Remove any sounds while in space

[Sax Man Aeronautics]

Because sound can't travel through space.

[Nobody]

I don't remember ever hearing the sounds of other craft or dumped(while burning) boosters while in space with this game. You hear sounds from the parts of the ship your using but that sound is traveling through the ship to the command pod that you are supposed to be in.

[TheCanadianVendingMachine]

Nova made a muffler mod. Let me see if I can find a link...

Edit - http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/50236-0-21-Audio-Muffler

Edited October 16, 2013 by TheCanadianVendingMachine

[Kerbart]

Turn off your speakers.

[Neotician]

Because sound can't travel through space.

If You want that level of realism, you must also consider what you're hearing through.

If your ship is manned, you're hearing through a kerban, inside a pressurized cabin, and since sound also travels through metal and other objects, he would be able to hear the engines and RCS.

If your craft is a probe, it may be equipped with microphone(s) and since the microphone is attached to the probe, which is attached to the craft, it would also be able to "hear" the sound

[OdinYggd]

If a ship explodes in space and nobody is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

As other people have suggested, yes it very much does.

Being able to hear the rushing of fluids, the humming of fans, and the thunder of your engines are all very much normal sounds when in space. They are carried up the ship structure into the crew areas.

Other sounds probably shouldn't be carried while in a vacuum environment, and mods to implement this exist.

[lajoswinkler]

Going for the realism would be the best thing. If you're in a control of a craft, you should hear its engine, though the sound should gradually turn to muffle upon exiting the atmosphere. As far as I know, RCS thrusters can't be heard by the crew.

Any other stuff happening with other crafts in the vicinity should be completely silent. Explosion, collision, decoupling, anything. Just silence.

If something bumps into you, whether you're controlling a kerbal or a craft, it should be heard as a muffled thump.

These are really things which are not hard to implement. They are not annoying and they educate people. I see nothing against this.

[Nostromo]

This is a game though, not a simulator.

[Kasuha]

I don't think it's a good idea to go for realism in this. What I'd go for would be "how would they do it in a movie". We all know it's completely unrealistic to hear external sounds in vacuum like you would hear them in atmosphere, but it makes things more enjoyable.

I'd actually add more sounds if it was possible. Sound of part hitting another part (e.g. with ship collisions) and sound of structural link breaking at least. Just yesterday I screwed up my randezvous approach and the two ships ever so slightly grazed each other. There was no visible damage and no sound at all and only after a while I found I lost some parts. Some time ago I got to watch my orbital station to disintegrate in complete silence after I ran into it with another ship at moderate speed. Sound is important indicator and it's bad when it's missing.

[Yakuzi]

Squad couldn't implement this due to economic constraints.

In the meantime:

Turn off your speakers.

[lajoswinkler]

I don't think it's a good idea to go for realism in this. What I'd go for would be "how would they do it in a movie". We all know it's completely unrealistic to hear external sounds in vacuum like you would hear them in atmosphere, but it makes things more enjoyable.

I'd actually add more sounds if it was possible. Sound of part hitting another part (e.g. with ship collisions) and sound of structural link breaking at least. Just yesterday I screwed up my randezvous approach and the two ships ever so slightly grazed each other. There was no visible damage and no sound at all and only after a while I found I lost some parts. Some time ago I got to watch my orbital station to disintegrate in complete silence after I ran into it with another ship at moderate speed. Sound is important indicator and it's bad when it's missing.

It might make things more enjoyable for you, but not for me. I hate what Hollywood has made out of SF.

As you can see here, I'm ok with sounds (engine, collisions of the current active craft) while you're in the control of that craft because those things can be heard. Other stuff colliding away from you? No. I don't want to hear those sounds. It's stupid.

You don't have sounds of "whoosh" in space and if you want that as an indicator, then you shouldn't play a space simulator game. Spacecrafts don't fly. They fall in vacuum around planetary objects and stars, occasionally pushing themselves in another direction.

As for the structural damage, a warning system beep would be ok.

[Kerbart]

Other stuff colliding away from you? No. I don't want to hear those sounds. It's stupid.

You don't have sounds of "whoosh" in space and if you want that as an indicator, then you shouldn't play a space simulator game. Spacecrafts don't fly. They fall in vacuum around planetary objects and stars, occasionally pushing themselves in another direction.

Ships piloted by little green men, planets seemingly made out of neutronium, the ability to warp time as if you were Dr. Who, ion engines that are about 1000× as powerful as in real life, re-entering the atmosphere pointy end down and not burning up, all that is acceptable.

BUT HEARING SOUNDS IN A VACUUM THAT'S WHERE WE DRAW THE LINE!! HOW DARE THEY!!

Turn off your speakers.

[lajoswinkler]

Ships piloted by little green men, planets seemingly made out of neutronium, the ability to warp time as if you were Dr. Who, ion engines that are about 1000× as powerful as in real life, re-entering the atmosphere pointy end down and not burning up, all that is acceptable.

BUT HEARING SOUNDS IN A VACUUM THAT'S WHERE WE DRAW THE LINE!! HOW DARE THEY!!

Turn off your speakers.

There has to be a limit drawn somewhere. Using your logic, we should be seeing Monty Python stuff popping around all the time because - why not?

Sound in space at inappropriate places is irritating to me. I can't help myself.

If I turn off my speakers, I can't hear my engine, which is also unrealistic.

[pizzaoverhead]

I actually wrote a plugin to do this at one point but never released it. It decreased the volume of all parts as atmospheric pressure decreased, except when in IVA. As mentioned above, Nova made something similar.

I've been planning to update and release it for a while. I'll see if I can update my plugin to be worthy of a release this week. It should still work in 0.22 when it comes by. I don't know how accurate it is. Is sound intensity directly proportional to sound pressure?

It'd be cool to have some kind of a conical wavefront for supersonic atmospheric travel. If the external camera was outside of the cone, you'd hear no craft sounds. I've no idea what calculations KSP is currently using for when mach effects occur though, other than that they only appear below 10km.

[Bessy]

it wont work i make rumble and explosions sounds with my voice when i play

[RabidMonkey]

Consider this: As player, you are effectively playing as the pilot of the ship. Therefore, you are inside the ship. However, the seat you're in has no external view, so you rely on several external cam-bots to see what's going on. Because you are inside the ship, the vibrations from the engines and such are transmitted through the structure - which is why you can hear them in space.

[Halsfury]

You would b able to hear the engines because u are attached to them, thus the sound would reach your ears

actually if you were in a rocket's exhaust plume in space you might hear something before being turned to ash

[Dunbaratu]

You should be able to hear your own ship, though. It's the other ships you can't hear. If there's no intervening vacuum of space between you and the source of sound you should hear it.

[Kerbart]

There has to be a limit drawn somewhere. Using your logic, we should be seeing Monty Python stuff popping around all the time because - why not?

Sound in space at inappropriate places is irritating to me. I can't help myself.

If I turn off my speakers, I can't hear my engine, which is also unrealistic.

There are certain expectations people culturally have--either based on personal experience, on from what they say on tv and in movie theaters. Engines making large roaring sounds is one of them; Monty Python (as friggin' awesome it would be! Did you consider writing the devs about that?) not, sadly.

As much as KSP is simulation, simulation as a game is equally as much about immersion, "being there." For the average individual immersion will benefit from sounds. We need more sounds! I'd love to hear swoosh when debris flies around my head after an explosion, even in space.

Now, if you would have the option to turn off "sounds in vacuum" that would be fine by me. But to remove enjoyment of the game for the majority of the player for the sake of "more realism" is a bad idea in my book. More realism does not always enhance gameplay.

[John FX]

I would like to amend the OP`s request to `an option to` instead of just making it one way or the other. I *also* know that sound does not travel in space but I also know that space has no ambient music either and my brain needs both to enjoy the game fully as I am a mammal that evolved in an atmosphere and it`s just weird to not hear something I can see happening. If I see something explode kilometers away I hear the sound instantly as well, this also is not realistic. I like hearing things at the same time and in space even though it is not `realistic`. It lets me enjoy the game more.

Personally I think, if you desire absolute realism which is above a certain level you should play orbiter instead of the `little green men kaboom moar struts moar boosters oh no what did jeb do now` game. I haven`t played it myself but I hear it is pretty realistic and soothes the soul of those seeking absolute realism.

Edited October 16, 2013 by John FX

[lajoswinkler]

There are certain expectations people culturally have--either based on personal experience, on from what they say on tv and in movie theaters. Engines making large roaring sounds is one of them; Monty Python (as friggin' awesome it would be! Did you consider writing the devs about that?) not, sadly.

As much as KSP is simulation, simulation as a game is equally as much about immersion, "being there." For the average individual immersion will benefit from sounds. We need more sounds! I'd love to hear swoosh when debris flies around my head after an explosion, even in space.

Now, if you would have the option to turn off "sounds in vacuum" that would be fine by me. But to remove enjoyment of the game for the majority of the player for the sake of "more realism" is a bad idea in my book. More realism does not always enhance gameplay.

I'd be ok with an option. Big red button named REALISM. I'd totally hit that thing.

[M5000]

I'm still gonna have to push you towards NovaSilisko's sound mod. It's really cool, separation sounds and everything are muffled. I like to play pretending I'm a third entity, a sort of "space-god" and I should not be able to hear things in space, Muffler does a very good job with that..