I was just re-reading through SotI (thanks again Evilscary) again, and my thoughts drifted to the topic of sound effects. I figure every game group must have a few that get batted around from time to time. In the world of DH , what sounds do you break out most often?

I guess this could mean pre-recorded stuff, if you were so inclined; but I am hoping to learn more about what sounds you equate with specific weapons or equipment.

eg: Does Stubber = Bam or Boom? That kind of thing.

For space-hulk or free space scenarios i would recommend the homeworld soundtrack which essentiall has a lot of tracks that duplicate the sound of grating hull plates, screeching metal and garbled white-noise transmission.

lasguns and plasmas sizzle and crackle

Meltas whoosh or roar (like flamers)

autoguns and autopistols (and stub guns) sound like "real world" weapons. heavy stubbers chatter like M-60's, autoguns rattle like AK-47's, the different solid projectile weapons can snap like 9mm weapons or boom with a sound like a .45 or similar. the nearest earthbound weapon works fine, surely. especially since "heavy stubber" is a general description that could describe quite a variety of weapons.

Boltguns whoosh and have a thundering boom or roar on impact, which happsn at the same time as the whoosh-to the human ear that is. Think of the sound of a fireball in most fantasy games, coupled with an explosion. It should sound satisfying if you're firing, and terrifying and deafening if the shells explode near you.

Shotguns and handcannons boom heavily, like modern shotguns.

Silenced weapons cough or chirp, depending on the type of weapon.

A few ideas…

Stub gun http://rcexchange.com/VICKERS.wav

Autogun http://www.planit3d.com/source/sound_files/mgun.wav

Bolt gun http://newweb.tread.net/download/prog_01/wav/armi/gun4.wav

Plasma gun http://www1.kcn.ne.jp/~mappy001/kouka/rocket.wav

Melta gun http://www.criterionmud.net/sounds/fire.wav

Missile launcher http://ppc.warhawkenterprises.com/sounds/mw2missillaunch.wav

Lasgun http://www.geocities.com/gundam_wing012002/crackle1.wav

Flamer http://nauticom.net/www/mudhut/flame.wav

How do you track down stuff like that, Luddite?

I was thinking of a thread like this.

Laspistol: A belt snapping.

Lasgun: The snapping sound of a whip. It sounds like a very hard, loud, slap to the face when it impacts.

Stubgun: A .45 pistol, or a revolver. Something loud and "barking".

Boltgun: The chattering of it's fire mechanism, the vhoosh of the rounds flying through the air on thin trails of heat and propellant, the teeth-shattering detonation as they chew their way into something. I imagine a semi-auto burst from a boltgun hitting someone would sound like a very loud, slightly wet, crackle as the shells went off inside their target.

Meltagun: A high pitched wine followed by something akin to jet engines. Anything struck by it would fizzle, pop, melt, and burn.

Plasma gun: A hiss of emergency venting systems as the low-pitched buzzing projectile is launched. Like a huge swarm of hornets.

Graviton gun: A low, almost out-of-hearing hum.

Chainsword: A low pitched but constant revving, until it hits something at which point it screams louder than any rock music concert.

Power sword: Imagine someone "dry firing" a taser (using it without it being pressed against something - it's very loud and very startling); like that but constant and much louder . A big crackle of energy that arcs from the blade itself, perhaps grounding itself in nearby walls with an alarming fizzle .

Krak grenade: Obvious really. A very loud cracking noise, like a tree falling over, but sped up a great deal. Maybe more like a snap .

Shuriken Launcher : Electronic, stacatto rattle . Actually I don't know much about shuriken launchers, so this is pretty much a guess.

Lascannon: Freem . Obivously .

Fleshborer/Barbed Strangler/Venom Cannon: I don't want to know!

A few more...

Chain sword http://bellsouthpwp.net/g/m/gm1ller2/chainsaw.au

Power sword http://www.apoints.com/soft/music/jiqi/HUM1.WAV

Graviton gun http://www.bs1records.com/media/DaggaHiPassStab.wav

Grenade launcher http://strangeholiday.com/oops/projects/sound/hl_weapons/glauncher2.wav

Frag grenade http://www.liquidcanvas.net/sounds/grenade7.wav

Krak grenade http://sml.u13.net/Soldat/Sfx/clustergrenade.wav

Xenos

Shuriken catapult http://www.tboweb.com/video/roaches/hiss.wav

Necron Gauss flayer http://pt3.sbu.edu/VFTs/Cheese/Electric[2.wav

Tyranid weapons (and communications?) http://www.narrowgauge.iform.com.au/images/steam/train1.wav

Ork Shooter http://web.nps.navy.mil/~brutzman/vrtp/demo/helicopter/TankMachineGunFire-cd23-no10-4sec.wav

Other

Auspex scanner http://www.greendevils.com.pl/militaria/sailor_op/Sounds/Sonary/sonar2.wav

I know I dont still have it, but you could ry this anyway: the Rainbow 6; Rogue Spear game came with a bunch of sound files that you could play off you desktop. group's Guardsman was a marine and only recently got into the 40k fluff, so he really likes the solid projectile weapons. several computer games used stand alone files that could be played from the Windows Explorer window, so it might be worth it to check the contents of the cd. also, check the program files for game and see if they have stand alone files. many are .wav files, so they can be played in windows media player. I know nothing of Mac, so dont ask.

The Quake Demo CD / Sound track (by Trent Reznor) is awesome for mood music. Very under-hive.

Luddite said:

I dunno... I've always imagined the Shuriken Catapult (being a weapon that propels large quantities of projectiles at supersonic velocities) shrieking, rather than the relatively soft noises that various computer games (Rites of War, and more recently Dawn of War) have used. Then again, part of me likes the idea that the Eldar blend their fondness for aesthetics with a tendancy for psychological warfare, especially when they're at their most vicious, and having weapons that produce a high-pitched ululating shriek (as each shuriken emerges from the muzzle at ludicrous speed, carefully shaped not just for aerodynamics but for the sound they create) just seems right in that regard.

The Gauss Flayer... I've always imagined something like a burst of white noise that rises and falls in pitch and intensity like an air-raid siren...

Agreed on the shuriken, although i've never really imagined it to shriek. I did like this sound though as it reminded me of hypervelocity blades 'ripping' through the air.

The gauss flayer sound hits my spot though as i always saw it as a pulse of energy that successively stripped away the target at a molecular level...

Still, each to their own!