For those who have SB Live! (maybe Audigy too) and play T1/2 under WinXP - by 242
242 on 8/1/2006 at 11:47
Long ago when I moved from WinMe to WinXP I found that sound quality considerably worsened in T1/2 - 3d sounds and ambient music became too quiet if compared with other sounds, I hardly heard my own footsteps. EAX effects became almost inaudible too. In other words, a perfect balance between various type of sounds on SB Live! card in those games somehow was lost under WinXP.
Expecially it was prominent in the first mission of Calendra's Legacy: A Meeting with Basso - thunderstorm was too loud and 3d sounds were tooooo quiet. I tried to fix that by adjusting sfx_vol_3d, sfx_vol_2d and ambient_volume in the cam.cfg file, but coudn't find a right balance, in various missions something was wrong- either ambients, or music, or 3d or 2d sounds were too loud or quiet comparing to others. Plus, general volume *in-game* always seemed more quiet than in was under WinMe, even when those variables were set to max.
Then yesterday I tried to change "master_volume" line in the file from default -1 value (it's the value for the most right position of the "master volume" slider in the game menu) to 1600 (it's the value for the most right position of the "ambient sounds" slider) and suddenly the balance and volume in-game once again became perfect! So, people who noticed the same problems after moving to Win XP, just edit that one line in the cam.cfg file, no need to mess with sfx_vol_3d, sfx_vol_2d lines, they should stay 0.
Kingers on 8/1/2006 at 15:23
Nice discovery.
Domarius on 9/1/2006 at 03:00
Thanks, I'm gonna try that.
Previously my room mates thought i was doing pushups or some other excercises, when they heard Garrett's excessivly loud heaving and grunting (during mantling)
Now that I'm playing T2X... "Hm, doors closed, lights out, and a suspicious female grunting sound... sad boy.".
242 on 9/1/2006 at 11:31
Some people with SB Live!/WinXP perhaps won't notice the difference right away. In that case just compare sound balance with the default master_volume -1 and master_volume 1600 line in various missions. You'll notice the difference to the better when comparing - guaranteed.
F.e. with the default setting go to the top floor of the Rumford masion (Running Interference), you barely will hear a beautiful ambient music up there, gas lamps or machinery throughout the mansion will be almost inaudible too, as well as your footsteps. When you increase the volume to hear those things better, other sounds will become toooo loud. Then repeat the same with master_volume 1600 - you'll notice the difference to the better right away. Or even a simpler way - test speakers in the menu, with the 1600 setting, EAX effect (echo) is much more better, and volume isn't too low as with -1 setting. It may seem strange that *master* volume setting improves balance, not only general volume, but that's true.
PS: I suspect it most probably doesn't work for Audigy, but still may be worth a try.
OrbWeaver on 9/1/2006 at 13:07
Excellent, I will try that with T2X.
I always turned of EAX in T2 because of the way the environmental sounds were inaudible and the sword/grunting sounds deafening.
dreamcatcher on 9/1/2006 at 23:55
worked for me on SB Audigy B800
Thank you for the tip, my sounds have significantly improved. For some reason my master volume was minus 943, and sfx 2d and 3d were set to 1, wtf?:eek:
242 on 10/1/2006 at 00:39
The most right position for the master volume in the game menu (maximum volume) is equal to master_volume=-1. If your slider wasn't in the most right position, the value well could be equal to -943, that's normal. It goes from -1600 to -1 if you use the slider only. I gather that somehow -1(or 0) under Win95/98/Me is the same as +1600 under WinXP. Just don't use the master volume slider now, or the master volume once again will return to minus 1600 - minus 1 range.
As for the 2d and 3d volume set to 1, it's strange, they should always be set to 0 by default, as far as I know.
ffox on 11/1/2006 at 16:34
With you so far. What do you reckon ambient_volume should be set to in cam.cfg? Mine says 1600.
242 on 11/1/2006 at 23:55
My ambient_volume stays default, i.e. 0 (middle of the scale in the sound options), max setting of 1600 is a way too high for it. The only volume variable that should be adjusted is master_volume.
Domarius on 12/1/2006 at 05:06
I think it works for me (SBLive, XP)
Although - I think you are not even allowed to view the Audio settings screen! All I did was go there, just look at the sliders without touching them, and when I went back to the game I swear the ambience was quieter.
