Odd ambient generic problem in Half-Life Created 11 years ago2013-01-13 18:08:38 UTC by DocRock

I'm having a very odd ambient_generic problem in my mod. Maybe someone here has had the same problem.

In almost all of the maps in this single player mod for Half-Life there are ambient_generic entitys. As I approach the sound ingame, the sound is not playing. There is no trigger required for the sound to play. Some of the sounds are set to play in different radius's. None of the sounds' attributes have been changed at all. They are all stock half-life sounds. There are no custom sounds. The only thing changed about the sounds are: a flag being ticked to play the sound in a small/medium/large/everywhere radius.

However, if I quicksave the level ingame then quickload the level immediately after, the sounds work perfectly. After every level change, as I run through the mod, if I quicksave/quickload - then the sounds work fine.

Has anyone else had this problem? I am very anxious to get my mod out there for people to play, but I will not release it until I can figure out what the problem is.

Thanks ahead for any constructive feedback.

If your sounds are set to repeat continuously, den make sure they have at least one cue point, else they will only play once and then never again, so this may be your problem.

Not sure what to tell ya, but i would check and re-check the usual stuff:

-make sure you don't have more than 10 outputs per multimanager
-make sure all mm are set to "multithreaded" just in case

for total control of the sounds this is my entity setup for each one:

-ambient generic with multithreaded flag on
-mm
0.1 play sound
x.x duration stop sound

This way, the sound is reset everytime, and can be called multiple times. All the sounds should have at least one cue, otherwise they may only play once, which actually might be your root problem

Anyhoo, let us know what the solution is when you find it please! =)

If your sounds are set to repeat continuously, den make sure they have at least one cue point, else they will only play once and then never again, so this may be your problem.

They are stock half-life sounds. They dont play at all unless I quickave/quickload and then they play fine.

That's odd, really. Does this happen to ALL in-game sounds or just those specific ones?

Have a look at this test map, it might shed some light on the configuration.

The sounds work perfectly.
ONLY
after a quicksave/quickload.

Before the quicksave, there is no sound even though I know there is an ambient_generic there. I know it's there because I put it there when I made the map.

People who have beta tested this mod come back and say 'its really good, but I just wish there were more sounds in it.' I tell them the same thing that I'm telling you guys here: to enjoy the sounds in the mod, you'll first have to quicksave then quickload the map.

I've downloaded other mods and all of their sounds work fine. I've looked through the mod structure of files and they all are the same as the file structures in my mod.

I cant understand why its not working. Very frustrating.

an added note here: during the build and testing of the map, the sounds work fine, too. only when running the mod thru steam is when the sounds dont work (unless quicksave/quickload...then they work)

My question was if the problem is that ALL sounds in game are quiet or just your custom sounds.

Are you using op4.dll, by any chance? I only had that problem (a lot) when I was using the op4.dll in my mod.

I'm guessing it is an issue with the .dll or check your map properties and make sure that "entity reset on map start up" thing is set to no/disabled (I forgot what it was, dont have VHE installed at the moment)

doc: not all the hl sounds are cued afaik, but it's to test them, opeing in goldwave for example and "edit cues".

Sajo brings up an interesting possibility too, and dang disco stu that is an excellent example map

Are you using op4.dll, by any chance? I only had that problem (a lot) when I was using the op4.dll in my mod.

I'm beginning to wonder if this is the problem. Does the hl.dll used in WON Half-Life work the same as the dll in Steam?

Does the hl.dll used in WON Half-Life work the same as the dll in Steam?

They are different. WON dlls potentially may have more problems with sound, as I know.

Does each mod in Half-Life Steam need its own unique .dll? If so, how would I go about making such a thing with no idea how to code it?

The problem is sources of Steam dlls (which were seriously modified for the needs of new multiplayer system). They are closed. Valve gave us only outdated sources of WON dlls in SDK. I'll try to ask some help for you.

Thanks a lot man I truly appreciate it