My PrBoom+ build with in-demo voice recording support and something extra

[cybermind]

I have made my prboom-plus build with some new features:

• In-demo audio recording.
  Yes, you can now actually record your voice commentaries while recording demos and they will be packed inside demo footer. When you start the demo with voice commentary, it will start playing automatically.
  (!) Be sure that you are using my version for voice recording and playing, check your program associations first if you double-click on demo file with voice recording (so you won't have situation when you're playing demo via old version of prboom+ and there is no audio coming out)
  
  The demos are fully compatible with all other versions of prboom+ (not sure about vanilla, but I think it will run out of memory).
  To record voice commentary, add -voicerecord command after -record demoname.lmp (so it'll look something like prboom-plus.exe -iwad doom2.wad -record demo.lmp -voicerecord)
  Voice recording and playing doesn't work with SDL midi player. If you are building prboom+ by yourself, you need to use SDL >= 2.0.5
  During recording the demo speed-up and speed-down buttons are disabled to retain sync between demo and audio. Still, you can rewind the voice demos with speed-up/level skip.
  You could adjust the voice volume in sound menu (there is a separate track bar for voice)
  Multi-level demos are possible too.
  Here is the example of Memfis playing Doom 2 map14 with voice commentary.
  
  If you want to cut off voice commentary from demo:
  Spoiler

  https://github.com/Mistranger/cutaudiorec/releases/download/1.0/cutaudiorec.exe

  Just drag-and-drop the demo file on program and it will generate a new demo with "-novoice" suffix.

  Sources: https://github.com/Mistranger/cutaudiorec

   

• Boom -complevel 9 longtics support (demover = 215)
  Just what it says - smooth turns in Boom compatible demos. Unfortunately, demos in this format aren't backwards-compatible with older versions of prboom+.
• Alternative level stats counting (could be toggled via General menu, "Alternative kills counter"). When enabled, resurrected and summoned monsters (except Lost Souls) are counted in stats, so you can't exceed 100% kills (like in ZDoom)
• -levelstat2 command line option, generates levelstat2.txt file, including the same info as regular -levelstat option, but with total time and deaths count (useful for FDAs).
• -dumpthings X option, dumps information about all things and players every X tics, also includes kills, spawns and damage info. This dump file in future could be processed by my Map Balancer Doom Builder plugin.

 

Download here

Sources: https://github.com/Mistranger/prboom-plus

There is still some problems with sync (I have disabled the wipe effect during voice recording and playing), so I'm open to all commentaries about my build. It would be nice if you will record some FDAs with voice commentary (check if it works first)

I hope entryway will include all these features into master branch of prboom+.

Edited September 9, 2017 by cybermind

[Memfis]

This is really really cool, I can see myself using voice recording for FDAs all the time.

 

Would be nice if it also created voiceless demos at the same time (so you would get a large file and a small one).

[cybermind]

Sorry, forgot to include the utility I made to cut off AUDIOREC lump from demo footer

https://github.com/Mistranger/cutaudiorec/releases/download/1.0/cutaudiorec.exe

Just drag-and-drop the demo file on program and it will generate a new demo with "-novoice" suffix.

Sources: https://github.com/Mistranger/cutaudiorec

[Death Destroyer - 4.7m4d]

 

17 hours ago, Memfis said:

This is really really cool, I can see myself using voice recording for FDAs all the time.

 

Would be nice if it also created voiceless demos at the same time (so you would get a large file and a small one).

 

Amazing Comrade!

Memfis... ehmm your from uhhh spain or maybe france or portugal? accent very similiar

[kb1]

This is very cool! I have a suggestion though: Please change the source to require a new complevel, or a demo-saved option for the longtics support. PrBoom+ has worked very hard to prevent incompatible demos from being created. If you're recording demos marked version 2.15 Boom complevel that are not compatible with version 2.15 Boom complevel, that's a bad thing to be doing!

 

Maybe I've missed a detail that causes this to not be problem, but please check for this specific issue, and fix it quickly, to avoid a situation where the program cannot distingiush between 2 different demos marked with exactly the same version numbers and complevels.

 

By the way, a nice option would be to mix the sound effects out-of-phase into the voice recording, to counteract picking up the sound effects through the microphone. This might be a bit difficult, and might require an SDL hack.

 

Another idea is for voice transmission across the network. You'd need a nice ping. You could filter voice down to about 8-bit 2.4 kHz to reduce the size, which would sound terrible for anything but voice, but it could become feasible at that size.

 

Very cool addition!

 

[cybermind]

Thanks for comments, but still no one have recorded a voice demo to test out that feature (to check if the audio syncs properly). Someone, please record a FDA for something with voice recording.

7 hours ago, kb1 said:

Please change the source to require a new complevel, or a demo-saved option for the longtics support. PrBoom+ has worked very hard to prevent incompatible demos from being created.

This is not needed. complevel 2 longtics demos have demover 111 (recorded in demo header), and they haven't introduced a new complevel for that. If you will try to watch complevel 9 longtics demo in current official version of prboom+, it will just bomb out with "Unknown demo format 215"

7 hours ago, kb1 said:

Another idea is for voice transmission across the network. You'd need a nice ping. You could filter voice down to about 8-bit 2.4 kHz to reduce the size, which would sound terrible for anything but voice, but it could become feasible at that size.

This feature is intended for single player only, prboom+ is rarely used for network play and I haven't bothered with that.

[kb1]

On 9/9/2017 at 2:30 AM, cybermind said:

Thanks for comments, but still no one have recorded a voice demo to test out that feature (to check if the audio syncs properly). Someone, please record a FDA for something with voice recording.

This is not needed. complevel 2 longtics demos have demover 111 (recorded in demo header), and they haven't introduced a new complevel for that. If you will try to watch complevel 9 longtics demo in current official version of prboom+, it will just bomb out with "Unknown demo format 215"

Good to know. I wasn't sure - I thought Imread something into what you typed that apparently wasn't there :)

 

On 9/9/2017 at 2:30 AM, cybermind said:

This feature is intended for single player only, prboom+ is rarely used for network play and I haven't bothered with that.

It seems like a natural progression of the idea, that's all.

[Spectre01]

Long tics with -cl9 sounds really nice. Good stuff.

[RjY]

I feel using demo version 215 is a land-grab*, but okay, one can just blacklist the demo version number (I_Error on detection). I think beyond the current maximum 214, the only other one that has been used is 255 (by Eternity, which then changes the format a bit to add its own extra version number -- IIRC they're up to 300+ by now)

 

________

* FWIW the upstream prboom_7_compatibility branch, which adds a new complevel, uses 215 as its version number. But I never managed to get it merged/released.

[Spectre01]

Hey, I have a question: If I record a demo which includes a text file, how would I document the port used? i.e. GLBoom+ 2.5.1.4 currently.

Edited November 26, 2017 by Spectre01 : 2nd question answered by reading the thread.

[Opulent]

Just a quick recorded demo without much thought behind it.  Sorry it's not an FDA.

I remember when someone added voice to HL:CS and Quakeworld.... it had mixed results; with 12 year olds singing rap music and people shouting in various languages at the same time.  But that was multiplayer online, this is a bit better, I think.

And don't say I didn't warn you....  

Good job, Cybermind!

http://www.mediafire.com/file/so3zvo7kp7u13vl/e1nm_opulent_1749.zip

[bonnie]

i want this to be more popular so that i can use it

i dunno about everyone else, but this would inspire me to play just about every wad i could find just so i could record 100 demos of me making small talk with myself

 

i'm serious

i recorded a few demos and the sound quality was heckin great

frick man i want this so bad :c

[Memfis]

Well, for it to be more popular you have to start using it I guess. It's like the chicken and the egg situation. :)

[bonnie]

5 minutes ago, Memfis said:

Well, for it to be more popular you have to start using it I guess.

no no that's weird

i dont wanna be the only person using it ;~;

 

maybe everytime i record and post a demo somewhere i'll be sure to link to this thread and beg anyone reading the post to start using this

surely that'll work

[Kroc]

Does this allow you to record commentary on an pre-recorded demo? I.e. if someone wanted to do an analysis of a speed-run they had already completed.

[TheJBizz]

Thread necro, but I'm not really sure where else to go. I'd really like to start using this as my standard demo recorder and shill it around, but there's an issue with the sound that makes it nearly unusable for me: every sound effect has a crackling in it that gets really grating really quickly, and PRBoom+ 2.5.1.5 doesn't. Is there some way to fix it?

 

EDIT: figured it out. samplerate in the CFG was at 22050 or something similar. Upped it to 48000, works perfectly now.

 

I'm trying to record an FDA now, but for some reason it doesn't seem to be picking up my USB mic. Windows recognizes it and can hear me, and PRBoom is saying "audio recording started," but when I play back the demo, nothing from the mic was recorded. I tried having the midi player be portmidi and fluidsynth, and neither work.

 

EDIT: Figured it out. For some reason it was trying to record from a virtual output even though I had the mic be recognized as the primary communication device. Disabling all recording outputs except the mic makes it work now.

 

Here's my FDA test, using a random wad from idgames (packed in with the zip). Seems to work alright.

axe8.zip

Edited August 4, 2018 by TheJBizz

[Opulent]

Eighteen minutes and twelve seconds well spent!

[TheJBizz]

It seems like this fork has been abandoned by cybermind, but I still really like it, so I'm gonna keep running tests for it. This was a test to see if saving and loading in the middle of a demo would cause it to lose sync. It seems not, but it looks like you shouldn't try to talk while in the main menu, as it'll just cut off your recording when you load. I also tried saving, closing out of PRBoom, and opening it to keep recording, but it doesn't seem to save voice data, so when you watch the full demo it'll start playing the voice recording from where you loaded. So if you wanna do voice recording, you better beat the map in one take.

 

If you feel like listening, this demo is me subjecting myself to a 1996 classic (which I mistakenly say is from 95). It's a lot of "fun."

PLAYTHIS.zip

 

Also, to answer this: no. -voicerecord only works while recording a demo; it seems to do nothing if using -playdemo.

On 12/24/2017 at 3:39 PM, Kroc said:

Does this allow you to record commentary on an pre-recorded demo? I.e. if someone wanted to do an analysis of a speed-run they had already completed.

Edited August 14, 2018 by TheJBizz

[bonnie]

i really hope this gets picked up more, i think it's really cool ;~;

[TheJBizz]

6 hours ago, bonnie said:

i really hope this gets picked up more, i think it's really cool ;~;

Be the change you want to see in the world.

 

This was an attempt at doing multiple levels of TNT on -complevel 2. I say "attempt" because I ended up doing shockingly bad at MAP02, causing me to grow increasingly more exasperated over the course of the recording. (Also, some musing on pistol starting.)

TNT.zip

[TheJBizz]

Sorry, everyone in this thread that nobody reads anyway, for not uploading more demos. I got distracted with other games and then I got depressed and it made me not want to play Doom or anything else. But here's a demo I recorded for someone while I FDA'd their new map to give some real time feedback.

 

This is the kind of stuff that makes me excited for this feature to get put into normal PRBoom. I'm not a mapper, but I assume that a major part of level design is knowing what the player is going to think and trying to make them think in certain ways - "I should use this weapon here," "I should run from this fight," "I need to infight these guys as much as I can," etc - so I'd figure that having someone actively give their thoughts while playing could really help with understanding how to adjust a map beyond just seeing how someone plays it.

 

Anyway, I'll keep uploading my demos here as I record them for people. I'd like to show that at least someone is really stoked about this.

decaFDA.7z

[kb1]

Don't know about everyone else, but I know of at least 1 person in addition to myself that is interested in your work here! But, my Doom stuff moves very slowly at the moment. Please do continue to upload!

[TheJBizz]

Thanks for the vote of confidence, two guys!

 

Here's one that's a bit of a bummer. I tried recording a demo to FDA someone's level they uploaded, but I forgot that their map isn't Boom compatible, so it ends with a lift that doesn't work (unless I'm a fuckin moron and missed a switch, which is equally plausible). As a side note: the OP says that speedup and slowdown are disabled for demos, but that actually doesn't seem to be true. Not only do they still work, but when you return to normal speed with *, the audio will pick back up too. That's actually really cool, because the main problem I had with voice recording was that it had to always be at normal speed, meaning watching long demos repeatedly would be a big pain. I don't know why I never actually tried using the + and - keys until now. I guess I just instinctively trust authority.

 

On one of the demo rewatches, it fell out of sync and I don't know why, and I couldn't get it to repeat.

hellFDA.7z

[TheJBizz]

Here's another demo intended to help a speedmapper. My voice is kinda low in it; I probably should have recorded in the day when I can afford to be louder. It would also probably be better if I had an actual microphone instead of a webcam draped around my shoulder, but we'll have to take this one step at a time.

 

I'm trying to work on more effectively giving coherent thoughts while playing so it's not just a worthless bunch of naughty words and "oh wow"s.

 

 

fuckinFDA.7z

[TheJBizz]

Here's another demo, but it may not be very interesting to you guys because it's pretty long, repetitive, and I didn't end up beating the map. It's a map that I found quite frustrating because it's based around lots of chainsaw use and monster infighting but there's very little health, so unlucky pain chance rolls or enemy behavior can forfeit a run. There's also very little to no cover, lots of chaingunners and an archvile, and they're all either out of autoaim distance or they can only be shot at blindly because they're beneath me in a ledge that I can't look down from.

 

If you actually do decide to watch it, I get pretty exasperated, so expect a lot of swear words like "shucks," "gee willikers," and "god fucking damnit."

 

I wish there was some way to make voice demos not so big; I realize that that's asking a lot because it's pretty high quality voice recording, but a 20 meg file feels like it undermines the whole convenience factor of demos. It's still less than a video though, and a lot less annoying to make.

 

http://www.mediafire.com/file/i5ajtm124isjc3o/parboyFDA.7z/file

[TheJBizz]

Here's another demo, also intended to help a speedmapper. I suppose this is obvious to everyone else, but trying to restart a map with the Home button in PRBoom doesn't work when recording a demo.

 

I suppose I should invest in a microphone of some kind instead of just draping my webcam around my neck. I suppose I should get more money first.

vileFDA.7z

[TheJBizz]

Here's another demo, though it may not be very interesting to listen to because there wasn't much in the level for me to talk about. This is my second demo where I tried saving and loading mid-recording, and it still didn't seem to knock it out of sync.

towerFDA.7z

[TheJBizz]

Here's another demo for another 100 minute map. Not much else to note beyond "this map contains 25 revenants and nothing else," so if that's what you're into, bring a towel.

boneguyFDA.7z

[TheJBizz]

Here's another demo for another 100 minute map. This is the first time I'll ever recommend to turn the voice volume down, as I start laughing really fuckin hard really quick once I understand what the map is about. Also, I noticed that my singing along to the level's MIDI rendition of the The Offspring's generation-defining opus Why Don't You Get A Job seems to be slightly out of sync with the song, though I can't prove for certain if that's the demo's fault or mine. I'm pretty sure it's the demo.

trickyFDA.7z

[TheJBizz]

Hello to every one of my adoring fan! Sorry for my neglect.

 

Here's a double feature, both still demos to help out speedmappers. Both maps are good looking to my unrefined tastes, have impressive architecture to my uneducated understanding, and were fun to play to my unskilled abilities.

 

The demo and its voice recording for the second map was so useful to the creator that he was able to use it to make adjustments to his map, which can be found here if you're so inclined: https://anonfile.com/A1t9Qaj5bd/MAP01_1_wad

 

I know I've said it earlier in this thread, but stuff like that is exactly what makes this feature so exciting to me. Like any critic, I don't think I'll ever have the self-respect be able to actually make a map myself, but I really enjoy helping people become better mappers through my responses. It's a heart-warming kind of parasitic relationship.

 

 

 

crateFDA.7z

map01FDA.7z