Recently while forging on Sandbox I accidentally dropped a Mongoose off the skybubble. I watched it fall and when it hit the ground and subsequently blew up, I noticed that I saw the explosion before I heard it. This was on a game on my own, so lag wasn't the cause. So this means that Halo 3 is soooo in-depth that Bungie even included the speed of sound into the game. In most games, the developers make the speed of sound instant, like the speed of light. I doubt Bungie incorporated the speed of light into Halo 3 as it would have no visible effect (i.e. a player would never see something after it happened because the maps are just too small), but it's obvious now that there is some difference between the two now. So I've decoded to find out how accurate the difference between the speeds are. So, with the help of territory spawns and the equation s=d/t (GCSE level, I know), I'll be able to find the speed of sound in Halo 3. Of course it'll probably only work for sandbox, but if I manage to do it on another map, I'll know if the speed of sound differs on different maps (in real life, air pressure and wind affect the speed of sound, along with other factors, so they might differ on different maps). I might be going a bit far into this, but I just want to see how much effort Bungie really put into halo 3 (and judging by the fact that I can do this, I'm saying "a lot of effort") Thoughts? I'll post pictures and update the thread as I go.
I think they only included it in Sandbox to enphasize the fact that ou are really, really high up. I doubt its accurate but it does add a bit of realism to the game.
Sound I think your experiment sounds cool. I will definitely check back to see your pics and results. My guess is that it is consistent on all of the maps, but it is cool nonetheless that they incorporated this extra level of realism to the game. The sound in H3 has always impressed me. I recently got the headset that allows you to play the game audio through it as well as game chat. It is incredibly different to hear the game like that. The stereo sound is so much more noticeable. You can truly hear which direction a gunshot or a foot step came from. In addition to the speed of sound I also like the effect distance has on a sound as well. If you are watching a gun battle off in the distance on a larger map they emulate the distortion caused by a sound simply travelling long distances through air particles. The sound not only arrives later, but it sounds likes its far away too. The sound of gunfire also bounces off surfaces and sounds completely different depending on what objects are between you and the gunshots. H3 sound is the most under praised part of the game. It's amazing.
The sound has always amazed me too. I got surround sound a few months back. I always hear the guy jump down behind me in SWAT along with many other things. This is something I noticed due to the surround sound.
I noticed that a quite while back, by letting banshees drop down. They give the loudest explosion of all vehicles when dropping from the skybox - might come in handy for you.
Yeah, but they also have the largest tendency to bounce off the floor and not blow up. Although I may try them, thanks
You sure? I thought they broke pretty easily. Try dropping them in the dunes - I had my banshees spawn above them, and I don't think any of them didn't explode. Maybe they only do that on a flat floor (though that actually sounds quite irrational) Anyhow, cool experiment. :3 Are you planning to use it for an assignment or anything?
No dude speed of sound has always been included. In maps like Valhalla or Avalanche you'll notice that sniper fire and sound, don't always line up when you're far from the shooter. I was really impressed when I was reading about this pre-Halo 3.
I know that, I just want to see how accurate it is. The speed of sound in air is roughly 340ms^-1. If it's close to this, then it's pretty good. However, I don't know how I'm goign to accurately measure the time between the explosion and the sound.
Bungie didn't do it. They used a Havok Physics Engine. Which includes the speed of sound. Simply inspect a Havok game physics engine and there you go. I think they might have that information on their site or something. If they have the actual speed of sound and light or relative proportions.
There's no point in including the speed of light in a game because no matter how large a map is, the speed of light would provide no obvious visual difference is it were implemented into a game. So I'm assuming that the speed of light in Halo 3 is either instant or negligible. I'm also aware of Halo 3 using a Havok engine. I just want to see how good it is.
You could also work out what speed an item drops (the gravity) on halo, by stacking about 20 boxes or so and then dropping the item from that height then use your s=d/t to work it out. Distance can be boxes because theres no other way of working out distance lol
Doesn't the Spartan Laser travel at the speed of sound? When I look at the trail in theater, they always shoot instantly, and not a progressive shot. Also, while playing many matches of Big Team Battle, I noticed that you can hear laser shots, BR and Sniper fire from a distance. Could that to be traveling at the speed of sound? I would check it out, but I'm Xbox-less at the moment.
I remember when I first got my X1's. I was completely blown away. If there's anyone out there who has never used a real headset while playing games, you should definitely think about buying some. They audio is ridiculous. I've never used true 5.1 surround sound headsets, but I bet those would be even crazier. OT: Cool experiment, I never even noticed sound delay. I bet the consistency will be the same on all maps, but it's a cool experiment anyways. The Spartan Laser is the only hit-scan weapon in the game. That's why it's instant like that. Even the sniper has a small amount of travel time.
If you notice, the prowler makes the biggest explosion, banshee second. And this has been in other maps like Avalanche as well. I know, because I accidentally dropped some vehicles off the cliff and they made a huge sound. Yes bungie was smart and went the extra mile to make this, but it isn't anything new. Still, glad that you noticed this, it could be useful for timed effects maps or just background sounds. Maybe infection makes it sound like the world is being taking over by zombies in a large city map.
For that you need to use a SUVAT equation (either v=u+at, v^2=u^2+2as, or s=ut+1/2at^2, where u= starting velocity, v = end velocity, s = distance travelled, t = time taken and a = acceleration). Gravity in real life on Earth is an acceleration of -9.81ms^2 (or 9.81 metres per second per second downwards). Gravity is not a speed because when you let you of an item it doesn't instantly reach 180-ish miles per hour. I would have to do your experiment in the sandbox skybubble because if I did it on the floor of a map, u would equal zero and v would also equal zero because the body would stop moving downwards when it hit the floor. If I use an object that falls through the bubble then it'll work. Also, I coud measure the length of an object using territories and then rotate the object the side of the object that I measured is perpendicular to the ground (vertical).