TUTORIAL: Adding/Replacing Music with the Creation Kit

[Bolisaris]

Okay I realize that this is an old topic but I have just started to mod this game and want to ADD my own custom music not just replace.

 

This is the first real mod I have attempted and although the problems mentioned so far are relevant they do not reflect the problem I am experiencing.

 

I have followed the tutorial TO THE LETTER and sure enough all the custom music is saved quite easily and safely by the editor and all the music plays in game just the way I want it to, I will explain how I put my music in the game first.

 

I create a wav file at 16Mhz and at 41.000 as a mono file, store it in a folder called Music in the Skyrim data folder, within CK I create a Music Track and mane it something like MUSDungeon04.wav, then I create a Music Type called MUSDungeon01 and add my file to it using single track. I then put in a trigger (defaultAddMusicTrigger) and point it to the Music Type I created. I then SAVE the plugin and it saves okay. I then tested it by opening the Skyrim game and COC'ing to my plugin and sure enough the music plays on entering and passing through the trigger.

 

But if I close CK and restart it at a later date and load the plugin then try to save it (even if I make no changes) then CK crashes with a "The program has stopped working" windows error.

 

If this is due to the Update.esp being loaded too then we have a problem with the grey face problem as the Update.esp fixes this.

 

Sorry if I am being a little thick here but as I say I am new to modding and would like to get this to work.

 

I have tried this without using the trigger, just using the cell properties and still get the same result. But If you point to the track each time before you save it is OK. This is obviously a bug in CK which needs to be addressed by Bethesda soonest.

Edited July 15, 2012 by Bolisaris

[steve40]

That CTD is an old bug from the first release of the CK. Update your CK to the LATEST VERSION.

[Bolisaris]

That CTD is an old bug from the first release of the CK. Update your CK to the LATEST VERSION.

 

I do not get the close to desktop, the sounds play fine in the game it is when the CK is closed and the plugin subsequently re saved that CK crashes because the music location has not been saved.

 

I am using version 1.4.23.0 of the CK. I will need to look at steam to see if there is an update.

Edited July 16, 2012 by Bolisaris

[Sylantax]

So now have the Halloween theme song playing when my character is crawling around in the dungeon/cave I made....

[Teirdalin]

Not wanting to necro an old thread, but it seems nobody really added a definite way to fix the CTD issue. Anyways I figured out a way around it when looking at the other audio files, first off you do everything as the tutorial states, but then delete your .wav that you've placed in your skyrim music folder and replace it with a .xwm version of it with the same name. Even though the CK is pointing at a .wav Skyrim tries to read it as a .xwm it appears. Fixed my music crashes. :thumbsup:

[zumma]

Ok ... NOW, my Creation Kit (v1.8.151.0) crashes every time i try to edit or create a new Music Track upon closing the 'music track window' either with OK or Cancel ... so i don't get as far as Saving.

 

I did manage to create 3 Music Tracks (using the same process but without getting crashes ... don't know why) ... first as .wavs, then i converted them to .xwms and forced the CK to recognize them, and they play well in game. It's just that the CK doesn't let me to add any new ones or edit the existing ones, without crashing promptly. I don't have the blank path issue ... the path points correctly to my custom music directory /+musicfile.xwm. So there is no need to change anything just open a music track window press Cancel and CRASH.

[godmademedoit]

Glad someone resurrected this thread before I did haha, but I'm currently doing my degree in music tech and wanted something games-related for my project.. and (possibly foolishly) decided oh, skyrim has a nice editor! *sigh*

Anyway, been spending most of today trying to get a simple .wav track to play and despite apparently having latest Skyrim and CK versions nearly everything I did to get an original, new music object to play caused a crash of some kind. The good news is after quite a lot of faff on I seem to have sorted something.

After reading this thread I noticed people talking about the form ID being the problem, so I set about finding which specific form ID was causing it, and it seems that it's the "Music Track" objects themselves. I tried using TESVSnip to edit the form IDs of music track objects in my mod so they started with "00" instead of "02", and despite a few errors loading up the CK afterwards, doing this to the music track objects appears to fix it. Note that I tried this with all the objects but some freak out and dissapear, but it looks like you just need to edit the Music Track object anyway. This (so far) is my workaround -

• Create Music Track objects in the CK. Give details and link to .wav files stored in data>music>yourfile.wav
• Save project and close CK.
• Open up TESVSnip, load your mod file up.
• Find the Music Track objects, select "edit" and change the Form ID so it starts with "00".
• Save, and load up your mod back in the CK. Ignore any errors that come up. You'll likely get
  

   

  "FORMS: File 'yourmod.esp'
  contains a form with a master file ID but no match in the master file:
  (000012C4)"
   

  where the last number in brackets is of course whatever files you changed to have "00" at the start. This doesn't seem to actually cause any massive problems that I can see apart from this error message (fingers crossed).

• Create a new music type object and embed your desired music tracks in there. It doesn't appear the form ID of music type matters, so no need to snip this one.
• Pick the cell you want your music to apply in and change the "Music Type" dialog in the cell properties to your new music type object. I assume you can do this with the music type option in location objects as well if you want to do it that way. I haven't had time to test this yet but it looks a bit like location music may override specific cell music.
• Save your mod.
• Open up your mod in Skyrim, see if it works. Hopefully it will!

 

Just tested this a couple of times and had no problems thus far. Also tried a couple of tracks morphing into each other on the same Music Type object and that worked nicely too. Also just in case I'd assume that duplicate Form IDs would cause all sorts of hassle so before going over to TESVSnip I use the search all feature in the CK to search the form IDs of any music tracks, change the prefix to "00" and make sure nothing else has it assigned already.

Oh also, bit obvious, but make sure you change your form IDs before assigning your tracks to a type object, otherwise the music type object will lose track and you'll have to relink it anyway.

I should point out I'm yet to try converting .wavs to the compressed format. I'll report back if that works. Also the .wav files I'm using are stereo, 44.1khz, and 16-bit.

EDIT - yes they do and also, I had no problem playing .xwm files without the above workaround for .wav files. Another thing to note is you can link directly to .xwm files in the CK when browsing for files by using the wildcard *.xwm in the filename field when selecting them. The CK threw up no errors for me there and simply loaded in the .xwm file. After using the compressed .xwm files I also experienced no CTDs as I did with .wav files, regardless of the Form ID..
..Which is nice.

Edited February 21, 2013 by godmademedoit

[morrowind1979]

Still(as with every other tutorial regarding creation kit music) doesn't cover boss combat music. How do I make a specific music track only play when in combat with a boss then after the combat has ended go back to the default music??????

[Shadeybladey]

Excellent, glad this thread was resurrected s it looks like just what I needed.

 

~.~

[Silencedoom]

its al about the quality. Use 16 bit and 3200 mhz