Sound: two-layer engine architecture + rotary pipeline for the RX-7

- SoundController rebuilt around idle+rev loop crossfading (real racing game approach): idle layer barely pitch-shifts (keeps engine character), rev layer carries the speed range; crossfade window 5%-45% of top speed - Per-car CAR_SOUNDS table so the RX-7 gets real 13B rotary loops while other cars keep the generic set - docs/ROTARY_SOUND.md: full record->loop->upload pipeline for capturing the owner's REAL RX-7 (extract audio from video, zero-crossing cut + equal-power crossfade seam, normalize, ogg, Studio upload, wire IDs) - Toolbox rotary rips evaluated and rejected: unauditionabe off-platform, short/unloopable, murky rights; the real car beats any rip
2026-07-22 01:57:16 -04:00
parent 2ae3bf8bdb
commit b2cc917942
3 changed files with 145 additions and 50 deletions
@@ -25,11 +25,13 @@ to owner + son. Cars persist between sessions. CI green on a self-hosted runner.
 - [x] **Chase camera**: scriptable follow cam while seated — damped chase with
      look-ahead, flat horizon (ignores car pitch/roll), speed-based FOV kick.
      `src/client/CameraController.luau`. Tune constants after playtest.
- [x] Sound: engine loop (pitch tracks speed, volume swells with throttle) +
-      tyre squeal on lateral slip / hard braking. `src/client/SoundController.luau`.
-      Asset IDs are placeholders from safe sources (Roblox Resources engine loop,
-      ProSoundEffects squeal) — audition in Studio and swap in the SOUNDS table
-      if they don't fit. Boost sound deferred until boost exists.
+- [x] Sound: two-layer engine (idle + rev loops crossfaded by speed — keeps
+      engine character instead of chipmunking one loop) + tyre squeal on lateral
+      slip / hard braking. `src/client/SoundController.luau` with per-car sound
+      sets (`CAR_SOUNDS`).
+- [ ] **RX-7 rotary audio**: record the REAL car's 13B (owner has it + video),
+      process into idle/rev loops on the workstation, upload, fill `CAR_SOUNDS`.
+      Full pipeline: `docs/ROTARY_SOUND.md`. Generic loop is the stand-in.
 **Exit test:** the RX-7 is genuinely fun to just drive around. Ship nothing else
 until this is true.

@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+# Real 13B rotary engine sound (rx7_fc)
+
+The RX-7 must sound like a rotary. The pipeline: the owner's own recordings →
+processed into two seamless loops on this workstation → uploaded in Studio →
+IDs pasted into `SoundController.CAR_SOUNDS`.
+
+## What the game needs (two loops)
+
+| Loop | Content | Length |
+|---|---|---|
+| **Idle** | Engine idling, steady. The rotary lope/brap at rest. | 5–10 s |
+| **Rev**  | Held at steady mid-high RPM (~4–6k), NOT a sweep. | 5–10 s |
+
+Steady-state matters: the game pitch-shifts and crossfades these, so a loop
+recorded during rising RPM will "wander" audibly. A long recording containing
+steady sections is fine — the good seconds get cut out in processing.
+
+## Step 1 — Record (or use existing video)
+
+Any source works: phone video, GoPro footage, a Zoom H5 recording. Existing
+videos of the car are fine — audio gets extracted. Best results:
+- Record OUTSIDE the car, mic a few feet from the exhaust.
+- Get ≥10 s of steady idle and ≥5 s of held revs.
+- Avoid wind over the mic and people talking.
+
+Drop the files on the NAS next to the reference photos:
+```
+unraid-1:/mnt/user/data/yy-roblox-games/0-fast-n-furious-sim/001-1993 Mazda RX-7/sound/
+```
+
+## Step 2 — Process into seamless loops (this workstation)
+
+Hermes does this — the box already has ffmpeg + numpy/scipy (`avsync-research`
+venv). Ask and it happens; for reference the recipe is:
+
+1. Extract audio: `ffmpeg -i clip.mp4 -vn -ac 1 -ar 48000 raw.wav`
+2. Find a steady window (visually via spectrogram, or scripted RMS/pitch scan).
+3. Cut the loop at zero-crossings and apply a short equal-power crossfade from
+   the tail onto the head so the seam is inaudible:
+   loop-body + (last ~150 ms faded out, overlaid on first ~150 ms faded in).
+4. Normalize to about -3 dBFS peak, export `.ogg` (smaller upload, Roblox-native):
+   `ffmpeg -i loop.wav -c:a libvorbis -q:a 6 rx7_idle_loop.ogg`
+5. Verify: play the file on repeat (`ffplay -loop 0`) — no click, no wander.
+
+Outputs: `rx7_idle_loop.ogg` + `rx7_rev_loop.ogg`, copied back to the NAS
+`sound/` folder and kept in `assets/audio/` locally (small enough to commit).
+
+## Step 3 — Upload in Studio (owner)
+
+1. Studio → **View → Asset Manager → Import** (or the Creator Dashboard →
+   Development Items → Audio) → upload both `.ogg` files.
+2. Audio uploads require an ID/phone-verified account; private audio uploaded
+   to YOUR account is playable in YOUR experiences — exactly our case.
+3. Copy each asset ID after moderation clears (usually minutes).
+
+## Step 4 — Wire in
+
+In `src/client/SoundController.luau`, uncomment and fill:
+```lua
+local CAR_SOUNDS: { [string]: EngineSounds } = {
+	rx7_fc = {
+		Idle = "rbxassetid://<idle id>",
+		Rev = "rbxassetid://<rev id>",
+	},
+}
+```
+Rebuild, playtest, adjust `IDLE_PITCH_*` / `REV_PITCH_*` / `CROSSFADE_*` to
+taste. Done — the RX-7 braps.
+
+## Why not a toolbox rotary?
+
+Searched; candidates exist (e.g. "13B ROTARY ENGINE SOUND", id 118059219867199)
+but can't be auditioned outside Roblox (asset downloads require auth), most are
+short unloopable rips, and rights are murky. The owner HAS the real car — its
+actual engine is strictly better than any stranger's rip. Toolbox is the
+fallback only if recording proves impractical: audition in Studio before
+committing to one.
@@ -2,24 +2,24 @@
 --[[
 	SoundController.luau  (CLIENT)
 	Engine + tyre audio while the local player drives. Purely presentational —
-	reads the car's physics state each frame and shapes two looping sounds:
+	reads the car's physics state each frame and shapes the loops:
+
+	TWO-LAYER ENGINE (how real racing games do it):
+	  - Idle layer: low-RPM loop, full volume at standstill, fades out with speed.
+	  - Rev layer: high-RPM loop, fades in with speed, pitch tracks speed.
+	  Crossfading two real loops keeps the engine's actual character (e.g. a
+	  rotary's brap) instead of pitch-stretching one loop into a vacuum cleaner.

-	  Engine loop: pitch rises with speed (idle ~0.7 -> redline ~1.9), volume
-	    swells slightly with throttle. Cheap single-loop "engine", reads
-	    surprisingly well with the pitch curve.
 	Tyre squeal: fades in when the car is sliding — lateral velocity across
-	    the body's right axis beyond a threshold (drift/hard corner/handbrake
-	    moments), or heavy braking while still moving.
+	the body's right axis beyond a threshold — or under heavy braking.

 	Sounds attach to the car BODY (3D, rolloff), so other players' cars are
-	audible too when their sounds replicate — but this controller only shapes
-	the LOCAL car's sounds (we own its physics).
+	audible too when their sounds replicate.

-	Asset notes (both from safe sources):
-	  - Engine: "Car-Engine-Loop" by Roblox Resources (official account)
-	  - Squeal: "Vehicle Skids Long Heavy Tire Squeal" by ProSoundEffects
-	    (Roblox's licensed SFX library)
-	Swap IDs freely in the SOUNDS table below if better loops are found.
+	ROTARY NOTE (rx7_fc): the RX-7 should sound like a 13B rotary. The right
+	source is the owner's own recordings — see docs/ROTARY_SOUND.md for the
+	record -> loop -> upload pipeline. Once uploaded, set the two asset IDs in
+	CAR_SOUNDS below. Until then the generic loops are used for every car.
 ]]

 local Players = game:GetService("Players")
@@ -34,15 +34,30 @@ local player = Players.LocalPlayer

 local SoundController = {}

-local SOUNDS = {
-	Engine = "rbxassetid://80317022777602",
-	Squeal = "rbxassetid://9120399077",
+type EngineSounds = { Idle: string, Rev: string }
+
+-- Default (generic) sounds --------------------------------------------------
+local DEFAULT_SOUNDS: EngineSounds = {
+	Idle = "rbxassetid://80317022777602", -- Roblox Resources engine loop
+	Rev = "rbxassetid://80317022777602", -- same loop until real rev samples exist
+}
+local SQUEAL_ID = "rbxassetid://9120399077" -- ProSoundEffects tyre squeal
+
+-- Per-car engine sounds. Fill rx7_fc with the owner's real 13B recordings
+-- once uploaded (docs/ROTARY_SOUND.md). Cars not listed use DEFAULT_SOUNDS.
+local CAR_SOUNDS: { [string]: EngineSounds } = {
+	-- rx7_fc = { Idle = "rbxassetid://<13B_IDLE>", Rev = "rbxassetid://<13B_REV>" },
 }

 -- Tunables --------------------------------------------------------------------
-local ENGINE_MIN_PITCH = 0.7
-local ENGINE_MAX_PITCH = 1.9
-local ENGINE_BASE_VOLUME = 0.35
+local IDLE_PITCH_MIN = 0.95 -- idle layer barely pitch-shifts (keeps character)
+local IDLE_PITCH_MAX = 1.25
+local REV_PITCH_MIN = 0.75
+local REV_PITCH_MAX = 1.55 -- narrower than the old 1.9: two layers carry the
+-- range now, so neither loop gets chipmunked
+local CROSSFADE_START = 0.05 -- speedFrac where rev layer starts fading in
+local CROSSFADE_END = 0.45 -- speedFrac where idle layer is fully out
+local ENGINE_BASE_VOLUME = 0.4
 local ENGINE_THROTTLE_SWELL = 0.15
 local SLIP_START = 14 -- studs/sec lateral slip where squeal begins
 local SLIP_FULL = 34 -- lateral slip for max squeal volume
@@ -51,8 +66,7 @@ local RESPONSIVENESS = 8 -- volume/pitch smoothing (1/sec)

 local heartbeatConn: RBXScriptConnection? = nil
 local seatedConn: RBXScriptConnection? = nil
-local engineSound: Sound? = nil
-local squealSound: Sound? = nil
+local activeSounds: { Sound } = {}

 local function smoothAlpha(k: number, dt: number): number
 	return 1 - math.exp(-k * dt)
@@ -68,6 +82,7 @@ local function makeSound(name: string, assetId: string, volume: number, parent:
 	s.RollOffMinDistance = 15
 	s.RollOffMaxDistance = 220
 	s.Parent = parent
+	table.insert(activeSounds, s)
 	return s
 end

@@ -84,13 +99,14 @@ local function startAudio(seat: VehicleSeat)
 	end
 	local tuning = Chassis.tuningFor(car)
 	local bodyPart = body :: BasePart
+	local engineSet = (carId and CAR_SOUNDS[carId]) or DEFAULT_SOUNDS

-	engineSound = makeSound("EngineLoop", SOUNDS.Engine, ENGINE_BASE_VOLUME, bodyPart)
-	squealSound = makeSound("TyreSqueal", SOUNDS.Squeal, 0, bodyPart)
-	local engine = engineSound :: Sound
-	local squeal = squealSound :: Sound
-	engine:Play()
-	squeal:Play() -- runs at 0 volume; we fade it, never stop/start (no pops)
+	local idle = makeSound("EngineIdle", engineSet.Idle, ENGINE_BASE_VOLUME, bodyPart)
+	local rev = makeSound("EngineRev", engineSet.Rev, 0, bodyPart)
+	local squeal = makeSound("TyreSqueal", SQUEAL_ID, 0, bodyPart)
+	idle:Play()
+	rev:Play()
+	squeal:Play() -- all loops run constantly; we fade volumes (no start/stop pops)

 	heartbeatConn = RunService.Heartbeat:Connect(function(dt)
 		if not bodyPart.Parent then
@@ -99,20 +115,26 @@ local function startAudio(seat: VehicleSeat)
 		local velocity = bodyPart.AssemblyLinearVelocity
 		local speed = velocity.Magnitude
 		local speedFrac = math.clamp(speed / tuning.MaxSpeed, 0, 1)
-
-		-- Engine: pitch from speed (slight curve so low speeds feel torquey),
-		-- volume swells with throttle input.
-		local pitchTarget = ENGINE_MIN_PITCH + (ENGINE_MAX_PITCH - ENGINE_MIN_PITCH) * (speedFrac ^ 0.8)
-		local volTarget = ENGINE_BASE_VOLUME + ENGINE_THROTTLE_SWELL * math.abs(seat.ThrottleFloat)
 		local a = smoothAlpha(RESPONSIVENESS, dt)
-		engine.PlaybackSpeed += (pitchTarget - engine.PlaybackSpeed) * a
-		engine.Volume += (volTarget - engine.Volume) * a
+		local swell = ENGINE_THROTTLE_SWELL * math.abs(seat.ThrottleFloat)
+
+		-- Crossfade: idle out / rev in across the CROSSFADE window ------------
+		local fade = math.clamp((speedFrac - CROSSFADE_START) / (CROSSFADE_END - CROSSFADE_START), 0, 1)
+		local idleVolTarget = (ENGINE_BASE_VOLUME + swell) * (1 - fade)
+		local revVolTarget = (ENGINE_BASE_VOLUME + swell) * fade
+
+		local idlePitchTarget = IDLE_PITCH_MIN + (IDLE_PITCH_MAX - IDLE_PITCH_MIN) * fade
+		local revPitchTarget = REV_PITCH_MIN + (REV_PITCH_MAX - REV_PITCH_MIN) * (speedFrac ^ 0.8)
+
+		idle.Volume += (idleVolTarget - idle.Volume) * a
+		idle.PlaybackSpeed += (idlePitchTarget - idle.PlaybackSpeed) * a
+		rev.Volume += (revVolTarget - rev.Volume) * a
+		rev.PlaybackSpeed += (revPitchTarget - rev.PlaybackSpeed) * a

 		-- Tyre squeal: lateral slip = velocity component along the body's
 		-- right vector (sideways travel = sliding, not rolling).
 		local lateral = math.abs(velocity:Dot(bodyPart.CFrame.RightVector))
 		local slipFrac = math.clamp((lateral - SLIP_START) / (SLIP_FULL - SLIP_START), 0, 1)
-		-- Also squeal under hard braking from speed (throttle released fast).
 		local braking = (seat.ThrottleFloat == 0 and speed > tuning.MaxSpeed * 0.5) and 0.25 or 0
 		local squealTarget = math.max(slipFrac, braking) * SQUEAL_MAX_VOLUME
 		squeal.Volume += (squealTarget - squeal.Volume) * a
@@ -124,16 +146,10 @@ local function stopAudio()
 		heartbeatConn:Disconnect()
 		heartbeatConn = nil
 	end
-	-- Sounds are parented to the car body; destroy our references cleanly
-	-- (the car model itself may already be despawning).
-	if engineSound then
-		engineSound:Destroy()
-		engineSound = nil
-	end
-	if squealSound then
-		squealSound:Destroy()
-		squealSound = nil
+	for _, s in ipairs(activeSounds) do
+		s:Destroy()
 	end
+	table.clear(activeSounds)
 end

 function SoundController.init()