Bug Report: Unreliable and Inconsistent Enemy Footstep Audio

Category: Audio / Gameplay

Priority: High

Status: Open

Summary:

Enemy footstep sounds are inconsistent, too quiet, or completely missing. Players often receive no audible cues until enemies are already within very close range, severely impacting awareness and reaction time.

Reproduction Steps:

1. Play in any multiplayer environment.

2. Listen for approaching enemies — footsteps are often too quiet or absent.

3. Notice that some surfaces (metal, concrete, grass, etc.) trigger no sound, or sounds cut off abruptly.

4. Repeat with different maps and audio setups — issue persists across all.

Observed Behavior:

Footsteps frequently fail to play or are randomly delayed.

Directional audio is unreliable — difficult to determine distance or angle.

Door interaction sounds (opening, breaching, slamming) are barely audible or missing.

Other loud sounds (gunfire, explosions, ambient noise) often override footsteps.

Expected Behavior:

Enemy footsteps and movement sounds should:

Be consistently audible at an appropriate volume relative to distance.

Provide accurate 3D spatial feedback (direction + radius perception).

Reflect surface type changes clearly (metal, wood, grass, etc.).

Maintain audibility even during overlapping sounds or combat.

Impact:

Significantly reduces situational awareness.

Makes competitive and tactical play unreliable.

Leads to unfair encounters due to missing audio information.

Additional Notes:

Issue reproduced on multiple hardware setups (headsets, speakers).

Suggest reviewing audio mix priorities, attenuation curves, and occlusion logic.

Conclusion:

Consistent, directional, and radius-based 3D footstep audio is crucial for gameplay balance and immersion.

Please review and rebalance the footstep and interaction sound system — addressing volume scaling, sound priority, and spatial accuracy would greatly improve player experience.