MBT Sound Mod - Cross Sounds 1.1 Released Feb 2009

[Cross]

Cross Sounds replaces 96% of the original sounds, considerably improving their quality and realism.

Cross Sounds 1.1 is the seventh release of this sound mod.

CS 1.1 is a small update to CS 1.0 weighing 9MB (>7MB zipped)
It upgrades 25 sounds, mostly MGs, auto-cannons and FlaK guns.

The Excel Sound Guide has also been updated.

SPMBT & SPWW2
SPWW2 and SPMBT use the same sounds and sound map, so this mod can be installed in both games.

You can read more about it and find download links here:

http://www.theblitz.org/message_boar....php?tid=48897

[Warhero]

Thanks Cross!

[Skirmisher]

Sounds/WAV/Cross Sounds 1.0

Installed and the files ended up like above.

Where are they supposed to be to work?

Thanks

[Cross]

Originally Posted by Skirmisher

Sounds/WAV/Cross Sounds 1.0

Installed and the files ended up like above.

Where are they supposed to be to work?

Thanks

The WAV files should be installed here:

WinSPMBT/Game Data/Sounds

Only install the wav files, don't put the Cross Sounds folder in the Sounds folder.

Make sure you have Cross Sounds 1.0 installed first.
If you are installing Cross Sounds for the first time, I recommend you backup the original sounds folder first. You can backup the sounds folder by:

1. Renaming the Sounds folder to 'original sounds'
2. Create a new folder in 'Game Data' called 'Sounds'.
3. Go into the 'original sounds' folder and Highlight All (Ctrl A) then 'COPY'
4. Go into the newly created and empty 'Sounds' folder, and PASTE.

Installation of Cross Sounds
This mod is a manual install. Three reasons:

1. It's one set of files going to one place.
2. Personally, I don't always trust 'installers' as I like to know what files are going where.
3. It's healthy for more SP players to get a hands on introduction to the sound files in the game.
(double click on any WAV file and your Windows Media Player should play it)

To Install:
1. Unzip the downloaded file and you will find a folder called 'Cross Sounds 1.0 to 1.1'
2. Go into that folder and you will see 25 wav files.
3.Highlight All those files, then 'Copy' them or move them into the 'Sounds' folder then Replace All.

NB.
SPMBT gives you the option to use WAV or MP3 sound files. WAV is usually the default, but may depend when you first installed MBT.
If you use WAV, or switch to WAV (which I recommend as it’s better quality) you can install this mod in MBT.

This sound mod is also fully compatible with SPWW2, as MBT and WW2 use the same sounds and sound map. SPWW2 has only ever used WAV files, so no issue there.


To check if your MBT is using WAV or MP3.

Go into your MBT 'Sounds' folder (found in the 'Game Data' folder)

In the 'Sounds' folder is a file called "Sounds.ini"
Right Click on it, and Open with...Notepad

Your MBT uses WAV files if you see something like this:

sound000="1click.WAV"
sound001="1.WAV"
sound002="2.WAV"
sound003="Null.WAV"
sound004="4.WAV"
sound005="5.WAV"


Your MBT uses MP3 files if you see this:

sound000="1click.mp3"
sound001="1.mp3"
sound002="2.mp3"
sound003="Null.mp3"
sound004="4.mp3"
sound005="5.mp3"

To change to WAV:

1. Right Click on the "Sounds.ini" file, then RENAME...to something like "MP3sounds.ini". This will stop MBT from using MP3s.

2. Find your backup WAV sounds.ini file.
In the Sounds folder, there is probably another folder called "WAV".
Go into the WAV folder and there should be a WAV 'Sounds.ini' file.
(If you Right Click and Open with...Notepad it should point to WAV files)

3. Move the WAV 'Sounds.ini' file into your 'Sounds' folder.
Make sure it is named 'Sounds.ini'.

You should be all done. MBT will now use WAV files.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you get stuck and we'll try to sort it out. However, I will be away until Sunday PM.

This mod only changes the wav files (actual sounds), so can be installed mid-battle with no PBEM, security or OOB problems.

However, this mod is not endorsed or supported by Shrapnel Games or The Camo Workshop. Here's their advisory on mods:

"This mod contains highly altered or additional files that may or will cause interference with the master game files and it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that this mod be installed and played ONLY in a separate copy of the game and NOT run from the master game"

cheers,
Cross

[Skirmisher]

Thanks Cross,

Got it installed correctly now. Nice new sounds.
Are any of them processed with digital reverbs or delays?

Good job in any case.

[Cross]

Originally Posted by Skirmisher

Thanks Cross,

Got it installed correctly now. Nice new sounds.
Are any of them processed with digital reverbs or delays?

Good job in any case.

I got sounds that are freely available/offered on the web. Then I typically changed them:

Adjusting the length of the sound
Fading the sound in, and or fading the sound out
Removing background noise/hiss
Adjusting the sound level
Adjusting the speed/tempo or tone
etc.

I often mix two or more sounds, sometimes creating a sound from multiple sounds.

But I haven't added digital reverbs or delays, but they may have been present in some of the orignal sounds.

Glad you like the sounds.

If anyone is interested in messing around with sounds, I highly recommend 'Audacity'. A very powerful audio editor and recorder. You can download it here:

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/


cheers,
Cross

[Cross]

Originally Posted by harlikwin

Is there a specific hovercraft sound included?

Hi Harlikwin,

One of the weaknesses of the original Steel Panthers is that they had a limited number of sounds, and often used the same sound for many different vehicles.

Because of this many water craft use sound 34, which is mainly used by wheeled vehicles.
Hovercraft also use sound 34.

The original sound 34 is so generic, that you can't tell what it is. Which is perhaps why it also got used by a lot of water craft.

Cross Sounds doesn't add additional sounds, or change the existing sound map, it only changes - and improves the quality of - the original sounds.

So when improving sound 34, I had three choices:

1. Make a great water craft sound. But then all your wheeled vehicles would sound like boats.

2. Make a 'better quality' generic sound. But you still wouldn't be able to recognise the sound.

3. Make a good wheeled vehicle sound. But some of your water craft will sound like wheeled vehicles.

I went with door number three, because sound 34 is one of the most common sounds, used constantly by almost all wheeled vehicles, but only used occasionally by water craft.

The good news is that many rowing/assault boats use sound 38, and quite a lot of barges and landing craft use sound 232, both of which are dedicated water transport sounds that Cross Sounds has improved considerably.

Sorry for the long answer.

cheers,
Cross