Missing sound effects on Linux using Steam Proton

[Calvss 27]

Hi!

I'm trying to get back into the game after several years, but now I'm running Debian stable. Installation was pretty smooth, just download from Steam and the game runs fine (even with hardware acceleration!)

I noticed that some sound effects were missing, such as road building, button clicks, bulldozing, etc. but all the music still plays.

I've tried switching Proton versions from standard, 7.0-3, 6.3-8 5.13-6, GE 7-16, and GE 7-20 and I'm getting the same problem no matter what version I use. I've attached the contents of config-log.txt if it helps. It seems like it can detect my sound driver fine, so I don't know what the issue could be.

P.S. congrats to the NAM team, NAM installation was totally painless

 

config-log.txt

[CorinaMarie 29,605]

I'm sure you've checked this in the game, but is it possible the Sound slider is turned all the way down?

[Calvss 27]

Yup, I've already set it all the way to the right and the sound checkbox is enabled. I've also tried the -audio:on launch option and still no sound effects.

[Cyclone Boom 16,875]

25 minutes ago, Calvss said:

I've also tried the -audio:on launch option and still no sound effects.

Just a quick idea on this front...

Maybe try with using -audio:off firstly then start the game.

Next exit and then use -audio:on and see whether that helps reset anything.

[Calvss 27]

Launched with -audio:off -> no sfx, no music (as expected)
Launched with -audio:on -> music plays, but no construction sounds, no button clicks. Weirdly, I heard birds start to chirp though. I didn't notice that before.

[Cyclone Boom 16,875]

By any chance are you using Cori's Silent Road and Rail Construction mod?

That tends to make network construction intentionally inaudible.

If not, then perhaps there is some other one which turns off sounds. You could check using an empty Plugins folder.

[Calvss 27]

My plugins folder is empty right now. when I noticed the sounds were missing I did a clean reinstall in case it was a plugin issue.

Also, it's not just the construction sounds that are missing. I just launched the game again and tried to trigger some disasters. No sounds for meteors, lightning, giant robots, anything.

  Edited June 21, 2022 by Calvss  
added more info

[Calvss 27]

My plugins folder is empty right now, when I noticed the sounds were missing I did a clean reinstall in case it was a plugin issue.

whoops, sorry. double-clicked the save button

[Cyclone Boom 16,875]

This really is unusual and we might have to wait for the Linux experts to offer some advice.

I do have one extra thought however right now...

This might seem a very basic thing and you've probably tried it already, but I wonder whether the audio jack on your computer has come a little loose? This could then explain why only certain channels of the game's audio are playing, as they're segmented in layers for how they play. Try unplugging it (just be prepared in case it makes a loud noise while doing so). Then plug back in and see whether that might help. It could even need a bit of a jiggle around to make sure it's firmly connected in place.

[Calvss 27]

Unfortunately I'm playing on a laptop, and I tried listening through the speakers and by plugging in a pair of headphones. It sounds the same either way.

Thanks for your help though

 

Update:

I playtested a bit more and found that ambient construction sounds will play when zones are being built on, as well as car horns and bike bells. However, there are no knocks, doorbells, library hushing, powerplant humming, or cash registers when you use the query tool

[catty-cb 4,393]

7 hours ago, Calvss said:

but now I'm running Debian stable. Installation was pretty smooth, just download from Steam and the game runs fine (even with hardware acceleration!)

I noticed that some sound effects were missing, such as road building, button clicks, bulldozing, etc. but all the music still plays.

I've tried switching Proton versions from standard, 7.0-3, 6.3-8 5.13-6, GE 7-16, and GE 7-20 and I'm getting the same problem

Running Linux Mint and the Steam version of SC4, to be honest an not sure I can help as I'm pretty deaf and don't wear hearing aids when I'm playing so I have the music permanently turned off .... will check it out tonight and see what I can hear ie when bulldozing etc and also see what version of proton I'm using 

[catty-cb 4,393]

12 hours ago, Calvss said:

I playtested a bit more and found that ambient construction sounds will play when zones are being built on, as well as car horns and bike bells. However, there are no knocks, doorbells, library hushing, powerplant humming, or cash registers when you use the query tool

So back again and am running Steam with Proton 7.0-3 and I've got knocks, doorbells, library hushing, powerplant humming, cash registers plus road building noises, button clicks, bulldozing sounds, etc.

Not sure if this is relevant but I'm using a HP All-in-Desktop so that may make a difference and also I've got Proton 4.2, 5.0 and 7.0 folders in my Steam folder from memory I've been downloading it and installing it from Steam whenever I've moved to a different version of Proton, shouldn't make any difference as all the files a game needs should be downloaded when you install it.

To install proton go to library, click on down arrow next to the All and select the tools button .... see pictures

[Calvss 27]

I tried to launch the game with Proton 7.0-3 and every older version until 5.13 (including proton experimental), but still no sound. (it wouldn't launch on Proton 5.0 or older)

But I noticed config-log.txt had no sound driver when running with Proton 7.0-3:

soundDriverName = 
soundCardName = Primary Sound Driver

 

[catty-cb 4,393]

I'll take a look at my config-log.txt tonight and report back what my sound driver is 

[catty-cb 4,393]

On 23/06/2022 at 1:19 PM, Calvss said:

But I noticed config-log.txt had no sound driver when running with Proton 7.0-3:

soundDriverName = 
soundCardName = Primary Sound Driver

 

Have just looked at my config-log.txt and I'm afraid my one says the same as yours

Quote

CPU = GenuineIntel
sglDriverName = DirectX
sglDriverVersion = 2.0
driverName = igdumdim32.dll
driverVersion = 8.21.15.4352, GUID: AEB2CDD4-6E41-43EA-941C-8361CC760781
cardName = Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000
cardVersion = Vendor: 8086, Device: 0162, Board: 0000, Chipset: 0000
cardIdentity = Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000
soundDriverName =
soundCardName = Primary Sound Driver
buildType = Release

I ran

inxi --full > info.txt

in a terminal screen and that says computer's audio information is;

Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Atom/Celeron/Pentium Processor x5-E8000/J3xxx/N3xxx Series
  High Definition Audio
  driver: snd_hda_intel
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.13.0-51-generic

https://linuxhint.com/use-inxi-command-linux/

EDIT1: Just tried the inxi --recommends command and that says

Quote

Test: recommended files:
 
Note that not all of these are used by every system, so if one is missing
it's usually not a big deal.
 
/etc/lsb-release: -S distro version data (older version)......... Present
/etc/os-release: -S distro version data (newer version).......... Present
/proc/asound/cards: -A sound card data........................... Present
/proc/asound/version: -A ALSA data............................... Present
/proc/cpuinfo: -C cpu data....................................... Present
/proc/mdstat: -R mdraid data (if you use dm-raid)................ Present
/proc/meminfo: -I,-tm, -m memory data............................ Present
/proc/modules: -G module data (sometimes)........................ Present
/proc/mounts: -P,-p partition advanced data...................... Present
/proc/scsi/scsi: -D Advanced hard disk data (used rarely)........ Present
/var/log/Xorg.0.log: -G graphics driver load status.............. Present
 
All recommended files are present

EDIT2: It occurred to me to check the kernel version in Linux Mint

Linux Mint 20.3 is based on Ubuntu 20.04. 5 LTS and ships with Linux 5.4 kernel, but since then I've installed and am using kernel 5.13.0-51

[Calvss 27]

I ran inxi --full and my ALSA server is older, but the driver is the same:

Audio:     Device-1: Intel Cannon Lake PCH cAVS driver: snd_hda_intel 
           Device-2: NVIDIA GP107GL High Definition Audio driver: snd_hda_intel 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.10.0-15-amd64

My recommends have a few items missing, but it shouldn't matter:

Test: recommended files:
 
Note that not all of these are used by every system, so if one is missing it's usually not a big deal.
 
/etc/lsb-release: -S distro version data (older version)............................................... Missing
/etc/os-release: -S distro version data (newer version)................................................ Present
/proc/asound/cards: -A sound card data................................................................. Present
/proc/asound/version: -A ALSA data..................................................................... Present
/proc/cpuinfo: -C cpu data............................................................................. Present
/proc/mdstat: -R mdraid data (if you use dm-raid)...................................................... Present
/proc/meminfo: -I,-tm, -m memory data.................................................................. Present
/proc/modules: -G module data (sometimes).............................................................. Present
/proc/mounts: -P,-p partition advanced data............................................................ Present
/proc/scsi/scsi: -D Advanced hard disk data (used rarely).............................................. Missing
/var/log/Xorg.0.log: -G graphics driver load status.................................................... Present
 
The following recommended files are missing:
File: /etc/lsb-release
File: /proc/scsi/scsi

I'm on an older kernel, too. (Debian stable is always slightly old haha) "5.10.0-15-amd64"
It could be the culprit, I'm not sure if upgrading the kernel would solve the sound issues.

[catty-cb 4,393]

I was having the odd freeze on the older kernel and haven't had any more since changing the kernel but am not sure I would have done it for something minor

[Calvss 27]

Yeah agreed. I can play with missing sound effects for now, and hopefully Debian Bookworm fixes it when it transitions to stable

[Calvss 27]

Odd, I'm still getting the same issue on Debian 12 (Bookworm)

inxi --full shows:

Audio:
 Device-1: Intel Cannon Lake PCH cAVS driver: snd_hda_intel
 Device-2: NVIDIA GP107GL High Definition Audio driver: snd_hda_intel
 Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.18.0-2-amd64 running: yes
 Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 15.0 running: yes
 Sound Server-3: PipeWire v: 0.3.53 running: yes

both inxi --recommends and config-log.txt are identical to before.

I wanna try using Lutris' version of Wine instead of Proton. Would you know if it's possible to just add the existing game files into Lutris?
 

[catty-cb 4,393]

3 hours ago, Calvss said:

I wanna try using Lutris' version of Wine instead of Proton. Would you know if it's possible to just add the existing game files into Lutris?

Sorry no idea, if any of my games aren't in Steam or don't work properly then I just run them in Codeweavers "Crossover" using the commercial version, but I see they have a "try me" version so it might be worth giving that a go, if you have sound then at least you know everything is working ok and the problem is at the steam or proton end

https://www.codeweavers.com/

[TogaMasterJohn 705]

The GOG release of the game runs with all sounds [music and sound effects] under Linux Mint (latest version) and Wine (no hacks or tricks). I can't remember which version of Wine I had to use to get it up and running with (3.0 rc1?) to some degree* without it freezing while trying to initialize/render the region view. I used PlayOnLinux (it's user-friendly interface makes using Wine so much nicer and even easier at times). 

It should be noted that I have three sound devices: the audio from my video card, a Creative Sound Blaster AE-9 internal sound card, and a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD USB card. Both the video card's audio output and the SB X-Fi HD USB work fine with the game, from what I have tested. I haven't tested the AE-9, as support is very basic under Linux at this time (awesome sound card under Windows 7), but it should work just fine with basic analog output from the card (I haven't tested it with my stereo setup yet under Linux to know if it works or how it sounds).

It must either be something system/driver related, or as catty-cb said above, it might be something to do with Steam/Proton.

It can be tricky to get this game to run well under Linux... it really comes down to your distro and drivers, your system, and your Wine configuration. This I know for sure.

I ran the game on a modified Chromebook once a few years ago. Had GalliumOS 3.0 (based on xubuntu) installed on it. I did it mainly to see how well it would run... that's a funny story for another time. A Lenovo N22 Chromebook, non-touchscreen model. 1.6GHz dual core Intel Celeron N3060 processor, 4GB of RAM. Ran it with the latest version of Wine (at that time) with no graphical glitches under hardware mode... just ran slowly 

*I haven't played it much under Linux on my main machine due to major graphical issues (AMD Radeon RX 550 4GB with official AMD drivers), but I suspect a wrapper like dgVoodoo might be able to help in this case - I just haven't tested one out yet due to time. If it does (or if I find another way), I might make a guide or add my two cents to another SC4 on Linux guide.