Mid-Range Gunfire Collapse & Occlusion Mismatch (50–80m)

Hi DICE / Frostbite Audio Team,

I really like the "found-footage" vibe you're going for in BF6, but there's a major step back in combat readability at 50–80m​ compared to BF3 and BF4. Right now, mid-range fights feel empty and muffled rather than dense and layered.

The Issues:

When spectating or fighting at mid-range, three things stand out:

Density Collapse:​ Squad fights (4v4+) collapse to just 1 or 2 audible rifles. You see muzzle flashes everywhere, but the mix only lets 1–2 sources punch through.

Muffled Impact:​ The guns that do come through sound small and "underwater." They lack the sharp transient and mid-range punch you'd expect at that distance.

Lack of Environmental Identity:​ At 50–80m, gunshots lose their environmental context. They sound like "dry," generic samples with almost no reverb tail, making it impossible to tell if the shooter is indoors or outdoors. In BF3/4, you could identify the space by ear alone; in BF6, a rifle in a courtyard sounds identical to one in a tunnel.

Observations (likely mix/occlusion related):

Looking at the 1.x patchnotes and past GDC talks on Frostbite audio, I suspect these issues are stacking:

Occlusion:​ Bi-directional raycasts feel like they’re borrowing the near-field low-pass curve for mid-range shots. Even light cover (foliage, thin walls) seems to trigger overly aggressive filtering, killing the highs.

HDR / Threat Bus:​ Non-threat rifles at the same distance seem to get crushed by HDR ducking once a couple of voices cross the threshold. Instead of layering, they just sink under the loudest gun.

Reflections:​ Gunshots feel like they’re being processed with the wrong send levels for the distance. Instead of a natural tail that defines the space, we get a "dry" sample that fails to convey whether it's in a wide open plaza or a tight corridor.

The Result:

Because of this stacking, mid-range fights lose their density and sense of place. We get "Empty Clarity" instead of BF3/4's "Controlled Chaos."

Hope for the Future:

Whatever the exact cause, I’d love to see mid-range gunfire treated as its own priority layer—distinct from both the near-field threats and the distant background ambience. You fixed the near-field footsteps in 1.1.3 by giving them more headroom; I’m hoping the mid-field gunfight can get that same attention, restoring the high-end definition behind light cover and bringing back the spatial reverb cues that let us identify the environment by ear.