Location of sound files

[ericp07]

Hello,

 

I just noticed that one of the mods I have installed for BGII under Mac OS X (Chloe, a joinable NPC) has all her sound files located in the sounds folder (as .wav files), in addition to the override folder (as .ogg files), where most mods I've installed located their sound files, sometimes in both formats. They play when they're supposed to. Deleting the .ogg files is never a problem, as they're already converted. I'm wondering now if moving all .wav files from the override folder to the sounds folder would be OK, meaning the game would find and play them when it's supposed to. If so, this would be another good way to decrease override bloat. Has anyone done this, and did it work? I may just try it, and see what happens. If it works as it should, perhaps it would be a good idea for a mod's install package to specify that sounds be converted/copied into the sounds folder. Any thoughts on this?

 

Happy modding,

Eric

[berelinde]

Sounds are a big part of override bloat, yes, especially for a fully-voiced NPC mod, but I'm not sure it would work. Might be worth experimenting, though. I didn't think that the portraits folder could be used as an override for portraits, either, until Rabain proved it could be done.

[Mike1072]

http://iesdp.gibberlings3.net/misc/override.htm

 

The question should be, would this actually help anything?

[berelinde]

Possibly. Sound files aren't referenced all that often, relatively speaking. Certainly not as often as, say, a creature's override script. Sure, it would take longer to find a sound, but it would take less time to find that override script.

 

Might be worthwhile to do a little research. Maybe try building an installation with a ridiculously huge override (like 1.5GB, or something), then perform a series of tests to measure performance. First, I'd write down the actual size of both the sounds folder and the override folder. I'd recommend observing the game under several different circumstances, like walking, melee combat, combat with spell use, moving between areas, that kind of thing. I'd look at the time it took for the pendulum to make 5 complete swings, qualitatively observe the smoothness of character movement, and note the frequency of CTD. Then I'd move all the sound files to the sounds folder, write down the size of the sounds folder and the override folder, and repeat the procedure.

[Rabain]

I'm wondering how complete this testing is.

 

These folders act as overrides..is it confirmed they act as override folders for all file types or just the ones related to the folder...i.e...Portraits only overrides bmps, Sounds only overrides wavs etc.

 

Can you install a mod completely into the Portraits folder and have it work without any issues?

 

I'm doubting that it would work this way.

 

If it works as I described and only overrides certain file types then it would be better to install to separate folders than all to the override. Due to the fact that surely it is easier for the engine to find xxx.bmp in a portraits folder with 3000 files that it is for it to find xxx.bmp in the override folder with 20000 files. Maybe a small difference but could be worth it.

 

For example is the game engine checking these folders first...before the override just to make sure they don't contain the file? Sounds like it does if the Override is the last one to be checked. It should actually speed up your game if the file is in a folder preceeding the Override...logically...right?

 

 

The only issue I can see arising is where mod A is installed first with some files in the sounds folder, then mod B installs..updating those files...but uses the override folder. Which files will be used by the engine?

[berelinde]

Oh, and one more thing to add to my experiment: time the interval between the appearance of the dialogue box and the playing of the associated WAV file.

 

That would answer your question definitively, Rabain.

[igi]

These folders act as overrides..is it confirmed they act as override folders for all file types or just the ones related to the folder...i.e...Portraits only overrides bmps, Sounds only overrides wavs etc.

 

ITM files definately work in all the 'override' folders.

[ericp07]

After moving all .wav files from override to sounds, my override folder is 187.7MB, and sounds is 1.26GB. When I pay attention to the flow of time in-game, especially to the swinging pendulum, I have to remember that it's already going to be a bit sluggish at times, due to the mods I have installed. However, I'm familiar enough with how things have moved along before making the change, so I should still be able to detect any differences.

 

Already starting to wonder if there are any scripts in override that could be moved to the scripts folder, to further decrease override bloat, but I'm not ready to go there yet.

 

- E

[the bigg]

All 'override' folders work with all file types.

 

The lagging problem is not with file count, with total size, and as such moving files to portraits or whatever isn't going to help.

My money is on "the engine loads all the override directories' contents into memory, resulting in swapping" (a 400MB override wasn't playable on my 512MB laptop, 1GB is playable on my 2GB machine).

[ericp07]

All 'override' folders work with all file types.

 

The lagging problem is not with file count, with total size, and as such moving files to portraits or whatever isn't going to help.

My money is on "the engine loads all the override directories' contents into memory, resulting in swapping" (a 400MB override wasn't playable on my 512MB laptop, 1GB is playable on my 2GB machine).

 

Well, my BGII directory currently weighs in at 6.69GB, and is bound to get somewhat bigger. I know there's a certain amount of duplication of files, and I'm wondering if this can be remedied. To be more specific, I place each extracted mod folder into the BGII directory. Then, I copy a folder's contents out of its own folder, and also into the BGII directory, in order to run the install process. This appears to me to be inefficient and wasteful of HD space. Instead, I'd like to either delete a mod folder after installing the mod, leaving the files and folders that I copied into the main directory, or delete all the items copied into the main directory after the mod is installed, which ever will work. I'm sure there are several files I could clean out, and then the game will have less stuff to search through to find what it needs as needed. Is either approach feasible?

 

Thanks,

Eric

[the bigg]

the game will have less stuff to search through to find what it needs as needed.

WHICH DOES NOT CREATE ANY PROBLEM. The only thing that could cause lag in game (as can be evinced by looking at the mere files) is the *size* of the override &co. directories.

 

If you are interested in saving HD space without that speeding up the game, then you need to delete the mod folder, keeping only its contents in your main game directory. In the future, use directly "extract here" rather than "extract to folder", unless your overpriced OS is too stupid to give you that option.

[ericp07]

the game will have less stuff to search through to find what it needs as needed.

WHICH DOES NOT CREATE ANY PROBLEM. The only thing that could cause lag in game (as can be evinced by looking at the mere files) is the *size* of the override &co. directories.

 

If you are interested in saving HD space without that speeding up the game, then you need to delete the mod folder, keeping only its contents in your main game directory. In the future, use directly "extract here" rather than "extract to folder", unless your overpriced OS is too stupid to give you that option.

 

Even if making these changes won't improve game performance any, it will still satisfy my personal need for efficiency. Saving space is always attractive, so the mod folders shall go (I keep the downloaded archives on an external HD) Overpriced? Hmmm...it's all relative I'm sure it gives me that option, but I'm a creature of habit, doing many things "manually" when the computer is capable of doing them for me. Old habits die hard, sometimes.

 

Thanks,

Eric

[ericp07]

I can't be sure if it's due to moving the sound files, or due to the number of mods I have installed, or some other reason, but I've noticed some brief delays when playing. When I click an inventory item, there's a very short pause before it picks up so I can move it. There are times when the pendulum "staggers" a bit as it swings. However, at other times, game speed is normal. Character movement is smooth and consistent enough, and text/dialog moves along as it should. Sound files fire off when they should as well; I don't perceive delays there. Spell animations don't appear to be slowing the game down, either.

 

I'm pretty sure the speed/lag issues I notice in the game are due to something else. I notice them most when I use more powerful characters in the party, especially when they're equipped with lots of powerful gear.

 

Those are my observations with this file arrangement. It may not have helped anything, but it certainly doesn't appear to have done any harm.

 

- E

[ericp07]

I can't be sure if it's due to moving the sound files, or due to the number of mods I have installed, or some other reason, but I've noticed some brief delays when playing. When I click an inventory item, there's a very short pause before it picks up so I can move it. There are times when the pendulum "staggers" a bit as it swings. However, at other times, game speed is normal. Character movement is smooth and consistent enough, and text/dialog moves along as it should. Sound files fire off when they should as well; I don't perceive delays there. Spell animations don't appear to be slowing the game down, either.

 

I'm pretty sure the speed/lag issues I notice in the game are due to something else. I notice them most when I use more powerful characters in the party, especially when they're equipped with lots of powerful gear.

 

Those are my observations with this file arrangement. It may not have helped anything, but it certainly doesn't appear to have done any harm.

 

- E