Hello everyone,
In future updates we’ll be introducing a new environmental audio system which will add some flavour to our guns, dialogue and other features’ audio. We called it V-Bear. To demonstrate this, here is a short clip showing what the system will sound like, along with a description below of what it does.
What does V-Bear do?
V-Bear manages the reverb that is applied to each sound in a specific area of a given map. It provides a more immersive experience by allowing sound to reflect the current environment’s look and offers smooth transitions between different areas.
As the system works at runtime for local as well as remote players, it makes it easier to identify the origin of a gunshot in the proximities of the listener. This is due to the sound carrying the source‘s environmental character.
V-Bear represents an improvement over how all ambient audio was managed as far as performance goes, requiring less and smarter checks for non-gameplay relevant audio management.
Lastly, V-Bear is also responsible for controlling Environment Driven Content playback.
Environment Driven Content
By approaching guns’ audio design in a modular way, we’re able to control individual, gun specific characteristics through V-Bear the same way we control reverb. This allows us to overcome the limitations that come with using reverb, granting us more freedom over designing the individual guns’ core character and preserving it in the different environments.
And that is V-Bear. Keep an eye open for more updates to come!
