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Updated Downloadable OST?


Aosys

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So I recently had a hankering for the TDM OST, and really wanted to get all those ambients loaded nicely into iTunes or on my phone for easy listening. That means getting them in .mp3 format rather than the .ogg files that come with the mod. After some digging, I found a very old version of the OST available for download on Mod DB:

 

https://www.moddb.com/mods/the-dark-mod/addons/official-soundtrack-vol-1

 

However, it dates from way back, and is even missing the iconic main menu music. I subsequently found that VLC Media Player is a good way to easily convert the files myself, and I've started happily doing so for my own use. This got me thinking, though: would it be worth compiling and releasing an updated soundtrack?

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So I recently had a hankering for the TDM OST, and really wanted to get all those ambients loaded nicely into iTunes or on my phone for easy listening. That means getting them in .mp3 format rather than the .ogg files that come with the mod. After some digging, I found a very old version of the OST available for download on Mod DB:

 

https://www.moddb.com/mods/the-dark-mod/addons/official-soundtrack-vol-1

 

However, it dates from way back, and is even missing the iconic main menu music. I subsequently found that VLC Media Player is a good way to easily convert the files myself, and I've started happily doing so for my own use. This got me thinking, though: would it be worth compiling and releasing an updated soundtrack?

 

You can get the most up-to-date version of the game's music directly from the game, in .ogg format. You only need to make a copy of a .pk4 and then convert the .pk4 to a .zip, in order to open it and unzip the files within.

 

Just a few days ago, I finished the basic ambients database for 2.05. Most of the "music"-style ambients are located in the file tdm_sound_ambient02.pk4. Go to your darkmod folder, copy that file, paste its copy to the folder you keep music in. Then put the .pk4 unpacker in the music folder you made the copy in, and the copy of the .pk4 should be converted to an openable .zip file.

 

If you don't have a .pk4 to .zip converter, I can send you the one I've using for a few years now. Very lightweight utility and very efficient, it's basically the same one modders still use for Doom 3 as well.

 

Concerning an update to the soundtrack uploaded at ModDB.com, I concur that an update wouldn't be a bad thing. As long as said update won't run into any licensing issues (though IMHO it shouldn't, as we're meant to be fully open-source) and the dev team is up for it, I'll personally welcome such a decision. Not as important as other game-related stuff, but for the sake of a little promo, it's not bad.

Edited by Petike the Taffer
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So I guess if an official release was going to be a thing, the following questions would have to be asked:

 

1. Which tracks do we include, and in what order? Which do we exclude? (e.g. the original OST includes 4 seconds of frog noises; great for mapping, not so much for casual listening...)

 

2. Is there a way to find the proper credits for each track?

 

3. How do we handle different versions of the same ambience? Package them individually, or find a way to nicely merge them into one long track?

 

Also, a note for the wiki: the main menu theme isn't located in the tdm_sound_ambient folders, it's actually in tdm_gui01.pk4, which it why it took me forever to find :P

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Why would you need anything like that when .pk4s are just zip files with renamed extension? :o

Because I have always had a problem converting them manually. If it works for other people, that's fine.

 

Also, a note for the wiki: the main menu theme isn't located in the tdm_sound_ambient folders, it's actually in tdm_gui01.pk4, which it why it took me forever to find :P

Good point ! I will rectify that. If you find any other ambients outside of the three major file packs, let me know.

 

So I guess if an official release was going to be a thing, the following questions would have to be asked:

 

1. Which tracks do we include, and in what order? Which do we exclude? (e.g. the original OST includes 4 seconds of frog noises; great for mapping, not so much for casual listening...)

 

2. Is there a way to find the proper credits for each track?

 

3. How do we handle different versions of the same ambience? Package them individually, or find a way to nicely merge them into one long track?

Up to the main dev team's decisions, I suppose.

Edited by Petike the Taffer
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Because I have always had a problem converting them manually. If it works for other people, that's fine.

If you have software like 7zip, you can just use right-click context menu to open/edit pk4 as an archive. Just remember to use deflate method for compression, as the engine doesn't recognize anything else.

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If you have software like 7zip, you can just use right-click context menu to open/edit pk4 as an archive. Just remember to use deflate method for compression, as the engine doesn't recognize anything else.

 

Others have hinted at this before, but by that point, I was already using those utilities. Even if they're not strictly necessary, I've gotten used to them. They work fine and are really fast. The only downside is that you have to make them and a specific .pk4 file share the same folder, but that's the only tiny disadvantage I can think of.

 

Also, a note for the wiki: the main menu theme isn't located in the tdm_sound_ambient folders, it's actually in tdm_gui01.pk4, which it why it took me forever to find :P

 

Done, I've included those a few days ago. Should be complete now... Press "Show", like on Wikipedia, and the table will reveal itself. (I'm really glad I figured out how to code in that collapsible feature, it's really useful in all these database overviews. Spares a lot of space and makes reading easier.)

 

Further wiki documentation sidenote:

 

Also, check the section of the ambient database behind this link. I've included audio samples in the whole overview and I would love if someone tested them. Though these are all short, all under half a minute, I want to hear your impression on whether they're adequate as audio-teasers/audio-preview for the music and ambients we currently use in the game.

 

I'd be very grateful for feedback on that. I've done the overview not just for mappers and our dev team, but also as a potential lure for new talent that might want to contribute to TDM's audio in one way or another.

 

Importantly, I've set every single track in the archive to "private": People can play them back when they access them through links from our wiki, but otherwise, the account is inaccessible to people who'd intend to snoop around. Our ambient tracks, even in sample form, should be safe from anyone nabbing them.

Edited by Petike the Taffer
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That's phenomenal work, Petike! I had a listen to a bunch of the samples, they seem just about perfect.

 

I'll also say, there appear to be some credits for a few of the ambients if you download that old OST (e.g. mansion_outside is, I think, the same as "Outside the Mansion" on the album, which is credited to mrDischarged). I'm not sure how accurate this is, but probably worth noting.

 

I've also just downloaded Audacity and conducted a quick test on mixing ambient tracks:

 

https://soundcloud.com/user-822809495/basement/s-G4nlS

 

Didn't do a whole lot here, just looped it once and added a fade-out at the end, but I think something like that would be preferable for a "listenable" version of the OST. Thoughts?

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I'm not really focusing on making an updated OST pack at the moment, but I do think you could modify some of the loop-only tracks so that they'd have a natural fade-in and fade-out, more in the manner of conventional album music tracks.

 

In any case, if you're unsure about the legal side of things, ask Springheel or demagogue whether there aren't any potential legal problems. Though we are open-source, I'm not sure how it affects the status of already existing tracks included in the game, with regards to remixing or tweaking them for more of an album-listening style release, Just ask the devs, to be on the safe side.

 

I do know about some of the tracks in the game having author info included (even though these cases are rare), I just haven't finished adding all the descriptions to the track samples in our new Soundcloud archive. :) Thank you for the commendation. I did try to edit down the samples so they'd be around 25 seconds at most, but include the most interesting and most representative parts of any given track.

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Almost done with the samples archive. Might finish it this weekend and I'll move back to the other databases then.

 

As for the downloadable OST, good luck with that and I hope the devs can also provide some insights into the editing.

 

Update: I have completed the ambient database overview, up to a 2.05 standard. Feel free to update it up to 2.07, if anything new has been added to the four .pk4s in question.

Edited by Petike the Taffer
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An actual album release with cover art and track titles would be nice, would also help to promote the game since you could point people to an official YT playlist or something like that.

 

Some of the more musical tracks have been uploaded by TaffersInn and other channels. I've compiled a TDM music playlist here, on our official channel. As official as it currently gets, at least on YT.

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What is the song playing in Accountant 1 in the Dukes Mansion on the 2nd floor in the bathroom on a holophone (or whatever the device is)? I opened the zip but I couldn't find it in sounds. Nevermind found it, still curious what the song's original name is. Under game files it is "vic_echo_bathroom.ogg"

Edited by pyziroki
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  • 4 years later...
On 2/24/2019 at 12:05 AM, pyziroki said:

What is the song playing in Accountant 1 in the Dukes Mansion on the 2nd floor in the bathroom on a holophone (or whatever the device is)? I opened the zip but I couldn't find it in sounds. Nevermind found it, still curious what the song's original name is. Under game files it is "vic_echo_bathroom.ogg"

Only the creator of the mission knows.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 12/10/2023 at 12:11 PM, chakkman said:

Just FYI: You just replied to a more than 4 and a half year old post. Posted by a member who was last seen online here more than 4 and a half years ago.

I was searching for the music name and saw the file name `vic_echo_bathroom.ogg` mentioned here.

Tried shazam but found nothing

Edited by Cary James
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