[MOD] BG:EE & SoD Audio Downgrade (BETA)
Sirick
Member Posts: 92
Baldur's Gate: EE - Siege of Dragonspear Audio Downgrade
A mod that lowers the sound quality of all new Beamdog NPC spoken audio to match with the base game.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/16etuZfIbVO4ivBDV06MQ4cEQvnN-hzc6/view?usp=sharing
Who's this mod for?
If you felt that the clarity of the new spoken audio was distracting due to it’s obvious higher quality (thanks to file size no longer being the issue it was in 1998), then this mod is for you. If you don’t care about such things, this mod probably isn’t for you.
The mod lowers the sample rate of all new audio from 44100Hz to 22050Hz, matching the games original audio quality for spoken dialogue.
The new audio now sounds warmer, less crisp, and in some instances indistinguishable from the base game audio.
Installation
To install simply extract the file in your Baldur’s Gate Override folder. The mod covers all audio for SoD and new EE content. It can be used for either.
-WARNING- This is a large mod. Over 1GB once extracted.
Why?
To put it simply, for consistency with base game audio.
No, seriously! Why would you bother doing this?
Be Advised
There may be some files missing or not working correctly. I have not listened to every file or tested them all in game. So I consider this a BETA until I’m happy everything is working as it should. However, everything should be working as it should.
ENJOY!
A mod that lowers the sound quality of all new Beamdog NPC spoken audio to match with the base game.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/16etuZfIbVO4ivBDV06MQ4cEQvnN-hzc6/view?usp=sharing
Who's this mod for?
If you felt that the clarity of the new spoken audio was distracting due to it’s obvious higher quality (thanks to file size no longer being the issue it was in 1998), then this mod is for you. If you don’t care about such things, this mod probably isn’t for you.
The mod lowers the sample rate of all new audio from 44100Hz to 22050Hz, matching the games original audio quality for spoken dialogue.
The new audio now sounds warmer, less crisp, and in some instances indistinguishable from the base game audio.
Installation
To install simply extract the file in your Baldur’s Gate Override folder. The mod covers all audio for SoD and new EE content. It can be used for either.
-WARNING- This is a large mod. Over 1GB once extracted.
Why?
To put it simply, for consistency with base game audio.
No, seriously! Why would you bother doing this?
Okay, now we're getting into subjective territory. If you’ve already decided this mod isn’t for you, then this explanation may read as the rantings of a madman. Having said that, let the ranting begin.
One area I’ve always felt Beamdog seriously dropped the ball was with matching their new assets with the base game. New writing, quest integration, portraits, audio. All of these things stood out as not belonging to the base game for one reason or another.
As far as the audio goes, why’d Beamdog take the path they did? Well as I see it, they have this newly recorded dialogue, sounds crisp and clear. Do you compress the heck out of it making it sound like arse to modern ears? Or do you keep it as higher quality as is reasonable to preserve the higher fidelity?
Beamdog obviously went with option 2, opting for more clear and crisp sounding audio despite it not matching the older audio. I feel this was a mistake, hence this mod.
One area I’ve always felt Beamdog seriously dropped the ball was with matching their new assets with the base game. New writing, quest integration, portraits, audio. All of these things stood out as not belonging to the base game for one reason or another.
As far as the audio goes, why’d Beamdog take the path they did? Well as I see it, they have this newly recorded dialogue, sounds crisp and clear. Do you compress the heck out of it making it sound like arse to modern ears? Or do you keep it as higher quality as is reasonable to preserve the higher fidelity?
Beamdog obviously went with option 2, opting for more clear and crisp sounding audio despite it not matching the older audio. I feel this was a mistake, hence this mod.
Be Advised
There may be some files missing or not working correctly. I have not listened to every file or tested them all in game. So I consider this a BETA until I’m happy everything is working as it should. However, everything should be working as it should.
ENJOY!
Post edited by Sirick on
6
Comments
Glad the mod is useful for you! This is one of those personal projects that I knew would be niche, but that a few others out there may also want.
I've yet to do a full playthrough using it (as this is just a small part of a much bigger mod I'm working on), so if you notice any bugs or issues, please do report them!
As a newcomer to Baldur's Gate (played through the saga for the very first time this past summer), I especially found it jarring to hear the difference between David Warner's audio in SOD and SOA. When he visits me for the first time in Chateau Irenicus, I thought "Wow, it doesn't even sound like the same person."
I actually really prefer his line delivery in SOD (older, slower, sounds more menacing compared to the higher pitch and faster line delivery in SOA), so I released a mod doing sort of the opposite of this mod...but the vastly superior voice sound quality in SOD makes the transition to SOA less seamless than it otherwise could've been.
Combined with slowed-down and tweaked SOA Irenicus audio (matching *your* files and not the defaults), I think it'll be a perfect transition.
This is now one of the absolute *must-have* mods for me. Thanks again!