Dynamic unloading of audio source based on proximity

Questions & Answers
1

My question comes because im exceding the limit of 32 voices and I would like to know if there is an easy way of loading and unloading the voices based on distance.

ive seen a post that seems to seems to take of the loading part, but know I need to figure out how I can stop playback if outside a range

Thank you very much for your time and help

  • Create an empty gameobject (GameObject → Create Empty), name it “Audio Trigger Zone”.
  • Add a Sphere Collider component. (Component → Physics → Sphere Collider)
  • Adjust the radius of the Sphere Collider so that its size covers the area where you’d like the sound trigger to start.
  • Check the “is Trigger” box on the collider settings, in the inspector panel.
  • Add an AudioSource component. (Component → Audio → AudioSource) Make sure “Play On Awake” and “Loop” are not checked.
  • Assign your sound clip to the Audio Source Clip property.
  • Create a new Javascript, and call it “TriggerAudio”. Paste the following into it:

Code:

function OnTriggerEnter() {
    audio.Play();
}
  • Place a copy of this script on to your Audio Trigger Zone gameobject. You should find now that any character or object with a rigidbody entering this zone will cause the audio to trigger.
2

Well each audio source would have to check the distance to the listener. The listener is usually the maincamera, but you can find it simply with FindObjectOfType.

var maxDistance : float = 20.0f; // in units
private var listenerObject : Transform;
private var oldState = false;

function Start()
{
    var listener : AudioListener = FindObjectOfType(AudioListener);
    listenerObject = listener.transform;
}

function Update()
{
    var distance = listenerObject.position - transform.position;
    var outOfRange = distance.sqrMagnitude > maxDistance*maxDistance;
    if (oldState != outOfRange) // detect a change
    {
        if (outOfRange)
        {
            audio.Stop();
        }
        else
        {
            audio.Play();
        }
    }
    oldState = outOfRange;
}

This script will automatically stop the audio when the listener is out of range and plays it when it comes in range.

ps: Not tested code. I usually use C#, so forgive me any syntax errors :wink: