Kursk despite known technical problems, and the first two were lost to engine fires already during unloading from the train.
  
• T-34’s are still fighting today, in the civil war in Yemen.
  
• The Panther cost 117.100 Reichsmark, less than half the cost for a Tiger I (250.800 Reichsmark).
  
• The 1943 model T-34 cost 135.000 Rubel. The exchange rate of the day was 5:1 which means in Reichsmark it cost 27.000 so the Panther would have been more than 4 times the price of a T-34!
  
• Just a mortar shell explosion near a soldier (under cover) results in loss of hearing. Many soldiers went deaf this way.
  
• Engine sounds could be heard hundreds of meters far away. This would be good intel, especially at night.
  
• We have a facebookpage! Like & follow us to get our other “did you know” posts as well!
  

In the meantime, please tell us what you think would be really cool to have in the voice acting, so we can consider using it.
Last but not least; are you Russian speaking and would you be interested in recording for us as a voice actor? Please let us know.

In the next dev blog, we want to show you some German voice acting, so start getting excited for that!
Thank you for all your support and good luck until the next dev blog.