*Emelia K. Fletcher
Terrarian
Custom wave banks (wavebanks? I prefer compounding it) are the method by which you can completely create a custom soundtrack for Terraria. As versions go on and new tracks get added, the only part of the process that changes is the tracklist.
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The process for creating a wavebank goes something like this:
The process for installing a wavebank goes something like this:
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A possible query you might have:
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That should be everything! If you have any questions about this process, feel free to ask below. Credit to this wavebank and its author for clarifying the 1.3.4 tracklist.
(And hey, if you're looking for something new, I maintain the Lapfox Trax Music Mod.)
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The process for creating a wavebank goes something like this:
- Download and install Microsoft Visual Studio: https://www.visualstudio.com/downloads/
- Opt for Visual Studio Community. While the program you're going to get next specifies VS 2010, later versions of Visual Studio should be backwards compatible.
- Download and install Microsoft XNA Game Studio: https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=23714
- Bundled with XNA is XACT, the program you'll use to create a wavebank.
- Make sure you have whatever you're going to use for editing audio files.
- Audacity is a mainstay: http://www.audacityteam.org/
- With applications in hand, first ensure that you can run XACT - this is the program bundled inside XNA. The application's full name is "Microsoft Cross-Platform Audio Creation Tool", and whatever number's tacked on the end doesn't matter. As long as it's at least 3, I think.
- Consult this tracklist. The current tracklist as of 1.3.4 goes:
- 1: Night
2: Eerie (Meteor, Blood Moon)
3: Overworld Day
4: Boss 1 (King Slime, Eye of Cthulhu, Eater of Worlds, Skeletron // Skeletron Prime, Duke Fishron)
5: Title Screen
6: Jungle
7: Corruption
8: Hallow
9: Underground Corruption
10: Underground Hallow
11: Boss 2 (Wall of Flesh // The Twins)
12: Underground
13: Boss 3 (Brain of Cthulhu // The Destroyer, Frost Legion)
14: Snow
15: Space
16: Crimson
17: Boss 4 (Golem)
18: Overworld Day [alternate]
19: Rain
20: Ice
21: Desert
22: Ocean
23: Dungeon
24: Plantera
25: Boss 5 (Queen Bee)
26: Temple
27: Solar Eclipse
28: [rain SFX]
29: Mushroom
30: Pumpkin Moon
31: Underground [alternate]
32: Frost Moon
33: Underground Crimson
34: Lunar Event
35: Pirate Invasion
36: Hell
37: Martian Madness
38: Final Boss (Moon Lord)
39: Goblin Event
40: Sandstorm
41: Old One's Army - This order is absolutely crucial, because wavebanks store tracks by the order they were put in, and Terraria plays the music corresponding with that. This is why the tracklist is so erratic; it's the actual order the game uses.
- 19 is the song played during rain. 28 is the sound effect of rain played over it, and unless you're replacing what rain sounds like, just opt for some rain loop from http://www.freesound.org/ or something.
- This is the only part of the procedure that might get updated from version to version, because new tracks can get added. Everything else should stay the same.
- 1: Night
- Consulted? Good! You're gonna want to keep referring back to that.
Get all your new tracks in order (no, you can't selectively replace; this wavebank needs to contain everything). Tips on doing this:- Make sure they're exported as WAVs.
- If you're going for looping, then edit them so that they loop. Audacity lets you select with pinpoint precision by zooming far in, and you can always test the loop by copying and pasting the segment you want, and seeing what the transition is like.
- I recommend storing your 41 tracks, exported as WAVs, in a folder. The files ought to be numbered, because this makes a next step very convenient.
- Open up XACT. Your interface probably looks something like this.
- Go to File -> New Project (or just hit Ctrl+N), and create your new project in the folder you want. (Name the project whatever you want.) Now it should look like this.
- Right click on Compression Presets (second-to-last item in the screenshots), and hit New Compression Preset. When that's popped up, change the Windows compression format to xWMA. Leave it on quality 60. Now it should look like this.
- Right click on Wave Banks, and hit New Wave Bank. Now it should look like this.
- Here's the careful part. Select all your tracks in the folder (once again, they should all be WAVs), then drag by the first track into the Wave Bank mini-window in XACT. Done right, now it should look like this. Done wrong (you didn't drag by the first track), it'll import them from where you dragged, and then from 1 upwards, like this.
- In the bottom-left panel, open the Compression Preset dropdown, and select your compression preset. Now it should look like this.
- Go to File -> Build (or just hit F7). This might show up. Just hit Finish, and wait for your wavebank to build. Now...
- You should be done! Navigate to the folder you saved the project in. You should have a Win folder, an Xbox folder, and a [project name].xap file.
Go into your Win folder. You should have a [project name].xgs file (which you should ignore), and Wave Bank.xwb, your shiny new custom soundtrack.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The process for installing a wavebank goes something like this:
- Go into Steam's Terraria folder. You can go about this one of two ways:
- Manually navigate to it (Steam\SteamApps\common\Terraria).
- Right-click on Terraria in your Steam library, hit Properties, choose the Local Files tab, and hit Browse Local Files.
- From there, enter the Content folder. You should have a Fonts folder, Images folder, Sounds folder, and a bunch of files. One of those should be Wave Bank.xwb - given you've never replaced it before in this version, this is the game's vanilla wavebank, and it's what you want to replace with the custom wavebank.
- Back that wavebank up; renaming it will do. (My own backups have gotten a little out of hand over time, but better safe than sorry.)
- Paste in your new, custom wavebank. If you're installing what you made from the creation process, that's the Wave Bank.xwb inside your Win folder.
- Rename it to Wave Bank.xwb, if it isn't already called that.
- Open up your game, and if done correctly, your title screen should kick in with your custom soundtrack!
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A possible query you might have:
- All my sound is broken! If I go to the Settings menu and try to bring the Music slider up, it works for a moment and then resets itself again.
- Your wavebank is inappropriate in some way - most likely, it's missing some files. Make sure the wavebank you're using is up to date and correct.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That should be everything! If you have any questions about this process, feel free to ask below. Credit to this wavebank and its author for clarifying the 1.3.4 tracklist.
(And hey, if you're looking for something new, I maintain the Lapfox Trax Music Mod.)
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