We recently updated to 4.14 from 4.12.5 (4.13 had other issues which didn’t allow us to update). At this point there is one bothering issue that appears in this new update.
In the last version we used we played sounds normally and they were heard correctly, every sound we started it was played (our game plays many sounds in a short time, like many fast FPSs do). In this new updated version the sounds are totally screwed, sometimes you hear them sometimes you don’t, regardless of whether or not we use spatialization for them. Even music, sometimes you can hear it, sometimes you can only hear it if you pause the world and resume it.
This is very strange and we have no idea where to start on testing what is going on.
Anyone having this issue with the new 4.14 version?
It seems it starts to happen after we load new maps (it works fine in one or two maps but after that it doesn’t recover anymore). It’s really strange since it worked fine until we updated and we did no change in that regard.
After testing with a built version of game (development build) we managed to partly replicate the issue:
It happens after a map loads, the music/background sounds play for a few seconds until the map is fully loaded (I guess it starts when unreal finishes loading the map (and the audio objects that are statically added in editor to the map, get activated) and plays until we manage to create everything we need for the map to start properly). Once the map is shown to the player all the sounds turn on mute (we don’t know why since we don’t interact with the volume in any way). However, if we pause the game (UGameplayStatics::SetGamePaused) and then resume it, all the sounds play correctly.
It also seems the sounds were playing during the time we couldn’t hear them (so it means they are on mute only).
Anyone having such an issue?
Yes, we had a similiar issue. We just couldn’t hear anything at all.
I assume you are talking about the issue if you launch the game within the editor by pressing the play button?
If so, double check your level editor/play settings, if there is something that differs from what you had before.
For our part the enable sound checkbox was unchecked and kept us guessing for a couple of hours.
Thanks for taking the time.
This happens to us both in editor or with a built version of the game. And it’s not consistent, if we play a map everything is fine, then after a load the sounds are not fine until we pause the game and resume it back. Following your suggestion we looked at the sound settings for the editor and everything seems to be fine.
One other aspect is that it appears that right after we load a map all sounds pause and only continue after we make a call to UGameplayStatics::SetGamePaused and then resume the game. When we resume it, the sounds all play as they normally should when the map has been loaded. Somehow they detect they should all pause (we have ambient sounds as well as sounds played by code or BPs). I read in the release notes that there has been added a feature in 4.14 which allow us to pause sounds, not sure if they have anything to do with that.
Another thing that’s mentioned in the 4.14 release is that sounds run on their own thread now by default, is there a way to revert this to what it was before (from the .ini file somewhere?) to make sure this has nothing to do with it?
Same for me. I have also the problem in my project where the sounds are stopping more or less instantly. For me I have the problem if I switch UI and game mode.
One thing I recognized so far:
- Load a map, sound stops
- Open pause menü with game paused and game mode UI only (sound is stopped because its not an UI sound)
- Close pause menü, unpause game and switch back to game mode
- Sound is plays from the beginning
The other with PlaySoundAtLocation related events:
- Play a sound on particular action sound plays 3-4 times (on that action)
- Sounds stop for the next few actions
- Sound restart to play for the next few actions
Kind Regards
freakxnet
I just tested with the sound not running in its own thread, edited BaseEditor.ini
[Audio]
MaxChannels=32
CommonAudioPoolSize=0
UnfocusedVolumeMultiplier=0.0
UseAudioThread=false
EnableAudioMixer=false
and it does the same, so its not related to that. Not sure if this ini edit actually matter when we run in editor but it seems it has no impact on the error if it does.
Well, I guess our tests mirrors what you are getting exactly:
- the sounds stop when the map is loaded (for example, we have a music file that starts right before the scene is shown to us - because we do some initialization that takes time before we render the first frame, music plays for a second and then pauses when the engine starts rendering - only happening when the sound uses its own thread, otherwise we cannot hear the music playing at all)
- the sounds play correctly when we resume the game (all sounds that should have played, play after resume)
- they can play a short sound or a longer sound (steamed or not), its the same error and happens regardless.
- its not related to running in its own audio thread, it happens in both cases
- sometimes if the same sound is played for multiple times (with PlaySound2d or PlaySoundAtLocation, for example UI selection sounds or weapon sounds) it gets skipped once or twice based on how many times it has been played (I guess) which might have something to do with sound concurrency
Its strange that not a lot of people complain about it which means either not a lot of people get it or not a lot upgraded to 4.14. Yet, I’m pretty sure your project is nothing like ours so they are not similar in any way, which means it can happen generally which means something is wrong in the engine and other people should get it as well, sooner or later.
I get what you mean. Hopefully Epic will pick on it soon and have their audio engine guys look at it.
I think so. Before upgrading to 4.14 I had no problems with the audio. The sad thing is for me: I wanted to ship the game this month which will be probably delayed until this is fixed.
Is there a bug report opened for this? Otherwise it would be good to create one 
I don’t think it is. Since today, nobody else reported this issue. We though it might have something to do with our code. But there is a new thread that has been started today on this issue and it is your replay as well, its safe to say its not us I’ll open one right now.
Posted in Bug Reports
Hey guys, we can continue this discussion and investigation on the post I have linked below. This report as well as others seem to all be related, so I am heading up this investigation.
With that said, if you are on a deadline to release a game or project, best practice is to stay on that engine version that you know works. The only reason you should need to upgrade when working on a project with a deadline, is if there are a number of major features or fixes necessary in the newer version which are blocking or preventing you from releasing in your current engine version.
If you have additional questions or need further assistance, please follow the link I have provided and post them there.
Thanks,
Thank for the response. Luckily I’m not on a deadline. Normaly it is not a problem to upgrade because the editor is pretty stable. In the 4.14 release are some more noticeable bugs as before (at least for me) what is fine. If I can’t release this month then I’ll wait. In a real production environment I also would prefer to stay with the engine version unless its necessary to upgrade. In this case its “only” a spare time project where I don’t loose money when I’m not releasing :).
I may of found a fix. Let me know if this helps, looks like Sound Mixes maybe broken.
Sadly that is not what we are doing, we don’t mess with the volume of the sounds. I’ve seen the 0 volume behavior change. On another note, this hasn’t happened to us in 4.12.5, only 4.14, I’m 100% of that.
Thanks!