MP3 IN HL Created 16 years ago2008-04-13 12:23:28 UTC by Butt-Kicker

I saw in Paranoia and some other mods when you go somwhere music files(mp3) were playing and I would add mp3 in my own HL storyline.
The question is how to do it ? ambient_generic only can play wav files.

I think the simplest solution is to use the sound Recorder under Windows accessories.

How to use it : Under the "file" menu there is a "Properties" tab. Click it . then click "convert now...." from that long list you can choose a codec ( I use the "mpeg layer codec) or simple , PCM . Whatever it is , it MUST be 8 mono. I use 44 000 khz 8 Bit mono .

Sorry I didn't answer your main question .

I download a free version of goldwave. Than in my comp with gold w. open up the sound, add cue points to the beginning and end of the song or sound, next trim-if you want to delete part of the sound and than save it as "name" 16 bit mono into your sound folder. Than In hl your sound will play looped. If you want it to only play once, have a mm trigger it twice to start it and turnn it off.

I saw in Paranoia and some other mods when you go somwhere music files(mp3) were playing and I would add mp3 in my own HL storyline.
The question is how to do it ? ambient_generic only can play wav files.

Requires coding. I think you need to code an entity into the .fgd file that plays .mp3.

grab spirit and use the ambient_fmodstream to just simple play the MP3.

thats what im using and it works fine. although its hard to stop once playing. you might want to make a blank mp3 to interrupt it. also, the music is continuous, so it plays when you change maps, load, reload, pause and so forth. i think thats you best bet.

if not using spirit, you'll have to convert the file to wav and use a good bitrate. but that ends with a large file that doesn't sound as good as an mp3 would. if making your own HL mod, you should explore spirit anyhow and see if you may adapt some of its tools. most of which are very useful.

here's a link.
Spirit of Half-Life Homepage.

Il gues Il beter use simple hl becaous this storyline is my first project and Im making it to lern about making levels. When Il lern something about it I will realy try sohl.

ok. learn to create good ambience in a level first. music tends to cover that up and people get lazy. Ambience is in short supply anyway and its amazing how often people don't add it in.

Spirit of half-life is the same as Half-life except that it has more entities, if you don't like it, then stay away from those new entities.

I agree with Rimrook, a level is only HALF complete without good ambient sound, it can just bring so much to a level and bring your map right to life. To many maps have little or no ambiance and it really sucks because they are not getting the full potential of their levels.

Not just more entities, also loads of new properties for the already existing entities.
It's quite a big difference, mapping for HL and mapping for SoHL.
But as Butt-Kicker wrote, it's better to learn standard HL mapping first.

If you rename your mp3 to half-life01.mp3 or something and put it in your media folder, then you can play your mp3 through the CD audio entity. It will check the mod's media folder before the gcf. Though if you're going with a new mod in the first okace, it'd probably be better to use fmod anyway.

I wanted to add not music but just mp3 sounds that would make the game more mystical.
example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_DAYLTLdNs&feature=related
Thanks I didnt heared about fmod. Im reading about it right now and I think its gonna fit to my mod.

Why not just convert the sounds to wav?

There's the size to consider, a WAV file that's (roughly) the same quality as an MP3 can be about 10 times the filesize.

I'd consider using WorldCrafter's method. Sounds easy and should work just right without any additional coding.