I love the time and effort you have put into this post and into your suggestion and feedback. It’s constructive and positive and absolutely what should be a model post on the forums

This is such a lovely suggestion. Thank you for this.

He hehe birds

This is without a doubt, the most unique suggestion I’ve seen. I shall upvote this so Rare sees it. Better immersion always gets an “aye” from me.

I think the games loose basing of the Caribbean (don't know that it's specified in any lore) means accuracy if this type won't and shouldn't necessarily be a priority for the devs but I guess we can see. If you're the only player (or it would only be a tiny % of playerbase that would notice or appreciate this change) then I'd argue it shouldn't be something they put dev resource into.

Am ID-10+.

Would never have noticed. It's like the PGA bird tracks from back in the day, yeah?

@vakrisone said in Bird Song in the Sea of Thieves: A Request from the National Wildlife Federation:

Thinking back on Assassin's Creed Black Flag that game actually had a remarkably varied and immersive sound scape for wildlife and birds in particular. Well worth a listen to the ambience it creates.

It really is! I'm actually playing through it again right now and keep stopping to enjoy the soundscapes. Very immersive!

@scurvywoof said in Bird Song in the Sea of Thieves: A Request from the National Wildlife Federation:

And a quick question. Does it ever bother you when a show set somewhere not in Australia uses Kookaburra noises to make something feel more ‘jungle-like’? It sticks out like a sore thumb for me.

Absolutely! Another one I hear a lot is the common loon. It's in almost every 'spooky swamp' environment in media!

It would be fantastic to get more bird songs in the game, especially the ones more traditionally associated with warmer climates like the Caribbean. Parrot songs and noises would be a wonderful addition for example.

Thinking back on Assassin's Creed Black Flag that game actually had a remarkably varied and immersive sound scape for wildlife and birds in particular. Well worth a listen to the ambience it creates.

Maybe not replacing the current one, but Rare could definitely have multiple bird songs on every island that sometimes play together.

And a quick question. Does it ever bother you when a show set somewhere not in Australia uses Kookaburra noises to make something feel more ‘jungle-like’? It sticks out like a sore thumb for me.

I think it's really cool you were able to notice this. As an avid lover of all squawks and caws I think it would be really cool to have something along the lines of different songsbirds for different regions. Preferably ones that are native to the area of course. This was a wonderful read and I hope to see something come from it! Rare, you got some 'Splainin' to do.

@a-cute-hoot said in Bird Song in the Sea of Thieves: A Request from the National Wildlife Federation:

@ghostpaw Very good points! I wanted to suggest a single bird song that is more representative than the marsh wren, because SoT only uses one bird song throughout the game. But it would be even better if they could add a few, so that each is unique to the zone it represents (Caribbean, Mediterranean, and North Atlantic, as you say). But I'm sure that's more complicated of an ask!

Works for me. If the zones have audible differences it would help differentiate the zones even further.

@ghostpaw said in Bird Song in the Sea of Thieves: A Request from the National Wildlife Federation:

@a-cute-hoot said in Bird Song in the Sea of Thieves: A Request from the National Wildlife Federation:

I wanted to point out that this particular species does not live in the Caribbean, where the game is set!

Is it? Yes, the portal to SoT is in the Caribbean, as seen in the map. But once we pass through we are clearly transported elsewhere. The sky alone should indicate that. The sun’s path through the sky does not match with the actual path of the sun across the Caribbean sky. Don’t even get me started on the night sky. The zones are inspired by areas of the North Atlantic (The Wilds), Mediterranean/ Aegean sea (Ancient Isles), and the Caribbean (Shores of Plenty). We are “elsewhere” in SoT.

@ghostpaw Very good points! I wanted to suggest a single bird song that is more representative than the marsh wren, because SoT only uses one bird song throughout the game. But it would be even better if they could add a few, so that each is unique to the zone it represents (Caribbean, Mediterranean, and North Atlantic, as you say). But I'm sure that's more complicated of an ask!

@zig-zag-ltu A sound on the island! If you ever hear the chittering sound near beaches, that's what I'm talking about. You can hear the song here: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Marsh_Wren/sounds

@a-cute-hoot said in Bird Song in the Sea of Thieves: A Request from the National Wildlife Federation:

I wanted to point out that this particular species does not live in the Caribbean, where the game is set!

Is it? Yes, the portal to SoT is in the Caribbean, as seen in the map. But once we pass through we are clearly transported elsewhere. The sky alone should indicate that. The sun’s path through the sky does not match with the actual path of the sun across the Caribbean sky. Don’t even get me started on the night sky. We are not even on Earth based on the stars. The zones are inspired by areas of the North Atlantic (The Wilds), Mediterranean/ Aegean sea (Ancient Isles), and the Caribbean (Shores of Plenty). We are “elsewhere” in SoT.

Fascinating. Hopefully the devs (especially the audio team) see this post and have a think about it.

From an audio design point of view, the marsh wren was probably included as part of the soundscape because they had plenty of material that they could license (or already had the licence to use). Also, they probably don't have bird experts on the team, and the marsh wren sounded "tropical" enough to them.

That Puerto Rican Bullfinch sounds lovely though. Good luck with this request.

this is a fascinating and unique thread

Do you mean this as a sound on an island
or a shanty?