loud missile sound on entering sector - more than a nuisance

[glenmcd]

This bug has been in TC / AP all versions for as long as I've been playing (2 or 3 years?). Here is my current DxDiag.txt. I've totally upgraded hardware several times while this bug has remained. I use ENglish exclusively. Bug is definately in DiD start but pretty sure it's in most others I've played too.

Sometimes when you enter a sector, the sound for a missile or other explosion can be heard coming from a point zero metres away. This might sound like just a minor annoyance but can be worse given my setup I normally have the sound in audio preferences in AP turned down a fair bit, but with the Windows volume relatively high. This allows me to finely tune relative volumes of the various apps I use. I play through the night while others in the house sleep. It sounds like this phantom missile or explosion whatever is being played, is ignoring the volume setting in TC/AP and playing at max volume, and doing so from a point right at my ship. So it's VERY loud. There's no chance that the sound is coming from any missile setup in my ship as it also happens when I'm in spacesuit.

I have not been able to duplicate this reliably but will msg here again if I find a way. Please fix.

[Alan Phipps]

It was reported to the bug-tracker soon after initial X3AP release and there is a strong player theory that it is actually a feature that may mean that a fight (possibly all NPC) is in progress somewhere in-sector even if not in your current view/scanner range. Sometimes the noise on entry is a missile launch, sometimes it is a weapons fire effect. I admit that I actually find it useful as a heads-up to look for hostiles or post-fight loot.

You are right that it does not obey the normal volume setting for effects. That may be a coding bug of the 'feature' or just an oversight. I don't really think it will be treated as a priority for a fix after all this time as for most players it is just an oddity rather than game-breaking.

[glenmcd]

thanks again Alan, that all makes perfect sense. At least knowing that it's intentional should mean that there's a script somewhere that can be edited

[Carlo the Curious]

I'm pretty sure this isn't new to TC either.

In X3R Treasure Hunt missions to Split Fire (or other sectors with a near planet) quite often resulted in a huge explosion when you entered the sector as the wreck you were looking for blew up in the atmosphere.