AudioClip

AudioClip is a resource that represents audio data that can be played in the game. It serves as a container for imported audio files and provides an interface for playback management.

Overview

AudioClip is the fundamental building block of Thunder Engine’s audio system. When an audio file is imported, an AudioClip resource is created, which can then be used by AudioSource components for 3D spatial playback or directly through the audio mixer.

Note

AudioClip itself does not play sound. It only stores data and settings. For playback, use the AudioSource component.

Supported Formats

Thunder Engine supports the following audio formats:

Format	Features
WAV	Uncompressed format, minimal playback latency. Recommended for short sounds (gunshots, footsteps, UI effects).
OGG Vorbis	Compressed format with good quality/size ratio. Ideal for music and long sound effects.
MP3	Supported, but not recommended due to patent restrictions. Use OGG as an alternative.

Warning

Using stereo files for 3D sounds may lead to incorrect spatial positioning. For spatial sounds, use mono files.

Properties

Import Properties

The following settings are available when importing an audio file into Thunder Engine:

streamed (bool)

Enables streaming playback of audio data. When true, the audio file is not fully loaded into memory but is read from disk as needed.

• Use true for long tracks (music, dialogue, podcasts) to save RAM

• Use false for short sounds (gunshots, footsteps, UI effects) that should play with minimal latency

Note

OGG Vorbis format is recommended for streaming playback.

forceMono (bool)

Forcefully converts stereo audio to mono format during loading.

• Must be enabled for sounds that will be used in 3D space (via the AudioSource component). Spatial positioning only works correctly with mono sounds

• Leave false for music and sounds that always play in stereo (e.g., background music, cutscenes)

Warning

Using stereo files in 3D scenes without enabling forceMono may cause incorrect positioning and phase distortion.

quality (float)

Compression quality for audio data. The value range depends on the source file format:

• 0.0 — minimum quality, maximum compression (smallest file size)

• 1.0 — maximum quality, minimum compression (largest file size)

Tip

Recommended values:

• For sound effects: 0.5 — 0.7 (good balance of quality and size)

• For music: 0.7 — 0.9 (quality matters more than size)

• For speech/dialogue: 0.4 — 0.6 (speech is less sensitive to compression)

Usage Example

Basic Playback in Code

// Get AudioClip resource
AudioClip* clip = Engine::loadResource<AudioClip>("sounds/explosion.ogg");
if (clip) {
    AudioSource* source = actor()->getComponent<AudioSource>();
    if (source) {
        source->setClip(clip);
        source->setLooping(false);
        source->play();
    }
}

Optimization Recommendations

1. Use the right format

   • Short sounds (up to 5 seconds): WAV (uncompressed) or OGG with low bitrate

   • Music and long sounds: OGG with quality 5-7 (q=5-7)

   • Dialogue: OGG mono, 64-96 kbps

2. 3D sounds

   • Always use mono files for 3D positioning

   • Don’t create more than 20-30 active AudioSource instances simultaneously