itch.io

Dev here. I can't pin comments, but I'd like to reiterate that the mic working but not recording is the most well-known bug the game has, and has existed probably for The Choicer Voicer's entire lifespan. I have a warning about it in bold print in the store description, which I ask people please read and consider before purchase.

If you need a refund because your mic won't work, that's completely fair and valid--please refund it. But please also check your mics first. This is an incredibly frustrating bug to have, because it's an issue with the Godot Engine and it still hasn't been fixed. I'm aware of a possible third-party fix, but was waiting for it to be merged by Godot's dev team. This still hasn't happened.

This post by Jodin Joceran https://itch.io/post/16106189 details a possible roundabout fix. Until I find a way to truly fix it, this may be worth looking into. I apologize for the frustration, as this has affected dozens if not hundreds of you.

Removed for the time being because it was a low-effort joke mode for 4.4.14. Perhaps I can add it back in a later update.

Accounting for mic delay is a much-needed feature, but will require a complete re-write of a lot of older systems in order to get it working. Unfortunately, I'm unable to give an ETA on that.

Not available yet, because getting the full release out was my top priority. I mainly just have to properly gut the full version to create it. But yes, the demo is important--I need to give non-payers an easy way to edit and check packs, and 0.5 introduces the clip metadata editor.

Edit: Demo for 0.5 have been added 🫡 It's identical to the paid version, except that game modes cannot be initiated. Includes the voice pack editor of course, which can be found under "Extras."

I agree, it is crazy that this is still an issue. But it's one I cannot fix myself because it's an issue with the Godot Engine itself; it's very likely due to the issue described in this pull request: https://github.com/godotengine/godot/pull/92532

I believe a fix will be added for Godot version 4.5, which is being worked on, so ideally that will fix it for Choicer Voicer as well, whenever I move the project to Godot 4.5

⚠ Warning to those reading new comments: There appears to be an influx of bots that are scanning the top sellers on Itch and are commenting on each of them with links to malicious downloads, claiming they're "free" or the "latest update." For your own safety, do not click those links.

Itch seems to be slow to react to this new tactic, so all I can do is delete them as I see them.

The issue is most likely due to an issue with the version of the Godot Engine being used. There's a bug of some kind where microphone recording and playback won't work if the output(?) device is surround sound. Unfortunately, it appears out of my control for the time being, but some people have had luck by changing their audio output device.

Well that's bizarre. I've never seen this kind of issue reported before. I'm curious what you're running it on, but that alone can't help me diagnose the issue.

It's an issue I am well-aware of, and have no fix for yet because it's an issue with the engine I'm coding in. It's mentioned in the second paragraph of the game description above.

Some players reported that their microphones had a surround-sound setting of some sort, and disabling it fixed that, but unfortunately I do not know the details of what they did or used.

My puzzle game "Debased" ended up being about nothing due to time constraints, haha. The in-world explanation for the gameplay is that you're a virus trying to get through firewalls, which isn't mentioned anywhere in the game. Top priority was getting the game functional, so I never had the time for it. I was originally going to have a basic intro animation explaining what's happening, but in retrospect I'm almost glad I wasn't able to throw that in, because it would've suuucked.

Apologies, I had that code for it, but then testing showed that it easily glitched, so I removed it and haven't returned to it since. I'll try to prioritize it soon.

For now, only solo and local multiplayer. No online capability in-game.

Translation support isn't something being worked on at this time, but I would like to have it in the future.

My first assumption would be that your Windows 11 didn't allow the game to generate those folders. But that would probably have required you to change your preferences, if ones exist for preventing programs from doing that; without knowing anything else, this hasn't been an issue for other Windows 11 users.

And you're experiencing this issue in version 0.4.13, or 0.4.13b? One of the minor updates in 0.4.13b was the removal of a limiter that erroneously made loud audio crusty. If you're having this in 0.4.13b, then I'll have to look into it.

Are you using older hardware? Also, did you test to see if the demo worked for you first, and if so, did the demo work while the full version does not?

Just to be clear, you're saying that the engine's ability to record audio fails when the audio output is 5.1 surround sound, yes? Is that completely detached from what kind of input device you use, or are there some mics that can/cannot function with that type of audio output?

I apologize for this. And you're right, the audio delay is a big issue. It's the next thing on my list to focus my attention to. I am only one person, and this is the first public release of the early access.

Part of the problem up to this point is that there's a baked-in audio delay of 0.13 seconds. With the current recorder/player, I can't change this value without breaking the entire thing (amateur move, I know). I have to rewrite it from scratch while keeping all its functionality with the rest of the game. It's not impossible, but it does take time. The goal is to have separate user-selectable delays both for the realtime recording, and for the dual-playback.

Would you be able to send an email report showing examples of these visual glitches, as well as details about device you're using to play the game?

It's the game's biggest bug at the moment. From what I can tell so far, the Record effect on the player microphone doesn't work when using 3rd party audio software in Windows, although it could be more than that.

The spectrogram and live mic don't use the Record effect, so they still work, but the Record effect is responsible for your audio playback and saving your performance.

Yes, currently the only random selection option is a uniform randomization, which means very large packs will get picked more. A planned feature is randomization based on picking packs instead, but it's one of many features that still need to be implemented.

It's an unfortunate common problem with new and small programs, as Windows flags it as "unknown software," though now I am curious if other people have a warning classifying it the same as yours. Even when I downloaded it myself off Itch while doing tests of the store page, launching my own game from that would have Windows give me a software warning.

That's actually a feature I've wanted, but only recently found a simple implementation for; so yes, I think I should be able to include that in an update soon.

An overhaul to the player pack structure is in the works to allow for different expressions, I actually posted about that on my dev twitter recently: https://x.com/YeahMaybeDev/status/1813055565133705537

As for animation, I would've done so already if it had support, but unfortunately the Godot Engine has no native support for animated image formats, so if I do manage something, it will have to be a work-around.

I just looked into it, and it was a stupid mistake--lacking an if statement on one line of code. I've just fixed it and updated the .exe with said update, so it should be seeing those .ogg files now.

It's been a thorn in my side, yes. So the problem persists when you use your OS's default audio? Can you specify your OS, audio driver, and mic?

What's weird is that the microphone must be working with my "Player" Godot audio bus itself, but apparently not the AudioEffectRecord and AudioEffectSpectrumAnalyzer instances on that bus.

I've had reports of the Godot Engine not playing nice with some peoples' audio software. Do your mics use some kind of software as well, and what OS is it on? At least one person got it working by disabling their 3rd party software.

I'm very sorry that the mic settings aren't working properly. It's been frustrating, but I can only do so much when some of these are issues with the game engine itself.

The next big version (ver 0.5) will include a lot of QoL options with most customization being accessible in-game. Version 0.4 is clunky and rudimentary, but I knew that when I released it. Early access and all that, but I wanted 0.4 out for people now rather than wait until I finish 0.5.

It's possible I backport that option to 0.4 if I can find a sloppy quick fix for it, but I wouldn't count on it.

Thank you for the video example, that makes it much easier to understand. I'll look into it straight away.

Edit: Unfortunately I am not able to replicate the issue on my PC, but I did revert a few changes to the waveform sampler that I suspect may be the cause. I've just updated both instances of 0.4.12 with this reversion in case it is the cause.

If this change doesn't fix it, let me know if Windows 0.4.11 has the same issue, and if not I'll compare the changes.

Hopefully I can diagnose why the Windows version has those issues, but great to hear that the Linux one has no glaring issues. Thank you for the comment.

When reviewing the Godot Engine's documented audio issues, I did come across one talking about issues caused by an audio player being active for an hour+, but hopefully the lag occurring after a while is something I'm not cleaning up in my code.

Glad to hear the local multiplayer was worth the effort it took to implement in this version! Feedback can be submitted at 'feedback.yeahmaybe@gmail.com'

The reported Steelseries mics not working might be an issue with its audio software. Does the Tonor Q9 also have its own audio software? If so, that would demonstrate a pattern of either my code or the actual Godot Engine not playing well with these mics' software.

Unfortunately no, nor is there actually a way to test voice clip audio in the main game either, outside of playing a round. It's a feature I need to add in an update.

Anyone's free to make their own community if they wish, especially since I'm not spearheading that. As long as nobody tries to claim that theirs is official, I say go for it.

Yet again, I thank you very much for your sleuthing. Proprietary audio software is of course something I have no experience with; I will have to consult the Godot community and find out if it's an issue with my code hopefully, and not a problem with the Godot Engine itself.

Thank you so much for taking time to investigate the issue. What you've reported is incredibly baffling though. So, if I've got this correct, all game audio works except the user voice playback, which will only play if you've chosen your speakers as the output device?

And the waveform appears for the voice clips, but not the user voice recording, but the user voice is actually recorded? That's the weirdest part, because the waveform sampling and user recording uses the exact same audio bus. ...what on Earth...