Suggestion: Background radio chatter for immersion.

[Sindroms]

Good day, gents.

This is something that came up in our discord group some time ago and I wanted to sling it here.

 

Would you say it was possible to add some sort of radio chatter in systems with heavy traffic? A good example was the 2003 game Freelancer, where the NPCs would randomly engage in brief, low-volume in-the-background sort of chatter, similar to this sound effect for Elite Dangerous.

Since the game is randomly generated and requires modularity and distinction, we could settle for a simple non-distinguishable radio chatter between ships, the audio file playing if there are at least two ships present.

Perhaps with an optional audio slider for the volume.

To make the sound unique, add a pitch/speed randomization to the audio per different nation.  Since you would not be using real-life voice, you can get away with that.

 

To expand on this idea, you can always also implement certain more statticy and ''panicked'' versions for when a ship dies or is fired upon on a later date.

[Rinart73]

I agree, it's a great idea. It could make galaxy feel more alive.