Radio Sounds Phase 1.2b FAQ -- 02 December 2002

  1. Introduction
  2. How do I play sounds? How do I bind sounds to a key?
  3. How do I bind a new sound to a key? How is it different from binding the (old) class sounds?
  4. Where can I find a list of the (old) class sounds? / Other questions about class sounds.
  5. Where were the sound files installed? Are there any help files?
  6. Where can I find a complete list of the (new) radio sounds?
  7. Why is the "need more offense" sound a misc sound instead of offense?
  8. Why is there a d_balcony.wav included in the new radio sounds? There's one in the class sounds already!
  9. I tried to send you email and it bounced!

Introduction

Shalom! The last release of the Radio Sounds with WFA 3.3 was a bit of a rush. This time I had a little more warning. I took the FAQ I've been maintaining all year, updated it slightly, and included it with the new radio sounds pack (Phase 1.2b). You can also get the latest FAQ on the official web site. Phase 1.2b represents documentation changes only.

If you have questions, please read this thoroughly first, then look for updates on the official web site. Then join us on ETG in #wfasound (or email me) if you didn't get them answered. We'll probably apply new questions back into the FAQ so we don't have to keep answering them, so check back occasionally.

Please note: I will probably answer "newbie" general questions (such as how to bind keys) if I have time, but I'm not the best nor only source for such things. Come to me only for questions about the male & female radio sounds. And honestly, most questions have been answered either in this FAQ or on the WFA web site somewhere. I've put in a few starter questions here to help out, but if you're having trouble binding keys or understanding how to generate sounds, try one of the official sources first.

That being said, if you do come to me I'll do my best to help. -Katana

Your main two resources for Weapons Factory Arena are:

  1. The official Weapons Factory Arena website;
  2. wfa.us.

I've also got some information on my WFA website, as well as links to further resources.

Q: How do I play sounds? How do I bind sounds to a key?
A: To bind a command to a key, type:

/bind key command

For example, to bind the "move forward" command to the up-arrow, type

/bind uparrow +forward

For more details, see the id documentation that came with Quake (see the help directory), Commander Keen's Quake 3 Arena Console Page, and the WFA documentation (see the WFA\help directory).

For information on the wfplay and wfteamplay commands, check Custom WF Radio in the WFA handbook

To play a sound locally, use the /play command. Only you will hear the sound with this command. The format is:

/play sound.wav

Note that when you play a sound (using any of the commands above), you must specify the relative path, the name, and the extension. The relative path means you specify the path starting from your WFA directory. For example:

/wfteamplay nurse/d_water.wav Enemies incoming through water route!

would play a sound from the C:\Program Files\Quake III Arena\WFA\nurse directory called d_water.wav on a standard installation.

When you bind to a key, remember to leave off the leading "/". You only need that when you type into the console. The command for binding the above example to the W key is:

/bind w wfteamplay nurse/d_water.wav Enemies incoming through water route!

From now on when you hit W, it will play the nurse sound file for everybody on your team and display "Enemies incoming through water route!" on their screens.

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Q: How do I bind a new sound to a key? How is it different from binding the (old) class sounds?
A:

The class sounds are kept in class directories, thus:

  • Gunner: gunner/d_balcony.wav
  • Engineer: engineer/d_balcony.wav

You can use a special shortcut for your class binds. If you substitute #C for the class, you get:

  • Gunner: #C/d_balcony.wav
  • Engineer: #C/d_balcony.wav

That will play the d_balcony sound for whatever class you are currently playing. The new radio sounds, however, don't have classes -- only gender, male and female. Instead of class directories, they're kept in male/ and female/ directories. Thus:

  • Gunner: female/d_balcony.wav
  • Engineer: male/d_balcony.wav

(Yes, I really did include a d_balcony.wav in the radio sounds.) WFA doesn't include a gender shortcut, so you have to specify the directory for each one. So the binds look like this for the (old) class sounds:

  • All classes: bind b "wfteamplay #C/d_balcony.wav Intruders on the balcony!"
    or
  • Gunner: bind b "wfteamplay gunner/d_balcony.wav Intruders on the balcony!"
  • Engineer: bind b "wfteamplay engineer/d_balcony.wav Intruders on the balcony!"

And like this for the new radio sounds:

  • Gunner: bind b "wfteamplay female/d_balcony.wav Intruders on the balcony!"
  • Engineer: bind b "wfteamplay male/d_balcony.wav Intruders on the balcony!"

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Q: Where can I find a list of the (old) class sounds? / Other questions about class sounds.
A: Check Custom WF Radio in the WFA handbook. There's a set of links at the bottom of the page. These sounds are already documented elsewhere, I don't plan to discuss them in great detail here at this time.

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Q: Where were the sound files installed on my computer? Are there any help files?
A: The files that were installed (relative to your WFA directory) are:
  • WFA-Media-!English-Radio.pk3
The actual radio pack. Use Winzip or WinRAR or other Zip program to open. Don't make any changes to this file!
  • help\!English-Radio-readme.txt
General information file.
  • help\Example-Configs-!English-Radio\
A list of examples. This includes a complete list of the new radio sounds as part of the male.cfg and female.cfg files. This is a directory with multiple files.
  • help\!English-Radio-Sounds-list.htm
  • help\!English-Radio-Sounds-list.txt
A complete list of the sounds in HTML and text formats. The HTML file is arranged more clearly.
  • help\!English-Radio-FAQ.htm
This file.

There's also a copy of the WFA FAQ in your help directory, along with a number of other useful files.

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Q: Where can I find a complete list of the (new) radio sounds?
A: Right here in help\!English-Radio-Sounds-list.htm and help\!English-Radio-Sounds-list.txt.

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Q: Why is the "need more offense" sound a misc sound instead of offense?
A:

A long time ago there was a way to direct your teamplay sounds to your offense and defense. I originally categorized the messages by which group of people they were intended for. If your Defense needs help, they'll be asking it of the Offense, not of themselves, so it should be sent to both groups; therefore it is a miscellaneous message, not a defense message.

As it happens, there is no longer a way to direct your messages to offense or defense only.

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Q: Why is there a d_balcony.wav included in the new radio sounds? There's one in the class sounds already!
A: The new radio sound pack includes an "Enemies at roof!" sound. The Recon has a d_balcony.wav that says, "There are enemies on our roof!" In order to avoid confusion, I included a d_balcony.wav in the new radio pack that says "Enemies at balcony!" so you could override the recon message. I included both male and female versions merely for consistency.

I don't expect anybody to use the new d_balcony.wav for anything except Recon.

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Q: I tried to send you email and it bounced!
A: Due to confusion revolving around my ISP's domain name change, I originally gave my email address as Katana.Quake@bellatlantic.net in the Phase 1.2a readme file. It's actually Katana.Quake@verizon.net. You can also reach me at Katana@oldepharts.net. The readme files have been corrected for Phase 1.2b.

You can also find me via ICQ 3303037, or use an IRC client to connect to irc.enterthegame.com and /join #wfasound.

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