ID:1766867
 
Well I was programming for Shinobido and I noticed the Sound System it had, (which is old's DarkBelthazorz's Sound system), was unefficient, and therefore I went to my approach to create my own.

I have tested this Engine with 2000+ calls against DarkBelthazorz's and Foomer's Sound System, my version has won in every test by more than 80% efficiency.

This version also includes multi-channel handling.
It is not perfect, therefore any issue you may encounter with this snippet please let me know.

(Fushimi)SoundEngine.dm
/*
SOUND ENGINE
--------------------------------------------

This engine lets you use sounds with relative ease.
Supports location-sounds which updates as you move in/out, fading in/out that way.
Two Music Channels reserved for background music. (1 and 3) Channels 2 and 4 reserved for Fading.
Fading in/out from Music channels when they change.

---------------------------------------------
Sound Engine programmed by Fushimi
Skype: live:fushimi_1
---------------------------------------------
*/

// Uncomment next line to debug the sound engine.
// #define SE_DEBUG

// ASSOCIATION OF MUSIC CHANNELS
#define MUSIC_CHANNELS_ASSOC list("1" = 2, "2" = 1, "3" = 4, "4" = 3)

// BEGIN RESERVED CHANNELS FOR BACKGROUND MUSIC.

#define MUSIC_CHANNEL_1 1024
#define MUSIC_CHANNEL_2 1023
#define MUSIC_CHANNEL_3 1022
#define MUSIC_CHANNEL_4 1021

// END OF RESERVED CHANNELS
#if DM_VERSION < 400
#error This compiler is outdated. Please upgrade to atleast BYOND 4.0
#else
client
var/tmp
sound_channels[1] // Initializes a list with a single null index.
music_channels[4] // List of 4 channels. (4 channels is more than enough for background music)
music_playing[2] // Can play two songs at the same time. (In four channels, two channels for music, two for fades.

proc/musicChannel(sound/sound, channel, replace=0)
if(channel == MUSIC_CHANNEL_1 || channel == MUSIC_CHANNEL_2)
var/i = music_playing[1]
if(i)
music_channels[(i==1 ? 2 : 1)] = "\ref[sound]"
else if(isnull(music_channels[1]))
music_channels[1] = "\ref[sound]"
. = 1
else if(isnull(music_channels[2]))
music_channels[2] = "\ref[sound]"
. = 2
if(!.)
. = i

if(channel == MUSIC_CHANNEL_3 || channel == MUSIC_CHANNEL_4)
var/i = music_playing[2]
if(i)
music_channels[(i==3 ? 4 : 3)] = "\ref[sound]"
else if(isnull(music_channels[3]))
music_channels[3] = "\ref[sound]"
. = 3
else if(isnull(music_channels[4]))
music_channels[4] = "\ref[sound]"
. = 4
if(!.)
. = i

proc/firstChannel(sound/sound) // Searches for the first channel available and returns after properly setting it.
if(sound_channels.len==1 && isnull(sound_channels[1])) // If len is 1 and the index is null, we just use it and early escape.
sound_channels[1] = "\ref[sound]" // Un-nullify the index by placing a reference to the sound datum.\
(No usage as of now, but you have track of sounds a player has playing by checking this list.

return 1 // Does not return true, but the index, keep in mind.

for(var/i in 1 to sound_channels.len) // If theres more than one index, iterate list until an available spot is found.
if(isnull(sound_channels[i]))
sound_channels[i] = "\ref[sound]"
return i // Store a reference to the sound in the _channels list, and return the available channel.

. = ++sound_channels.len // If no _channels are available on the list, expand the list appropiately for the new sound.
sound_channels[sound_channels.len] = "\ref[sound]" // Also sets the default return value to the newly created index, and stores a reference\
of sound into the index so we can keep track. (If needed)

// The engine does never de-reference this list, it is just so it is not null.
// I could just put a TRUE there, but a reference is better if we want to manually\
// modify the /sound:

// var/sound/_sound = locate(_channel[index])
// _sound.volume = 50
// _sound.status |= SOUND_UPDATE
// usr << _sound

/sound
var/tmp
timesToRepeat = null
range = 0
die = FALSE

proc
update(client/client, atom/location, interval = 10, altitude_var = "layer", needsChannel = FALSE)
ASSERT(client) // CRASH if no client.
if(needsChannel == TRUE) // If a channel was not assigned, assign one.
// channels are automatically assigned ONLY for repeated sounds.
src.channel = (client.firstChannel(src) * 10) // Leaves the first 10 channels available for dynamic, unrepeated sounds.
#ifdef SE_DEBUG
world<<"[src.channel*10] channel"
#endif
if(location && location!=client) // This part sets the distance from within the sound will be heard by the player.
#ifdef SE_DEBUG
world<<"[src.x], [src.y], [src.z]"
#endif
// src.falloff = src.range
src.x = location.x - client.mob.x
var/sy = location.y - client.mob.y
var/sz = location.vars[altitude_var] - client.mob.vars[altitude_var]
src.y = (sy + sz) * 0.70710678118655
src.z = (sy - sz) * 0.70710678118655
#ifdef SE_DEBUG
world<<"[src.x], [src.y], [src.z] - [src.channel]"
#endif
if(src.die || src.repeat)
if(src.die || get_dist(client.mob, location) > src.range*2)
client << sound(null,0, wait = 1, channel = src.channel) // Stops playing the sound in THIS channel. (Other's systems just stops ALL sounds)
client.sound_channels[(src.channel/10)] = null
#ifdef SE_DEBUG
world<<"[src.channel*10] channel"
#endif
if((src.channel/10) == client.sound_channels.len)
client.sound_channels.len--
del src

src.status |= SOUND_UPDATE
client << src
if(src.repeat) spawn(interval)
src.update(client, location, interval, altitude_var, FALSE)
#ifdef SE_DEBUG
world<<"called update([client], [location], [interval])"
#endif
if(!isnull(src.timesToRepeat))
if(!timesToRepeat--)
src.repeat = 0
src.timesToRepeat = null
src.die = TRUE

/*
Do not pass a value for repeat times unless you actually want it to repeat X times. (0 enables it too.)
*/

proc/_SoundEngine(sound, atom/location, range=1, channel=-1, volume=100, repeat=0, repeat_times=null, interval=10, falloff=range, environment=-1, frequency=0, altitude_var="layer")//BaseRange=10
if(channel == null)
channel = -1

if(!sound) return null

var/sound/S = null
var/list/playersToSend = list()
/*
if(ismob(location))
if(hasvar(location, "client"))
playersToSend.Add(location:client)*/


// Still need a better way to do this.

for(var/mob/M in hearers(range*2, location))
if(M.client)
playersToSend.Add(M.client)


for(var/i in 1 to playersToSend.len step 1)
var client/client = playersToSend[i]
if(!client)continue

S = sound(sound)

S.channel = channel
S.frequency = frequency
S.environment = environment
S.volume = volume
S.repeat = repeat
S.range = range
S.timesToRepeat = repeat_times
S.falloff = falloff // This will let you specify ranges and falloff separately.\
(By default falloff = range | The passed range is multiplied by 2 to get the real range.)\
So range = 5 = falloff = 5 = real_range = 10 where real_range = range*2

#ifdef SE_DEBUG
world<<"calling update()" // Debugging messages just to know where I am at when testing.
#endif

spawn S.update(client, location, interval, altitude_var, (repeat ? TRUE : FALSE)) // Updates once, and if needed, recursively updates until out of range.

return S


proc/_MusicEngine(sound, client/client, channel=MUSIC_CHANNEL_1, pause=0, repeat=0, wait=0, volume=40, instant = 0, time = 20, increments = 10)
if(!sound || !client)
return null

channel = client.musicChannel(sound, client, 0)
var sound/S = sound(sound)
var sound/_fade = null

var channel_to_fade = MUSIC_CHANNELS_ASSOC["[channel]"]

if(!isnull(client.music_channels[channel_to_fade])) // We fade the sound
_fade = locate(client.music_channels[channel_to_fade])
if(_fade)
pause = (pause==1 ? SOUND_PAUSED : (pause==2 ? SOUND_MUTE : 0))

if(instant)
pause = 0
wait = 0

S.channel = channel
S.status = (pause ? (SOUND_PAUSED | SOUND_UPDATE) : 0) | (SOUND_UPDATE)
S.repeat = repeat
S.wait = wait
if(instant || !_fade)
S.volume = volume
else if(_fade)
S.volume = 0

client << S

if(_fade && !instant)
var d = _fade.volume / increments
var inc = d
time = time / increments

spawn
for(var/i = 0; i < increments; i++)
_fade.volume -= d
if(!S.volume)
S.status = 0
S.volume += inc

_fade.status |= SOUND_UPDATE
S.status |= SOUND_UPDATE
client << _fade
client << S
sleep(time)

S.volume = volume
S.status |= SOUND_UPDATE
client << S
del(_fade)

return S


/*
// The new debugging verb. Just modify the soundfiles, or the verb itself. There are 4 phases on the tests.
// 1: Does calls to the new SoundEngine and the Old to the rate of _calls value. (20 calls minimum, I usually test with 1200-2000).
// 2: Places a sound in a random location around you in order to check if distance of sound is perceptible.
// 3: Places a sound in repeat mode in a random turf around you, walk around it to check for fading in/out effects. Run away from it (range+1) for it to be deleted.
// 4: Places three sounds in repeat mode in random spots around you. By moving around you will notice how fading in/out from one sound to another happens.
// This one is a bit harder to notice as some sounds are louder than others, try to find different sounds that plays at the same volume (Soundfile's not /sound volume)
// At the very end, it outputs the length of your _channels list (which is always 1 as minimum) and also if it is null (Always null if no sound is being played)

mob/verb
Test_Sound_Engine_Stats()
set category = "Debug"
if(alert(usr, "Enable your profiler before proceeding.\n Do you want to proceed now?","Proceed","Yes","No")=="Yes")
var/_calls = max(10, input(usr, "How many calls to each proc do you want to perform?") as num)
while(_calls--)
spawn
_SoundEngine('SFX/AttackSwish1.wav', usr, range=5)
src.SoundEngine('SFX/AttackSwish1.wav',5)
sleep(0.5)

alert(usr, "Okay, now check the profiler and look for both, mob/proc/SoundEngine and /proc/_SoundEngine and compare them.\n Now when you are ready hit ok and we will proceed with the test.")
alert(usr, "The next test is to ensure that the falloff of the sound works as expected. You will hear a slash coming from various locations.")
_calls = 20
var/turf/location
while(_calls--)

do
location = locate(usr.x - rand(-7,7), usr.y - rand(-7,7), usr.z)
while(isnull(location))

location.overlays += icon('target1.dmi', "marker")
var app = location.overlays[location.overlays.len]
_SoundEngine('SFX/AttackSwish1.wav', location, range=5)
sleep(15)
location.overlays.Remove(app)
alert(usr, "The next check will play a repeated sound on a turf, so you can walk around and see if sound updates.")
var/sound/_sound = _SoundEngine('SFX/RasCharge.wav', location, range=5, repeat=1) // _SoundEngine also returns the sound it used for you to manipulate it if needed!
// However special care must be put.
while(_sound)
sleep(50)
alert(usr, "In the next phase of the testing stage, you will hear three sounds repeteadly at the same time and different locations.")
_sound = _SoundEngine('SFX/RasCharge.wav', locate(usr.x - rand(-7,7), usr.y - rand(-7,7), usr.z) || location, range=5,repeat=1,falloff=2)
var/sound/_sound2 = _SoundEngine('SFX/FluteDNote.wav', locate(usr.x - rand(-7,7), usr.y - rand(-7,7), usr.z) || location, range=5,repeat=1,falloff=2)
var/sound/_sound3 = _SoundEngine('SFX/GuitarFNote.wav', locate(usr.x - rand(-7,7), usr.y - rand(-7,7), usr.z) || location, range=5,repeat=1,falloff=2)
while(_sound || _sound2 || _sound3)
sleep(50)

alert(usr, "Your _channels' len is: [usr.client._channels.len]")

*/



#endif


Notable Improvements:
  1. More efficiency on the long run. Other systems takes ~0.8 Total CPU (no average), where this one takes ~0.25. Tested with 2000 calls. Average values are 0.00 for every stat.
  2. Supports two simultaneous background tracks.
  3. Four Music channels are reserved. 1 and 3 for the actual music, 2 and 4 for fading effects.
  4. Handling the sounds without manually specifying each channel. Except for Music effects.
  5. Effects fade in/out as you walk into/from them.




The documentation can be found in the tenth post; goto it
wow dude nice
Version 1.1:
  • Improved handling of repeated sounds.
  • Added new variable die. Set to true by the engine to know when to kill a repeated sound.
  • Fixed an error, where when timesToRepeat was set to a value, the list was not being cleaned. (After removal)
Here you can see the profile results, performed with the test verb provided, setting it to 13000 calls.
_SoundEngine and update are the procedures this library uses, and the others are DarkBelthezorzs. Used for comparison.

                                        Profile results (total time)
Proc Name Self CPU Total CPU Real Time Calls
--------------------------------------------------------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
/sound/New 1.036 1.074 1.151 228470
/sound/proc/update 0.998 0.999 1.005 13129
/proc/_SoundEngine 3.750 5.014 5.020 13129
/mob/proc/SoundEngine 11.566 11.995 11.998 13022
/turf/proc/SoundEngine 8.607 8.953 8.955 10898


As you can see the improvement is higher than 100% in performance.
Also my engine has much more functionality and flexibility.
Enjoy =)
This is great. Thanks for this. I know that heavy usage of Foomer's library in an older game caused a lot of CPU usage and slowdown. This seems much nicer. :)
Cool to get some extra snippets out there that also try to focus a bit on performance. I only skimmed it so I don't have much to comment on other than perhaps looking into the possibility of getting rid of the del calls and instead reduce the references of the object (datum or otherwise) to let the garbage collector handle it if possible. Assuming there aren't any super top secret reference goblins hiding to keep the objects sitting around indefinitely in memory then it should be a good minor change.

May the original recipe be with you.
Getting rid of the strict del call in /sound/proc/update() would lead to unwanted behavior in scenarios such as this one:

var/sound/_sound = _SoundEngine('sfx/myeffect.wav', src, range=3, repeat = 1)


As _sound holds a reference to the sound datum returned by _SoundEngine, the garbage collector will not get rid of this object, hence why a strict del call approach was took.
I'll definitely keep this on my list of things to check out! Keep it up.
It would be helpful to have a reference on how to use this. Otherwise I really don't feel like trying to understand all of this.
Version 1.2:
  • _MusicEngine() now requires the sound and client arguments to exist, otherwise null will be returned.
  • _MusicEngine() now returns the sound datum it is manipulating.



Also, I didn't think of the documentation until you said it, thanks.
Here it is:
/*

Documentation on how to use:


This text is directed at the average developer, in order to work with the engine
with little to no effort.
Before we start, you are advised that this is not an in-depth documentation,
but a small explanation on how to USE the engine.


For as long as you do not need to tweak any part of the engine, you will mainly use just two procedures:
_SoundEngine()
_MusicEngine()

For the former one, the arguments that may be passed are the following:
Syntax: _SoundEngine(sound, atom/location, range=1, channel=-1, volume=100, repeat=0, repeat_times=null, interval=10, falloff=range, environment=-1, frequency=0, altitude_var="layer")

Arguments:
sound
A sound file, passed with single quotes. *Required*

atom/location
A /mob, /obj or /turf, or any other atom in the map from where the sound will appear to come from.
If not specified, the sound will be sent to the user.

range
If the sound is a repeated sound (repeat = 1), this value specifies the distance in tiles to stop hearing the sound.

channel
Default: -1
If specified, the sound will play on an specific channel.
A value of 0 or less takes the first channel available.
Recommended: 0 or -1

volume
Default: 100
The volume at wich the sound will be played on its center position.


repeat
Default: 0
If set to 1, the sound will repeat for each client that received it until either;
The client walks out of range, specified by the value of 'range'
If repeat_times is set to 0 or higher, sound will be stopped after X times played.

repeat_times
Default: null
If set to 0 or higher, and when repeat is set to 1, determines the amount of loops
to do before the sound stops.

interval
Default = 10
If repeat is set to 1, specifies the time delay between each update on the sound.
Recommended: 5 - 15

falloff
Default: range
If needed, specifies the falloff distance for the sound.
Within the fallof the sound will play at the loudest volume possible, and fades out as you walk away.

environment
Default: -1
If specified, applies an environment to the sound.
Enviromnets to be applied can bee seen on the DM Reference > environment var (sound)

frequency
Default: 0
The frequency to play the sound at.
For more information about frequencies, refer to the DM Reference > frequency var (sound)

altitude_var
Default = "layer"
A value that represents the altitude of a character respect to the sound,
making the sound appear to come from above/below of your character.


Examples:
spawn _SoundEngine('MyEffects/Effect1.wav', src) // Plays a sound effect as if it came from 'src'

var/sound/sound = _SoundEngine('MyEffects/Effect1.wav', src, range = 4, repeat = 1)
// ^ Plays a sound and repeats it until all players have walked out of range
// ^ Also keeps a reference to the sound so you can manipulate it.
while(sound)sleep(5)
world<<"The sound stopped playing"


Now you know how to launch sound effects, so why not play some background music to put our players
in position?
For this purpose we use the _MusicEngine() prodecure;

Syntax:
_MusicEngine(sound, client/client, channel=MUSIC_CHANNEL_1, pause=0, repeat=0, wait=0, volume=40, instant = 0, time = 20, increments = 10)

Arguments:
sound
A sound file, passed with single quotes. *Required*

client
The client who will hear the music. *Required*

channel
Default: MUSIC_CHANNEL_1
This value specifies the channel at which the music will played.
This can range from 1 to 4 (MUSIC_CHANNEL_2, MUSIC_CHANNEL_3...)
Channels 1 and 2 are binded, so if you play a music in channel 1,
and another one is playing on channel 2, the music will fade out
and play the channel 1 music.
Same happens with channels 3 and 4.

pause
Default: FALSE (0)
If set to TRUE (1), the sound will be played on the channel,
but will be paused instantly, so it can be resumed later at will.
For this purpose, you will need to hold a reference to the actual
sound datum. (See example #3)

repeat
Default: FALSE (0)
If set to TRUE (1), the sound will be repeated over and over,
until explicitly stopping it.

wait
Default: FALSE (0)
If set to true, waits for other sounds playing in the same channel
to stop before being played.

volume
Default: 40
The volume at which the music will be played.
Recommended ranges are between 30 and 60 for background music.

instant
Default: FALSE (0)
If set to TRUE (1), the sound will play isntantly in the specified channel
without waiting or fading out other sounds.

time
Default: 20
The time desired, in milliseconds, for the actual music to fade out (if any).

increments
Default: 10
The times the sound's volume will be decreased (for playing sounds) and increased (for the new one),
until them reaches 0 and [volume] respectively.


Examples:
#1) Playing a Background Music:
mob/Login()
if(client)
spawn _MusicEngine('BackgroundMusic.wav', client, MUSIC_CHANNEL_1)
...


#2) Changing a soundtrack (While playing other):
...
_MusicEngine('AnotherSoundtrack.wav', client, MUSIC_CHANNEL_2, time=30)
// ^ We play a sound file on the second channel, and specify that if any sound is being played
on channel one, it will be faded out, and this fade will last 3 seconds. (time / 10)


#3) Resuming a paused sound:
var/sound/_bgsound = _MusicEngine('BackgroundMusic.wav', client, channel=MUSIC_CHANNEL_2, pause=TRUE)
// ^ Send a paused sound to the client to the 2nd Channel and hold a reference to the sound.


_bgsound.status = SOUND_UPDATE // Set the sound's status to SOUND_UPDATE so it resumes.
src.client << _bgsound // Resend the sound to the client.
*/