MadaxTheShadow
Official Terrarian
Or CCPPWBHFT for short.
This project aims to provide as much information as possible about any issues you may have with wave banks. Putting it all in one place is the easiest way to quickly find solutions to any problems you may encounter without necessarily needing to wait on someone to reply to you.
Table of Contents
Problems with Installing
Where to Install
The most important thing besides finding a wave bank you think you'll like is knowing where to install it. Depending on your operating system and game library, these locations can vary greatly.
Inside this folder you will find a few files including one named "Wave Bank.xwb". Back this file up, either by moving it to a save location or renaming it ("Wave Bank original.xwb" for example) and then copy-paste the new wave bank in its place.
No Sound and/or Music Volume Stays at 0
Nothing like getting no sound at all, eh? Here's the major causes and what to do about them.
First things first: Has the wave bank been updated to the latest Terraria version?
Next is operating system specific: Do you have the correct download for your system?
Lastly lets make sure the file is good to go on your end: Is the file properly named?
Problems with Creating
Creation instructions by StarXStone
Creation instructions by *Emilia K. Fletcher
Quick Wave Bank - easy wavebank creator by trigger_segfault
Installing XACT
XACT is the classic program for making wave banks and it's what the Terraria developers utilize. However, its setup process is quite a pain and seemingly impossible for some. Whatever method you find that works, ensure that you install XNA 4.0. There's been issues with some who used 3.0 and couldn't get the game to load up at all.
Regardless, ignore Visual Studios entirely.
XACT is a program included with the game dev kit known as XNA Studio; however, installation of the kit requires VS 2010. Supposedly the newer versions are backwards compatible and some people have gotten them to work, but it is extremely unstable. If you've managed to install it with this method, then you're probably not even reading this part. Otherwise, your best bet is to just ignore it.
So what do you do instead? You bypass the need for Visual Studios and install XACT through command prompt. There's a full article detailing the instructions for this process: click here to read it. The instructions will ask you to open a commmand prompt with admin privileges and cd it to the folder containing the setup file. You can easily do this by opening File Explorer to the folder, clicking the "File" tab, and then selecting "Open command prompt as administrator" from the cmd prompt dropdown. Everything else should hopefully be an easy breeze.
Making the Wave Bank
There's all sorts of things that can go wrong with making these things, so let's go through them all and find your solution. Some of these only apply to XACT and not Quick Wave Bank.
The wave bank needs to be named "Wave Bank"
The compression preset needs to actually be applied
All files for the soundtrack are ready to go
Creating for Mac and Linux
I like seeing all the new wave banks pop up, but I'm also sad see that most only have one download link. An important note about wave banks is that Mac and Linux require a different compression preset than the one for Windows. They use ADPCM compression versus the xWMA that Windows uses. It's a minor difference, but they're unable to load them and the music will turn itself off. As of the Journey's End update, Windows users can also use wave banks made with ADPCM compression, but the file size is usually substantially larger so it's still recommended to provide the smaller xWMA option. Important to note, you can not make them at the same time (see above).
Fixing for 1.4.1.2+, the infinite sunflower load
As of 1.4.1.2, the game now streams the music from the file instead of loading it into memory on game launch. Your wave bank can be made compatible by changing the type in the wave bank side bar options for XACT and the Options > Advanced dropdown menu for Quick Wave Bank.
Ordered List of Tracks
When you make a wavebank, the files must be copied over in the following order. If you're selecting all at once and dragging them in, be sure to do so from the top or you'll find the list starting in the middle (whichever file you dragged with).
This project aims to provide as much information as possible about any issues you may have with wave banks. Putting it all in one place is the easiest way to quickly find solutions to any problems you may encounter without necessarily needing to wait on someone to reply to you.
Table of Contents
Problems with Installing
Where to Install
The most important thing besides finding a wave bank you think you'll like is knowing where to install it. Depending on your operating system and game library, these locations can vary greatly.
- Windows
- Steam: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Terraria\Content
- GOG: C:\GOG Games\Terraria\Content
- Mac
- Steam: MacintoshHD/Users/(YourUsername)/Library/ApplicationSupport/Steam/SteamApps/Common/Terraria
- Additionally, right-click on the file named "Terraria" and click "Show package contents", then open "Contents", then "MacOS", and then "Content". If the Library folder doesn't appear, hit Command-J and check the "Show Library Folder" box.
Inside this folder you will find a few files including one named "Wave Bank.xwb". Back this file up, either by moving it to a save location or renaming it ("Wave Bank original.xwb" for example) and then copy-paste the new wave bank in its place.
No Sound and/or Music Volume Stays at 0
Nothing like getting no sound at all, eh? Here's the major causes and what to do about them.
First things first: Has the wave bank been updated to the latest Terraria version?
Not all updates add a new score to the soundtrack, but those that do will not allow any wave banks made for the previous version to function. Check the original post and find out if your shiny new soundtrack is compatible with current Terraria. We are currently in 1.4.1.2 with 89 tracks. As of the 1.4.1.2 hotfix, wave banks also require being built for streaming instead of in-memory like all previous updates. You can always check the version number on bottom-left corner of the title screen just in case this post is a bit behind.
Next is operating system specific: Do you have the correct download for your system?
The main program for making wave banks requires a Windows OS to function, so the person providing the wave bank is also most likely using Windows. Point being, everyone has downloads for Windows systems, but not everyone has downloads for Mac and Linux. Mac and Linux require a different file than Windows in order for it to work. The reason being is the compression format the systems use is different. I won't flood you with the details, but if the provider does not have another download link for your system, then either let them know you use Mac/Linux and link them here or just ask them to make one with ADPCM compression.
Lastly lets make sure the file is good to go on your end: Is the file properly named?
It is very important that the name of the wave bank does not differ from "Wave Bank" with an .xwb extension. File names are important to the game reading them. If it can't find it, it won't play it.
Problems with Creating
Creation instructions by StarXStone
Creation instructions by *Emilia K. Fletcher
Quick Wave Bank - easy wavebank creator by trigger_segfault
Installing XACT
XACT is the classic program for making wave banks and it's what the Terraria developers utilize. However, its setup process is quite a pain and seemingly impossible for some. Whatever method you find that works, ensure that you install XNA 4.0. There's been issues with some who used 3.0 and couldn't get the game to load up at all.
Regardless, ignore Visual Studios entirely.
XACT is a program included with the game dev kit known as XNA Studio; however, installation of the kit requires VS 2010. Supposedly the newer versions are backwards compatible and some people have gotten them to work, but it is extremely unstable. If you've managed to install it with this method, then you're probably not even reading this part. Otherwise, your best bet is to just ignore it.
So what do you do instead? You bypass the need for Visual Studios and install XACT through command prompt. There's a full article detailing the instructions for this process: click here to read it. The instructions will ask you to open a commmand prompt with admin privileges and cd it to the folder containing the setup file. You can easily do this by opening File Explorer to the folder, clicking the "File" tab, and then selecting "Open command prompt as administrator" from the cmd prompt dropdown. Everything else should hopefully be an easy breeze.
Making the Wave Bank
There's all sorts of things that can go wrong with making these things, so let's go through them all and find your solution. Some of these only apply to XACT and not Quick Wave Bank.
The wave bank needs to be named "Wave Bank"
The file that you hand out to people isn't the only thing that needs to have the proper name! If the wave bank's name isn't left as the default "Wave Bank" in the project file, the game will not be able to properly read it. Don't ask me why, just trust me. If you need to make many different kinds, I'm afraid you're going to need to do them one at a time.
The compression preset needs to actually be applied
It's not enough to create the compression preset, it also needs to be attached to the wave bank or individual files (my preferred method). Make sure you're not making adjustments for Xbox instead, as well. Isn't too big of a deal, but you might get turned around first time.
All files for the soundtrack are ready to go
They need to be .wav files, and there's plenty of converters out there if you need them. Audacity is my program of choice for both editing and converting. Also be sure you have the right number of tracks for the current version of Terraria. You can find the full list below.
Creating for Mac and Linux
I like seeing all the new wave banks pop up, but I'm also sad see that most only have one download link. An important note about wave banks is that Mac and Linux require a different compression preset than the one for Windows. They use ADPCM compression versus the xWMA that Windows uses. It's a minor difference, but they're unable to load them and the music will turn itself off. As of the Journey's End update, Windows users can also use wave banks made with ADPCM compression, but the file size is usually substantially larger so it's still recommended to provide the smaller xWMA option. Important to note, you can not make them at the same time (see above).
Fixing for 1.4.1.2+, the infinite sunflower load
As of 1.4.1.2, the game now streams the music from the file instead of loading it into memory on game launch. Your wave bank can be made compatible by changing the type in the wave bank side bar options for XACT and the Options > Advanced dropdown menu for Quick Wave Bank.
Ordered List of Tracks
When you make a wavebank, the files must be copied over in the following order. If you're selecting all at once and dragging them in, be sure to do so from the top or you'll find the list starting in the middle (whichever file you dragged with).
That should be all folks! May your days be filled with many happy custom tunes! If you still have any issues, either with this post, installing, or making wave banks, please let me know below. I'll do my best to provide you with all the help I can.
Note: The Complete Compendium of Potential Problems with Wave Banks and How to Fix Them does not claim to be complete and merely uses such phrasing in order to gain a rather catchy name and acronym. Any and all suggestions in good faith to the completeness of this repertoire are gratefully accepted.
Last edited: