Modding Music

[Common Sensei]

As a lark, I modded in some more music into the main game (not the custom music folder) in the various eras. I rounded out some existing artists and put in a few familiar music from earlier Civilization games.

Here's what I put in:

Renaissance

Handel, Arrival of the Queen of Sheba (background music for Adam Smith's Trading Company movie in Civ 2)

Handel, Water Music: Suite No. 2

Mozart, Rondo alla Turca

Mozart, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik

Vivaldi, Violin Concerto No. 10 (background for Isaac Newton's College in Civ 2)


Industrial

Verdi, The Anvil Chorus

Wagner, Flight of the Valkyries


Modern

Gershwin, Rhapsody in Blue

[ghen]

Hey, if you put together a complete music pack, I'd download it for sure.. Those are definite good choices.

[Common Sensei]

Originally posted by ghen
Hey, if you put together a complete music pack, I'd download it for sure.. Those are definite good choices.

I was actually thinking about that, and since the music is classical and I guess public domain it shouldn't be an issue.

I love the Anvil Chorus while watching the two workers build a mine. It's so appropriate.

[Son of David]

I have some of the Civ4 music in my WMP playlist. It's awesome.

Listening to 'LassusAlmaRedemptorisMater' at certain times even moves me to tears.

[Enigma_Nova]

Every file is public domain. Hasn't the internet taught you anything?
In other news, being emotionally moved by music? Meh, I'd rather be moved by a stack of Knights and Cats charging down the pass to my culture bomb city on the borders while my armies are mopping up elsewhere.

[Common Sensei]

Including the music files themselves creates a totally separate problem. The archive file balloons to around 44 MB, which would be quite the download.

[SCarton]

Originally posted by Common Sensei
I was actually thinking about that, and since the music is classical and I guess public domain it shouldn't be an issue.

They are not. Someone almost surely holds the copyrights to the recordings themselves. I'm not sure whether this would constitue "fair use" of the material or not.

[Marko Polo]

How to add music to the game? I tried to add music tracks (Mp3) to

\program files\Firaxis Games\Sid Meyer's Civilization 4\Assets\Sounds\Soundtrack\Modern

but the program doesn't play them. Should I remove the original music files? I really just want to add more music while retaining the old ones.

Next I tried to add them to

\My documents\My Games\Sid Meyer's Civilization 4\CustomAssets\Sounds\Soundtrack\Modern

but the game still refuses to play them. So what should I do?

[Shaka II]

Originally posted by Marko Polo
How to add music to the game? I tried to add music tracks (Mp3) to

\program files\Firaxis Games\Sid Meyer's Civilization 4\Assets\Sounds\Soundtrack\Modern

but the program doesn't play them. Should I remove the original music files? I really just want to add more music while retaining the old ones.

Next I tried to add them to

\My documents\My Games\Sid Meyer's Civilization 4\CustomAssets\Sounds\Soundtrack\Modern

but the game still refuses to play them. So what should I do?

I didn't successfully get my edited XML files to work, but didn't really try with V1.09. Perhaps Common Sensei can explain which XML files he modded?

What does work, that's pretty easy, is to copy your directory structure from Assets\Sounds\Soundtrack over to CustomAssets\Sounds\Soundtrack and add other music there. To play it start the program and select custom options and put in the path to the directory you want the music to play from. It will just stay in that directory though, it won't change with era. When changing era, it's necessary to exit the game and insert the next era path name and load the game, which isn't a big deal. Beats all that XML edits I think, unless you are done with any changes.

I added some from Civ3 from the ancient and medieval eras, but I think I'll add Common Sensei's music. Also, I just ordered Civ2 (I lost my copy) to get the medieval music and a few other favorites from there, I think they might be .wav format, so would have to regenerate mp3's for them. A project for the holiday.

[Enigma_Nova]

A game that requires you to change parameter path mid-game to incorporate a modded element isn't really suitable for modding.
It's like having to restart Counter-Strike after round 1 so you can load up MP5s.

[Common Sensei]

It's actually a little involved. Let's say I have an mp3 that I want to put in the game.

I have to have SoundData entry in AudioDefines.xml, referenced by a Script2DSound entry in Audio2DScripts.xml, which is in turn referenced by placing an entry in the proper era in CIV4EraInfos.xml. Without these changes, it will ignore any mp3 you put in the Soundtrack directories (I tried that first).

Attached is an archive which has the edits I made to the xml files above for the music I chose, without the actual music. If you have mp3s for the choices I made, the naming conventions are:


Handel, Arrival of the Queen of Sheba -- HandelSheba.mp3
Handel, Water Music: Suite No. -- HandelWaterMusic2.mp3
Mozart, Rondo alla Turca -- MozartRondo.mp3
Mozart, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik -- MozartNachtMusik.mp3
Vivaldi, Violin Concerto No. 10 -- VivaldiConcerto10.mp3
Verdi, The Anvil Chorus -- VerdiAnvilChorus.mp3
Wagner, Flight of the Valkyries -- WagnerValkyries.mp3
Gershwin, Rhapsody in Blue -- GershwinRhapsody.mp3

The changes have the music play in the game without having to restart via a mod. If you want the option to revert back to the original, back up the changed xml files.

[Marko Polo]

I'm a bit disappointed that I have to edit xml files in order to add my own music. In Morrowind, all that is needed is to add mp3's to the music directory and it automatically plays them. Shouldn't be too hard to implement it to Civ4 also. Maybe in future versions this feature will be implemented.

[Shaka II]

Thanks Common Sensei. When I finally get my mix perfected, I'll give this a try. I did edit these three files you mentioned before V1.09, but probably made a mistake, but I'll give another try.

Originally posted by Marko Polo
I'm a bit disappointed that I have to edit xml files in order to add my own music. In Morrowind, all that is needed is to add mp3's to the music directory and it automatically plays them. Shouldn't be too hard to implement it to Civ4 also. Maybe in future versions this feature will be implemented.

I agree, next version. It isn't too big a deal to put the custom folder path in under custom options for every new era, unless the path is on a different disk like mine, which gets a bit unwieldy. I'll probably move it closer to the regular assets folder.

[Destroyer]

Originally posted by SCarton


They are not. Someone almost surely holds the copyrights to the recordings themselves. I'm not sure whether this would constitue "fair use" of the material or not.

Yeah, performance and ip/copyright are different issues.

You would normally have to pay for both, unless the music is really old. Also, the rights could be held by different companies/people in different countrys.

This makes it almost impossible to have anything recent make it into the soundtrack, unless written for the game.

[Shaka II]

Thanks again CS, I downloaded and expanded the three files, will give it a try as is this holiday.