Bird song

[Mustatruv]

When I'm not busy building, it's nice to just take in the ambience. I'm always focused on sounds, and I love the rustling of leaves on a windy day, or the patter of rain on the forest roof. These details play with our imagination. Would be awesome to hear a blackbird's song echoing at early dawn, a chorus of birds in the forest, or a bird of prey out on the plains. That's all

[Maelstrom]

I'd like to see meadow larks and hooting owls included, but why stop there? I'd like crickets during the night as well as tree frogs.  The echo of water dripping into pools when underground (Betweenlands mod for minecraft does this beautifully).  Just the addition ambient sounds would add a whole new level to this already great game!

[Mustatruv]

Awesome! Yes, with your examples as well, their sounds are mostly their presence to us. Addition of more natural ambience would be in line with the immersive experience of Vintage Story IMO. 

[ArtiKs]

I 100% agree with these ideas. But I would make such events not as common.
If birds are always chirping as soon as you enter a forest, this would lose novelty in less than 5 minutes, just like the last MC updates. We can make this novelty last way longer if it doesnt happen as much. If birds, crickets and frogs become implemented mobs, then they should be sparse, so that the player is surprised every time they get the chance to hear one. Just like sometimes a butterfly passes by, then a bird sound should trigger when they fly by, until the bird is far enough for us not to hear them anymore.

I dont really know how this works but...
-This implies that some mobs should generate sounds and that they should be heard based on proximity or an area around them. An example of this, would be buzzing bees or the howling wolves in the distance.

-Animals should make a particular sound when they die if another mob kills them. I think they only do so when the player is the killer.

-A bear should grunt when they are chasing other animals or kill their prey AND the player is close enough to hear. This would be incredibly useful because sometimes you can't even notice a bear until it's too late.

-...and so should drifters, as soon as they notice you, they should make a particular sound that alerts the player, just like foxes do. A drifter noticing the player shouldn't solely depend on the fact that they throw a stupid rock first and then get closer. They aren't supposed to be that smart, so i don't know where their stealth comes from XD.

-After rain, crickets and frogs get vocal. Personally, I don't want to listen to them all the time, so let's tie their sounds to the time of the day, the weather and maybe the seasons. In other words, they get vocal only when the conditions are met. 

I've also noticed that exposed water generates a "flowing water" or "splash" sound when there is wind or something jumps into the water block.
When you place a water source block with a bucket inside the house, for some reason it sounds like "flowing water" when it shouldn't be the case since there is no wind in there. The water should be completely still.

If it rains on top of a non full block like a layer of sticks, water drips slowly but it doesn't produce a sound. In MC, they added the dropplets sound, and believe me, once you hear them, the ambience gets a huge buff.

This game's potential always get me exited. Sorry for my ramblings.
 

Edited June 6, 2023 by ArtiKs

[Maelstrom]

I didn't mean to imply it's a constant running loop.  It would be random ambient sounds that play sporadically (maybe determined by the music frequency slider).  I'd like biome specific birdsong (meadowlarks aren't found in forests or mountains while mourning doves are practically everywhere) and other location specific ambient sounds.  Ambient meaning no mobs associated with the sounds.

[PhotriusPyrelus]

On 6/6/2023 at 12:19 PM, Maelstrom said:

I'd like to see meadow larks and hooting owls included, but why stop there? I'd like crickets during the night as well as tree frogs.  The echo of water dripping into pools when underground (Betweenlands mod for minecraft does this beautifully).  Just the addition ambient sounds would add a whole new level to this already great game!

A few times I've run up on birds at dusk or dawn that I first mistake for owls before remembering there are no owls in the game.

I would love more aesthetic/ambient/atmospheric wildlife.  Owls, goldfinches, cardinals, robins, bluebirds, phoebes, wrens, sparrows, woodpeckers, mourning doves, titmouses (titmice?).  Mmm.  I'm not a bird-watcher, but I did a bit of it as a child.

And crickets and peepers (a kind of frog) at night would be amazing.  Crickets falling silent when other animals are nearby would be fantastic.  If we could jar crickets, we could use them as a sort of alarm system.

EDIT:  And chickadees!  HOW COULD I FORGET CHICADEES!

Edited June 19, 2023 by PhotriusPyrelus