It's around Halloween, so this is worth mentioning, too:

They've finally got around to releasing an updated version of the original System Shock. Now, System Shock 2 is one of my all-time favorites, but it's one of the usual suspects and you've probably checked it out anyway. The original, on the other hand, used to be quite funky when it comes to running the game on modern systems. They've collected various unofficial patches from the community, worked on them, and released System Shock: Enhanced Edition. It's the same old classic, but without clunky controls (now you can mouse-look) and with higher res support (1024x768 + scaling filters). Plus, you don't need DOSbox anymore, so the game runs smoothly!

Is it a horror game? Yeah, I guess. But not that much more so than AD&D games filled with ghouls, ghasts, zombies and whatnot. It's action-oriented, but all the fun comes from interactive exploration, as well as immersion provided by crew-member audio logs and one of the best nemesis-type character concepts ever.

First, check out the classic intro and a little bit of gameplay.

Then take a look at some config advice.

I don't recommend installing any addons other than the virtual midi. There's one which matches the text logs with audio, but I don't think it's how it was intended to be.

Both System Shock and the sequel are often on sale, so this is just a heads-up.

What exactly was wrong with the restored soundsets? I'll be starting a BG2 playthrough sometime soon, so I might keep an eye (ear) on these things.

By the way, this:

SAY [offset] ~~ [resref]

means there are currently no subtitles for the restored lines, right?

I guess it's probably too much work finding the right strings (if they even exist) or using TRA.

Here's version 2.5 Beta 3: download (if you want to check it out before the file uploader gets fixed).
 
EDIT: This is an updated beta version. I've corrected some soundsets including: Sarevok, Husam, Bjornin, Bartender, Winthrop, Innkeeper, Butler, Mr. Colquette, Doppleganger, Greater Doppleganger, Whelp, Nessie, Serving Wench, Oogie, Male Commoner and a couple more. I'm currently working on all the commoners, townsfolk, villagers, etc.
 
I've been tweaking soundsets, so take a look at some of the changes:
 

Aldeth: 1x SELECT_COMMON moved to SELECT_RARE.
Bartender: 1x SELECT_COMMON moved to SELECT_RARE.
Bjornin: changed INITIAL_MEETING.
Brage: a crazed laughter/crying as IDLE.
Butler (Mr. Colquette's): changed INITIAL_MEETING and SELECT_COMMON.
Cadderly: 1x new SELECT_RARE, restored DYING (repaired audio file thanks to Sam.).
Cow: restored DYING and corrected IDLE slots.
Commoner (Male): restored DAMAGE (string correction).
Davaeorn: restored MORALE, 1x new SELECT_COMMON.
Doppleganger: corrected BATTLE_CRY and SELECT_COMMON.
Dradeel: sighing as IDLE.
Drizzt: 1x SELECT_COMMON moved to SELECT_RARE.
Gellana: restored DAMAGE and DYING.
Gorion: revamped SELECT_COMMON slots and 1 moved to SELECT_RARE.
Ochre Jelly: completely restored the soundset.
Greater Basilisk: fixed a pop in DYING audio file.
Greywolf: restored MORALE.
Hobgoblin: attenuated the soundset, 1x new BATTLE_CRY.
Horse: restored DYING.
Hurgan: restored DAMAGE and DYING.
Husam: completely revamped to differentiate between the undercover and the revealed versions.
Innkeeper: 1x new SELECT_RARE.
Irlentree: 1x new SELECT_COMMON.
Krystin: restored MORALE.
Mulahey: restored MORALE.
Mr. Colquette: changed INITIAL_MEETING and SELECT_COMMON, removed IDLE.
Nimbul: restored MORALE.

Oogie: changed INITIAL_MEETING and SELECT_COMMON, removed IDLE.
Performer: changed INITIAL_MEETING, SELECT_COMMON and IDLE.
Priestess of Umberlee: changed BATTLE_CRY and SELECT_COMMON.
Sarevok: completely revamped to differentiate between the Duchal Palace and the final encounter versions, improved IDLE, restored 1 audio file.
Seagull: restored 2x IDLE.

Serving Wench: 2x new SELECT_COMMON, 1x new SELECT_RARE, 1x new IDLE.
Silke: restored SELECT_COMMON.
Slythe: restored MORALE.
Squirrel and rat: restored DAMAGE, DYING, SELECT_COMMON and IDLE.
Surgeon: restored DAMAGE and DYING.
Taerom: removed the dwarven BATTLE_CRY.
Tazok: completely revamped the soundset, 2x new IDLE.
Tranzig: a louder soundset, removed IDLE.
Volo: restored MORALE, 2x SELECT_COMMON moved to SELECT_RARE.
Winthrop: removed the inappropriate SELECT_RARE.
Watcher: restored SELECT_RARE.

Whelp: an additional IDLE.
Wyvern Baby: removed flapping from BATTLE_CRY.
Wolf: completely restored the soundset.
Dread Wolf: restored ATTACK.
Wolfwere & Werewolf: completely revamped to differentiate between types and species, restored howls upon transformation.

All the other monsters: restored or added IDLE sound effects whenever possible. Enjoy the cacophony.

Oh, and some modder notes:
- I couldn't get pitch variation and volume variation in dialog.tlk to work.
- volume variation in area ambients doesn't seem to work, either.
- pitch variation in area ambients works fine; a value of 4 gives good (subtle) results, anything higher will make your sounds funny.
- day/night ambient volume in area songs is a bit funky. 10 seems to be the minimum playback volume level.
- there are 2 slots for both day and night ambients in area songs: short (1) and extended (2). Normally, only the extended slot is chosen for playback. Perhaps the short one was intended to be played on weaker systems.

OK, I'm done with NPC and monster soundsets. Just commoners, bartenders and noblemen left.

Here's the thing, though: now almost all monsters have random IDLE sound effects, and that equals to quite a cacophony in large battles or areas with bunched-up enemies... Personally, I like it, but I'm not sure if it isn't too much. For instance, Balduran's ship is like a spook show -- all those growls, mumbles and howls give you the creeps... and a headache.

There are a lot of problems with soundsets, but unlike BG2, I doubt they were cut -- more like classic slips and lack of scrutiny.

When it comes to the wolfweres, I've decided to divide them into the following groups:

Lesser Wolfwere - sound effects borrowed from Dire Wolf (not exactly the same!)

Wolfwere - Dread Wolf

Greater Wolfwere - Vampiric Wolf

I've revamped the werewolf soundsets completely, too, so that they have attack sounds, morale sounds (unlikely) and proper howls upon transformation.

As far as the cock's crow is concerned, the sound effect should begin around the time the player starts noticing gradual night->day lighting changes. It's played around three times (random) over 3-5 real minutes, with some pitch variance. So far, I've narrowed it down to these rural areas:

AR0400 Farmlands

AR1000 Ulgoth's Beard

AR1400 Fishing Village

AR2300 Friendly Arm

AR2600 Candlekeep

AR2626 Candlekeep Ch. 6

AR3300 Beregost

AR4000 Gullykin

AR4800 Nashkel

Which (other) areas should have it?

Also, would you mind hearing pigs grunting and squealing even though there aren't any pigs in the game?

NumSamples in the ACM Header shouldn't be 0.  Mathematically I would have thought it should be 40144, but acmtool gives a warning about having to add filler_samples.  Using 35328 instead results in that warning not being given.  In either case, I think the decoded file is audibly the same.

Ok, I didn't look at the ACM header. Yep, you've fixed it, all right! The value of 40144 works just fine and results in a nice and clean sound. 35328, however, crashes PSgui (it still decodes the file) and produces an audible pop at the end of the audio file.

Thanks!

Hey Sam.,

Do you want to take a look at CADER09.wav (BG1)? It seems to be broken, too, but it's a WAVC this time. Just by inspecting the header in XVI32, everything looks fine... or does it?

This is just BG1 on its own engine, right?  None of this applies to a BGT/BG2 install?

Yeah, this is only for the original BG1. BGT/TuTu comes next on my list. Then BGEE, if I ever get it again. You can expect to find most of the small tweaks for the BG2 engine in my Infinity Sounds mod in some time.

I'd always thought BG1 didn't have that many problems with sounds. Now it seems BGT has the advantage because of TobEx -- it unlocks these additional attack sounds, for example. And some of you guys have fixed the IDLE/EXISTANCE slots. Awesome!

I'll be definitely revamping the IDLE sound effects, though, as only a bunch of creatures have them assigned. Take hobgoblins: you can hear their shriek from outside the visual range, which is really cool for a few reasons. I believe more creatures should have that.

Hmm, interesting find: Certain creatures have special attack sounds, referenced as "ATTACK_1 - 4." These sounds will be played only if the creature's weapon isn't set to any common weapon type (these use hardcoded sound effects). So, if the creature's weapon type is set to Misc/Book (by default), ATTACK_1 will be played each attack animation is made, with a minor pitch variance (hardcoded; can't adjust the variance through dialog.tlk). However, ATTACK 2-4 slots seem to be bugged and won't ever be played. I guess this carried over to BG2, but Ascension64 fixed it in TobEx. That's why wolves and bears always sound almost the same when they attack -- with only a slight variance.

I've also noticed werewolves have weird soundsets. Their attacks are completely silent! There are audio files which fit attack slots for both werewolves and greater werewolves, but these have been dumped into battle cries. I've been thinking of giving wolfweres a separate soundset (more wolfish perhaps?) to mark the difference between the two species.

Oh, and an *updated my journal* thing: don't bother with pitch and volume variance values in dialog.tlk -- don't seem to work.

Tash, I would suggest you use fj_are_structure instead of winging your own ARE patch. There are egde cases and possible complications that your code does not handle. Kudos on the addition, however.

Hey, Wisp. I've checked it out and it's a pretty cool feature. I assume it handles all the offsets by itself, right?

    ACTION_FOR_EACH area IN ~AR0400.are~
                            ~AR1000.are~
                            ~AR1400.are~
                            ~AR2300.are~
                            ~AR3300.are~
                            ~AR4000.are~
                            ~AR4800.are~ BEGIN
      COPY_EXISTING ~%area%~ ~override~
        PATCH_IF (SOURCE_SIZE > 0x11c) BEGIN
          LPF fj_are_structure
            INT_VAR
            fj_loc_x          = 0 // Ignored
            fj_loc_y          = 0 // Ignored
            fj_radius         = 0 // Ignored
            fj_loc_z          = 0 // Ignored
            fj_volume         = 80
            fj_delay          = 40
            fj_variation      = 20
            fj_sound_num      = 1
            fj_schedule       = 32
            fj_flags          = 5
            STR_VAR
            fj_structure_type = ambient
            fj_name           = Cock
            fj_wav_resref0    = AMB_E38C
          END
        END
    END

There's a problem, though: DLTCEP tells me it has to reorder the structure to meet the standard. My previous patch follows the original BG1 structure, looks perfectly fine in NearInfinity raw representation and doesn't give any errors like that. (I could add PATCH_IF offset size checks to see if all the other structures are really after ambients to be extra safe.)

Also, I can't seem to find INT_VARs to change the pitch and volume variance. They're not documented in the readme.

Well, it's a farm sound, it plays somewere between 6AM to 7 AM, which is actually wrong... it could be as early as 4AM here... if it's the cock-a-doodle-doo sound, aka the rooster sounding that the "morning has begun".

Well, now, you seem to know quite a bit about farmlife, Imp. What you said is true, too. On the other hand, the melatonin theory considered, there should be enough daylight to stimulate our fine exemplar of poultry. Within the game limits, 6am seems to be the sweet spot to begin all the crowing -- anything before that is too dark. Note that "6am" (aka "bit 5") actually means 5:30-6:30 in the game.

Yeah, I've restored a bunch of unused farm ambients, including cockcrow, pigs and horses. Farmland and the Fishing Village will have a new (previously unused) looping background ambient with additional farmish sounds. Way too cool!

Nah, I'm really bad at playing BG1. Never saw the appeal.

Say what?

Also, I actually do have faith in the BG1UB team, they'll do this soon.

Well, all I know is that I'm doing it right now!

Dying sounds were removed from the final game, curiously enough
And I should know, I've spent literal workdays fixing that

Hey, Almateria. I know you've done a great job restoring proper soundsets in BG2. Have you fixed all the BG1 creature soundsets as well?
 
Also... Who can guess what this brings to the game?

    ACTION_FOR_EACH area IN ~AR0400.are~
                            ~AR1000.are~
                            ~AR1400.are~
                            ~AR2300.are~
                            ~AR3300.are~
                            ~AR4000.are~
                            ~AR4800.are~ BEGIN
      COPY_EXISTING ~%area%~ ~override~
        PATCH_IF (SOURCE_SIZE > 0x11c) BEGIN
          READ_SHORT 0x82 ambient_count
          READ_LONG  0x84 ambient_offset
          INSERT_BYTES (ambient_offset + 0xd4*ambient_count) 0xd4
          WRITE_ASCII (ambient_offset + 0xd4*ambient_count) ~Cock~ #32
          WRITE_LONG (ambient_offset + 0xd4*ambient_count + 0x28) 5 // Pitch variance
          WRITE_SHORT (ambient_offset + 0xd4*ambient_count + 0x2c) 20 // Volume variance
          WRITE_SHORT (ambient_offset + 0xd4*ambient_count + 0x2e) 80 // Volume
          WRITE_LONG (ambient_offset + 0xd4*ambient_count + 0x84) 60 // Period
          WRITE_LONG (ambient_offset + 0xd4*ambient_count + 0x88) 20 // Period variance
          WRITE_LONG (ambient_offset + 0xd4*ambient_count + 0x90) 5 // Flags
          WRITE_LONG (ambient_offset + 0xd4*ambient_count + 0x8c) 0x00000060 // Schedule 6am - 7am
          WRITE_ASCII (ambient_offset + 0xd4*ambient_count + 0x30) ~AMB_E38C~ #8 // Resref 1
          WRITE_SHORT (ambient_offset + 0xd4*ambient_count + 0x80) 1 // Sound count
          SET ambient_count += 1
          WRITE_SHORT 0x82 ambient_count
          READ_LONG 0x88 variable_offset
          WRITE_LONG 0x88 (variable_offset + 0xd4)
          READ_LONG 0xa8 doors_offset
          WRITE_LONG 0xa8 (doors_offset + 0xd4)
          READ_LONG 0x7c vertex_offset
          WRITE_LONG 0x7c (vertex_offset + 0xd4)
          READ_LONG 0xb8 tiled_offset
          WRITE_LONG 0xb8 (tiled_offset + 0xd4)
          READ_LONG 0xb0 anim_offset
          WRITE_LONG 0xb0 (anim_offset + 0xd4)
          READ_LONG 0xa0 explored_offset
          WRITE_LONG 0xa0 (explored_offset + 0xd4)
          READ_LONG 0xbc song_offset
          WRITE_LONG 0xbc (song_offset + 0xd4)
          READ_LONG 0xc0 rest_offset
          WRITE_LONG 0xc0 (rest_offset + 0xd4)
        END
    END

BG2 is an old game with old specs, but a MegaInstall game presumably taxes the system more. (...)

That's true. All these system requirements assume that you play the game as conceived by the designers.

I still use a single-core CPU on my legacy rig (it's a 2.2Ghz Athlon) and I can't play Stratagems. Great mod but those bloat-scripts are simply too much for my system.

Is it possible to use all the stuff in this mod that infinity sounds does not contain by doing the following? (...)

I'm going to take a look at BGT some time later. I've just finished the original game and want to tick all the things I've noted down first. At this point, there really isn't that much you're missing out on.

When I'm done with this, Infinity Sounds will be missing only the tweaked ambients/soundsets (some slots are unoccupied, some audio files aren't referenced in dialog.tlk) and volume adjustments (Hobgoblins are way too loud, Tranzig's too quiet; I'm looking for more). And I'm not sure how many things Ascension64's already caught.

So, bottom line, it's probably not worth messing with BGT install; I'll try to add all the stuff to Infinity Sounds anyway.

I've just learnt how to modify the original BG1 dialog.tlk-based creature soundsets through WeiDU, and I'm going to correct some of them. From what I've gathered so far, Horse.cre and Cow.cre both have unoccupied "Dying" slots and won't play proper sound effects -- these are now fixed.

What other creature or minor NPC soundsets need some finishing touches?

Oh, and I'm also thinking of boosting the volume of Tranzig's audio files as he's almost inaudible in the original game.

PoE currently at -33%.

Fallout series is finally back! You can grab a bundle at -66%.

Morrowind and the other pre-Oblivion games are now available. I'm not into the series, personally, but Morrowind definitely deserves a mention here.

No clue whether vanilla BG1 behaves like that though... never played it - maybe someone can confirm

Serious?

I'm doing a BG1 + TotSC run and I can confirm this; the city is the only area with a day/night movie.

On a side note, the restored Elfsong Tavern movie from the BG1UB either crashes my game or doesn't play at all -- I'll have to remember to make some further tests.

B r e a k i n g   N e w s: A lunatic mage's victim rolls a successful save against Charm Person!

Do you remember situations in BG in which charmed NPCs revealed those extra tidbits that you could brag about to your classmates back when it was still cool? I used to have a nice list of those; now it's all but lost and forgotten. And I guess nobody would feel like DLTCEPing all the dialog files just for the lines. That would be just lame.

Let's reminisce in a collective attempt to make a neat and spoiler-free list of all the people one might want to cast Charm Person at to grab some funny or interesting pieces. This might be helpful for those playing for the second time, looting virtually everything -- including words.

These are from my current BG1 playthrough:

Xzar

Dynaheir

Viconia

(I really wanted to put Safana on the list, but no cigar. Well, OK, maybe just to build up one's self-confidence, heh)

Nimbul (this one is famous for a reason)

Centeol (infamous for a reason...)

Iron Throne big-shots: Rieltar, Davaeorn

Sonner and his fishermen pals

Yago

Marek

And last but not least, my personal favorite, the mystic woman herself... the nameless Cloakwood Mines cook! Yeah, baby!

There's more coming... What do you guys remember? Let's stick to worthwhile info, not necessarily all the possible dialog lines.

The Summer Sale is back and you can grab a bunch of goodies cheap enough, including: System Shock 2, Thief trilogy, Jade Empire, Arcanum, The Witcher trilogy, the "Enhanced Editions," and Gothic series. Sadly, Pillars of Eternity and The Witcher 3 are at only -10% -- but still!

Very cool idea with the trailer. Perhaps oddly enough, we don't get to see any dialog or interaction bits. Mystery shrouds this man's personality -- is he that much on the anti-heroic side? A "shadow-cowboy without cows"?

The new spells seem to be quite a hook, here. I'd definitely like to check out how it all plays together, with the things he has to say and the backstory.

You've done a good job restoring and muxing the Elfsong Tavern movie, Sam.!

I've been thinking about the background music. While you've chosen a great piece, some may consider it strange taking the available lore into account. "No music is permitted on the premises of the Elfsong," is what all the cool guys say. Of course, nobody says that the piece is actually played by a bard inside the actual tavern, so the cool guys might as well change their locale.

For Sounds of the Sword Coast, I've come up with an idea to replace the standard tavern music with a sporadic area ambient made of some isolated vocals from Dark Alliance. I'm still not sure about it, though. What do you think? If it sounds good, the same could potentially be done in the movie.

Infinity Sounds v1.3

• Included a neat HTML readme.
• Improved the code to keep up with the standards.
• Restored all the essential BG1 spell casting sound effects.
• Corrected the spell casting schools of a dozen spells.
• Adjusted the sound effect parameters of Horror and the innate variants of Protection from Evil and Larloch's Minor Drain.
• Restored the original volume of the BG1 character soundsets, spell casting voices and sound effects, save for minor tweaks.
• Reduced the volume of leather armor movement sound effects.
• Changed the sound effects of the Wand of Polymorphing, the Wand of Paralyzation and the Bolt of Polymorphing for more consistency with spells.
• Restored the sound effect of the Bolt of Lightning.
• Added a few redundancy checks for BGT to reduce unnecessary clutter.
• Higher compatibility due to smart patching methods.

Hey, now there's a smart HTML readme! I'd like to extend my thanks to Sam. for his awesome customizable templates and the hosting of my readmes.

You'll probably notice there are some additional prompts for the component "Restored BG1 Spell Casting Sound Effects." I wanted to allow a bit more customization, but I wasn't exactly sure which sound effects to put into that category. So, I apologize if it turns out to be only a hassle for you. Anyways, check out the new tweaked BG1 Dimension Door sound effect which matches the BG2 spell animation. Yeah!

At this point, I can safely say that I've restored all the essential BG1 sound effects. I intend this mod to be compatible with everything else out there. Soo, as always, I'd appreciate any reports.

Thanks for your explanation. I'm going to install the mod for my next BG1 playthrough.

By the way, I've recently listened to the old interview on IER. It's good that you're still around -- the City would've long crumbled without your vigil!

Probably the final version as I'm done with BG.

This is what initially led me to believe it wasn't a "whole another thing" and that Yovaneth stopped fixing more lightmaps as he simply completed his onetime playthrough.

Is this not superceded by Yovaneth's most recent work, BG Graphics Overhaul?  I have both, and it looks like everything that this mod does, Overhaul does as well and then some.

That's true only if you play BGT, TuTu or BGEE; the original game isn't supported in the mod, as far as I know.

I apologize for this audacious thread resurrection, but I'm a bit confused. Has this mod ever been finished? In other words, does "done" mean "quit playing and modding the original game" or "it's complete and there's nothing else to fix"?

Oh, OK. These are probably the extra prompts I've added to "Restored BG1 Spell Casting Sound Effects." They work in the same way as the setup questions in 1PPv4; the extra prompts won't show up in the WeiDU log.