bird sounds

[Cybane Choker]

First of all, I don't want the following to sound like a complaint at all. This whole exult program is completely awesome, and I have to thank everyone that's worked on it. The u7 games have always meant a lot to me, its great to be able to play them again.

One thing I've noticed is some minor sound effects flaws. While not a huge deal, the bird sounds have in particular been something I really miss.

I've seen this issue discussed on here before but only in old threads. I'm just wondering if this is something being worked on, or if theres a solution for it.

[Dominus]

do you have the sfx pack installed? I *do* hear bird sounds.

[Serj]

Sound of fire and campfire are still missing.

[Dominus]

were they there in the original?
Because playing it with Dosbox I can hear no sound for fire in the original, neitehr with soundblaster nor with the Roland device.

[Azulmagia]

Tweet tweet.


You're welcome ^^

[Cybane Choker]

Yup I've tried the sound packs, and I prefer the adlib one. There ARE bird sounds, but they're just not right. They sound sort of like someone hitting a note over and over again on an electric keyboard.

This was the first game I played where you could actually go to a beach and hear waves and sea gulls and all that, so the effects really made an impression on me. The waves are right, and most the effects are either right or really close, but the birds are totally off.

[Cybane Choker]

Oh, and I remember fire sounds in the original as well. I'm not sure about campires, but there was definitely an effect when you carried a torch or a fire sword...

[Dominus]

The fire sword did make a sound that's true (though it sounds horribly in adlib, SB16 and Roland MT-32 mode) and it doesn't make one in Exult.
There was no effect when carrying a lit torch. Believe me I tried just now in Dosbox (the other effects are there so it should let me hear that one as well). You get the effect of dousing the torch both when you do it manually or when it is spent.

[Cybane Choker]

Hmm, yeah I guess it was just the fire sword. I remember that much, because I almost never used them for very long due to the sound they made. It was kind of... annoying. I'd rather have the birds

[Crysta the Elf]

same goes for the lightning whip and hoe of destruction.. both hummed annoyingly in the original

see, those are some sound effects i dont miss.. AT ALL

[Cybane Choker]

Oh, I should probably specifiy that its Serpent Isle I've been focusing on. I think the bird sounds were quite different between the two U7s. Serpent Isle had much better bird effects that at the time were very realistic sounding.

[Cybane Choker]

Oh I know, I never used lightning whips either, or the hoe of destruction. It was a bummer, b/c the fireswords and lightning whips were kind of cool looking and acted as permanent torches, but they just sounded awful. The hoe had no such redeeming qualities, it didn't even look cool. Though there is something comical about the Avatar wielding a deadly gardening tool, the joke wears off after a few minutes of that sound.

[Dominus]

Oh, I should probably specifiy that its Serpent Isle I've been focusing on.

yeah, I have only been checking against BG.

[William]

Yeah I seem to remember fire fields and pretty much anything burning having a sound in Serpent Isle. I can't recall if fireplaces made the sound, though.

[Azulmagia]

I remember the sounds, but they were pretty lame anyways.

BTW regarding the Hoe and other items, anyone has a -complete- list of attack/defense values of equipment in both games? I have seen semi-complete lists (some of the best in Dan Simpson's walkthroughs) but even they aren't complete. (For example, i've never seen the Black Sword's attack value in BG, or the caddellite helmet's defense value, and i've seen different attack values for the magician's wand)

[Azulmagia]

On a side note, i just noticed that the big wine barrels don't spill wine when you open them, yet your companions still complain and yell the avatar to turn it off.

[Wizardry Dragon]

I could tell you what they are in Exult, and in the books in the game some valures are listed as well

--------
Peter M Dodge aka Wizardry Dragon
Lead Designer
Ultima VII: The Feudal Lands

[Azulmagia]

Well yes, i meant in Exult; i don't play the original anymore ^^. And yes, they are written on in-game books but not the whole list.

[drcode]

The wine barrels used to work.

[Crysta the Elf]

they still do.. i tested them just now

[Azulmagia]

You're right, i tried various barrels and they -do- work.

I noticed, later, that the problem was with the barrel located in the Fellowship base in the Isle of the Avatar (south of the Guardian's Throne). But then i noticed that it's placed over a rug, and the beer was appearin -under- the rug, which i proved using the hackmover to remove the rug.

Sorry for the mistake.

[drcode]

Of course. The beer soaked through the rug.

[exolon]

In reference to the annoying fire sword (etc) sound, I also found this a bit annoying when playing U7 (semi)natively - an option to disable certain sounds selectively might be nice... and almost certainly user-doable with the OGG soundpacks.

Otherwise, I always loved the background sound effects while playing Ultima - they added really nicely to that sense of a real environment that sucked you in.

Except for the "Rule Britannia" theme that played every time you got near the southern end of Lord British's castle... and the "danger nearby!" theme that would repeatedly play, then stop, then play again when running around swamps.

[artaxerxes]

Rule Britania is SOOOOOO annoying after a while that I changed the files on my system so that it would play another music. I did that with u6o mind you, but it is still the same procedure with u7.

Artaxerxes

[Aerick]

Rule Britania doesn't bother me nearly as much as that music that comes on when you turn off battle mode and there's still monsters nearby. God I hate that stuff!

[Dominus]

Some kind of set of music for these would have been nice.