Voice problem

[Zearox]

I uninstalled Oblivion a while ago and now i installed it again but the problem is that i cant hear etc when the guards in beginning tells you to stand back. But in conversations i can hear them talk.

[Guest Tessera]

Well, let's see...

 

You say that you uninstalled Oblivion, before re-installing it. I'm going to assume (?) that you used the game's own uninstall program to remove all traces of it (supposedly) from your computer.

 

You then installed a fresh copy and your sounds are different. Specifically, the directional sounds are fubar.

 

If we can further assume that nothing else has changed on your computer... no new sound card settings... no new drivers or third-party audio software... no poorly-written Oblivion mods... then that leaves us with the most likely candidate:

 

Your Oblivion.ini file is different from the way it originally was.

 

When you re-install the game, it loads up a default copy of Oblivion.ini and then later creates a "working copy" in your C:\Documents and Settings\<user name>\My Documents\My Games\Oblivion folder. If there's any heavy-duty tweaking to be done to Oblvion, then that's where you'd start.

 

Try adjusting the audio settings in-game first and see if that helps. If not, you may need to tweak your Oblivion.ini file.

 

Another possibility would be anomalies in your system Registry, due to defunct entries left behind from your previous installation of the game... but let's not go there yet.

[EagleTX]

I am having the same problem after reinstalling my game over an initial install. My background voices are much fainter than they used to be. I did add several of the most popular mods to the game, but nothing that should affect the sound. Any suggestions? Anything short of a complete re-install, erasing all mods? Thanks!

 

Edit: Here's another strange fact...if I turn away from the speaker, I seem to hear them much better, as if I was facing them. When I turn toward them, it gets much fainter. It's as if my facing for determining voice amplitude has been inverted. Any ideas? My oblivion.ini file is different from oblivion_default.ini. Thank you.

[Guest Tessera]

Eagle...

 

The most common reason for what you're describing is that your sound is out-of-phase. The speakers are not working together properly... one side is reproducing sound out-of-phase with the other. That might account for the phenomenon you've been experiencing... as in when you turn your head or change distance, the sound suddenly seems to shift in volume. It's sort-of the equivalent of the speakers not being "focused" together and in fact, one is working against the other.

 

Other things can cause this too, but that's my first guess. Now, as for what would cause this to suddenly happen..? Hmm. See if you experience the same effect using headphones. If the phones sound okay, but the speakers are still fubar, then check the speaker wiring first.

 

Also, do the usual checks... make sure the software for your soundcard is still setup with the same speaker settings as those in Windows Control Panel.

 

Let me know if any of that helps. Also, if you have a SoundBlaster card, it may have a speaker testing program that will identify speaker problems. Anyway, those would be the first things that I'd check.

[EagleTX]

Problem Solved! (My problem at least...). Thanks for your help. I hope this discussion helps others.

 

The problem was that my Windows speaker settings were inconsistent with my actual speaker configuration. Here are some detailed instructions that I received about how to check and change your speaker settings:

 

In the Windows Sound Control Panel you need to set the number of speakers to be the same as the actual number of speakers that you have installed. So, if you have 2 speakers (or a headset) set it to 2.1, if you have 4 speakers set it to 4.1, or if you have 5 speakers with a center channel speaker set it to 5.1 or surround sound. Do not count the bass speaker. When you have the sound set to 5.1 (or greater - 6.1,7.1) and you do not have a center channel speaker you will not hear anything directly in front of you, the 5.1 setting requires a center channel speaker. This sometimes also applies to the surround sound setting but that will depend on the drivers, surround sound often works properly even on just 2 speakers.

 

Click Start, Control Panel, doubleclick Sounds and Audio..., on Volume tab, Speaker Settings, click Advanced, on Speakers tab, set number of speakers at bottom of window.

[Smollett]

Tessara,

Can you give a better idea about what I should be looking for in the .ini files?

I don't have a hardware issue and yes, I did re-install/install a bunch of times.

 

If I read you right, I have a faulty .ini file that needs updating. The .ini file in the Oblivion folder (program files, etc.) seems to reference the correct .BSA files as far as I know (voice1.bsa, etc.)

 

What other things am I looking for in the other .ini file?

 

Smollett

[Smollett]

Nevermind! :P

 

While doing some troubleshooting I found out it was an armor mod that somehow changed a few other things I didn't see.

 

Things seem to be working ok for sound.

 

 

Smollett

[Guest Tessera]

While doing some troubleshooting I found out it was an armor mod that somehow changed a few other things I didn't see.

 

I see that problem quite a bit these days. I hate to say this, but roughly 90% of all mods for this game are... frankly... poorly-written crap. Try to keep the mods to a minimum and research them before installing one. Bethesda made it very easy for people to create mods for Oblivion... which unfortunately means that quite a few amateurs are producing poorly thought out and improperly tested projects that are messing up thousands of players.

 

Err on the side of caution folks... and install only those mods which are well-known to be of excellent quality. You don't *really* need to have flaming armor, right..? :P

[Smollett]

I agree.

 

 

Oh well, it was an ok armor mod in my opinion (not really into the running about wearing dental floss). There was one item in it that looked REALLY good. So I DLed it to see if I could extract it. It had a backpack and a utility belt buried amoungst the other ones and it worked nicely with the thief outfit I had. Kudos to the guy who made it. But now I wonder how I can get it out of the mod. I wouldn't use it for uploading, I just wanna use it for my own purposes.

 

Now I wish I could get my hero in NWN 2 a nice utility belt w/ backpack because I've always wondered where they put all that stuff....

 

Smollett

[RagnarTheRaider]

Okay, now I'm having the "can't hear NPCs problem". As an example: A begger walks up to my PC and his lips move but no sound, same thing when a guard addresses my PC near a gate or what have you. On the other hand I can hear any of them just fine if I enter into a conversation with them. Odd thing is I didn't change any settings, didn't reinstall or add any new mods and all was fine when I saved and exited the game to get a bite to eat then when I loaded it back up after chow I couldn't hear any NPC chatter. Thinking my save might have been corrupted in some way I loaded an earlier save but the problem persisted. So I turned off all mods, reinstalled Oblivion, loaded a different and older PC (from a very old save) and the problem is still tere. Don't know if it means anything but other sounds such as footfalls and armor creaks seem louder than before but that may simple be because the NPCs voices aren't covering them up. Any ideas on how to fix this would be greatly appreciated.