Albion Prelude V2.5.1 ignores change of audio device

[glenmcd]

Albion Prelude V2.5.1 EN
Here's my DxDiag
Highly modified setup, but nothing that's to do with sound device.
Use any gamestart, or just sit at menu. It's my understanding that if you dont start a game, that whether a system is modified or not is irrelevant.

To duplicate: run AP. Disable the audio device you're currently using. Then enable one (any that you've got on your system - I've got Xonar STX speakers plus G930 headset via USB wireless). AP from that point onwards makes no sound regardless of what you do with audio devices. The only way to get sound again is to quit.

It probably doesn't make sense to disable an audio device for the hell of it, but when you are using speakers and headset, you only want one running at once so you swap between the two. Other games (eg Modern Warfare 3) pick up on the new audio device immediately. For AP any change to audio devices is a death sentence.

[Alan Phipps]

I think it true of almost all DirectSound applications in more modern OSs that you have to make changes in audio devices and also configuration changes such as speaker layout for example in the sound control panel before you start the application exe as otherwise the changes you make are not set up for the application to use. It is certainly true with older X3 games too.

In short, I don't think this behaviour is restricted to just X3 among the XP-era legacy sound-using applications. I guess the OSs now are more capable of adjusting when running more modern OpenAL sound-using applications.

[NinjaDriver]

Alan's right on this.

While all my evidence is anecdotal, every application I've tested will not change audio devices on the fly while the application is running. (Running Win7 x64) Any change you make requires a shutdown and restart of the application to run on the newly selected audio device.

In other words, happens with all programs, not an X3-only issue.

[glenmcd]

fair enough. I tested some other games in my steam collection. Results were varied. Modern Warfare 3 obviously handles this trick particularly well. Perhaps because players tend to swap between speakers and headset so often in that type of game (co-operative <> solo).

[Cycrow]

also not all games use DirectSound so others might work differently