Suggestion: Music tracks in .mp3 format?

[Valander]

Maybe this can already be done, but from reading the README in the customizing kit, it didn't sound like it could be.

It would be nifty to be able to use .mp3 music tracks in game, instead of just .wav tracks. I'm sure I'm not the only one out there that has a decently sized collection of music. Sure, I can convert select tracks into .wav format, but there are two problems with this:

1. .wav files tend to be a LOT bigger than .mp3 files.
2. Means having copies of the same thing in two places.

On a related note, it might be useful if you could have a text file or something that pointed to the tracks you wanted for music, rather than having to keep copies in the \\music folder with specific names. A simple, flat-text file in a standard "config" type format would work fine, I'd think. Something like:

music1=C:\\Users\\Doe\\Music\\my_song.mp3

In the meantime, I guess I'll be converting a few tracks into .wav...

[Vice]

You can use MP3 for the 'playlist' option (music1.mp3, music2.mp3, etc), but it must be at a specific sampling rate, iirc (I think something around 64 or 128, but I'll need to double check for sure). However, consider these limitations if you want to use MP3:

1 - The file has to be decompressed for playback, which can cause a substantial pause as the song loads on some systems. So you may want to test this to see if it provides acceptable performance to you on your system.

2 - Playback quality can be significantly lower. You may hear some feedback or missing frequency ranges.

WAV is recommended for performance and quality. If you want to reduce file size, use ADPCM instead of just raw WAV. This generally cuts the size down by 75%.

A text file using proprietary commands + sounds files won't likely be used. Using just the filename system has generally been pretty easy for players to manage. Being kept with the game allows them to use the custom audio format they want for the game while keeping their originals in a different format (that some may prefer to have archives of). It also lets them manage their mods easier by knowing that everything is in the same game folder and not scattered across their hard drive.

[Valander]

Cool, Vice. At least you have some valid design reasons for the "wontfix" on that "bug".

I'll have to mess around with putting some .mp3s in there and see what the sound/performance is like. It may indeed not be a good option for lower-end systems, but shouldn't be too bad on my quad core...