Confusing docs about `AudioServer.set_device`

[tavurth]

Godot version

3.4.2.stable

System information

Mac OSX (Intel 2019)

Issue description

I was trying to fix some of the CPU usage caused by coreaudio running non-stop while the editor runs.

Associated issues & PRs

#38154
#55608
#38208
#45948

Here is the plugin I was working on

https://github.com/tavurth/godot-sound-disabler

What's not working

ProjectSettings["audio/driver"] = "dummy"

Steps to reproduce

Please see above, sample code can be found here

https://github.com/tavurth/godot-sound-disabler

Minimal reproduction project

https://github.com/tavurth/godot-sound-disabler

[Calinou]

The audio driver can't be changed at run-time, as Godot does not have a way to restart the audio server without restarting the entire project. Implementing this is likely nontrivial, but it would also allow for changing the output latency without restarting the project.

[tavurth]

The audio driver can't be changed at run-time

I see, so that "audio/driver" is actually used to spawn the project when running as an export.

Makes more sense about why it's not working then.

It would be great to be able to do this, as from the code I linked above, a temporary (in-editor rather than command line) workaround to all those issues would be simple to implement in GDscript, compared to complex in C++.

[Calinou]

Actually, set_device() has nothing to do with setting the audio driver. set_device() is meant to set the output device when multiple devices are attached (which is possible with USB or HDMI audio).

This is why setting it to "dummy" will have no effect, because "dummy" is not a valid audio device name on your system.

[tavurth]

Hi @Calinou I think there is some misunderstanding.

I think this statement is what I was looking for with this issue:

Godot does not have a way to restart the audio server
Implementing this is likely nontrivial, but it would also allow for changing the output latency without restarting the project.

This bug is more about the ProjectSettings["audio/driver"] = "dummy" not working in the editor. I will update the title to reflect that.

[Calinou]

This bug is more about the ProjectSettings["audio/driver"] = "dummy" not working in the editor. I will update the title to reflect that.

Most project settings are not designed to be changed at run-time, as their value is not read continuously by the engine (doing this is slow). Instead, you should use server methods (like AudioServer's), and there is no such method exposed yet.

There is no bug here, just missing functionality. You should open a feature proposal 🙂

[tavurth]

I see, shall we close this issue then, or revert to the set_device and use as a documentation bug?