{"id":9761,"date":"2020-11-13T08:20:27","date_gmt":"2020-11-13T08:20:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ginx.tv\/treyarch-reveal-details-of-black-ops-cold-war-s-threat-priority-3d-audio-engine"},"modified":"2024-07-19T14:21:03","modified_gmt":"2024-07-19T14:21:03","slug":"treyarch-reveal-details-of-black-ops-cold-war-s-threat-priority-3d-audio-engine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ginx.tv\/en\/call-of-duty-black-ops-cold-war\/treyarch-reveal-details-of-black-ops-cold-war-s-threat-priority-3d-audio-engine","title":{"rendered":"Treyarch reveal details of Black Ops Cold War’s “threat-priority” 3D audio engine"},"content":{"rendered":"

The ability for in-game audio to accurately convey the location, distance and relevance of sound has always been a difficult one, especially in multiplayer games where the accurate appraisal of where the threats are coming from is, quite literally, the difference between life and death.<\/p>\n

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(Picture: Treyarch)<\/span><\/p>\n

It’s an aspect of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War that the developers didn’t take for granted revealing, in a day one launch presentation<\/a>, that the game harnesses the power of 3D audio which allows for greater accuracy in recreating sounds throughout worlds, from how certain sounds react to different materials, to greater directionality.<\/p>\n

“We’ve built an acoustical simulation that allows us to model how sound travels through the enviroments,” explained Treyarch’s Audio Director, Brian Tuey.<\/p>\n

“It will properly calculate reverb, distance, low-pass filters and occlusion and dynamically change throughout the gameplay experience.”<\/p>\n

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The developers took the opportunity to show off their 3D audio engine. (Picture: Treyarch)<\/span><\/p>\n

The game also deploys a “threat-priority” system that reduces the noise of non-threatning sounds such as teammates footsteps, while at the other end, gun shots directed at you and the sound of an opponent creeping up behind you are given increased relevance.<\/p>\n

“That is one part of the threat priority system, that has many layers. We give a higher priority to an enemy firing towards you versus an enemy that’s firing on the other side of the map,” explained Sound Designer Collin Ayers.<\/p>\n

Now a 3D threat-priority system for audio is nothing new, Fortnite introduced one a year after launch<\/a> when players complained of not being able to accurately guage where opponents were.<\/p>\n

But it is a problem that Treyarch are hoping, with the work that they have put in on the audio front, that Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War will never have.<\/p>\n

“We’ve looked really hard at our ballastic system, to let the player know how they are interacting with someone who has ill intent towards.<\/p>\n

“If any enemy shoots at you, if the bullets are within your danager zone of being hit you can hear the ballastic ‘crack’ sound – the sonic boom – and it’s going to be in the direction of the person that shot at you.”<\/p>\n

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Treyarch feel they have made an audio system that gives players more information than ever. (Picture: Treyarch)<\/span><\/p>\n

The bullet will also produce sounds on impact and as they whizz by your head all with a variance that will make it possible for players to accurately guage where the fire is coming from.<\/p>\n