Sound Propagation Physics: Doppler Effect and Distance Attenuation Curves: Advanced Implementation and Real-World Architecture

[Zack Peterson]

I’ve been digging into why competitive shooters feel so spatially precise, and I want to understand the actual physics under the hood instead of just trusting engine defaults. When I’m tracking footsteps in a ranked match, the Doppler shift and distance attenuation directly determine whether I can call a location reliably—but I don’t fully grasp how these systems deviate from the textbook inverse square law inside real, cluttered environments.

How are you handling air absorption coefficients at long ranges, and what attenuation curve are you using outside the ideal free-field model

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