Sound modding

[Veteran66]

anyone get the Common Sound files to play in game?

 

i install my WW2 Funk Sound Mod follow:

C:\Users\NAME\Saved Games\DCS.openbeta\Mods\resource\Sounds\Speech\Sound\GER\Common\Player

all ogg sond files, no work in Game (Country Germany)

 

here my old Sound Mod:

https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/2161798/?sphrase_id=638046

[I_Gamer]

You can add

"gain = 0"

to all sdef from the list. And then step-by-step (file by file) disable this option. And improve or replace original audio file or sdef.

So you can hear what the original file do.

 

That's exactly what we have been doing - and is extremely inefficient. Unless there is a way to update these while in-game, so we don't have to restart our client every time we make a change. Is that possible?

 

Edit: This still doesn't solve the problem of not being able to *see* what the original SDEF values are. If we set this to "gain = 0", how are we supposed to add other parameters to properly load the audio file? :| That brings us back to square one, unfortunately.

[I_Gamer]

anyone get the Common Sound files to play in game?

 

i install my WW2 Funk Sound Mod follow:

C:\Users\NAME\Saved Games\DCS.openbeta\Mods\resource\Sounds\Speech\Sound\GER\Common\Player

all ogg sond files, no work in Game (Country Germany)

 

here my old Sound Mod:

https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/2161798/?sphrase_id=638046

 

 

This is actually supposed to be \Mods\Resource\YOUR_MOD_NAME\Sounds\etc....

 

Also - try adding an entry.lua file in the "YOUR MOD NAME" folder (see your DCS install \Docs\Sounds folder for an example)

[Gone1Crazy]

Also just to inform guys after sevveral test if you provide a sample in the sdef

wave = "Effects/Aircrafts/Gear"

 

The gear for example or the walkman in the f14 the new sound sill be capped to the duration of the default sound

 

This is actually supposed to be \Mods\Resource\YOUR_MOD_NAME\Sounds\etc....

 

Also - try adding an entry.lua file in the "YOUR MOD NAME" folder (see your DCS install \Docs\Sounds folder for an example)

 

Im on that point to . Seems like the speech.sdef dont load as usuall adn my custom files for the speech section are overrided by the default ones.

 

Tryed several things after looking the errors gaven by the dcs.log

Speech.sdef

inherit = "Speech"

gain = 1.5

 

the only reference of the speech files in the sdef:and:wave:list is

Speech.sdef

 

No clue

 

Located

\DCS.openbeta\Mods\aircraft\TEST\Sounds\sdef

Or here

\DCS.openbeta\Mods\resource\TEST\Sounds\sdef

 

Both sides works with any other sound but not with the speech ones

 

The only reference of the speech.sdef gave by the sdef_and_wave_list is

Speech.sdef

 

No clue how to make it work

Edited April 20, 2020 by Gone1Crazy

[c0ff]

The gear for example or the walkman in the f14 the new sound sill be capped to the duration of the default sound

It is possible that Heatblur guys have the length fixed in their code. Or it is defined by the length of the simulated process. That's a question to them.

 

 

Im on that point to . Seems like the speech.sdef dont load as usuall adn my custom files for the speech section are overrided by the default ones.

...

No clue how to make it work

 

Speech.sdef does not reference any wave files. Sdef is a 'source definition', it just sets up the default playback params for the virtual audio source. Most of these params may be overridden by the code.

In the case of Speech, the playlist is constructed in the code (in the lua scripts, actually). These speech-related scripts do not support usermods ATM, and never supported them directly. This is a registered feature request, if you are interested.

[Gone1Crazy]

It is possible that Heatblur guys have the length fixed in their code. Or it is defined by the length of the simulated process. That's a question to them.

 

 

 

 

Speech.sdef does not reference any wave files. Sdef is a 'source definition', it just sets up the default playback params for the virtual audio source. Most of these params may be overridden by the code.

In the case of Speech, the playlist is constructed in the code (in the lua scripts, actually). These speech-related scripts do not support usermods ATM, and never supported them directly. This is a registered feature request, if you are interested.

 

Got it and solved :

What ive ment is that since we dont hace acces to the sdef directlly I dont know the kind of config that the files have

 

Speech files mods

<Saved Games>/<DCS>/Sounds/Speech/<Language>

Example

\ Saved Games \ DCS \ Sounds \ Speech \ ENG.

<Saved Games>\<DCS>\Sounds\Speech\ENG\Common\Betty\Messages

 

 

 

The first part of the mod needs to be installed to your root DCS folder like before. It contains the modified db_callnames.lua file.

That doesn't work when installed under Saved Games. I've tested that.

 

The path for that part is: <DCS Folder>\Scripts\Database\db_callnames.lua

 

The second part is the sounds piece that used to go into the sounds folder off of root install. Now it must go to the modified path in your Saved Games.

 

That path for that part is: <DCS SAVED GAMES Folder>\Sounds\Speech\ENG

 

Put all of the files in there and voila. It's working once again.

 

Basically, anything that used to go under <DCS World>\Sounds now needs to go under <DSC Saved Game>Sounds

 

The stuff that went under <DCS World>\COreMods or <DCS World>\Mods still can.

 

The only exception is for speech related sound mods. They have to go under a slightly modified path than before <DCS Saved Games>\Sounds\Speech\ENG for example.

There used to be an extra SOUNDS folder that ENG went in. Now it just goes under Sounds\Speech.

 

So far everything I've tested works when placed this way.

 

All the info here

https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?p=4221931#post4221931

Edited April 20, 2020 by Gone1Crazy

[Veteran66]

thy for help

 

here my updated WW2 german Sound Mod

 

https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/2161798/

[Ala12Rv-watermanpc]

Dmitry,

 

I'll have to agree with watermanpc on this one - once 2.5.6 goes stable, the ability to create external (hell, even internal) mods becomes almost improbable. All of our work depends on trial and error, being able to discern what files do what, and how they sound/behave in the simulator is a mandatory step in the process of any mod in ANY title.

 

Still trying to understand why there needed to be this change to begin with. It seems counter-intuitive in my opinion. Simply providing a list of "available" sdef files and their locations is not that helpful if we can't see or hear what the original files do, in order to improve or modify them.

 

I wonder if authorized community content creators would be able to use the DCS SDK (the same one other third parties have access to) in order to continue making exceptional content, with even greater functionality. If you give us the right tools, this community can create even cooler/better content. The great thing about communities is that we all learn from each-other. Why limit yourself, or others, to be creative - as long as the company approves of it? :thumbup: I'd love to see the modding community grow, and help inspire ED to do even better.

 

I hope that ED changes their mind on this - I can't imagine why they chose such drastic measures to "protect" their work. It's extremely frustrating.

 

On an positive note, I do appreciate the example mod in the Docs folder! I was able to much more efficiently install mods that way. Similar to what ArmA 3 does, with their "Addons" folder. Bohemia Interactive actually provides their community a set of "tools" to develop content, if they so choose. Those tools are actually not available for public use, unless the user specifically wants to download and start developing content. It would be amazing if DCS took this approach to modding...

 

This!!...it was alredy a very time consuming task to make an external sound mod, change, load, test, start again so now, without a clue of what parameters are being used in the sdefs it is a no go for me. I could undertand a samples protection system, but protecting a few sdef files????:huh:

[jorgesoo]

How to add music themes

 

How can I posible add my own music theme ?

Thanks

[btd]

How can I posible add my own music theme ?

Thanks

 

Replace in folder:

\LockOnExe\Mods\aircraft\[YOUR AIRCRAFT]\Skins\1\EditorMusic\MainMenuIn.ogg

with your music

 

There are 2 files: MainMenuIn.ogg and MainMenuLoop.ogg. The second one plays immediately after the first one in loop mode.

If there are no files in this folder, just add your own with the same name.

[c0ff]

This!!...it was alredy a very time consuming task to make an external sound mod, change, load, test, start again so now, without a clue of what parameters are being used in the sdefs it is a no go for me. I could undertand a samples protection system, but protecting a few sdef files????:huh:

 

starting with 2.5.6.49314 you have some tools.

Saved Games/DCS.openbeta/Config/autoexec.cfg:

sound.editor = true

 

will provide you with 2 buttons:

1) to reload SDEFs. NOTE: existing game objects won't be affected. You need either to respawn (if modding your aircraft) or restart the mission (if modding AI units).

2) to purge wave files (both ogg and wav) - this will flush unused samples from the memory so when they are needed the engine will pick the fresh ones.

 

Not ideal, but still helps.

[fitness88]

starting with 2.5.6.49314 you have some tools.

Saved Games/DCS.openbeta/Config/autoexec.cfg:

sound.editor = true

 

will provide you with 2 buttons:

1) to reload SDEFs. NOTE: existing game objects won't be affected. You need either to respawn (if modding your aircraft) or restart the mission (if modding AI units).

2) to purge wave files (both ogg and wav) - this will flush unused samples from the memory so when they are needed the engine will pick the fresh ones.

 

Not ideal, but still helps.

 

To clarify:

1) what exactly are you referring to, 'to reload SDEFs', the game or the mod SDEFs and from which folder?

2) ' purging ogg and wav files, flushing unused samples from memory' can you please explain

I have modded my saved games sounds by putting SDEF files in the sound folder, can you please tell me if I should be mapping for example, wave = "Effects/Weapons/Snare" by editing the wave = to the exact folder where the ogg or wav file is now located but there doesn't seem to be any ogg or wav files anymore so where do I map my SDEF files to?

[c0ff]

1) all sdefs in all search paths

2) if you have changed any samples (wav or ogg), this will force them to reload as long as they are not used at this moment.

[fitness88]

1) all sdefs in all search paths

2) if you have changed any samples (wav or ogg), this will force them to reload as long as they are not used at this moment.

 

3)If I want to add sdef files to saved games there must be a corresponding ogg or wav somewhere...is this correct?

4)If yes to 3) can I put the corresponding ogg or wav to any location in saved games so long as it is mapped correctly in the sdef ie., wave = "Effects/Weapons/Snare" can I change it to wave = "Effects/Cockpit/Snare" so long as I put the ogg or wav file in Sound/Effects/Cockpit/Snare?

[c0ff]

3)If I want to add sdef files to saved games there must be a corresponding ogg or wav somewhere...is this correct?

 

No.

SDEF is a Source DEFinition. A basic setup for the virtual sound source. The game code may override some or all settings in some cases, but rarely does.

 

There are 2 independent sets of search paths: one for SDEFs, another one for waves (samples).

SDEF files refer to waves with names which are used to find the actual sample in all wave search paths.

 

That is, if SDEF says

wave = "Effects/Cockpit/sound"

 

Then the virtual source which was created by the game using this SDEF will use the first sample it finds which matches the given name.

It could be:

Saved Games/DCS/Sounds/Effects/Cockpit/sound.wav

or

Mods/CombinedArms/Sounds/Effects/Cockpit/sound.ogg (this one will come from the .edc container).

Edited May 26, 2020 by c0ff

[c0ff]

Search paths are traversed from last to first, where the last one is always Saved Games/DCS[.openbeta]/Sounds/

[fitness88]

Search paths are traversed from last to first, where the last one is always Saved Games/DCS[.openbeta]/Sounds/

 

So the wav and sdef mod files in saved games must be in a folder location with the exact folder tree structure the game instruction code tells it to look?

If so should we copy the original tree structure from earlier versions we used before?

Edited May 26, 2020 by fitness88

[c0ff]

Yes. Nothing changed in the structure apart from the packaging (edc), logically it is all the same.

You're strongly advised to make your sound mods a real modules, not just a bunch of files in Saved Games/*/Sounds/. See the example in Doc/Sounds. It works ;)

[fitness88]

Yes. Nothing changed in the structure apart from the packaging (edc), logically it is all the same.

You're strongly advised to make your sound mods a real modules, not just a bunch of files in Saved Games/*/Sounds/. See the example in Doc/Sounds. It works ;)

 

Great, never saw this info will be doing some testing...thanks!

[fitness88]

Search paths are traversed from last to first, where the last one is always Saved Games/DCS[.openbeta]/Sounds/

 

Did you mean search paths for files first look in the saved games then move onto core?. Otherwise saved games, mods would never get played.

[c0ff]

Did you mean search paths for files first look in the saved games then move onto core?.

Yes.

[fitness88]

Yes.

 

First let me thank you again for your responses!

I've been working for a few hours at trial and error and this is what I've come to understand.

 

1]If I only mod 10 sdef files and put them in their correct folder tree structure in \Saved Games\DCS.openbeta\Sounds BUT I don't mod or add any wav files...where then are the 10 wav files actually located whose sound is now altered by the 10 sdef files?

 

2]The config. add-in "sound.editor = true"...just so I understand this, I take it this add-in allows for in-game sound moding without having to always shut down the game with every tweak of a mod? Are you saying this button when pressed in-game will unload 'saved games' sound files currently loaded into memory, if so how would I load the next file(s) to be used in replacement?

[c0ff]

1]If I only mod 10 sdef files and put them in their correct folder tree structure in \Saved Games\DCS.openbeta\Sounds BUT I don't mod or add any wav files...where then are the 10 wav files actually located whose sound is now altered by the 10 sdef files?

 

2]The config. add-in "sound.editor = true"...just so I understand this, I take it this add-in allows for in-game sound moding without having to always shut down the game with every tweak of a mod? Are you saying this button when pressed in-game will unload 'saved games' sound files currently loaded into memory, if so how would I load the next file(s) to be used in replacement?

 

1) the wav files will searched for in their search paths. In your case - in other modules.

SDEFs do not alter waves. They change the behavior of sound sources on how to use the waves. These are separate entities. A sound source uses the settings from its SDEF on how to play the referenced waves. The same wave can be used in 2 (or more) different sources to produce pretty different sounds, depending on the settings in their SDEFs.

 

2) Yes, these are tools to avoid restarting DCS while you are tweaking the files. The unloaded waves will be loaded as soon as they are required by the simulation. For example, when an object using these sounds is created.

Edited May 28, 2020 by c0ff
typo fix

[fitness88]

Thanks for all the info c0ff!

[Xxx]

Hi, I just downloaded 2.5.6 release and my recorded radio sound files wont play.

 

 

I recorded all the files using my voice and Audacity. I replaced the files in the DCS sounds folder, these played ok in 2.5.5. Now all I hear are standard DCS American voices.

 

 

So I copied the files to;

 

 

C:\Users\herky\P3dv4\Saved Games\DCS\Sounds\Speech\Sound\ENG\Common\Player

 

and

 

C:\Users\herky\P3dv4\Saved Games\DCS\Sounds\Speech\Sound\ENG\Common\Wingman

 

Unfortunately, this doesn't work. Is there something else I need to do apart from add the sound file folder structure to Saved Games?

 

I spent many hours recording these radio calls and use specific extra ones in certain missions I created. I would appreciate a way to get them back into the game.

 

Thanks.