Music is degraded to *MONO* 10kHz @ 48 kbit/s?!

[Camp Freddie]

So what you're saying is that LA spent a huge amount of money on an expensive music score, then made the decision to convert it to telephone quality before giving it to Obsidian for use in the game?

 

Seems odd, although maybe LA are actually that stupid... Their QA certainly is!

[Master Dahvernas]

So what you're saying is that LA spent a huge amount of money on an expensive music score, then made the decision to convert it to telephone quality before giving it to Obsidian for use in the game?

 

Seems odd, although maybe LA are actually that stupid...  Their QA certainly is!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I wonder if they tried to save space on the master (DVD copy) on the XBox since the XBox version also includes a demo of Republic Commando which is like 600-800 MBs and they simply erased that disc usage, but didn't fill it with higher quality music when they coverted it for the PC?

 

Also, I think the low-quality mono score might have been an actual design choice because all the developer dairies and interviews said the number one thing they wanted to do was free up system memory (all 64 MBs for the XBox) to make the game run smoother than the first one did... That is highly ironic since both the XBox version and PC of TSL runs worse than the first one did (patched or unpatched).

 

I bet they figured that if they used mono-sound that it would free up not oly the memory but CPU cycles as well. This is the only "logical" (to them) reason I can thnk of why they purposefully decided to use mono and such a low sampling rate.

[The man in the iron mask]

Ah HA!! I knew something was wrong. The sound goes funky sometimes when I've been playing for a while or I'm in a fight. At first I thought my computer was getting clogged with all the information, until I realized that the graphics weren't slowing down, just the sound.

 

Nice job with the research. I agree that the sound quality is ridiculous, I just didn't realize how bad it was. Hopefully something will be done about this.

[vxronin]

Who's "OBSIDION?"

 

Are you implying that Chris Parker, producer of Obsidian Entertainment flat out lied when i asked him about it?

 

Also, the soundtrack was recorded at Skywalker sound with a live orchestra, are you saying that Lucasarts payed a sh*tload of money to do a soundtrack, only to toss it at Obsidian saying "Here, do what the hell you want with it!". Not likely.

 

And last, check out the Sound producer and sound engineer for the soundtrack. Guess where they work?

 

You are just stupid. I can't be any more direct than that. Yes, LA made the recordings. I said that from the beginning. HOWEVER, LA doesn't have JACK to do with the development, and had no more hand in creating the game than you or I. LA made the music, *gave* it to Obsidian, and in turn, Obsidian used the music BUT MADE THE DESCISION TO USE IT IN *MONO*. LA DID NOT MAKE THIS DESCISION, OBSIDIAN DID. IT'S OBSIDIANS FAULT!

[Torrentus]

So basically, if you or I have the same amount of creative input on TSL as LucasArts, you're saying we all made voiceovers, music and have a profitable contract with Obsidian Entertainment?

 

Either that or sound files don't count when making a game, in which the original point of blaming a company for the butchered files in irrelevant, in which case you needn't post anymore.

 

Also, I think you'll find it was LA who messed it up, to the utter shame of their parent company.

 

Just for the record; the streamvoice file is over 572 MB, streamsounds 130 MB and streammusic 36.3 MB. How sad.

[neriana]

I could not agree more with you, markussun. Too bad that link is just taking me to LucasArts tech support.

 

I don't know whose fault the horrible musical quality is. I don't particularly care. I see LucasArts and Obsidian on the box. You release a product with your name on it, you take responsibility for its content.

 

I can make excuses for bugs that are patched promptly. I don't particularly care about graphics, so long as the visual design and framerate are good. Music is far more important to me. Music connects directly with one's emotions; the auditory experience is more important for drawing one into something than the visual experience. And this auditory experience... well, the last time I heard mono sound regularly was on a television my parents bought the same year I was born. To anyone who listens to music regularly and has any "ear" at all, it's shocking.

 

The sound quality is an insult. It is an insult to the composer, to the performers, and to the consumers. They might as well have made the game in CGA, which would harken back to the days when people actually still listened to mono. That at least would have been obvious before purchase.

 

I usually try to be more fair to developers and even publishers, but in this case I am too angry at the shoddy quality being passed off on people here. MONO SOUND. Absolutely insane.

[Meshugger]

Who's "OBSIDION?"

 

Are you implying that Chris Parker, producer of Obsidian Entertainment flat out lied when i asked him about it?

 

Also, the soundtrack was recorded at Skywalker sound with a live orchestra, are you saying that Lucasarts payed a sh*tload of money to do a soundtrack, only to toss it at Obsidian saying "Here, do what the hell you want with it!". Not likely.

 

And last, check out the Sound producer and sound engineer for the soundtrack. Guess where they work?

 

You are just stupid. I can't be any more direct than that. Yes, LA made the recordings. I said that from the beginning. HOWEVER, LA doesn't have JACK to do with the development, and had no more hand in creating the game than you or I. LA made the music, *gave* it to Obsidian, and in turn, Obsidian used the music BUT MADE THE DESCISION TO USE IT IN *MONO*. LA DID NOT MAKE THIS DESCISION, OBSIDIAN DID. IT'S OBSIDIANS FAULT!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Enough already, there's been no evidence whatsoever that Obsidian's been involved the the sound, except for your basic principle that they're the developer. You seem to fail to understand that when it comes to the Star Wars franchise, Lucasarts have a lot more to say than you think.

[Master Dahvernas]

Not to be an ass... But this game is DONE. It's finished.

 

OE has moved on. They have said so in various e-mails that have been posted in the General Discussion Forum as well as the Spoilers Forum for any that are interested.

 

We are not going to see the cut-endings restored (at least not by OE or LA; modders may do it, but I have my doubts to be honest), or get a high quality soundtrack, or get better FMVs.

 

However, as a result, as a consumer I also have the right not to recommend this game or NWN2 to anyone else who is an D&D RPG fan as well and if that ultimately sees OE go under like Troika that will be a shame, but the point is I am being a realist and accepted that TSL is just not as good a game as the first one mostly because it was never a fully finished product and never will be.

[markussun]

Excellent. Thanks for all the comments, guys! This is going in the right direction. Keep it up.

 

If more people let LucasArts know how they feel about this MONO music issue, something will soon be done about it.

Please contribute to this effort by emailing LucasArts and letting them know directly.

Let's all pull together on this.

[Ace]

Markussun, how is the music upsampling project going?

 

It is sad that the composer isn't being allowed to release the sound track. The game isn't a priority enough for them to release the music as a CD, yet is important enough for them to not allow the composer to have the music as a download.

 

A lose-lose situation.

[markussun]

Markussun, how is the music upsampling project going?

 

The project is right on track, and if there is enough demand in the end, I will go through with it. I wouldn't call it "upsampling" anymore... it's more like "audio forensics"... LOL. Or stereo field reconstruction. It's a pain in the ass, but the end result is worth it.

 

But first and foremost we need to get LucasArts to realize their big mistake and have them release the full/proper/original STEREO music in a forthcoming patch. That is top priority if we want the music to be properly fixed.

To this end, I again appeal to everyone to email LucasArts and tell them (in a polite manner) you want the 44kHz *STEREO* music back in the game.

 

Do not underestimate the power you have as a customer. Every voice/email counts...

[Jellybelly]

I have already mailed LucasArts about the content patch, hope everyone here does the same.

 

That said, I believe getting the plot and storyline fixed is much more important than getting better-quality music.

[BozQ]

I initially didnt want to post at all in these forums. But after reading about the incompleteness of the game, I cant help but feel sorry that the game has turned out this way.

 

The soundtrack in Mono is just a bloody huge insult to the composer and to the listener. I dont know whose bright idea it is to just downmix it to mono.

 

How in the blue hell can it be in Mono? For such a beautiful game like the sequel to Knights of the Old Republic II, the soundtrack should at LEAST be in Dolby Pro Logic II-downmixed stereo for cripes sake.

 

If mono is to be integrated into the game, then why spend so much money on a composer and orchestra? Its a big bloody waste. Really big one. My heart aches hearing the outcome.

 

I can probably understand if LucasArts are trying to earn additional income, if they downmix it to mono so to encourage us to buy a seperate full mastered CD or some sort. And this really hurts me if there are not even plans to release it in CD or hell, re-releasing it for download.

 

I think no amount of email to Tech Support will help. They wont give a damn about it. But that's it, they have drawn the line for me. I will probably never buy another LucasArts game.

[Lcaus Scuks]

Shouldn't George Lucas do something about this ?

http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Vorbis.htm

160 KHz OGG Vorbis 1.1 music would have been great for KotOR 2

[Astatine]

I've been playing Unreal II again over the last couple of days. Not quite sure why I went back to it. It's flawed in the wrong ways -- it's railroaded and monotonous, and the difficulty settings offer the choice between Trivial, Impossible, and Even More Impossible (I picked Trivial). Even those graphics that looked incredible at launch are now looking a bit dated. One thing that still strikes me, though, is how good the sound is...

 

Ahem.

 

Now stopped derailing the thread.

[Blodhemn]

I can't believe how bad the music sounds. If anyone wants to compare, download jek_jek_tarr_battle.mp3 from Griskey's website and then listen to mus_bat_303.mp3 from the streammusic folder. The difference is sickening.

[Mark Havel]

Indeed. KotOR II's musics have the worst treatment I've ever seen for ages.

[Antagonist]

I'm not sure if it is worth posting but I wrote Mrs. Bihr a respectful mail asking for some kind of patch which delivers high-quality music.

 

Hopefully it will do some good.

[Jad'en]

I can't believe how bad the music sounds. If anyone wants to compare, download jek_jek_tarr_battle.mp3 from Griskey's website and then listen to mus_bat_303.mp3 from the streammusic folder.  The difference is sickening.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

*sigh*

 

As usual ive tried searching for his homepage and its given me nothing but K2 reviews... any chance of providing a linky?

[Althernai]

As usual ive tried searching for his homepage and its given me nothing but K2 reviews... any chance of providing a linky?

 

It is in this very thread and fairly obvious. Here:

 

http://www.griskey.com/

[Hunter_of_Chaos]

:'(

Why did i click on the link and listen....why?

now i wont be able to stand the in-game music

 

i can imagine how it would be SO much better to have that quality music in-game

[Jad'en]

As usual ive tried searching for his homepage and its given me nothing but K2 reviews... any chance of providing a linky?

 

It is in this very thread and fairly obvious. Here:

 

http://www.griskey.com/

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Cheers... im not usually this lazy

[markussun]

I've updated some text and the feedback link on the main page of this thread, since LucasArts has changed their site and my link was rendered broken.

 

The previous way of sending feedback was not working.

 

So, I encourage everyone again to use the new link at the top of this thread and give feedback to LA on this bothersome issue, using the provided means. This includes everyone who has already done that previously, with the old link.

 

It simply sucks to play KotOR2 with such terrible low-quality music in MONO. :'(

[Hive]

Another outrageous aspect of KotOR II... LucasArts should be ashamed. They have become exactly all the things Lucas himself used to critisize various companies within the movie industry for being; his supposed reason for going independent...

 

What a hypocrat. They should either fix this whole broken mess or offer a refund. I, as a fan and purchaser of this game, feel insulted, deceived and cheated.

[aluinie]

Hi guys

 

Got to agree with you. The music itself i fantastic and has a very good star wars feel to it.

 

The way they made it mono and such a low frequenzy isnt. I would not be happy if i was the composer to see my work presented like this. Hope Lucas sees sence on this but i have my doubts.