[WIPz] Sounds of Cyrodiil

[Cliffworms]

Sounds of Cyrodiil

I love to play Oblivion with music turned off to immerse myself in the world without having an orchestra following me.

While Oblivion offers a superb sound atmosphere, it's always a good thing to expand it.

The cities' sound ambiances are composed only of natural sound effects such as wind and birds. The interior of houses are soundless.

So I launched my sound editing software, gathered sound effects and started playing with creating sound atmospheres. What started a while ago as a city soundpack has evolved into something much deeper in terms of sound experience. Welcome to Sounds of Cyrodiil, where the Wilds, the Dungeons and Civilization get an audio overhaul!

What does it do?

Sounds of Cyrodiil overhauls the audio of Cyrodiil's three main locations: The Wilds, The Dungeons and Civilization. SoC is about adding around 200 professionally recorded sound effects and sound atmospheres to immerse you in these locations. It's also about hearing sounds in areas you previously couldn't, such as hearing footsteps on the tavern's first floor while you're plundering the cellar or hearing what's going on in the streets while you're looking through the window. It's about keeping you on the edge in a tomb by hearing the echo of a zombie moan coming from far away. It's about these and more.

Refer to the sound list below to learn more about the sounds covered in the Wilds, the Dungeons and Civilization. Also view the videos to see it all in action.

Sound List

The Wilds

More animals (And new ones), water sounds and weather additions.

• Around 30 new frog or bull frog sounds for swamp areas.
  
  
• Around 20-25 new bird sounds for forests, mountains, swamps and plains.
  
  
• Rain hitting tents.
  
  
• Insects flying-by your character's ears.
  
  
• Birds flying away.
  
  
• Strong, constant heavy wind on high mountain tops. (Like Dive Rock)
  
  
• Cold, constant chilling gusts of wind in the Jerall Mountains.
  
  
• 6 new short gusts of cold wind for northern Cyrodiil.
  
  
• Rare occurance of hearing an avalanche happening far away in the Jerall Mountains.
  
  
• Rare occurance of hearing a strange creature's scream echo in the Jerall Mountains.
  
  
• Rodents running in the grass at night.
  
  
• Calm and strong Ocean waves on the Gold Coast and the coast south of Leyawiin.
  
  
• Water waves' impact on small embarkations.
  
  
• Wolves howling in the distance.
  
  
• Movements from small animals in the bushes/grass.
  
  
• Rope bridges' supports and railing squeaking/being unstable
  
  
• Bee nests in several locations
  
  

The Dungeons

Sounds are generated at a random position around the player with a random time between each sounds, keeping the player on the edge for danger.

Depending on what type of monsters inhabits the dungeon (Undead, Daedras or Standard/Humans), the sounds are different.

Caves

• 12 Cave Creaking sounds
  
  
• Rocks falling and hitting ground in the distance in caves
  
  

Ayleid Ruins

• 6 mystical sounds
  
  

All Dungeons/Sewers

• Bats flapping by your head
  
  
• Small rodents squeaking around
  
  
• 6-10 sounds of doors opened and closed in the distance.
  
  
• Small bugs running by.
  
  
• 7 chilling sounds for undead-infested lairs such as zombies moaning in the distance or wraiths screaming...somewhere.
  
  
• 16 creepy sounds for daedric-infested lairs such as deep voices talking in an unrecognizable language or magical sounds.
  
  

Civilization

Basement Atmosphere

• People's footsteps walking by above your head
  
  
• Chairs being pulled/pushed
  
  
• Doors being opened and slammed shut
  
  

"Window" Atmosphere - Hear what's going on outside from the inside of buildings depending on your location.

• When raining or during thunderstorms, listen to the rain hitting the building's windows when getting close to them. (Rain is only heard close to windows)
  
  
• In cities, listen to people shouting, cat fights, dog barks, drunkards leaving the tavern laughing/yelling/singing, doors being slammed. Different sound atmosphere for daytime and nighttime.
  
  
• Near beaches/docks, hear the ocean waves, ships rigging and seagulls
  
  
• In farms, hear farm animals if there are any nearby. (Sheep by default, but options for hens/chickens and cows)
  
  
• In stables, hear the horses.
  
  
• In the wilds, hear the wilderness animals. (Birds/Wolves/Crickets depending on time)
  
  

Tavern Atmosphere

• Patrons talking, laughing, yelling, coughing, burping,
  
  
• Chairs being pulled, Ustensils and dishes falling and smashing on the floor
  
  
• 9 Tavern Songs (3 Tavern songs by social class of tavern) =
  Low Class Tavern Sample
  ,
  Mid Class Tavern Sample
  ,
  Upper Class Tavern Sample
  =
  
  
• Listen to the tavern's sound ambiance when closing on the door or windows connected to it. =
  Low Class Tavern Sample
  ,
  Upper Class Tavern Sample
  =
  
  

Street Atmosphere

• People shouting
  
  
• Cats fighting
  
  
• Dogs barking
  
  
• Doors being opened and slammed shut.
  
  
• Children laughing
  
  
• Workers sawing wood/using tools
  
  
• Listen to the Imperial City Arena's matches from the outside =
  Listen to Sample
  =
  
  
• Farm animals in the distance (Only farms that have animals)
  
  
• Blacksmiths hammering in their forge (Heard only when passing by a blacksmith shop)
  
  

Temples

• Beautiful, godly atmosphere for Mara and Dibella's chapels
  
  
• Deep, godly atmospheres for the male Deities' chapels.
  
  
• Monk chants for Stendarr's Chapel
  
  
• Hall echo atmosphere during nighttime
  
  

Other Civilization sounds

• Potions boiling in shops, houses and Mages Guild offices where alchemical appartuses are located.
  
  
• Snoring for 122 NPCs when they are asleep.
  
  
• The Arcane University's Pink Fire has been given a magical touch. =
  Listen to sample
  =
  
  
• All castles have a looping, echoed atmosphere.
  
  
• Looping Atmosphere for the Imperial Library in which you can hear books being taken and replaced, pages being flipped.
  
  
• A suitable, echoed atmosphere for the Temple of the One.
  
  

Special Events (Quest spoilers ahead)

• Battle of Bruma: Soldiers charging and clashing against the daedras.
  
  
• Battle of Bruma: Looping battle atmosphere of soldiers clashing with the daedric forces.
  
  
• Imperial City Besieged: Soldiers fighting, arrows passing by, explosions, battle horns =
  Listen to sample
  =
  
  

Feel free to comment. I'm always open to suggestions.

Edited June 23, 2011 by Cliffworms

[Yevic]

Amazing idea/job cliffworms!

Talk about imerssion!

[grond]

This is a beautiful idea, Cliff. The sounds are perfect - great work!

There's only one thing...sort of like the way the lighting mods give me the impression there's a high mass going on in the Cathedral, then when I enter the church it's cold and empty. I feel that hearing the heavy bustling crowd sounds of the city would lead to disappointment when I go outside and see there's not really the bustle those awesome sounds implied.

Of course, there are probably mods that fill the towns with NPCs. Just as there are probably mods that fill churches . I don't play much anymore, so I don't know what's been done in that department.

But again my little complaint is not because your sounds aren't perfect - they are. Your idea is another way Oblivion Modders will keep this game new for another decade.

[Cliffworms]

Thank you for the feedback both of you!

I understand your concern Grond. I actually had the idea to do this when I while I was working on Oblivion Comes Alive, which adds around 1250 NPCs that randomly fill the civilized areas.

Of course, they're not all at once, but it still fills it up a bit!

If you stand in the middle of the street, you'll see that, indeed, there are way too few NPCs to produce such a crowd ambiance, but if you are walking in an Imperial City alley, it adds a lot to the ambiance!

And should the taverns be some of your worries as well, fear not! Oblivion Comes Alive makes sure the taverns are filled to the fullest.

[Si-Shen]

Oh I was looking at some of your sample sounds the other day on the Beth forums, this one interests me, I atleast will want to try it out, thats for sure.

[Cliffworms]

Progress has been done on the project. All sounds are done. Now it's a matter of placing them in-game.

I've updated the first post with the complete sound list.

Here's a nice example of the filters applied to some voice overs.

The result is really interesting, when you compare the filtered version to the original.

Because the voice files have to be modified and included in the package, Sounds of Cyrodiil will be packaged as a .exe installer that checks if you have Oblivion installed. Honestly, I have no idea how to that though.

The voice files cannot be simply packed into a zip file. I need to find a way to get the files accessible only to to owners of Oblivion. If anyone knows how to add a condition to an installer (Such as checking if Oblivion's registry exists), let me know!

If it is not possible, or too complicated because the installer might not not recognize D2D or Steam versions of the game, I'll do two different versions.

In any case, feel free to comment on the filters. I really love it myself!

[darkstone]

I`m really liking this...a lot.I`ve just listened to the samples in the op and can imagine them ingame,they really will add to the immersion.I dont think I`ve played Oblivion with the music turned on for more than 10 minutes so this will be a welcome addition and go on my core mod list..instant download ( when ready ),super work !!

[Cliffworms]

Thanks a lot Darkstone!

The mod is greatly inspired by the Morrowind mod called Atmospheric Sound Effects, which I can't play without.

I've just added a new sound effect that really enhances immersion when raining. If you get near a tent, outside, when it's raining, you'll hear the rain hit the tent's surface.

This is something I might expand. Hearing rain hit different surfaces in some locations would be very cool and interesting!

[Cliffworms]

A bit of news here. I was in the process of getting a new computer so I didn't reply for a while.

This said, here's a trailer I've put up showcasing the new sounds you can hear in the wilderness, to make it more lively.

Enjoy!

[Cliffworms]

I rewrote the first post as there have been many changes and additions since the first time I wrote it last year. More importantly, it now has a list of every single SFX used in Sounds of Cyrodiil. I'll be linking sound samples to most of them in the coming days.

I have organized the sound project in three different areas: The Wilds, The Dungeons and Civilization. They represent the three areas you visit in Cyrodiil.

If you remember the features I had announced a year ago, there was the part of adding effects to some voice files http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFbgBbflgdc. It's no longer a feature as this required me to add the effect directly to the voice file itself and would have forced me to include the file in the package, but it is not possible since it breaks the copyright.

Other than that feature, the rest have stayed, are alive and kicking.

As far as progress goes, all scripts are working perfectly. The Dungeons are finished, Civilization's sound placements are almost done (Only Imperial City is left) and the Wilds need some tweaking and a bit more testing.

I have a couple more sound effects to grab/record to complete it.

There should be a video trailer for the Dungeons released soon enough, followed by one for Civilization.

So I'm very happy to say that Sounds of Cyrodiil is nearing completion. The sound placements is the longest step to do and it's almost finished. :celebration:

[Cliffworms]

Time go down deep in Cyrodiil's Dungeons, where monsters do not hesitate to make themselves heard when one trespasses in their lair. The Dungeons' sounds are scripted by Phitt.

When exploring a dungoen, an invisible scripted activator moves around the player at random positions, playing a random sound effect with a randomized delay between each sound.

As such, the atmosphere is more unique and you can never predict what creepy sound effect you'll hear next. Each dungeon type (Forts, Ayleid Ruins and Caves) have base sound effects such as rocks cracking or mystical sounds for ruins but, if the dungeon is inhabited by the Undead or Daedras, fitting sound effects are played in addition to the base sounds.

If you don't know what monster lives in the dungeon you've just explored, listen around you. You might hear a zombie moan far, far away.

This said, feast your ears on the sounds in action: