Spatializer and/or Built-In Distance Parameter in 2D Games (Godot-FMOD GDextention)

FMOD Studio
1

Hello Forum!

My buddy and I were working on a game for a game jam in Godot using FMOD GDextention.

We made a top-down 2D stealth game, and I tried applying spatializers to the NPCs (to spatialize their footsteps in relation to the player/listener). For whatever reason, that didn’t seem to work (we didn’t hear the footsteps at all). I tried instead the Built-In Distance parameter, and that also didn’t seem to yield promising results.

The footsteps did seem to work when the spatializer wasn’t applied, but that kinda defeated to purpose of having them in the first place.

We haven’t had trouble with setting up spatializers before, but we did use them in projects that were 3D to begin with, which is why I wanted to inquire here to see if

  1. its possible in general to apply Spatializers to 2D games
  2. if theres certain set up that I am missing when doing so
  3. if its perhaps an FMOD GD Extention issue
2

Hi,

Yes, it is possible. The game itself does not need to be 3D as long as valid event and listener positions are being passed to FMOD.

From the FMOD side, I would mainly check:

  • Whether the footstep event has a valid 3D position at runtime.
  • Whether the listener position is being updated correctly.
  • Whether the event is within the Spatializer’s audible distance range.

If the event becomes silent only after adding the Spatializer, it may be getting attenuated to silence because FMOD is receiving an unexpected event/listener distance.

Live Update should help confirm whether FMOD is receiving the expected event/listener positions and whether the Built-in Distance parameter is changing at runtime.

The Godot FMOD GDExtension is a third-party integration, so I cannot confirm whether the issue is coming from that side. We can provide general guidance, but for the specific GDExtension setup and implementation, I would recommend checking with the GDExtension maintainer or their documentation.

Hope this helps!

3

thanks for these! I will try some of these troubleshooting considerations whenever we revisit the project. the footsteps werent a huge for this more arcade-y game jam game and in general we havent had issues with spatialized sound so maybe there is something in godot itself we were overlooking. Thanks!