Main goal
This mod will mainly change most of the important sounds inside X4 foundations, ranging from gun sounds, to explosions, to engine sounds (manually crafted) to ambient sounds.

The sound overhaul project I have been creating is somewhat different then what other people tend to do. This sound mod replaces all the sounds in X4 foundations based on a soundscape I have manually crafted myself.

The main goal here is to create sounds that fit in the digital realm. Analog recordings are used, however they are processed using partials (additive synthesis) to prevent it to clip in the digital realm.

The design was done in such a way so sounds wouldn't clash together when having multiple ships flying near eachother. Certain design choices had to be made to prevent crossing the zero dB level (technical term). The way that this design is done:

Small ships start mostly at 150Hz (and ranging up)
Medium ships start mostly at 100Hz (and ranging up)
Large ships start at mostly 80Hz (and ranging up)

This mod is pausing its development

This project took almost one year and ten months to complete in the state it is currently in. In the latest version (version 1.13, released 16 may 2021) there are 1301 sounds implemented. After doing all of this in my free time, I have decided to take a break from modding this game. In the mean time I will be lurking on the forum posts on this mod in particular to see what still needs doing. I still had some plans (as listed in the things to do), yet I have a feeling they have little to no impact regarding the scope of this sound mod. So expect no further updates from this mod in the short term (normally I would push releases every week / two weeks). 

Current progress
The following items are replaced:

- Station module sound emitters
- Ambient sounds (docking stations, in space, cockpit)
- Animations sounds (there are a lot of them, mainly think in terms like store ship in to hanger bay, conveyor belts, chair movement sound etc.)
- Every console in the game. Mainly also focus on the idea that every faction has their own unique set of console sounds (the bleeps and blops)
- Every small/medium ship has a series of landing sounds, manouvering and roll sounds. 
- Every engine class has its own unique engine sound (ranging Combat, Allround and Travel mode for every faction)
- Some ui elements have changed.

Current progress per faction
The end game is to have a sound scape per ship, per faction (based on the engine sounds Allround, Travel and Combat). This is a time consuming progress, but things are going much faster now the examining phase is done (release version 1.00).

In it's current state the ships will have the following sounds:
- initial place holders (Argon, Terran)
- new soundscape for Paranid (released in version 1.05, followed by some additions in version 1.06)
- new soundscape for Teladi (released in version 1.06).
- initial soundscape for Split (started version 1.07)
- new soundscape for Split (completed, version 1.08)
- new soundscape for Terran (completed, version 1.09)
- introducing new sound layers for large / extra large ships Terran (completed, version 1.10)
- introducing different gun sounds for terran guns (completed, version 1.10)
- minor engine adjustments teladi faction  (completed, version 1.10)
- introduce sound layers npc (because there are different layers that have been disabled for now) (version 1.13)
- change everything related to the spacesuit and make them more unique (less sharing placeholders)
- investigate different objects in game such as engine_gen_xs_buildingdrone_01_macro, engine_gen_xs_escapepod_01_macro etc (they share an engine called 'enginedetail_masstraffic'). (version 1.13)
- change soundsscape for mining drones / cargo drones (version 1.13)

Current roadmap for this sound modification
No roadmap since 16 may 2021. Since everything on my todo list is done.

Other things to do:
- Currently most stuff is inplace. Only thing to do now is wait for feedback and alter things based on feedback.

Other things that usually happen:
- alter course based on ideas / comments / feedback
- rebalance of sounds (level / distance)
- repolish exisiting sounds (tonal character)
- sometimes clean up the living room

Current known issue with this mod
- save game creates a random loop from a sound that was last triggered, and this can be very loud at times. This is an X4 foundations engine issue, and I have no way to fix it.
- sometimes graphical glitches in the hud may appear. At least this happened when I tested it in the last year. I am not sure if this mod is doing it, or it something else (I would say 'something else', because I am not touching the graphics department). This issue is related to graphics card drivers. Please update to the latest.

Compatibility
This mod is compatible with:

- X4 foundations V4.0
- X4 split vendetta
- X4 Cradle of Humanity

Save compatibility
This mod will not alter your save files. It will only mark the save file that it is modded. Once you disable this mod, things turn back to normal (unless you use a different mod that alters save files).

Compatibility with other mods hasn't been fully tested how ever (only a few). In theory it should work (because this mod isn't rocket science and replaces only sound files from existing objects in the game). But I can't give a 100% garantee that it will work out. The only thing that can happen is that the sounds from this mod are overruled by a different mod.

Ventures
When enabling this mod, ventures will be disabled (for now, I don't know at this time I am writing this if Egosoft is willing to change this behavior). When disabling this mod, ventures will be available again.

Additional specs for this mod
You will mostly need an HDD that is capable of transmitting data at a 100Mbit/second rate. Most HDDs can handle this, but I thought I would just mention this as an additional spec. Because fast I/O for discs will be key for this mod.

Second you will need at least 9Gb of ram to run this mod. Based on stuff I have measured (and I run 80Gb of RAM). I am adding this because the base game mentioned you need at least 8Gb or ram, this mod may increase the amount of RAM usages (with 1 Gb at least).

Background story about these sounds
The main issue I have encountered while playing X4 Foundations is that a lot of sounds inside the soundscape of X4 use a lot of different/similar frequencies which is an emitter of a sound. This often leads to stress in the digital realm, and most often the lower frequencies become overcrowded and this leads to mixing issues. 

The main thought process on how I personally create these sounds is based on the 'less is more' principle. The benefit with this principle is that I don't have to worry about multiple sounds added which would lead to stress to the sound system (thus causing mixing issues while doing so). This idea also has consequences for sure. Because not all the sounds will be sounding realistic. But that is the price to pay when you want to have a squadron of 20 ships firing guns blazing without having to deal with mixing issues.

About posting bug reports / or change requests
Due to the complexity of this mod, when you provide information about bug reports, issues, or unpleasent thins happening in game, please state the following information (when it relates to a ship or gun):

• what ship you are flying
• what type of engine you are using:
  

• faction  (pararnid, teladi, argon, terran, split etc)
• size (small, medium, large).
• engine class (combat, travel, allround)
  

• when it is gun related please add the details of the turret you are using (is this a mounted gun on the ship itself, or is it a turret, also add the class type (MK1, MK2)
• when it is sector specific, please add the sector you are in where it happens (this might also be save game related ofcourse)
  

• please also describe the different context you are in. Let's say you are in a heavy battle, or you are flying solo in space and 'this thing' happens.
  

All these little things will help out to improve this mod and its experience. A single 'report': it sucks does not really help me very much.

Thank you for your help and your time.