Adding sounds and objectives

Sounds and objectives in SP (and COOP) maps

Adding sounds or objectives to SP maps while keeping them compatible with the standard SWAT 4 game bears some notable limitations. If you don't want to create a separate mod, you need to choose a label for the map. The setting can be found from View->Level Properties->Label. Then the map will be assigned automatically the objectives associated with that label. You can only choose sounds or music that have the same label.

The upside to this approach is obviously the fact that players can install the map very easily without having any hassle of installing new mods. The downside is that the sound world will be limited and objectives may not match 'the storyline' accurately.

One other approach, short of creating a new mod from scratch, is to use the Ambient Sound Mod v1.0 which lets you choose from any ambient sounds for any map, but then again all the players will need to have the same mod installed if you try to play in multiplayer instead of just single player. That causes a major hassle and may not be worth the inconvenience.

Sound system explained briefly

SWAT 4 does not use the standard Unreal sound stuff at all, so the UDN site won't help you, and Unreal's AmbientSound property does not work.

There are 3 main sound objects that are used to play ambient sounds and music in SWAT maps. They are AmbientSound (in the SwatEd class browser under Actor\Keypoint), SoundMarker (under Actor\SoundMarkerBase) and MusicMarker (under Actor\SoundMarkerBase).

AmbientSound

These are for playing 3D (positional) looping ambient sounds. The sound starts when you enter its OuterRadius (set in the Specification) and stops when you leave its OuterRadius. Within the OuterRadius, the sound gets louder as you near the marker and softer as you near the OuterRadius. They can be listened to in the SwatEd's Sound Browser by opening the package SW_ambients.uax.

SoundMarker

These are for playing 2D (non-positional) sounds. Unlike AmbientSounds, these don't start/stop based on the Specification's OuterRadius. In a SoundMarker, a Specification is triggered when you cross the marker and if looping will play forever or until a new SoundMarker is crossed. When a new SoundMarker is crossed that specifies a different sound, the new sound plays and the old sound stops. By default, the sound files can be found from Content\Sounds\StreamingAudio.

Here's an example of typical usage: To play a "Wind" sound outdoors and a "RoomTone" sound indoors, one could place 2 SoundMarkers on either side of a doorway. The marker on the outside specifies the "Wind" sound and the marker on the inside, the "RoomTone" sound. Now when you enter the building through this door, the "RoomTone" sound plays. When you go outside, the "Wind" marker plays and the "RoomTone" stops.

MusicMarker

These are for playing dynamic music, where the marker triggers the basic 'exploring' music and combat triggers the corresponding 'action' music. These, too, can be found from Content\Sounds\StreamingAudio.

SP map labels

Below is the list of all 'useful' labels found from System\MissionObjectives.ini. Some weird test labels that are probably of no use in serious maps were omitted.

Ambient sound and music marker tags are located in System\SoundEffects.ini. Because the file is several megabytes and thus quite hard to browse, all the available map labels and their corresponding sounds are listed below for convenience. Note that many (if not all) of the sound labels are identical in MP maps.

Map label	Objectives	AmbientSound labels	SoundMarker labels	MusicMarker labels
SP-FoodWall	Neutralize_Jimenez Neutralize_GunBroker Neutralize_All_Enemies Rescue_All_Hostages Secure_Weapon	a01AirCond a01Car a01CeilingFan a01Cooking a01Dogs a01Faucet a01Freezer a01Hollow a01KitchenFan a01NeonSign a01RadioChatter a01Refrigerator a01Toilet a01Traffic a01Truck a01Vending	s01Inside s01Outside	m01Food
SP-FairfaxResidence	Neutralize_All_Enemies Rescue_All_Hostages Rescue_Kline Neutralize_Killer	a02CricketsLo a02Drips a02FaucetDrips a02Furnace a02Hollow a02LightBuzz a02Mobile a02Radiator a02Refrigerator a02Waterheater	s02Basement s02Downstairs s02Outside s02Upstairs	m02Fairfax1 m02Fairfax2
SP-ConvenienceStore	Neutralize_All_Enemies Rescue_All_Hostages Rescue_Rosenstein Rescue_Fillinger Rescue_Victims Neutralize_Alice	a03Atm a03Car a03Crickets a03Freezer a03Hollow a03LightBuzz a03LightHum a03Refrigerator a03Traffic	s03Inside s03Outside	m03ConvA m03ConvB
SP-ABomb	Neutralize_All_Enemies Rescue_All_Hostages	a04Amplifier a04Car a04CrowdMurmer a04Freezer a04Hollow a04LightBuzz a04MoveAlong a04Pinball a04Printer a04RadioChatter a04Refrigerator a04Siren a04SpaceHeater a04Toilet a04Vending	s04Inside s04Outside	m04Abomb
SP-AutoGarage	Neutralize_All_Enemies Rescue_All_Hostages Rescue_Altman	a05CarAlarm a05Clock a05CopyMach a05Crickets a05GameFF a05GameFirehawk a05GameSwat a05Garage a05Hollow a05LightHum a05MachGarage a05MachRoof a05Refrigerator a05Toilet a05Truck a05WaterDrips a05Vending a05Wind	s05Garage s05Inside s05Rooftop	m05Auto1 m05Auto2
SP-RedLibrary	Neutralize_All_Enemies Rescue_All_Hostages Rescue_CEO	a06CopyMachBig a06Garage a06Hollow a06Light a06Muzak a06Refrigerator a06Server a06Toilet a06Watercooler a06Vending	s06Upstairs s06Garage s06Bathroom s06Downstairs	m06Red
SP-Casino	Neutralize_All_Enemies Rescue_All_Hostages Rescue_Baccus Neutralize_Grover Neutralize_Kruse Investigate_Laundromat Rescue_Walsh	a07CeilingFan a07Furnace a07GamePoker a07GameSwat a07Hollow a07LightHum a07Neon a07Pinball a07RainDrips a07RedLight a07Siren a07Spaceheater a07Thunder a07Toilet a07TruckBarPullIdling a07Waterheater a07Vending	s07Inside s07Rain s07Downstairs	m07Casino
SP-JewelryHeist	Neutralize_All_Enemies Rescue_All_Hostages	a08Car a08CopyMachine a08Hollow a08Muzak a08WallPanel a08WindWhistle	s08BackStairs s08Inside s08Upstairs s08Vault	m08JewelA m08JewelPing
SP-Tenement	Neutralize_All_Enemies Rescue_All_Hostages Neutralize_CultLeader	a09DripsBsmt a09Hollow a09Radiator a09RainDrips a09WaterHeater	s09Rain s09Inside	m09Tenement m09TenementBsmt
SP-Hospital	Neutralize_All_Enemies Rescue_All_Hostages Rescue_Diplomat	a10Beep a10Hollow a10HospMach a10Light a10Refrigerator a10Shower a10ShowerDrips a10Siren a10WorkLights	s10Inside s10Basement	m10Hosp
SP-ArmsDeal	Neutralize_All_Enemies Rescue_All_Hostages Neutralize_Koshka Arrest_Jennings	a11Crickets a11Dogs a11Drips a11Hollow a11Light a11LightBuzz a11LoTone a11Siren a11Throb a11Traffic a11Truck	s11Inside s11Outside s11Basement	m11Arms1 m11Arms2Beet m11Arms3Thump
SP-Hotel	Neutralize_All_Enemies Rescue_All_Hostages Rescue_Bettencourt Rescue_Adams Disable_Bombs	a12Alarm a12BigFan a12CeilingFan a12CementMixer a12ElevMuzak a12ElevVo a12Hollow a12Toilet a12Waterdrips a12Vending a12Wind	s12Inside s12Outside	m12HotelA m12HotelB
SP-DNA	Neutralize_All_Enemies Rescue_All_Hostages Rescue_Sterling Neutralize_TerrorLeader Secure_Briefcase	a13Hollow a13LabFlowhood a13LabGlovebox a13LabWetbench a13LabWorkstation a13LightBuzz a13LightPanel a13Refrigerator	s13Lobby s13Lab s13Hall	m13Dna
SP-Arcade	Neutralize_All_Enemies Rescue_All_Hostages Rescue_Bogard Neutralize_Arias	expm01AmplifierHum expm01Car expm01DripIntoBucket expm01GameCluster01 expm01GameCluster02 expm01GameCluster03 expm01GameCluster04 expm01GameFF expm01GameSwat expm01JunkieLight expm01Pinball expm01RainOnRoof expm01Refrigerator expm01SmallHeater expm01SpaceHeater expm01Truck	Arcade_Amb_Rain_Outside Arcade_Amb_Outside_Random_Thunder DrugLab_Amb_Backyard Warehouse_Amb_Passages Warehouse_Amb_Offices Hostel_Amb_Bathroom	expm01Arcade1 expm01Arcade2
SP-HalfwayHouse	Neutralize_All_Enemies Rescue_All_Hostages Rescue_Macarthur	a09Light exp02WaterDrips expm02BathroomShower expm02Hollow expm02KitchenFan expm02KitchenSink expm02Light expm02Projector expm02Shower expm02ShowerDrips expm02Toilet	Hostel_Amb_Bathroom Hostel_Amb_Kitchen Hostel_Amb_Outside Warehouse_Amb_Passages Warehouse_Amb_Offices	expm02HalfwayHouse1 expm02HalfwayHouse2
SP-Backstage	Neutralize_All_Enemies Rescue_All_Hostages Neutralize_Norman	a00Hollow expm03Amplifier expm03DripsBsmt expm03Freezer expm03Hollow expm03KitchenFan expm03LightHum expm03LoTone expm03Pinball expm03Refrigerator expm03Server expm03Toilet expm03Watercooler expm03Waterheater expm03Vending	Theatre_Amb_Freezer s04Inside s04Outside	expm03Backstage1 expm03Backstage2
SP-Office	Neutralize_All_Enemies Rescue_All_Hostages Rescue_Winston Disable_Office_Bombs	expm04BasementDrips expm04Collapse expm04Fire expm04FireHoses expm04HoleGust expm04Projector expm04Siren expm04Sprinkler	Office_Amb_Basement Office_Amb_Hole Office_Amb_Basement_Drips Office_Amb_Hole_Random_Gust Office_Amb_Offices Office_Amb_Siren	expm04Office1 expm04Office2
SP-DrugLab	Neutralize_All_Enemies Rescue_All_Hostages	expm03Traffic expm05CeilingFan expm05ChemBubbles1 expm05ChemBubbles2 expm05Cicada1 expm05Cicada2 expm05Cooking expm05Crickets expm05Dog1 expm05Dog2 expm05DownstairsFridge expm05DripsBsmt expm05Faucet expm05Furnace expm05GrowLight1 expm05GrowLight2 expm05Light expm05TelevisionStatic expm05Toilet expm05Traffic expm05UpstairsFridge expm05Waterheater	DrugLab_Amb_Backyard DrugLab_Amb_Frontyard	expm05Druglab1 expm05Druglab2
SP-Subway	Neutralize_All_Enemies Neutralize_Georgiev Rescue_All_Hostages Rescue_Wilkins	exp06WallPanel expm06AirCond expm06Atm expm06Car expm06CrowdMurmer expm06Freezer expm06LightBuzz expm06LockerRoom expm06MoveAlong expm06RandomTrain expm06SecurityMonitors expm06Sirens expm06SubStation expm06SwitchGear expm06Toilet expm06Traffic expm06Vending	Subway_Bathroom Subway_Kitchen Subway_LockerRoom Subway_Tunnel s01Inside	expm06Subway1 expm06Subway2
SP-Warehouse	Neutralize_All_Enemies Rescue_All_Hostages Neutralize_Kiril Neutralize_Todor	expm07AirCond expm07Clock expm07Faucet expm07Faucet expm07Foghorn expm07Harbor expm07KitchenFan expm07Light expm07Neon expm07RainOnRoof expm07Refrigerator expm07Seagulls expm07SpaceHeater expm07Toilet expm07Truck expm07Watercooler	Warehouse_Amb_Offices Warehouse_Amb_Outside Warehouse_Amb_OutsideWithRain Warehouse_Amb_Passages Warehouse_Amb_Stairwell Warehouse_Amb_Warehouse	expm07Warehouse1 expm07Warehouse2