[Poll] Sound in Keen 1 to 3?

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Do you have sound turned on when you play Keen 1 to 3 (and mods of them)?

Always on
18
69%
Usually on
5
19%
Varies
1
4%
Usually off
2
8%
Always off
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 26

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entropicdecay
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[Poll] Sound in Keen 1 to 3?

Post by entropicdecay »

I was just now casually playing the first level of Keen 2, and I was thinking... I tend to have the sound effects turned off when I play Keen 1 to 3 (and mods of them). There are various reasons: the sounds can get a bit grating to me I think over extended periods of play, but I think a lot of it is that these days when I play the Vorticons trilogy and mods thereof I'm often listening to podcasts and such at the same time, and I can have trouble where I might miss bits of what's being said if the sounds and/or music of a game are at full volume. So if I play other games while listening to podcasts and such, I often have the volume fairly low. The downside of that is that I feel like if I have the volume turned down, I can miss the full emotional resonance and investment that sound and music brings to a game, so I feel like I'm not fully doing the games justice and may enjoy them less than I could. I end up thinking "maybe I should focus on only the podcast if I want to listen to that, or only the game if I want to play that", but because of possible attention issues, I can find it difficult to listen to podcasts and such without something to occupy myself a bit. (Maybe I should try drawing more instead...)

As regards Keens 1 to 3 specifically, it's not that I dislike the sounds themselves, in fact I'm fond of PC speaker sounds. They have a nostalgic resonance, and a particular charm of their own. (FM sound effects and music do too, of course) So maybe I should play with the sounds on more often...

So I got curious about others, then I decided to make this poll.
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Snortimer
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Re: [Poll] Sound in Keen 1 to 3?

Post by Snortimer »

I think that if I listened to other things while playing them, I would do what you do and turn the sound off.
But I never do that, so I always have the sound on. Though sometimes very quietly, if I need to be quiet.
Member since at least 1998 with... ah... some long absences. I was even a moderator at one point. I'll probably keep coming back here and there as long as this place still exists.
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Quillax
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Re: [Poll] Sound in Keen 1 to 3?

Post by Quillax »

I pretty much always have the sound effects turned on! However though, I don't really listen to podcasts or anything when playing Keen. I've always liked the sound effects; they especially sound good when they're actually coming from the PC! I've had that pleasurable experience in recent years by playing Keen on Windows 98!

As far I can remember, the only time I turned off the sound effects was when I was collecting the hundreds of teddy bears in level 7 of Flaose's Original Level Pack. Having the extra life sound play constantly did get kinda annoying (though, I might've had other people around me and thus didn't want to annoy them). :garg I probably also turned off the sound in level 9 of therealdopefish's 2nd Levelpack, but I'm not sure.
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Spikenexus
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Re: [Poll] Sound in Keen 1 to 3?

Post by Spikenexus »

It varies for me. If I'm playing Keen in a moment of nostalgia I'll probably have the sound effects on. The PC speaker sounds from the Keen games are burned into my brain from childhood and elicit and familiar and comfortable feeling when I hear them.

However if I'm listening to a podcast or music and subsequently looking for something to occupy myself (like you've mentioned, the attention issues), sound's almost certainly going to be turned off.
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XkyRauh
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Re: [Poll] Sound in Keen 1 to 3?

Post by XkyRauh »

Always on, no questions asked.
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Nospike
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Re: [Poll] Sound in Keen 1 to 3?

Post by Nospike »

I always play with the sounds on (and in Galaxy I prefer PC speaker sounds over Adlib :D ) but in Vorticons some sounds really irk me, such as the 1up sound, falling of a ledge, the walking sound. I've always made it a priority when modding Vorticons to improve the sound design.
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Pandakeen
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Re: [Poll] Sound in Keen 1 to 3?

Post by Pandakeen »

I tend to play with sounds on in Vorticons unless I'm listening to something else (which I usually only do when playing my own mods).
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Soul Monster
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Re: [Poll] Sound in Keen 1 to 3?

Post by Soul Monster »

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