2 years ago

Footstep audio since 5.0

Ok I'm a BF vet. Purchased EVERY main BF gamed since Bad company 2 (even though I didn't play bf1 and bfv because I dislike the timeframe... I still purchased them to show love to the company though)

I am a 3.1 kd primarily infantry oriented player. So I have enough of a skill cap as to see more clearly where issues are. Here I am ignoring every other gripe that I have example "dying to invisible players over and over again as of late" or "Dark areas being too dark and bright areas being too bright" etc etc and will be focusing on 1 thing that seems like a silly move by devs but the more I look into it it seems like they are trying to "fix a problem that keeps moving around."

The footstep audio has all but vanished for me since 5.0 where before 5.0 it was LITERALLY the best footstep audio I have experienced in YEARS. So I came here ready to explode about "HOW COULD YOU CHANGE SOMETHING THAT WAS SO GOOD AND MAKE IT SO BAD?!" I thought it was the new dice just in typical new dice fashion destroying things for the lols. But before I posted I searched up "footstep audio" here to see if anyone else was pissed... But no one else is... Instead I found old posts about poor footstep audio dating back MONTHS! So instead of being mad I have decided to try to help in any way a dummy like be can. Here goes.

For the last 6 months or more My footstep audio was crystal clear to the point that my friend group keeps being amazed of the things I call out. So may be its setup based. So here's mine.

I rock a Hyper x Cloud 2... The usb dongle is called the Hyper X AMP...

IN WINDOWS I have it set to 7.1 In the windows sound drivers... AND (this is important) "Noise equalization" ON with the slider all the way to the left. I have the "virtual surround" button on the dongle set to ON.

IN GAME I have the audio set to 3D headphones.

(Note the reason I was stressing on the "loudness equalization" is because it changed around the audio experience in COD for me. Went from airstrikes blowing my eardrums out and no footsteps to hearing footsteps in houses across the street and bearable airstrike sounds. AKA it helps a lot)

The footstep audio has been the best footstep audio of ANY game I have played over the last few years and with the steady decline in my eyesight (keratoconus) I found my self relying WAY more on the audio... Then 5.0 rolls around and now I cant hear a dang thing. (my friends say I'm nuts but I swear I could hear the difference between enemy footsteps and friendly ones) So I hope you understand my frustration.

Since 5.0 I have tried every combination like turning off virtual surround... setting it to stereo... in windows and game... turning off loudness equalization war tapes, midnight mode, etc etc etc. All result in even worse audio mix. Some make footsteps disappear entirely other make vehicle audio vanish.

I hope this helps even a tiny bit... (please revert the audio stuff till its figured out.)

discussion

20 Replies

VOLBANKER_PC
Seasoned Ace
2 years ago
@Skitzotech What you’re doing with the setting in Windows audio is to compress the audio in Battlefield 2042. Loud sounds like explosions get reduced in volume and quiet sounds like footsteps get boosted.

In your opinion, how is this not giving you an unfair advantage compared to your opponents?

It is in effect to cheat.
sk1lld
Legend
2 years ago
I wouldn't call using settings that are present in game a cheat. He mentioned he is visually impaired so doing this helped in his situation.
OP, I have found the audio in BF2042 troublesome at best, I have tried to get footsteps to work for ages and am sorry I don't have an answer for you. If you figure it out please post your answer.
Thank you.
Skitzotech
2 years ago
Is me buying a monitor that has 600nits and hdr cheating?

It displays more than 60% more of the rgb color spectrum than most monitors out there... is that cheating?

Is buying a 280hz monitor, allowing me to see more than 4 times the usable frames than most other gamers cheating in your world?

"Hearing footsteps better is cheating" Then buying a bigger monitor is also cheating... BAN EVERYONE!
S3SSioN_SoL
Seasoned Ace
2 years ago
@Skitzotech I feel like the footsteps are already too loud. But that's likely because elevation has little effect on footstep sound (2 floors above or below), if it did, the footstep noise would be acceptable in my opinion. Though I will say, accessibility should be expanded to accommodate as many players as possible whilst preserving the intended experience.
Zhukov211
2 years ago
Sound awareness in 2042 in general has been poor since launch.

- 30 ton main battle tanks magically appear feet away without making any sounds upon approach. Your first clue an enemy tank has rolled up into the objective that you are defending/attacking is the tank’s main gun obliterating your from 5 yards away from an area that moments prior was clear of any threats. Just “voila” enemy tank appears without it any sounds alerting you to its approach.

- helicopter gunships and transports magically appear 10 yards overhead without making any sounds prior to blowing you away with rocket pods or a 40mm nose gun.

- doors open feet away without making sounds, to include the large doors on cargo containers
- Sundance wingsuit makes no noise at all resulting in Sundance players materializing out of thin air 2 feet behind you when you can hear a wing suit coming from a mile away IRL.

- ziplines often make no noise at all so enemy players seeming materialize out of thin air in very close proximity without making any sounds
It’s been a bare minimum effort from DICE as far as prioritizing sounds so that the user has proper situational awareness of their surroundings. It should be embarrassing for any AAA game to have such poor audio awareness for their players.
cso7777
Seasoned Ace
2 years ago
@Zhukov211Frostbite has always had very "sketchy" audio. It sometimes works and often does not.

In BFV you could throw dynamite, turn around and detonate it without it making a sound.

Especially distance is totally off in 2042, when you hear vehicles it sounds like they are on the opposite side of the map, but in reality they are right beside you, I think the same goes for footsteps.

And footsteps above you are extremely loud, while many others are silent. Sounds from behind is just bugged in general.

The audio-system in Frostbite has some issues and while many of these are 'legacy-issues', but BF2042 is worse than BFV and BF1.

In BFV (and earlier versions), Frostbite could only mix 20 sounds at once, with 128 players that is not much...
Skitzotech
2 years ago
@Zhukov211 @cso7777

Let me show you what my audio was love before 5.0

This is a video of me playing with friends... now tell me this isnt THE BEST footstep audio you have ever heard... these examples the audio is so clear and directional that i even turn to exactly where I hear them coming from.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13-yH5JDE4E

At 2:40 (perfection)
At 3:55
At 5:35
At 6:28
At 9:50 (this is an example of me being able to hear the difference between my teammates footsteps and the enemy footsteps)
At 10:13 (that ONE clear! DIRECTIONAL footstep I SWEAR it was PERFECTION)

This was amazing work! This is how footstep audio should work in every game... I was forced to walk around or crouch walk when i wanted to be quiet... not that tactical element is GONE! Out the window... Now its sprint sprint sprint... everywhere
ATFGunr
Legend
2 years ago
@Skitzotech I gotta know what sound program you’re using to select 7.1? You said Windows not RealTek or anything, is there a sound setting in Win 10? Or are y’all on 11?
Skitzotech
2 years ago
@ATFGunr
Lots of headsets these days come with soundcards in the form of dongles or built in to the headset. Many of those choose to use their own drivers Which dont run through the usual HD audio pipeline that comes in windows. These devices lack the ability to switch up these settings through windows sound settings.

I'm on windows 11 but 10 operates the same way.
ATFGunr
Legend
2 years ago
@Skitzotech Thanks for that, I usually use a Sennheiser GSP 350, the Sennheiser sound card though has been surprisingly poor. My B550 Auros Pro has a great sound card, but my old Logitech speakers are 2.1 and sound like it lol. I’ll play around, thanks again.