How to locate where people are shooting?

[Mukaparska 55]

I hear gunshots all around in a city and occasionally someone actually shoots at me, but I just can't figure out where they are. For like 15 minutes I tried to investigate where the gunshots are coming, but I couldn't see anyone from an apartment building where I was. I heard two guns shooting, an M4 very close to me, and maybe someone firing a Mosin at me from further away. Eventually I quit because it got boring. How can you locate where the shooting is coming from, since the sounds seems to be somehow weird. This happens way too often when I have a gun. Either I hear shooting but can't find anyone, or someone is shooting at me and I might see him. Very rarely I catch someone entirely off guard with a good gear. 

[alsmir 255]

I hear gunshots all around in a city and occasionally someone actually shoots at me, but I just can't figure out where they are. For like 15 minutes I tried to investigate where the gunshots are coming, but I couldn't see anyone from an apartment building where I was. I heard two guns shooting, an M4 very close to me, and maybe someone firing a Mosin at me from further away. Eventually I quit because it got boring. How can you locate where the shooting is coming from, since the sounds seems to be somehow weird. This happens way too often when I have a gun. Either I hear shooting but can't find anyone, or someone is shooting at me and I might see him. Very rarely I catch someone entirely off guard with a good gear. 

 

Get a decent headset.

[Death By Crowbar 1213]

 

 

Very rarely I catch someone entirely off guard with a good gear. 

Many/most people with good gear that are in high populated areas/towns such as Berezino are either in squads or they're cowering like rats in buildings waiting to pounce on the unsuspecting who wander by (aka random shots). In other words, part of staying alive is learning out to hide one's location.

 

... depending where you are there can also be room/wall glitchers, the ones who manage to get themselves into rooms behind locked doors and such. Those guys are tremendous douches but at least they often can't get out once they get in.

[BiGoDeViN (DayZ) 423]

Get a decent headset.

 

Lmao. The sound engine is awful. Getting a better headset won't fix it.

 

@ OP: In short, you don't. Best thing to do if you want to stay alive is stick the trees behind the cities. Sit down and look for people. You might not hear them, but you'll see them. Best thing to do is to avoid big places all together. Unless you're in a squad, might as well stick to the North.

[newguyzombie 122]

Lmao. The sound engine is awful. Getting a better headset won't fix it.

 

@ OP: In short, you don't. Best thing to do if you want to stay alive is stick the trees behind the cities. Sit down and look for people. You might not hear them, but you'll see them. Best thing to do is to avoid big places all together. Unless you're in a squad, might as well stick to the North.

true, i have a sennheiser and not everytime, but sometimes i cannot hear where the shots coming from, because a loud slash is bashing into my ears 

[JohnDMarshall 23]

Shots attract zombies - watch for them as they are often the best indicator in towns.

 

Outside towns your best chances to locate where a shot came from is to wait and be patient and observe who is being shot at and when they are being shot at.

 

If player A is standing on the north side of a building and is being shot at then you can determine that the shooter B can only take that shot from a certain direction.

 

If player A hides behind the building you can be sure he isnt being shot at and therefore the shooter B is no longer in sight of A - work out angles and lines of sight and make you decisions on the best route to find player B.

[SFRGaming 718]

Lmao. The sound engine is awful. Getting a better headset won't fix it.

 

@ OP: In short, you don't. Best thing to do if you want to stay alive is stick the trees behind the cities. Sit down and look for people. You might not hear them, but you'll see them. Best thing to do is to avoid big places all together. Unless you're in a squad, might as well stick to the North.

Granted I have an Astro A40 headset, it's very easy for me to find the general direction someone is shooting from using the surround sound. The sound engine isn't that bad.

[OrLoK 16182]

Hello there

 

For me, directional sound is one area where Arma falls down in my experience, I too always have a terrible time locating the direction of incoming fire.

 

Surprisingly, for me,  Its very easy to locate, for example, a helicopter.

 

But shots are almost impossible.

 

If anyone has a solution I would be very happy. Anyone spouting unhelpful tips like "get a better headset" will be hoofed in the chops.

 

Rgds

 

LoK

[qww 287]

you're lucky if you even hear the gunshot in this game, let alone be able to tell distance and direction. hoping sound gets fixed to something playable soon...

[quantum2k6 348]

must resist.. musST RESIST! RESIIIIST!!! damn..

 

@ orlok

 

looks like u need a better headset... XD sry

 

ok srly... i use a g930 its a wireless dolbyheadset and i have no problems to locade the shooter.

 

Edit* i play with very loud ingame sounds*

Edited June 6, 2014 by quantum2k6

[GanjaPalooza 35]

I have a great headset and still have this issue as well, I will also sometimes hear sounds that my squad mate never heard and vice-versa.  At this point, I think incoming sounds are bugged; basically I do not think that noises are coming to the user correctly.  I would expect these issues to be addressed sometime during development, I do not remember having this issue in the mod ever.

[Bambi Population Control 90]

Getting a 5.1 or 7.1 headset helps, just get some solid cover and if you can't run doing the Detroit sidestep (Zig-zag) until you do.

 

What makes it difficult to hear where the shots come from is the cracking sound bullets make when hitting near the camera's position.

[inphared 33]

Sound needs an overhaul badly but it's a long way from happening. It'll be nice when you can actually pinpoint the direction. Also, having gunshots go off but only some hear & some don't is incredibly frustrating.

[manchinglam 14]

Bullet travels faster than sound, and the delay becomes significant at a long distance.

 

As the military adage says, if you hear the shot, you're still alive...

 

May be it can be implemented in Dayz too?

Edited June 6, 2014 by manchinglam

[nimmerzz 17]

I hear gunshots all around in a city and occasionally someone actually shoots at me, but I just can't figure out where they are. For like 15 minutes I tried to investigate where the gunshots are coming, but I couldn't see anyone from an apartment building where I was. I heard two guns shooting, an M4 very close to me, and maybe someone firing a Mosin at me from further away. Eventually I quit because it got boring. How can you locate where the shooting is coming from, since the sounds seems to be somehow weird. This happens way too often when I have a gun. Either I hear shooting but can't find anyone, or someone is shooting at me and I might see him. Very rarely I catch someone entirely off guard with a good gear. 

What do you listen with? 2 speakers gives you left or right. Harldy a way to narrow it down. My headset gives me really good surround sound and they were $40

[king_of_the_beans 92]

My sounds are so loud I put my volume down to 2 when playing a game and I can hear crisp as day, except for gun shots in DayZ only. Arma 3 and 2 is alot easier to hear gun shots.

[ref 19]

I have an essence ST and HD595. It's very hard to sound locate.

[PhillyT 554]

Sound is nutty right now.  Generally, you will be able to figure out the direction and sort of how far it is.  At other times, you will hear a fraction of the sound and it will be directionless.  Then there are the phantom bullets where you hear the ricochet but never the rapport of the rifle.

 

Welcome to alpha zaniness!

[kimmaz 63]

What do you listen with? 2 speakers gives you left or right. Harldy a way to narrow it down. My headset gives me really good surround sound and they were $40

 

I got a 16:9 surround sound!! All those sub-woofers!!

[Lady Kyrah 1109]

Bullet travels faster than sound, and the delay becomes significant at a long distance.

 

As the military adage says, if you hear the shot, you're still alive...

 

May be it can be implemented in Dayz too?

It ... is? I haven't really paid attention but it's a standard Real Virtuality feature.

[Dennus (DayZ) 123]

Get a decent headset.

My 5 $ headset works like a charm.

[manchinglam 14]

It ... is? I haven't really paid attention but it's a standard Real Virtuality feature.

One's ears are still working despite the screen says "You're dead."

Only in Dayz...

Edited June 7, 2014 by manchinglam

[KingOfTime 267]

It took me and a friend 45mins to find a bandit once because the shots sounded like they came from different directions every time he fired. Eventually we got him though.

[-Gews- 7443]

One's ears are still working despite the screen says "You're dead."

 

One's mouth as well. They should fix that at some point, if you're unconscious or dead you shouldn't hear a peep, nor be able to talk shit.

[Bororm 1156]

I'm bad at telling where shots are from, some people are really good at it, I got some guys in my group who can find guys pretty easily.  So maybe a good headset does help, or maybe my hearing is just bad.

 

One thing that is helpful though, besides hearing, is being familiar with popular spots.  Even if you can't pin point some one by the shots themselves, if you know where the popular sniping spots are, or at least have a basic understanding of where people would likely be, that narrows it down a lot.