Tags: °sound °SS2

This mod enhances the sound quality of the music in SS2. (As discussed on TTLG.)

April 23rd 2007 "MysteryDev" provided a high quality version of the System Shock 2 soundtrack in a thread on the TTLG forums. I made a small mod so you can enjoy the high quality music in the game.
The tracks were original arrangements by Eric Brosius, mixed as full songs. To make use of them for an updated in-game soundtrack, I had to split most of them into smaller bits, so the DarkEngine song format could play them. The arrangements MysteryDev provided did not offer clean sections of every sound-snippet the game uses, so in some cases I had to adapt and make some minor changes.

In some cases I had to convert the original soundfiles to 44kHz PCM waves without any other changes. This has happened when the respective section was not present in Eric's arrangement, and thus could not be recreated. Although the conversion increases the file size without any quality gain, this was necessary for technical reasons: If I hadn't done this, those files would play at double speed.

You may also note a hiss on some tracks, although it's not quite as bad as in the orignal ADPCM wavs. This hiss is already present in the mixes, and I didn't want to remove it. It would reduce the overall quality of the track and make this whole thing rather pointless.

Installation is simple. Make System Shock 2 mod-ready, then extract the contents of the ZIP file into the game's root directory. SHMUP is a simple replacer mod, which means it is compatible with every mod that doesn't change the original music of the game.

Due to my poor bandwidth, I decided to make it available as a seed on the StrangeBedfellows torrent tracker (thanks Kolya).

Enjoy!

Yes, I'm aware that a SHMUP is usually something different. I just couldn't resist.

On engineering deck when leaving tubes area and entering elevator area (where QBRM is too) and music e1end.wav is supposed to kick in I'm experiencing really disturbing unpleasant loud noise from left channel. Upon removing the mod it's gone.

I've noticed e1end.wav is used from original resources so it's 22khz... maybe a problem with crossfading from 44khz to 22khz.


UPDATE: Yep, it's definitely it. I've converted the file to 44khz and it plays sweet now. I've checked and this was the only file left behind so there should be no other bugs like this. Here's the quick fix to save you the day.

BTW great work and thanks.. it's surely remarkable change.

UPDATE2: If you're going to replace the orginal archive I suggest using 7-zip ultra compression to save 38 MB.

well... I've uploaded the file already but.. whatha.. I'll remove it so there are no confusions here okay?

oh, in that case you did well, mine was not HQ... 

I updated SHMUP with the missing file, made it a 7z archive and added a download from megaupload.com.
See first post.

Sure. Sorry for just updating it in your place. First I only wanted to add the additional download, then I thought, why not add that file, so one thing led to another...  Anyway, looking forward to your next version!
 

If you are using Mozilla Firefox,download this extension.For me it works perfectly.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3843

Still can't download from Mega,,,,, it still wants me to install some toolbar, which I never will, and getting 0kbps on the torrent.

Pitty.

Browser, you gotta go to menu and ENABLE it.

Ummmm no offence intended (truly, no sarcasm either) but, how STUPID do you think most people are, have I been typing as if I'm mentally challenged or something?

<sarcasm>
Next people will be telling my I have to turn on my computer to send emails. God I love how so many people are so condescending online, it really makes it a joy.
</sarcasm>

Sorry but I'm just so tired of it, perhaps in future try asking the person if they've tried something instead of presuming they have some mental deficiency based on the single fact something didn't work for them. Maybe you weren't patronising me, but maybe also try being a little tactful. The only way I can see one saying that to another is either as banter or an insult, since banter is far rarer between strangers,,,

(sorry if I seem aggressive, I really don't mean to attack you. I just wish people, especially on forums, would remember there are other people on other end. It's been a long day  )

Maybe I am stupid, but for me the tip about enabling it in the menu was very helpful one. I installed the firefox addon and thought it does not work. Only after I read your post, I figured what to do. So thank you, and Happy Holidays

Silencer, if the game uses the standard resources I'd say it has problems locating the new files. Check the steps to make SS2 mod-ready again. If you're using graphic updates (SHTUP), are these working?

Yes, I followed Kolya's install instructions for SS2.  The other mods, such as SHTUP, ADaoB, Arcaniac's Models, and Pop's Difficulty are working fine.  For the last one I had to edit the install.cfg as miracle.freak suggested in another thread, so that it knows to use the STRINGS directory.  I already downloaded N.Wegner's install.cfg, but found it matched mine exactly regardless.

I've continued playing through the game.  The new sound packs work, so there's no reason the music shouldn't.  I admit that this could be the result of my simply being unable to distinguish between the old and new tracks, but I'm not far enough in the game to tell just yet.  I checked the discussion on TTLG and someone else alluded to there not being that much of a difference, so maybe it's just me. 

Thanks for the help anyway.