custom/unique barking sounds for a dog npc?

[Muroj]

hey all! i've literally never made a mod from scratch before but i wanted to make a custom dog follower for myself, and i'd like said dog to have its own unique barking sounds. i've already tried looking around for how i'd do this and i now am aware of how to at least convert hkx files to xml to edit and then back to hkx again, and i've also got the sounds i need ready (plus relevant sound descriptors in CK), but specifically for dog barking and whining noises i have no idea how i'd make this unique dog use these new sounds without just replacing the default sounds (which would then make all dogs use those sounds... which i don't want).

would it be easier to have the dog as its own separate race instead of DogCompanionRace? and no matter the answer to that, how can i go about adding these sounds in (without replacing all dog noises)? what might i need to add in the CK, and which behaviour files would i have to modify?

Edited February 19 by Muroj

[scorrp10]

There is a 'CrDogVoice'  VoiceType that is being used by pretty much all dogs in the game.  If you look u; use info for that voice type, it is used by a couple dialogue quests - so you can look at those and see how they are structured.     You can pretty much create identical quests for your custom dog, but you will need to edit dialogue conditions to check for your custom voice type rather than CrDogVoice. 

[Muroj]

14 hours ago, scorrp10 said:

There is a 'CrDogVoice'  VoiceType that is being used by pretty much all dogs in the game.  If you look u; use info for that voice type, it is used by a couple dialogue quests - so you can look at those and see how they are structured.     You can pretty much create identical quests for your custom dog, but you will need to edit dialogue conditions to check for your custom voice type rather than CrDogVoice. 

thank you, i'll do that for sure! will that also work in the case of adding in the custom sounds for non-dialogue? like the random barking the dog will do whenever i'm not talking to it? or would i still need to edit the relevant behaviour files for that?

[scorrp10]

Even that is considered dialogue.     Just not player-driven kind.   Except instead of using voice files, it might be pointing at  SoundDescriptor forms.

For example, if you load up CK,  and locate quest:    CreatureDialogueDog

In 'Combat'  tab, it has 2 categories:   Hit and Death, and if you open response of the 'Hit' category, it points at "NPCDogInjured" sound file.   And looking at that sound descriptor, it has 3 possible .wav files, chosen at random.

And in the Misc section of that quest, the 'Hello'  section.    

However, there is indeed a different system existing.    
SoundDescriptor 'NPCDogBardSD'  is used by ImpactData NPCDogBarkImpact.
Which is used by NPCDogBarkImpactSet, which uses NPCDogBarkImpact against pretty much any material.

which is used by NPCDogBarkFootstep (tagged NPCDogBark), which is part of NPCDogFootWalkFootstepSet, which is assigned to various 'dog torso' armor addons.

That FootstepSet aside from the usual  FootBack/FootFront, also has Attack, AttackPower,  IdleScratch, IdleShake, IdleWhine, AggroWarning 'Footsteps'

My understanding is that "Footstep Tag"  is what is used in a specific animation idle to indicate a moment to generate a sound.

So if you create your own footstep set with same tags, potentially reusing some of the vanilla 'footsteps', but pointing at your own sounds for others, and your custom dog also belongs to DogRace and thus uses DogProject behavior graph, but  has a custom body Armor Addon with a custom FootstepSet assigned, that might work...

[Muroj]

On 2/20/2024 at 2:09 PM, scorrp10 said:

Even that is considered dialogue.     Just not player-driven kind.   Except instead of using voice files, it might be pointing at  SoundDescriptor forms.

For example, if you load up CK,  and locate quest:    CreatureDialogueDog

In 'Combat'  tab, it has 2 categories:   Hit and Death, and if you open response of the 'Hit' category, it points at "NPCDogInjured" sound file.   And looking at that sound descriptor, it has 3 possible .wav files, chosen at random.

And in the Misc section of that quest, the 'Hello'  section.    

However, there is indeed a different system existing.    
SoundDescriptor 'NPCDogBardSD'  is used by ImpactData NPCDogBarkImpact.
Which is used by NPCDogBarkImpactSet, which uses NPCDogBarkImpact against pretty much any material.

which is used by NPCDogBarkFootstep (tagged NPCDogBark), which is part of NPCDogFootWalkFootstepSet, which is assigned to various 'dog torso' armor addons.

That FootstepSet aside from the usual  FootBack/FootFront, also has Attack, AttackPower,  IdleScratch, IdleShake, IdleWhine, AggroWarning 'Footsteps'

My understanding is that "Footstep Tag"  is what is used in a specific animation idle to indicate a moment to generate a sound.

So if you create your own footstep set with same tags, potentially reusing some of the vanilla 'footsteps', but pointing at your own sounds for others, and your custom dog also belongs to DogRace and thus uses DogProject behavior graph, but  has a custom body Armor Addon with a custom FootstepSet assigned, that might work...

thank you SO MUCH for this! it helped me figure it out and i got the barking noises working by trying out your theory with the footstep tag  now for combat sounds!

edit: i've also decided to make a custom race for him anyway since loading a save would make him turn back into a regular dog. just need to get that new info into the DialogueFollower quest.

Edited March 4 by Muroj