DirectSound

[JonSea31]

Where do I go to create a DirectSound file, and how do I use it to play certain audio files in a game?

[Milk]

What do mean by a DirectSound file? DirectSound can play most common audio formats.

There are a few DirectSound wrapper classes around the Web. Better ones raise an event when a sound has finished playing.

[JonSea31]

Just to clarify, I have retrieved this sample code from another site:

private DS.Device sounddevice;
private SecondaryBuffer (sound);

using Microsoft.DirectX.DirectSound;
using DS = Microsoft.DirectX.DirectSound;

private void InitializeSound()
 {
     sounddevice = new DS.Device();
     sounddevice.SetCooperativeLevel(this, CooperativeLevel.Normal);
 
     BufferDescription description = new BufferDescription();
     description.ControlEffects = false;
     (name)sound = new SecondaryBuffer("(soundname).wav", description, sounddevice);
     (name)sound.Play(0, BufferPlayFlags.Default);
 } 

 SecondaryBuffer new(name)sound = (name)sound.Clone(sounddevice);
 new(name)sound.Play(0, BufferPlayFlags.Default);

 private ArrayList soundlist = new ArrayList();

 soundlist.Add(new(name)sound);

 private void SoundAffairs()
 {
     if (soundlist.Count > 0)
     {
         for (int i = soundlist.Count - 1; i > -1; i--)
         {
             SecondaryBuffer currentsound = (SecondaryBuffer)soundlist[i];
             if (!currentsound.Status.Playing)
             {
                 currentsound.Dispose();
                 soundlist.RemoveAt(i);
             }
         }
     }
 }

Is a sound list similiar to the following (taken from my Press Your Luck game that was semi-created by another person):

[events]
# Buzzer sound
buzz
# Buzz-in sound
buzzIn
# Ding sound
ding
# Crowd sound
crowd
# Board sound
board2
# Pass sound
passSpin
# Freeze (during Whammy round)
freeze
# Whammy "boing"
bounce
# Whammy buzzer (only)
endWhammy
# Whammy "boom" (during Whammy round)
bounce
# Lose-1-Whammy sound
loseWhammy
# Null sound
empty
[music]
# Opening theme
openTheme1b
# End Question R1
QR1end
# Start Money R1
MR1start
# End Money R1
MR1end
# Start Question R2
QR2start
# End Question R2
QR2end
# Start Money R2
MR2start
# Win music
win
# Start post-game summary
startSummary
# Prize music
prize
# Closing theme
endTheme1
[prompts]
Press1
Press2
Press3

And do I create an DirectX or ActiveX control file for the DirectSound code?

[Milk]

I guess you could make a ActiveX control but you don't need to. You can interface with DirectSound with pure VB and a reference to DirectX 7 or 8.

This is the first google hit I got.

[JonSea31]

DirectX control will only allow me to use certain sound quality and other stuff. It will not reference the .wav filename to play it in a form. Unless I overlooked something. What will I reference the sound from if I wish to play it in a form?

Can someone please upload a sample so I can see more clearly?

[Milk]

DirectSound is a part of DirectX. It gives complete control over volume, pitch, balance, samples per second, bitrate etc. It can play up to 64 sounds simultaneously. The sounds themselves might be in a resource or Dll or on disk and can be of multiple formats.

This all can be done in VB with a reference to DirectX.

I'm away from home for the next few days when I get back and if someone does not beat me to it I'll post up an example (which I can test first).

[JonSea31]

The sounds themselves might be in a resource or Dll or on disk and can be of multiple formats.

This all can be done in VB with a reference to DirectX.

I'm away from home for the next few days when I get back and if someone does not beat me to it I'll post up an example (which I can test first).

That would be great!

[Jim Davis]

Milk

@JonSea31: If you just want to avoid to diggin into advanced level of audio handling, you can always get a simple wrapper dll that is will play the audio for you. There's i havent found any really cheap solution, but mostly you can use them in your home (just like in freeware products as well), for free. For example, take a look at FMOD, or BASS, those have got built-in codecs to play numerous (both common/uncommon) file formats. You can get equalizer's, and some of the effect capabilities that is would be needed for a game programming. But the solutions are also fit for simple audio player applications as well.

Fmod: http://www.fmod.org/
Bass: http://www.un4seen.com/

Read the licences carefully to avoid any copyright issues.