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[Steam] Introducing Steam Audio

3K views 35 replies 30 participants last post by  nzgroller 
#1 ·
Source.
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Steam Audio is now available, delivering an advanced spatial audio solution for games and VR apps. Steam Audio includes several exciting features that significantly improve immersion and open up new possibilities for spatial audio design.

The Steam Audio SDK is available free of charge, for use by teams of any size, without any royalty requirements. Steam Audio currently supports Windows, Linux, macOS, and Android. Just like Steam itself, Steam Audio is available for use with a growing list of VR devices and platforms.
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What is Steam Audio?

Steam Audio adds physics-based sound propagation on top of HRTF-based binaural audio, for increased immersion. Sounds interact with and bounce off of the actual scene geometry, so they feel like they are actually in the scene, and give players more information about the scene they are in.
I have no clue what any of this means
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But neat?
 
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#2 ·
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Originally Posted by Alvarado View Post

Source.

I have no clue what any of this means
redface.gif
But neat?
It means developers can make games even more realistic due to superior audio realism. It's already available as a plug-in for Unity, and that's exciting to me because my new favorite game that's being made right now (Overload) is being made with Unity! The developer is Revival Productions, and I really hope they check this out. The game I'm talking about here would really benefit from something like this. In fact, I'm going to get the ball rolling on that right now by asking them.
 
#4 ·
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Originally Posted by Hunched View Post

Now can every developer implement this or something like it in their games, VR or not?
That'd be great, thanks
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Positional audio is nice, too bad developers have been pretending it doesn't exist for over a decade.
They said that it's currently available as a plug-in for Unity, and also as something called a "C API" for integration into custom engines and tools.
 
#6 ·
Sound mods in the Steam Workshop future?
 
#7 ·
So another attempt at ray tracing, it sounds like? A3D did it in the late 90's when we still had hardware sound, now it's taken another 20 years for software to catch up. Though to be fair, I'm sure this will sound a lot better.

I don't really see this catching on though, so meh, not going to look into it.
 
#8 ·
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Originally Posted by motsm View Post

I don't really see this catching on though, so meh, not going to look into it.
It could happen quite easily.
Imagine if EA DICE bothered and suddenly every Frostbite Engine game across all platforms had something like this.
Get it in some best sellers and the competition will compete or be left outdated and behind.

If it becomes accessible like Steam is making it, it should see widespread adoption.
Native or easy implementation in UE4, CryEngine, Unity, other big engines for all platforms anyone can use would speed this up.

Eventually the "headphones" setting in all games should be HRTF binaural audio, instead of them being treated like the stereo speakers setting with minor changes.
CS:GO already supports HRTF-based binaural audio, we just need someone who still develops big games across the 3 big platforms to start.
 
#10 ·
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Originally Posted by TwoCables View Post

It means developers can make games even more realistic due to superior audio realism. It's already available as a plug-in for Unity, and that's exciting to me because my new favorite game that's being made right now (Overload) is being made with Unity! The developer is Revival Productions, and I really hope they check this out. The game I'm talking about here would really benefit from something like this. In fact, I'm going to get the ball rolling on that right now by asking them.
Oh cool.
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#11 ·
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Originally Posted by starliner View Post

And here I thought from the title that Valve was entering the music distribution service, like how they're trying to sell us free youtube videos now. Anyways...

I doubt this will be anything special. VR games are trash as is is.
I take it you're opposed to the idea of space flight as well?

VR has many applications outside of just 'conventional' gaming. People need to stop treating it like an extended gimmick of 3D TV and actually learn what is involved behind the tech. So many benefits that people won't recognise. It's almost like console level of 'just good enough' is the norm for most....

And of course this will be special, just like it was almost a decade and a half ago before it was killed off by certain entities. Now that it is actual requirement for VR its making a forced resurgence (wohoo!).
 
#12 ·
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Originally Posted by SpartanVXL View Post

I take it you're opposed to the idea of space flight as well?

VR has many applications outside of just 'conventional' gaming. People need to stop treating it like an extended gimmick of 3D TV and actually learn what is involved behind the tech. So many benefits that people won't recognise. It's almost like console level of 'just good enough' is the norm for most....

And of course this will be special, just like it was almost a decade and a half ago before it was killed off by certain entities. Now that it is actual requirement for VR its making a forced resurgence (wohoo!).
I edited my post to a little more clear to my point. VR has great potential, but us currently under realized. BUT, while VR seems to have high potential, it is not the future
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#13 ·
This is all most likely due to Valve acquiring Impulsonic recently.

Also:

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A plugin for Unreal Engine isn't far behind the Unity plugin, though. Epic Games plans to demonstrate Steam Audio in Unreal Engine at GDC in March.
 
#15 ·
Now this is something to be excited about. We haven't had decent audio since the windows XP days, When Microsoft killed off direct sound alot of features died with it.
 
#16 ·
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Originally Posted by TFL Replica View Post

So many first person games need this. Decent 3D audio died years ago (blame Creative and maybe Microsoft as well). Now they're funding it again (ignore the fact that it's mainly because of VR).
I've spent years and years waiting for this kind of thing to come back. I literally fell out of my chair back in 2002 when I bought a 7.1 system with a brand new sound blaster card and of course TES Morrowind, it was glorious then. Still to this day I feel like Morrowind was probably the best auditory experience I've ever had with a game. Amazing how Creative managed to hype 3d audio so much back then followed by a total disappearance. I still use 7.1 while most people I know with a PC are running 2.1 studio monitors..

Kudos to Valve and all of the ready made engines that are putting time back into 3d audio, as if the world forgot games were an experience of visuals and audio!
 
#17 ·
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Originally Posted by TwoCables View Post

It's already available as a plug-in for Unity,
I'm pretty sure Rust is using some form of it as well.
 
#21 ·
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Originally Posted by xGTx View Post

Did any of you ever had an Aureal Vortex2 based card? The A3D HRTF audio in games like WON Half-Life is great! Yeah, Creative played the patent troll game 16 years ago and basically that forced them. into oblivion
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Had a Turtle Beach Montego card with Altec Lansing ADA305. I remember being amazed that I could hear exactly where people were in Counter Strike, made knife kills really easy.
 
#23 ·
Huh

Do you think it's capable of utilizing AMD True Audio hardware?
 
#24 ·
Quote:
Steam Audio adds physics-based sound propagation on top of HRTF-based binaural audio, for increased immersion.
Binaural audio is some of the most immersive audio you can ever listen to. For us audiophiles out there in the world this should sound really great on our systems when we're playing games instead of listening to music. As long as they compress it to all hell to pack it into the game.

- Insan1tyOne
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