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News: March 29 - April 4, 1999
Sound
and Immersion Things are pretty slow over this weekend so I though the timing was appropriate to dust off a plan update posted by Chia Chin Lee who is one of the sound designers over at Raven Software. Chia Chin is currently working on the sound of Soldier of Fortune and promises great audio for that title. Back in January he used his plan to post an essay he wrote. Well, thanks to Chia Chin, we are able to offer you his essay entitled Sound and Immersion. Trust me, its an excellent read. Tech-Junkie
Update Our friends over at Tech-Junkie asked us to let you know that they have posted issue 1 of their new magazine style updates. Saturday, April 3,
99 Another Aztech PCI 368-DSP Review We are still waiting for our review unit to arrive but in the mean time you can check out yet another new review of this Thunderbird 128, Q3D 2.0 based card from Aztech, courtesy of 3Dhardware.net. Sin 1.04 Patch Released Ritualistic has the Sin 1.04 patch available for download. The patch offers the following:
This patch updates your previously patched version of Sin from 1.01 or above to 1.04, and includes CTF. You must have at least version 1.01 before running this patch. If you have not previously patched your SiN game, download "SiN Update 1.01" and run that first. You can also get both patches from 3Dfiles. Friday, April 2, 99 EAR
IAS Updates A few updates from the good folks over at Extreme Audio Reality some of which is blatantly ripped from their site. First on the audio engine of Heavy Gear II: Just to clarify -- many people have made the assumption that Aureal is responsible for the audio in Heavy Gear II because the A3D logo is on the box, ads, etc. EAR's IAS engine is the exclusive audio solution for HG2; however it does support A3D natively (as well as all Creative Labs' PCI cards, Diamond's Monster series, etc.). So, to un-muddy the waters, Aureal has (paid to have...?) their logo on the box, but IAS is running the audio which means as long as you have DirectX5 or higher you will get the same result with or without A3D. Next they have announced the signing of a NDA with Zombi wihci will allow them to start work on Zombie's latest sequel Spec Ops II. They also plan to release the next version (1.55) of their audio engine this weekend and will beging development of IAS components for the Guillemot MaxiSound ISA and ISIS as well as the Dolby Pro-Logic and the new Yamaha XG series boards. Finally they have announced that Battlezone II will be an IAS title with EAR doing the audio AI and modelling in-house. Game Spot GDC Overview Credit goes ALive for pointing this one out. Lloyd Case of Gamespot has posted his overview of the Game Developers Conference including a section dedicated to 3D audio. MidiLand Forzando Plus Review Extreme Hardware has posted a review of the Midiland Forzando Plus three piece speaker system. The Forzando Plus is one of Midiland's low-end options at less than $100. Thursday, April 1,
99 Vortex
2 Review Our friend Dave from Beyond 3D has posted a sound review thats a little different. Rather than a review of any one of the cards using the Vortex 2 chipset its a review of the Vortex 2. Aztech PCI 368-DSP Review Singapore Hardware Zone
has posted a review
of the Aztech PCI 368-DSP. This card using the Thunderbird 128 chip features
Qsounds Q3D2 X-Wing Alliance Review and SB Live
Problems AGN3D has posted a review of X-Wing Alliance. This title is getting nothing but rave reviews. Another winner from Lucas Arts. Best of all is the game supports 3D Audio. However, it sounds like there are some issues with the SB Live. Here is a snip on the audio from the review: Hey this is a LucasArt’s product. Be prepared for a feast for the ears. Well almost… The game supposedly supports 3D Sound but apparently not on the SB Live. I fiddled with this one for a while. It seems to be an issue related to the SB Live! And not the game, as I have the same exact problem with Microprose’s European Air War. The music works, some background effects can be heard, but none of the main effects. Needless to say I was a bit disappointed about this, as I have my Live! wired into my home AC-3 stereo system. I have been known to have the police show up at my place in the middle of Half-Life deathmatch. LucasArt’s tech support is, however aware of this issue and are currently preparing a patch. Taking the sound effects off of 3d mode, I was assaulted with the fine special effects of the movies. From the CHA-CHA-CHA-CHA of the Tie’s lasers to the whine of the M’Falcon’s engines. They are all there, right from the movie. I do not see how the sound effects could get much better. Nothing like hearing the whine of a Tie fighter passing close to your cockpit Thanks to ALive for the pointer. X Demo (German Version) 3DFiles has posted the German version of the playable demo of X from Egosoft. They expect an English version in a few days. The demo supports 3D audio via A3D and DS3D. Bits
& Bytes Just some news from our friends. First head over to the Future Games Network flagship site to catch the latest news from our affiliates. Then check out Extreme Hardware where they have posted an interview with Kerry Philpott of Metabyte during which they talk about the upcoming Wicked3D PGC technology and finally over to Firing Squad where they have posted part 2 of their Team Fortress Classic preview as well as an Overclocking Guide. Unreal
Demo... Is there someone out there that was still waiting for the demo to decide about Unreal? Well if thats you this is your big day as the demo has been released!!! 3Dfiles has the demo all primed up for your downloading convenience ;) Even More on Requiem: Avenging Angel Just a quick update coutesy of Aureal's David Gasior. The Requiem demo does not have A3D support in it. The game itself, however, does have A3D 1.x support through the Miles Sound System. New Press
Releases As we close off the month of march, two new press releases have been posted. 1. National Semiconductor Corporation co-author of the Audio Codec '97 common architecture standard for PC audio devices, today reached another milestone in its codec roadmap with the introduction of the LM4549 AC'97 Rev2.1 audio codec, which includes sample rate conversion (SRC) and provides a critical building block in the development of National's system-on-a-chip solutions. National Semiconductor Audio'97 Press Release 2. MedianiX Semiconductor, Inc. today announced that the government of Taiwan has presented its Symbol of Excellence Award to Jazz Hipster Corp. for a multimedia speaker system based on the MedianiX MED25007 VMAx(TM) digital audio decoder/virtualizer chip. MedianiX Semiconductor Press Release More on Requiem: Avenging Angel I downloaded the demo lastnight and while I expected DS3D with EAX support I was pleasantly surprised with the A3D logo that came onto my screen at the start of the install process. I have not had time to play with it much and I need to reinstall the SB Live to test out the EAX support but it looks like this title may support both DS3D with EAX and A3D. Gamelinks has thrown up a review of the demo. Thanks to VE for that pointer. Tuesday, March 30,
99 Kick
Engine Update I saw over on Voodoo Extreme that work is progressing nicely on the Kick game engine. According to the update the basic sound system is up and running and they just need to add the A3D support to finish of the sound system. Thats good news to have another sound system with 3D audio integrated from the start. X-Wing Alliance Review Game Center has posted a review of Lucas Art's 3D Audio supporting X-Wing Alliance. Here is a snip from the review: The sound is also up to LucasArts' high standards. The roar of TIE Fighters screaming past you is dead-on perfect. So is the machine-gun-like laser cannon, which sounds exactly like it does in the movies. Although the voice acting is subpar, the fusion of graphics and sound is superb. Messiah 3Dsound Working The boys over at http://www.messiahpress.com/
got an update from Shiny's press guy Scott Herrington. In this update he told them
about all the great stuff they have been working on but one line applies to you guys:
".........3D sound is working!!!! Waiting to hear some more back from Tommy
Tallarico about using the DTS 5.1 stuff.........." I belive that Messiah is slated to support DS3D with EAX and A3D 2.0 Requiem: Avenging Angel Preview Avault has posted a preview of Requiem. I also saw over at Blue's News that the second Requiem demo is scheduled to be released tomorrow. Not sure about the demo but at last check the full game was slated for DS3D with EAX support. Vortex 1 and 2 Tech Support FAQs We are now hosting two quasi-offical Vortex technical support faqs. One for Vortex 1 based cards and another for Vortex 2 based cards. Sound Card and Speaker Reviews A couple of new reviews for you to check out. G3DN has posted a review on the Cambridge Four Point Surround Speaker system and 3D Spotlight has posted a review of the Xitel Platinum and the force-feedback headphones. Monday, March
29, 99 Altec Lansing Press Release Altec Lansing Technologies, Inc. will showcase four new products, including a new sound system maximized for DVD audio and a computer speaker designed for PC gamers, at Spring RetailVision in San Francisco, CA next month. The Altec Lansing ACS54 PowerPlay(tm) Plus is designed especially to meet the sound demands of today's 3D positional audio games and soundcards. The system provides five-channel surround sound playback taking full advantage of many PC game audio offerings. The five-piece system boasts a total of 40 watts including a 20 watt wood enclosed subwoofer. This system allows consumers to experience discrete surround sound truly transforming the game playing experience. The ACS54 will be available at a SRP of $99.95. To check out more of this Press Release, go HERE 3D
Audio Primer Total PC has posted a 3D Audio Physics Primer. Here is a snip from their own introduction. Thanks to ALive for the pointer: You’ve all read the product reviews, and seen the flashy logos and ads. This article is neither. It’s more of a primer on 3D audio. Hopefully, the following will help newbies demystify some of the simple, yet cryptic terms that are being thrown around.You can also check out our own Gamer's Guide to EAX and Gamer's Guide to DS3D for more on the inner workings of 3D audio. |
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