Issue with copying an SKAudioNode object

Question

I am currently preloading sound effects in a dictionary, as such:

soundEffectsDictionary[SoundEffectType: SKAudioNode]

Doing this allows me to preload all the sound effects in the game, and request a sound effect as needed. I am simplifying this for demonstration purposes:

let fxBoom = soundEffectsDictionary[SoundEffectType.fxBoom]!.copy() as! SKAudioNode

This works in the same way for SKSpriteNodes, SKTextures, etc. However, it does not seem that SKAudioNode can produce copies in this way. When I try to add the copies to the screen, they do not play.

How can I properly copy SKAudioNode? If I want to play fxBoom twice, overlapping, then I will need two separate nodes. I do not want to load the file from disk for performance reasons, which is why I'm attempting to preload the sounds.
Is there a better way to achieve what I am trying to do here?

Thanks in advance.

EDIT:

Here is some simple code that demonstrates the issue:

    let audioNode = SKAudioNode(fileNamed: "fxBoom.mp3")
    self.addChild(audioNode) //audio plays, looping indefinitely


    let audioNode = SKAudioNode(fileNamed: "fxBoom.mp3")
    let audioNode2 = audioNode.copy() as! SKAudioNode
    self.addChild(audioNode2) // audio does not play
    audioNode2.run(SKAction.play()) // no difference
    audioNode2.isPaused = false // no difference

I thought you said you were running the play action? Also make sure the node .isPaused is false — Knight0fDragon, Feb 13 '19 at 15:45
I did try the play action, I used audioNode2.run(SKAction.play()). I also put it into a runBlock with no success. Node isn't paused, but that was something I forgot to check. — MikeL, Feb 13 '19 at 15:57
try doing `SKAudioNode(avAudioNode:audioNode.avAudioNode) ` instead of a copy, I do not have XCode available right this second to figure out what is going wrong — Knight0fDragon, Feb 13 '19 at 16:08
OH, where are you doing this also? I remember coming across an issue where the audio engine needs to be initialized before copies could happen. — Knight0fDragon, Feb 13 '19 at 16:09
That crashes the app with: Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'com.apple.coreaudio.avfaudio', reason: 'required condition is false: file != nil' — MikeL, Feb 13 '19 at 16:13
yeah, looks like your avAudioNode is not properly initialized yet — Knight0fDragon, Feb 13 '19 at 16:14
I am attempting to do this in an Assets singleton, but right now I am testing just in a scene. — MikeL, Feb 13 '19 at 16:14
Interesting. Any idea how I can properly initialize it? I've tried everything I can think of at this point. — MikeL, Feb 13 '19 at 16:28
It has to do with when you are creating the assets, i dont remember when the audio engine is created — Knight0fDragon, Feb 13 '19 at 16:29
But if the original sound node plays, wouldn't that show that the audio engine is initialized? Thanks for your time on this. — MikeL, Feb 13 '19 at 17:03
It doesnt play until the engine is ready, the problem i think is you are copying something that isnt 100% finished, and the copy is not going to be in that loading state also. — Knight0fDragon, Feb 13 '19 at 17:04

Issue with copying an SKAudioNode object

0 Answers0