[WIP/RELEASE] Non-Wimpy Steamer Sounds

[Krakr]

Here's some new steam loco sounds and smoke, and a modded steamer that uses them. These sounds are far less wimpy than the defaults. I'm going to call this a WIP/RELEASE for now in case someone has a good suggestion for changes or improvements, and because there's some tweaking possible in the settings (or at least the ones I understand). The included files do not overwrite any existing files that I know of.

THE LOCOMOTIVE: "US Pacific mod" (USPACIF2.DAT)
The new engine and whistle sounds are all recordings of a running US Pacific locomotive, so I've included a mod of the original Locomotion Pacific that includes all the changes.

THE CHANGES
1. LOCOMOTIVE RUNNING SOUND: "US Steam Engine - Med Lge" (SNDSENG1.DAT)**
Gone is the goofy hissing sound that you can barely hear anyway. In its place is a recording of an actual running Pacific locomotive. The sound is heard continuously anytime it's moving >= 12MPH. The chugging rate changes with speed.

2. EFFECTS: "Steam Puff2" (STEAM2.DAT) (Chug sounds and exhaust effect)

. . . A. Chug Sounds, 8 files: "Pacific Chug x" (sndch2x.dat) Where x is a letter a-d.
These are the individual chug sounds heard when the loco first starts, or when it's bogged down on a hill. They were taken from the sound described above so their tones would match. Furthermore, their sequence has been changed to 'a,as,b,bs,c,cs,d,ds' to match the real sound, as opposed to the original (and I think incorrect) sequence of 'a,b,c,d,as,bs,cs,ds'. (feedback on this is welcome).

. . . B. Smoke Effect
Included in Steam Puff2 is a slightly darker exhaust effect. None of the shapes are changed. I merely ran a PS Action that changed each pixel's palette index to the next darker shade on each sprite. Original smoke was palette index 16-21. This smoke is index 15-20. It's not a big change, and you might only notice the difference when near another steamer you can compare it to, but it's possible to go even darker.

3. NEW WHISTLE SOUNDS
Four Pacific whistle variations included:
. . . . a. SNDPACW1.DAT . . . 1 long.
. . . . b. SNDPACW2.DAT . . . 2 short.
. . . . c. SNDPACW3.DAT . . . 1 short, 1 long.
. . . . d. SNDPACW4.DAT . . . 2 long, 1 short, 1 long. (US crossing sequence, 10 seconds long).

The included locomotive uses b. for starting, and c. for crossings. I opted to use the shorter duration whistle for crossings because the US crossing sequence (d.), even after shortening, doesn't finish until the locomotive is well beyond the crossing, unless it's going really slow. And Locomotion, in its silliness, will start a second instance of the whistle on the same locomotive while the first one is still playing if it encounters another crossing soon enough. It does this with all the horns and whistles. However, feel free to use whatever suits you (vehicle editing required).

Place the download in a temp or download directory of your choice and extract in place.
Complete instructions and permissions included in the Documentation folder.
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** These sounds are intended for medium-large displacement US engines. They're inappropriate on smaller steamers. I may be able to come up with an even more bellowing set of sounds for the really big ones if there's any interest. And I also have some recordings of small to medium displacement steamers.

ZINGER - Did you know you can comment the xml file without affecting Locotool? . . . You did? . . . Where's it posted?

[Deewalla]

Hum... Followed the instructions on how to add them to other Steam Locomotives. (In this case, USSEK421 and USSEK422) However, once converting the Xml file back into a dat and restarting Locomotion...

JET STEAMERS!!!

I laughed for a bit as my K4 Pacifics now started and slowed down with Jet sounds.

Copyed and Pasted the new code lines right out of your instructions. Are you sure comments in the Xml work? Going to try to re-edit the comments out and see if that fixes it. *Removed the Comments from the xml and re-converted. Still have Jet K4's.* =D

Did any of the other Downloaders have an issue?

**Huzzah for Backups. Restalled "original" dats for the K4's**

-Dee

[Krakr]

JET STEAMERS!!!

Saved game? Subject Locomotive(s) already running in that game?

1. First, be absolutely certain you've enabled ALL the new sounds. The list begins in the instructions with the word "IMPORTANT!!". The minimum to enable in order to mod a different loco with the xml snippets for a saved game is 12. 14 if you want access to all 4 whistles. And 15 to use the loco supplied. If you're uncertain, run Locomod again and re-check.

2. Once you've verified item 1. Stop the train. Trash-can the locomotive, and re-buy it.

Are you sure comments in the Xml work?

Those xml snippets were copied right off the xml I used to compile the included locomotive, and it works just fine.

[Deewalla]

Aaah. Thats what I missed. Editing and Enabling the sound.

Installed Locomod, opened the save game with it, enabled the sounds then edited the xml's. Then opened the game and now my K4's now have your Pacific sounds. Fantastic!

It will be nice to have some different sounding engines running down my mainline now.

-Dee

[tngjstn]

Say guys,

Is there any software and plug-ins that can be used to generate custom sounds for locomotives?

From,
Tngjstn