Why does sound on menu's bug so many people?

Just about every sim that has little cliks or sound effects when a menu option is chosen brings comments about deleting those sounds. I'm not criticizing this choice, but why does such a small thing seem to irritate so many people? the EA F1 titles, Nascar Hear, and now N2k+2 has menu cliks and folks are already digging for a way to disable them. Why is it a little short sfx seems to get under people's skin so much? Once again, I'm not ragging, but I am curious, with so many BIG issues like physics, multiplayer, graphics etc...a menu clik seems so inconsciou...so...tiny a thing to worry about. dave henrie

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> > Dave, did you ever try TOCA2? If you had your in-game sound > set to a normal level, and then exited to a menu, the menu > sound was a C-L-A-N-K every time you clicked something. > > C-L-A-N-K, C-L-A-N-K, C-L-A-N-K, C-L-A-N-K, C-L-A-N-K, C-L-A-N-K, > C-L-A-N-K, C-L-A-N-K, C-L-A-N-K, C-L-A-N-K, C-L-A-N-K, C-L-A-N-K, > C-L-A-N-K, C-L-A-N-K, C-L-A-N-K, C-L-A-N-K, C-L-A-N-K, C-L-A-N-K, > > Annoying, and would wake the neighbors .. :)

Considering all else, this is such a minor thing. Why everyone gets all hyped up over menu sounds and the like is beyond me. And even if menu sounds are annoying to some, there is usually a way to edit them or get rid of them altogether. Alanb

"Dave Henrie" <[email hidden]> wrote ... > Just about every sim that has little cliks or sound effects when a menu > option is chosen brings comments about deleting those sounds. I'm not > criticizing this choice, but why does such a small thing seem to irritateso > many people? I don't mind quiet little feedback 'clicks' or whatever. But sometimes it seems that the developer has given the job of creating the menu sound to the summer intern, and he/she is determined to create the most awesome, in-your-face, outrageous .wav ever recorded on the PC, and boy, that'll convince the boss to hire 'em on the spot! Having to hear the same 'kwel' effect over and over, well.... If I wanted to hear annoying noises over and over, I'd have kids. <grin> Most games are fine by me, but F1-2001 was the worst offender since it had TWO menu sounds for each button - one when your cursor hovered over the button and another when you actually pressed it. Sheesh. ...Klinn

>"Dave Henrie" <[email hidden]> wrote > Just about every sim that has little cliks or sound effects when a menu > option is chosen brings comments about deleting those sounds. I'm not > criticizing this choice, but why does such a small thing seem to irritateso > many people? Because there's no purpose to them. "Beeep... beep.. beep. beep beep". It's annoying and serves nothing. Considering somebody at Papyrus took time to implement this while everybody hates it... they should look at what the customer wants really. Next thing, they will add music in the game menu? <horror> -- -- Fran�ois M�nard <ymenard> -- May the Downforce be with you... -- http://www3.sympatico.ca/yves.menard/ -- This announcement is brought to you by the Shimato Dominguez Corporation - helping America into the New World...

>"rrevved" <[email hidden]> wrote > Dave, did you ever try TOCA2? If you had your in-game sound > set to a normal level, and then exited to a menu, the menu > sound was a C-L-A-N-K every time you clicked something. That sound had the biggest bass response I've ever seen. My subwoofer went crazy each time with those "C-L-A-N-K". -- -- Fran�ois M�nard <ymenard> -- May the Downforce be with you... -- http://www3.sympatico.ca/yves.menard/ -- This announcement is brought to you by the Shimato Dominguez Corporation - helping America into the New World...

"ymenard" <[email hidden]> wrote ... <snip> > Next thing, they will add music in the game menu? <horror> > And it will be in the ever-popular 'Euro-Throb' style. Hmmm, that old game 'MotorHead' comes to mind for some reason... ...Klinn

In article <MaJX7.17890$kK1.103676@rwcrnsc52>, "Dave Henrie" <[email hidden]> writes:

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> Just about every sim that has little cliks or sound effects when a menu >option is chosen brings comments about deleting those sounds. I'm not >criticizing this choice, but why does such a small thing seem to irritate so >many people? > the EA F1 titles, Nascar Hear, and now N2k+2 has menu cliks and folks are >already digging for a way to disable them. Why is it a little short sfx >seems to get under people's skin so much? > Once again, I'm not ragging, but I am curious, with so many BIG issues >like physics, multiplayer, graphics etc...a menu clik seems so >inconsciou...so...tiny a thing to worry about.

I dunno - I can't *think* of any that got on my nerves. Not the sounds, anyway. There have been some menu configs that bugged me, but nothing major. Eldred -- Dale Earnhardt, Sr. R.I.P. 1951-2001 Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett GPLRank - under construction... Never argue with an idiot. He brings you down to his level, then beats you with experience... Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

I don't know why I hate them so much. I just do. I HATE "clicks". My downshift paddle on my wheel clicked all the time for a while. Drove me nuts until I tore it apart eliminated that damned click. -- ----------------------------------------------------------------- Morgan Vincent Wooten System Specs: http://personal.lig.bellsouth.net/lig/m/v/mvwooten/system.txt ----------------------------------------------------------------- "Dave Henrie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:MaJX7.17890$kK1.103676@rwcrnsc52... > Just about every sim that has little cliks or sound effects when a menu > option is chosen brings comments about deleting those sounds. I'm not > criticizing this choice, but why does such a small thing seem to irritate so > many people? > the EA F1 titles, Nascar Hear, and now N2k+2 has menu cliks and folks are > already digging for a way to disable them. Why is it a little short sfx > seems to get under people's skin so much? > Once again, I'm not ragging, but I am curious, with so many BIG issues > like physics, multiplayer, graphics etc...a menu clik seems so > inconsciou...so...tiny a thing to worry about. > dave henrie > >

"Alan Bernardo says: > Considering all else, this is such a minor thing. Now that does depend upon how much time you spend clicking on those menus - dont it? ;-) -- ed_ The GPLEA -------------------------------------- - My name is Elliott Forbes Robinson. Spell it, please. - E-F-R. No, no, spell your name. - E-F-R!!

They could make everyone happy by adding a volume control slider for it. -Larry "rrevved" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > On Sun, 30 Dec 2001 19:25:35 GMT, "Alan Bernardo" <[email hidden]>wrote:

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> > >> > >> Dave, did you ever try TOCA2? If you had your in-game sound > >> set to a normal level, and then exited to a menu, the menu > >> sound was a C-L-A-N-K every time you clicked something. > >> > >> C-L-A-N-K, C-L-A-N-K, C-L-A-N-K, C-L-A-N-K, C-L-A-N-K, C-L-A-N-K, > >> C-L-A-N-K, C-L-A-N-K, C-L-A-N-K, C-L-A-N-K, C-L-A-N-K, C-L-A-N-K, > >> C-L-A-N-K, C-L-A-N-K, C-L-A-N-K, C-L-A-N-K, C-L-A-N-K, C-L-A-N-K, > >> > >> Annoying, and would wake the neighbors .. :) > > > >Considering all else, this is such a minor thing. > > Not to my wife. > > >Why everyone gets all > >hyped up over menu sounds and the like is beyond me. > > Obnoxiously loud SOUND. > > A SOUND that is probably 4 times the volume of the > screaming racecar engine in the sim, every time you click > a menu item? > > :) > > >And even if menu > >sounds are annoying to some, there is usually a way to edit them or get

rid

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> >of them altogether. > > > >Alanb > > > > Well, Alan, the sound files in TOCA2 were embedded in a large > file. They weren't removable or hackable until about a year > after release, when someone thankfully created an editor. >

"Larry (The Other Larry)" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:Hl0Y7.13520$[email hidden]... > They could make everyone happy by adding a volume control slider for it. > > -Larry I agree, or just a simple option to turn it off completely. Some games do have these options though - all should. I know it's a nitpick, but they can be *very* annoying. Which brings me to....why do all the computers in movies make obnoxious sounds when doing any procsessing or when the user does anything at all - including typing? It's not like that in real life so why do they make it look so phony in the movies?

"EldredP" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > I dunno - I can't *think* of any that got on my nerves. Not the sounds, > anyway. There have been some menu configs that bugged me, but nothingmajor. > > Eldred Not even the one in Nascar Heat? Man, that was one annoying sound.

LOL! I know what you mean :) Everytime there is a 'lab' scene on TV or a movie, there are two distinct sounds. Those of us who've been doing this a while will recognize them immediately: 1. The squeaky head-seeking noise made by the old Seagate ST-225 20GB Hard Drive. 2. The 4-speed Floppy Disk sound from the original Macintosh 400k Disk Drives. They always seem to be there :) -Larry "Zardoz" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:yt2Y7.687$[email hidden]...

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> > "Larry (The Other Larry)" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:Hl0Y7.13520$[email hidden]... > > They could make everyone happy by adding a volume control slider for it. > > > > -Larry > > I agree, or just a simple option to turn it off completely. Some games do > have these options though - all should. I know it's a nitpick, but they

can

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> be *very* annoying. > Which brings me to....why do all the computers in movies make obnoxious > sounds when doing any procsessing or when the user does anything at all - > including typing? It's not like that in real life so why do they make it > look so phony in the movies? > >

In article <4w2Y7.688$[email hidden]>, "Zardoz" <[email hidden]> writes:

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>"EldredP" <[email hidden]> wrote in message >news:[email hidden]... >> I dunno - I can't *think* of any that got on my nerves. Not the sounds, >> anyway. There have been some menu configs that bugged me, but nothing >major. >> >> Eldred > >Not even the one in Nascar Heat? Man, that was one annoying sound.

I can't remember it. I didn't play it for long enough to get annoyed with it, I guess...<g> I'll have to fire it up again(if I can find the !@#$ CD...) Eldred -- Dale Earnhardt, Sr. R.I.P. 1951-2001 Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett GPLRank - under construction... Never argue with an idiot. He brings you down to his level, then beats you with experience... Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

In article <eLaY7.15434$[email hidden]>, "Larry \(The Other Larry\)" <[email hidden]> writes:

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>LOL! > >I know what you mean :) > >Everytime there is a 'lab' scene on TV or a movie, there are two distinct >sounds. Those of us who've been doing this a while will recognize them >immediately: > >1. The squeaky head-seeking noise made by the old Seagate ST-225 20GB Hard >Drive. >2. The 4-speed Floppy Disk sound from the original Macintosh 400k Disk >Drives. > >They always seem to be there :)

I hate when they have the Macintosh 'chimes' sound on a system that's supposed to be a mainframe or something...<g> Eldred -- Dale Earnhardt, Sr. R.I.P. 1951-2001 Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett GPLRank - under construction... Never argue with an idiot. He brings you down to his level, then beats you with experience... Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

Yeah, but it brings back memories:) -Larry "EldredP" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > In article <eLaY7.15434$[email hidden]>, "Larry\(The

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> Other Larry\)" <[email hidden]> writes: > > >LOL! > > > >I know what you mean :) > > > >Everytime there is a 'lab' scene on TV or a movie, there are two distinct > >sounds. Those of us who've been doing this a while will recognize them > >immediately: > > > >1. The squeaky head-seeking noise made by the old Seagate ST-225 20GB

Hard

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> >Drive. > >2. The 4-speed Floppy Disk sound from the original Macintosh 400k Disk > >Drives. > > > >They always seem to be there :) > > I hate when they have the Macintosh 'chimes' sound on a system that's

supposed

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> to be a mainframe or something...<g> > > Eldred > -- > Dale Earnhardt, Sr. R.I.P. 1951-2001 > Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett > GPLRank - under construction... > > Never argue with an idiot. He brings you down to his level, then beats

you > with experience... > Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

Hi Dave, I can't give you a reason but clonk/plonk type menu sounds are a _serious_ annoyance for me. Soft and melodic sounds if they are very moderate in volume are less of an annoyance, but the ones like in the N2002 demo are a serious annoyance for me if I click around a lot (like I do for example in the garage screens). Achim "Dave Henrie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:MaJX7.17890$kK1.103676@rwcrnsc52... > Just about every sim that has little cliks or sound effects when a menu > option is chosen brings comments about deleting those sounds. I'm not > criticizing this choice, but why does such a small thing seem to irritateso > many people? > the EA F1 titles, Nascar Hear, and now N2k+2 has menu cliks and folksare

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> already digging for a way to disable them. Why is it a little short sfx > seems to get under people's skin so much? > Once again, I'm not ragging, but I am curious, with so many BIG issues > like physics, multiplayer, graphics etc...a menu clik seems so > inconsciou...so...tiny a thing to worry about. > dave henrie > >

I just realized something. NR2002 sounds like Monster Truck Madness 2! -Larry "Joachim Trensz" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:a0sv44$mk2oh$[email hidden]...

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> Hi Dave, > > I can't give you a reason but clonk/plonk type menu sounds are a _serious_ > annoyance for me. > > Soft and melodic sounds if they are very moderate in volume are less of an > annoyance, but the ones like in the N2002 demo are a serious annoyance for > me if I click around a lot (like I do for example in the garage screens). > > Achim > > > "Dave Henrie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:MaJX7.17890$kK1.103676@rwcrnsc52... > > Just about every sim that has little cliks or sound effects when a

menu > > option is chosen brings comments about deleting those sounds. I'm not > > criticizing this choice, but why does such a small thing seem toirritate

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> so > > many people? > > the EA F1 titles, Nascar Hear, and now N2k+2 has menu cliks and folks > are > > already digging for a way to disable them. Why is it a little short sfx > > seems to get under people's skin so much? > > Once again, I'm not ragging, but I am curious, with so many BIG issues > > like physics, multiplayer, graphics etc...a menu clik seems so > > inconsciou...so...tiny a thing to worry about. > > dave henrie > > > > > >

In article <f%JY7.20370$[email hidden]>, "Larry \(The Other Larry\)" <[email hidden]> writes: >I just realized something. > >NR2002 sounds like Monster Truck Madness 2! Is that good or bad? Eldred -- Dale Earnhardt, Sr. R.I.P. 1951-2001 Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett GPLRank - under construction... Never argue with an idiot. He brings you down to his level, then beats you with experience... Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

Neither. Just noisy :) -Larry "EldredP" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > In article <f%JY7.20370$[email hidden]>, "Larry\(The

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> Other Larry\)" <[email hidden]> writes: > > >I just realized something. > > > >NR2002 sounds like Monster Truck Madness 2! > > Is that good or bad? > > Eldred > -- > Dale Earnhardt, Sr. R.I.P. 1951-2001 > Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett > GPLRank - under construction... > > Never argue with an idiot. He brings you down to his level, then beats

you > with experience... > Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

From the perspective of someone who writes software for a living, I have to disagree about audio feedback having no purpose. Users respond differently to various modes of information. Especially when first learning a particular software program, it is critical that users receive feedback from the computer that any actions they have taken were recognized by the system. Some users, probably most users, rely upon visual feedback. But some users have an easier time with something audible. When you design an interface, you try to make it accessible to as many people as possible. I agree, these types of sounds can get annoying, especially if not well done. In any well-designed interface, there should be the option to adjust the volume or turn them off if the user doesn't want or need to hear them. Gerald "ymenard" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<qYJX7.1802$[email hidden]>...

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> >"Dave Henrie" <[email hidden]> wrote > > Just about every sim that has little cliks or sound effects when a menu > > option is chosen brings comments about deleting those sounds. I'm not > > criticizing this choice, but why does such a small thing seem to irritate > so > > many people? > > > Because there's no purpose to them. "Beeep... beep.. beep. beep > beep". It's annoying and serves nothing. Considering somebody at Papyrus > took time to implement this while everybody hates it... they should look at > what the customer wants really. Next thing, they will add music in the game > menu? <horror>

Gerald Moore wrote: > I agree, these types of sounds can get annoying, especially if not > well done. In any well-designed interface, there should be the option > to adjust the volume or turn them off if the user doesn't want or need > to hear them. Well designed interface - that would be a change for most games. I wish the menus were consistent with Windows style - why must every game feel the need to reinvent the menus (usually at the expense of making them ugly) (Nascar3 comes to mind) Why are some menu items mouse only (slider) and then the only way to use other menus is with the arrows on the keyboard? For racing games, I'd like to be able to have the garage/setup windows available to run in a window so I can do stuff like check my mail at the same time - only when I'm actually in the car do I need full screen DirectX... Lastly, the in car cameras that show more dash than windshield - I'd like that to be disabled. I know in real life it's a pretty tight fit, but I'm already looking through a piece of glass shorter than the real windshield, do I really need to be able to see the gearshifter? (Nascar 4) End rant... Ray -- 80 Trans Am 01 Trans Am Ram Air - 13.49@104 mph (stock) For my REAL return email, change the bitbucket to my first name, and it's only a dot com. The rest is spammer bait.

I agree. This would be a very nice option. When I was hot and heavy into painting cars, the most annoying thing was having to ALT+TAB back and forth between the game and PSP. Now that we get a new texture size w NR2002, it looks like I'll be getting back to that... Gerald ray <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>... > For racing games, I'd like to be able to have the garage/setup > windows available to run in a window so I can do stuff like > check my mail at the same time - only when I'm actually in the car > do I need full screen DirectX...