Source Code

   TUTORIAL 2: Changing the Music on Each Level

   Welcome back, everybody! Did you enjoy your ceiling color lesson? Did you skip it? You idiot! <laughs> No, it doesn't matter. Anyway, if you thought ceiling colors were easy, you'll probably laugh at how easy changing the music is. And no, you can't put new music in Wolfenstein. Unless you have another game that uses the Wolfenstein engine (and therefore the same music format), and you're damn good (I'm talking Chris Chokan good) with a hex editor. It's been done. I can't do it. Anyway, for those of you who are content with just rearranging the songs for a little variety with their new levels, this tutorial is for you.

Step 1.
   Open up your favorite text editor. (I actually use DOS Edit.)
Step 2.
   Open the file WL_PLAY.C from your Wolfy source code directory.
Step 3.
   Do a text/ASCII search for "int songs", or if you haven't changed anything yet, go right down to line 105. The section is nicely commented (hugely commented, actually) so you'll know when you've found it.

   All right, take a gander at the list before you. You'll see a bunch of funny names like GETTHEM_MUS and SEARCHN_MUS, one for each line. And a whole lot of 'em too. In case you haven't figured it out by now (and if you haven't, must I clobber you to unfreeze your brain?), each name represents a song that will play on a game level. They're listed in sequential order, from level 1 to level 60. It's commented pretty well as to which episode you're looking at, so I don't need to explain that.

   If you've ever played around with Robert's Jukebox, you probably recognize the 8.3 abbreviations of the various song titles. If you don't recognize them by name, hopefully you know Wolfenstein well enough to know which song is which by what level it is assigned to play on.

   Here's a screenshot for you:

Source code image

   So, to change the music on a level, just type a different name in its slot.

Step 4.
   Pick the level you want to change the music on, and put in a different song name. Be careful not to delete the comma after each name, or the compiler will throw a fit. Try HITLWLTZ_MUS...it's the Spear of Destiny copy protection music. Yes, it's actually in this game. For a really weird one, try VICMARCH_MUS. It's been in the game all along, but it was never used. It's sort of an upbeat, march-style alternate version of the high scores screen music. Not bad for a happy-go-lucky boss floor or secret level.
Step 5.
   If you want to change the game title screen music, high scores screen music, or main menu music, then open WL_MENU.C and do a text search for "_MUS" (no quotes). That'll locate all music references in the file. For the intermission music, open WL_INTER.C and search for the same thing. Hmm... MENU... INTERmission...see how intuitive this is?
Step 6.
   Save and compile any source files you changed to your liking.
Step 7.
   Go try it out! What, you need me to keep telling you this? :)

   That's all there is to it. Turn up the speaker system and enjoy the groovy FM tunes for a while. When you're ready for more cool stuff, head on over to the next tutorial.


On to the next tutorial: Changing the Secret Elevator Back Maps


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