Tricksters Sound and Audio design - The good, the bad, and the… BHVR, what is this?
Many of you will know me as that console Trickster main who has been all over the Trickster rework forums. Usually backing up the veteran players who know this character in and out. You will know that I have been playing Trickster for about 6 months now, and really enjoy this character, always have.
I’m not posting this to talk about the rework, whether bad or good…I think we can all agree that 4.4 Trickster was strong for those who knew how to use him, and that the new Trickster is more friendly to beginners but less lethal in some ways. Whether he stays a C or low B rank killer, other things encompass what makes this killer fun to play. Quality of life things that I can talk about and are fun to talk about. It is in my neck of the woods too….design.
New Trickster, for some reason…just feels flat or underwhelming. But I couldn’t figure out why…..He's easier to play. He gets in chases quicker….but something just didn’t feel right overall with the New 4.6 Trickster from 4.4 version I played. It wasn’t until I started noticing audio bugs, lack of voice lines, etc, that I started going more in-depth into the character's sound design…. I realized his audio wasn’t even 100% when I first started playing him as 4.4 version. I discovered a whole side to Trickster in sound design. Apparently, at launch, this character had some premium sound design and quality. This led me to investigate what some of the biggest gripes have been in the Trickster community with the sound and feel of the new Trickster. Not all changes are “lacking”. For example: I prefer the new reload sound effect to just the scraping of wood of the old Trickster reload. But old Trickster vs current Trickster is a fun comparison to look at in all of these videos.
Now….
BHVR. I know you are busy. I know that on top of thinking about Trickster rework, and deciding whether to touch him or not touch him, what to adjust or not to adjust….on top of other characters, other developments, and licenses….the last thing you want to hear is more complaints about this character.
Sound design is SO IMPORTANT to the feel and gameplay of a character. ESPECIALLY a character whose design is literally about music and sound….
So rather than looking at this as a complaint, look at this as someone who really enjoys your original character, and the nuances and effort someone put into his sound design and animations.
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I’d like to go over some of those audio and animation things we no longer have with this Trickster, that are/were bugged or that had to be altered because current basekit changes…. Here is a link to a playlist I made, where I edited very short clips to talk about each audio/animation comparison or bugs:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPMngzN64MWQ60BFTVqraTf5zKWSe1FP1&si=MG8djUHfj87NFOa4
Video Summary in the Playlist link:
1. 1st Throwing Knives v2- Duration 2m 46s
This video is a comparison of Trickster blade hits or throws, the sound design at launch compared to the current.
-Different tones and pitches for each laceration hit
-max laceration before injury sound
-hissing and whooshing of blades as they fly through the air
-Current Trickster has no sound effect for blades flying through the air
-Current Trickster loss of ramping voice/sound effect when throwing
-4.4 Trickster a few months ago, having a faint sound, but not as prominent as Launch Trickster
2. 2nd Laceration hits and tones v2 – Duration 2m 32s
This video is kind of a continuation of the first but focuses more on the different tones and pitches of laceration hits, and the comparison from launch.
-spectrum of sound design with each blade hit
-POV of killer as well
3. Main Event Reverb v2 – Duration 4m 15s
This video is a big one. One of the things about having a frequent Main Event, is how fast Main Event can feel like just a “Normal Event”. Part of that show-stopper feel was the sound quality that wasn’t even working with 4.4 Trickster necessarily, as it did at launch. As previous videos show, the blades flying through the air lack sound, and in this video, Main Event is no different at current. Mostly hear impact sound. But at launch Trickster had a unique reverberating echo that sounded very eerie. It was subtle, but enough to notice and bring some excitement and fear to this character using Main Event.
-Main Event lacking sound design
4. Main Event bug v2- Duration 24s
I added this video because this bug has happened to many of us, and like the vaulting invincibility bug survivors still get…..which is very annoying. I was amazed to see this bug happened on day 1 and it still persists to this day at times.
-Main Event bug that at current severely mutes audio to the point that you can barely hear game sounds- until you use Main Event again.
5. Wiggle Stun sound v2- Duration 48s
Pretty self-explanatory, this video is about his inconsistent voice lines or recovery voice lines/SFX after being stunned. He has a wealth of voice lines and Voice SFX. It’s a shame, you either don’t hear it, it's not triggered, or it’s the same voice line every time.
6. Pallet Stun or stun v2- Duration 1m
Same as the previous video, it is an observation of Trickster audio after being stunned, in his recovery.
7. Voice lines with reloading v2- Duration 59s
This video is showcasing the volume that a voice line has when Trickster is reloading if a voice line is triggered.
8. Pulling out a survivor- Duration 19s
This one is low on the priority list. I think his grunt is the right kind of subtle, his voice could be a bit louder though. I’m not sure why it's so quiet, but I would be wary of making his voice line so loud that it sounds jarring from the volume of his grunt when smacking the bat into the locker. So both would need to be louder so it doesn’t feel out of place.
9. Cooldown Walk v2- Duration 1m 50s
I found this interesting though I have no idea if this is an actual cooldown animation. It's very cool looking, and I wonder what happened with it, if it was cut out because of a base kit change?
Best Mori- 27s
This has nothing to do with changes. I just found it really heartwarming and endearing that Otz was so excited to test this character out and that he found this mori to be one of the bests in the game. I wanted to share it with other Trickster mains who may have not seen it. <3
Last but not least. Please fix Trickster’s lobby animation. We all miss him winking at us. He seems mad…and I didn’t even do anything…. xD
Comments
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Thank you for compiling this knives! I'd love to see these sound effects be reorganized and animations synced back up. Let's hope!
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Can I add that his footsteps sound almost exactly as of survivors'. Makes it extremely confusing in some areas especially when there's a survivor on the other side of a wall
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This actually gets me sometimes, and I start mind-gaming myself thinking someone is on the other side of a wall. lol
I don't know if that comes with experience to differentiate the two, I'd have to ask more advanced Tricksters if they got past that. But you are not alone.
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Yeah, No prob. The syncing of animation is important too. Qulaity of life stuff that, I think really helps make playing a character feel good.
I was talking with someone about the high pitch sounding 1 knife to injure sound effect, the blade "scream". We were thinking that maybe it was cut out, because of its frequency, just being too loud. So maybe not the exact volume, but it would be nice to hear differentiating tones more clearly for each laceration and bring back some of that cascading sound effect he had with his hits.
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I'd also like to add....There are so so so.... many invisible wall hitboxes on different maps with different obstacles. And as a ranged killer it is incredibly frustrating to try and do certain shots and you hit an invisible wall.
Some examples:
- Macmillan Shack.....the boarded windows....the whole window is solid now....pls. It's very inconsistent and frustrating.
- Coldwind some of the obstacles like the mini tractors, I know a couple on the edge of the wall, is just a solid block of hitbox rather than taking the shape of the tractor.
- Autohaven has another one where survivors purposefully take advantage of the invisible walls, there is a tractor and a pallet, and if you hug the wall tight enough, the invisible wall will protect the survivor pretty well. There's like tires and a pallet between and the tractor and cars I think.
- On Midwich there are gaps in between the piles of monster goop, and table and chairs...I think between the tables and the goop, huge gaps but solid hitbox.
- This is a big one, hook hitboxes are ridiculously huge, and when they are on a corner of a rock or a building, and there is a huge gap between hook and the object its next to, you might shoot thinking you have a clear shot, but nope. Invisible wall.
Just going through some of the hitboxes and making them tighter would be nice for some of these obstacles. Im not asking for you to put holes in a chain link fence hitbox, but....some things are wide enough gaps that are very misleading and frustrating for range.
I could actually take screenshots of these areas too, if BHVR was interested in fixing these.
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