Hello commander!
We hope you are well. While the team is hard at work on the next WARNO milestone, we wanted to take the opportunity to highlight a lesser-known (but critical) aspect of our game.
Today is the day that we talk about sound design!
Some of you might have noticed, but we worked long and hard on upgrading the audio and sound design of WARNO, taking it to entirely new levels. We feel that WARNO’s soundscape is a massive step up from our previous titles in every way.
Before we dive in, some news from other fronts!
DAVOUT’s missing models
We are busy at work incorporating the missing models from DAVOUT into WARNO. Specifically, the light Mil Mi-2 helicopter for the Warsaw Pact, and the West German variant of the ubiquitous M113 armored personnel carrier.
Let’s talk about sound!
Engines and weapons
Sound in games: you might not think about it, but it is such an essential part of the overall game’s immersion that if it’s not “right,” it can quickly break a player’s experience. We always aim to get the highest degree of authenticity in our games, and sound design is equally important to graphics or gameplay.
To establish the greatest immersion possible, we did extensive research on late 80s Warsaw Pact and NATO units to ensure that every vehicle sounds real. Unlike previous titles, there is no "generic vehicle sound" in WARNO.
This means that almost every vehicle family, be it soft-skinned or armored, plane or helicopter, uses audio from its real-world counterpart. This is true when moving, stopping, engine idling, and even when rotating the turret. Listen for yourself:
https://youtu.be/jD571ev0n8c
And that's not all. The same principle applies to weapons. Different guns mean different sounds. Check by yourself.
https://youtu.be/S9nAurJy2Gk
We didn't stop there. Some weapon systems work in rather exotic ways, which results that the sounds they produce can be pretty unique. We took the extra care to ensure those weapons got the (sound design) love they deserve.
For example, the distinct puff of the Dragon ATGM has been faithfully copied in-game:
https://youtu.be/rNCHuk2TfPs
The intimidating plane-equipped MW-1 cluster dispenser, courtesy of the Luftwaffe, also received extra attention:
https://youtu.be/fUDvoTHof7E
While this dedication to realism means more work, we believe it is very much worth the effort if it means to immerse our players fully on the battlefield. That's not all!
Spatialization
To reflect the importance of sound when designing our games, the audio part of our updated engine, used for WARNO, has been completely reworked. We took great care in creating a believable and realistic soundscape, starting with something called spatialization.
https://youtu.be/GuYD2aVVsV0
https://youtu.be/NskfzImCQE8
With our revised engine, we can now modify sounds as the distance between them and the camera changes. Now, let's mix it all together.
https://youtu.be/FhmkI70hrCc
Can you hear the explosions getting muffled as the camera moves further away?
Pretty cool, right? Well, we have one more thing to show you.
New Community Tournament for WARNO
Before we leave you be, a short message from our community. The SD League is hosting a new Tournament Series for WARNO! The 1st Monthly Tournament is a casual 1v1 Tournament event in which players don’t get eliminated, as well as being matched to other players with the same skill level in later rounds. The SD League intends to make this an ongoing series for WARNO, with each month featuring a new iteration (and potentially with changing rule sets from time to time).
Any player interested in joining can find more information in the Google Doc or join our dedicated Discord server.
See you on the battlefield
That’s all for this week!
Join the awesome (and passionate) growing WARNO community. Check the latest news on the Steam News page or visit the Steam Forums. Get to together with other players on the excellent Discord server and the new Reddit page, as well as their Instagram.
See you, commander!