More of a modders resource, this adds Creative Labs EAX sound effects to Oblivion. This can increase sound quality through better ambient sound options.
Oblivion EAX ObSE Plugin v0.3 BETA
--------------------------------------------
Do you find the sound in Oblivion to be a bit boring? Wouldn't it be nice if caves sounded, I don't know, like caves? With the EAX plugin, you can fix that! This plugin adds Creative's Environment Audio Extensions to Oblivion, allowing you as a modder some freedom in shaping the aural landscape of your world. EAX is a set of parameters you can configure to adjust reverberations and reflections of sounds
in an area. You can use these to make your world seem more realistic, make your character feel like he's on a major drug trip, or you could even make your little one bedroom cottage sound like an open desert.
Intro
------
This ObSE plugin adds scripting functions that let modders add Creative EAX effects to Oblivion. This plugin uses EAX 2.0, which most sound cards and integrated sound systems support. You can still use the plugin if your computer does not support EAX, but you won't get any nifty audio effects.
Before using, be sure to read the included PDF file to get you started. Note that colored words in the PDF are links that you can click on to take you to another part of the file (cyan links) or websites (blue links).
Windows Vista users with SoundBlaster Live!, Audigy, or X-Fi audio cards need to get ALchemy to enable EAX effects. See the PDF for details.
Other Vista users are out of luck for now. Sorry.
Requirements
----------------
You need two things:
1. A fully patched version of Oblivion. This plugin will only run on Oblivion version 1.2.0416.
2. A version of the Obilvion Script Extender that supports plugins. The current version (v0011) does not have the plugin system enabled. This download includes a version of ObSE v0011 that has plugins enabled for Oblivion 1.2.416.
Installation
-------------
0. Open the zip file and read through the PDF.
1. Open the zip file and extract the file "OblivionEAX.dll" to \Data\obse\plugins (you might have to create that location yourself).
2. In the zip, go to the obse_plugins folder. You'll see three DLL files and one EXE file. Copy those to your Oblivion directory. This is ObSE v0011 with plugins enabled. It only has the files for the latest version of Oblivion since that's all this plugin supports. Don't worry about the "src" folder unless you want to look at ObSE's source code.
3. Run obse_loader.exe like you normally would. You should be ready to go!
Playing with EAX
-------------------
I'll be the first to admit that I don't know the first thing about Oblivion's scripting language, so I can't really help you there. However, if you just want to mess around a bit with the functions, I can help with that.
When you load your game, open up the console by pressing '~' (left of the '1' key) and type in "initeax". This will attempt to start up the EAX system.
Now, you probably want to hear some ultra-drastic change in sound, right? The best way to do that is by setting an environment preset. I should note here that many of the differences in the environments are rather subtle. I admit that I have trouble hearing differences among a couple of them (but that's why you have other commands to tweak them!). For a really nifty effect, run the command "seteaxenv 25" and play for a bit. What you just did is change the EAX environment preset to number 25, which is the Psychotic environment.
Now normally, you would pick an environment preset that is close to what you want and use the other commands (in the included PDF) to mess with it. One of the most useful ones is "seteaxroom". This acts as the master volume control for EAX. Set it to -10000 to mute EAX and make Oblivion sound normal. For now, try running "seteaxroom 0" (this is the highest setting) and play. Cool, eh?
Let's try a more subtle effect. First, find a rock, stand a good distance away from it, and cast a fireball at it (or some spell that makes a loud impact noise). You want to be able to hear the impact, but don't be too close. Now run "seteaxrrof 1.0" and cast the fireball again. You should notice that you can't hear the fireball's impact anymore. What you did is change a property called Room Rolloff Factor, which controls how quickly a sound fades as you move further away from it. Set it to 0.0 to have EAX control this setting for you. This is the default and is what you normally hear.
You can try another environment preset, but note that the other parameters you set will change to the values determined by that new environment. Besides the environment, you have 12 different parameters you can mess with as well as one Mega-function that lets you set all 13 parameters at once.
The PDF tries to describe what these effects do, but the best way to realize the subtleties is to just mess with the commands in the console.
3D and Stereo Sound Sources
-----------------------------------
EAX only works on on 3D sound sources. What this means is that most sounds in Olivion will change, but not all. Music, sound of your character yelling, and direct dialogue are some sounds that will always sound normal because they are not 3D sources (meaning they always play through your front stereo speakers). This is probably a good thing for the music and this somewhat makes sense for you character's screams and grunts since you are so close to him, but can be problematic for dialogue. For example, if you were to walk by a soldier, anything he says as you are walking by and not actively enagaged in conversation with him will have EAX effects applied to it. However, once you walk up to him and press the spacebar to start a conversation, the effects go away because the sound of his voice is no longer a 3D sound. Modders will have to keep that in mind when you construct dialogue scenes in your mods.
Other Notes
--------------
I personally have noticed no change in performace when using EAX; however, I am using an Audigy 2 ZS, which processes EAX in hardware (all Creative cards should be able to). Those of you with other audio solutions please let me know how this works for you.
There is a known issue with Vista, Creative ALchemy, and the DisableEAX function. Users of ALchemy who do not want EAX should remove the dsound.dll file in their Oblivion directory that ALchemy puts there. Modders are discouraged from using this function for anything other than allowing users to disable EAX on game startup (before EAX is initialized) or for troubleshooting purposes. See PDF for details.
Well, I think I have everything here. If you have questions, feel free to contact me (The J) on The Official Elderscrolls Forums
Have fun!
Changes to this Readme
----------------------------
This section covers changes and corrections to this document. Any changes to the documentatation included with the mod will be noted in there.
--The command to initialize EAX is "initeax", not "eaxinit" like was originally written. This has been changed above.
--Added performance note in "Other Notes" section in response to comments.
--Added note about DisableEAX and ALchemy in "Other Notes" section.
--Added info about 3D sounds.
