I've already mentioned that I'd like to move away from the Eurocentric soundtrack of the game, especially in the Medieval and Renaissance eras, and I've finally found a way to implement this (not tested of course, but in principle it's an easy change).

So my first step would be to make a new set of medieval music for the Middle Eastern and East Asian culture groups. That would cover everything where listening to Gregorian chant would feel inappropriate, and I could go and steal some tracks from SoI and RFCA respectively.

What do you think?

And if you're positive to it, should this become a full feature of the mod or a module instead, to keep the large music files out of the main mod?

Just as my opinion!

I think soundtracks could be different when you played as different civs.For example,the soundtracks of European civs,Middle East civs and Asian civs should certainly be different.

I think many soundtracks in RFCA and SOI are fantasy,especially in RFCA,many soundtracks are familiar to Chinese people.

This would be brilliant. I love new music to listen too (thanks for the music fix, by the way!) and indeed, Aztec Jaguars singing Gregorian chants is just ridiculous.

And if you're positive to it, should this become a full feature of the mod or a module instead, to keep the large music files out of the main mod?

Does it only take up memory space or does it also slow the game?

It shouldn't slow down the game. Music is loaded only when needed afaik, and then it doesn't matter out of how many files I load.

Memory space is my main concern here. The mod itself is already large, and some extra MP3s certainly won't help matters.

And I would have no problem with fantasy music as long as it's appropriate for the culture group they're used for. I'm mainly concerned with creating an atmosphere that is evocative of said cultures.

Leoreth, can the game recognize .wav files?

If so, I can convert a number of tracks for use.

I would have to test that.

What exactly do you mean by fantasy music?

Probably like this:

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Haha, no. I meant music that's not really from the time period it represents, but sounds like it. All of Civ's soundtrack (from the medieval era onwards at least) is from historical compositions. SoI's soundtrack on the other hand is partially from other games. I don't have a problem with that though.

Since he's from China, it's not much to guess that English isn't his native language. Therefore I think he was going for "fantastic" rather than "fantasy."

Since he's from China, it's not much to guess that English isn't his native language. Therefore I think he was going for "fantastic" rather than "fantasy."

Yes,It's a silly mistake,about grammar...

I would love this change, and I personally think that this should be a separate module, completely optional, kinda like the Blue Marble textures that I currently love.

more unique civ specific or culture specific skins would be awesome too. especially for the rennaisance era

Definitely make this a separate module. I use my own soundtracks anyway. I run a complete Tchaikovsky/Rimsky-Korsakov/Prokofiev/Stravinsky/Red Army Choir soundtrack when I play Russia.

For example, a Russian amphibious assault on America is accompanied by:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEt41bYQBgE

Another thing is to make the Diplo Music heard on more occasions. The new Portuguese Diplo Musics are awesome, for example, but you can only hear them when contacting Portuguese leaders, which is a waste IMO.

I also think the part of the Civ IV soundtrack that needs most improvement is the Modern Era.

. The new Portuguese Diplo Musics are awesome, for example, but you can only hear them when contacting Portuguese leaders, which is a waste IMO.


Those are working now? I've been hoping the music I supplied for Portugal would be heard by others one day...

Yeah, with the help of some friendly people from the C&C forum I could finally make it work. Thanks for supplying the music :)

Yeah, with the help of some friendly people from the C&C forum I could finally make it work. Thanks for supplying the music :)

Delicious. Now that tracks work, I might be able to find more music for leaders that lack it... No guarantees, but I'll see what I have around.

I've already mentioned that I'd like to move away from the Eurocentric soundtrack of the game, especially in the Medieval and Renaissance eras, and I've finally found a way to implement this (not tested of course, but in principle it's an easy change).

So my first step would be to make a new set of medieval music for the Middle Eastern and East Asian culture groups. That would cover everything where listening to Gregorian chant would feel inappropriate, and I could go and steal some tracks from SoI and RFCA respectively.

What do you think?

And if you're positive to it, should this become a full feature of the mod or a module instead, to keep the large music files out of the main mod?

The Indian/Mughal music should probably involve tabla and sitar

The SoI Music can just be copied over from SoI, since they share their names with the pre-existing soundtrack. I myself have made a soundtrack mod (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?p=11128848), so feel free to use some of the stuff.

In the Warlords and BtS soundtracks, there is plenty music that could be used for the Middle-Eastern and Asian nations.

For Asia:
ChineseAdam
ChineseUni
CivIIIAncOriental
CivIIIMidAsian
CivIIIModAsian
ConquestsJapanese1
ConquestsJapanese2
GenghisKhan

For the Middle East:
CivIIIAncMidEast
CivIIIMidAfrica
CivIIIModMidEast
ConquestsMidEast
ArabicSoundtrack1(Crossroads)
Crossroads
GodsOfOld

In the Warlords and BtS soundtracks, there is plenty music that could be used for the Middle-Eastern and Asian nations.

Does that mean the actual music files wouldn't need to be included in the download? We can just redirect the soundtrack into those Warlords and BtS mods folders? That would be really neat. :cool:

Yes. That is something I could do for the main version of the mod too.

Definitely make this a separate module. I use my own soundtracks anyway. I run a complete Tchaikovsky/Rimsky-Korsakov/Prokofiev/Stravinsky/Red Army Choir soundtrack when I play Russia.

For example, a Russian amphibious assault on America is accompanied by:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEt41bYQBgE

Another thing is to make the Diplo Music heard on more occasions. The new Portuguese Diplo Musics are awesome, for example, but you can only hear them when contacting Portuguese leaders, which is a waste IMO.

I also think the part of the Civ IV soundtrack that needs most improvement is the Modern Era.

Amen to the Modern Era bit. I despise the Modern music. :l

Also, are you just running a YouTube playlist when you're using your own soundtracks? Or are you actually sticking 'em into the game?

Do you need Javanese music?
P.S : PM me if you want the Piano score.

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Do you need Javanese music?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aw5wrV7Qs-w&feature=related
Indonesia clearly needs Javanese music since it AFAIK has always been the dominant island

Amen to the Modern Era bit. I despise the Modern music. :l

For sure. Modern era music is the worst. I can handle every other era soundtrack, but not modern. I have to turn that horrible stuff off and go back to one of my customs.

Also, are you just running a YouTube playlist when you're using your own soundtracks? Or are you actually sticking 'em into the game?

I replace the music files in the Civ IV installation folders (for example the Modern sountrack should be in \Firaxis Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\Assets\Sounds\Soundtrack\Modern) with my own. You need to reedit the names of you files into the names of the original soundtrack files (and delete the originals, of course). Once you've done that it will work automatically (the game recognizes your files instead of the original soundtrack by their names) every game.

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^This should be the default Modern Era theme.

Perhaps the music from Defender, Broken Star, and Next War can help replace the modern music. Bring in the Modern music from Civ3 as well, and we're already mostly replaced the old Modern era music (though I request that The People are Heroes stays)

Modern or Industrial Music [I really haven't played Civ in a while]:

IT'S ALL PIANO!

Poison Body ~ Forsaken Doll: Arranged by Gauche
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gF-DMeKXFLg

Ligeti's Etude 13: L'escalier du Diable :P
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPg4_cS-rjE

Cyril Scott's Lotus Land
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7dAhrr7Vlk

Samuel Barber: Excursions I (A slightly better version if you can find it would be nicer)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyFW3MPqspc

Onigashima in the Fairyland ~ Missing Power: Arranged by 時音
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDFBl2Nxk1A

Le Tombeau do Couperin [Toccata Mvt. VI] by Maurice Ravel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4egOQCoSC0

EDIT: Stupid Youtube link thing... Actually, now that I think about it, the Toccata might be better in the Renaissance era, even if it was composed rather recently.

@Bair:

Only paste everything in the URL that comes after "v="
and then wrap [YOUTUBE] tags around it.

@Bair:

Only paste everything in the URL that comes after "v="
and then wrap [YOUTUBE] tags around it.

Yeah. I did that the first time, and it worked as in the video embedded itself in the post, but neither the link nor the actual embedded video worked.

Very nice Indian music
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Just found a very RARE and beautiful music of Borneo (Kalimantan), Indonesia. I, honestly, didn't know that Dayak tribes of Borneo plays music like the Javanese / Sundanese does :p Will suggest this to RFCA too, perhaps~
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And also a nice Thai traditional music.
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^One of Bair's links.

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Something for ancient China.

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If some of the other Chinese DoC'ers can find an instrumental version
of 夜上海, I think it could be perfect for Industrial/Modern.

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Medieval Russia (I think any other Tchaikovsky piece would work too
if the Finale is too extreme).

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I couldn't find an instrumental version; but this was the closest one I could find.
I don't think I need to explain who this is for and what era.

Haha, I've just watched Red Cliff two days ago.

Ao6jSYMnlOk

I couldn't find an instrumental version; but this was the closest one I could find.
I don't think I need to explain who this is for and what era.

Ancient Babylon! :p

Meh.

Modern Era America:
z4tDP-yMwXI

Future Era America:
Tzg8bAdASgA

Modern era for anyone!

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Russian Tracks (I listen to these all day)

Medieval
g8ZULVLijog#t=12m40s

Medieval Alternative
5UJOaGIhG7A#t=220

Renaissance
-WsqK1mCGeY

Renaissance Alternative
u2W1Wi2U9sQ#t=30

Industrial
Z_hOR50u7ek

Industrial Alternative
nBdKlNsuPd4

Modern
h-TVk-RG8cw

Modern Alternative
YEt41bYQBgE

Modern Alternative 2
DuWE8GJnN5w

Modern Alternative 3
kr3qMORtM5M

Future
ul_qm3Ym8-k

Future Alternative
r3yfFOq_CFQ

Future Alternative 2
fN5mlTmaCws
^ Imagine yourself as Putin (which you should, if you're playing as Russia) when you listen to this last track.

I would prefer instrumental pieces without vocals.

In that case, try some of Shostakovich's music for modern Russia.

I would prefer instrumental pieces without vocals.
The Russians appear to prefer choir for its effects in propaganda. Anyway there are plenty of instrumental pieces that I listed.

Also, an Italian soundtrack would be odd without opera, yes?

I would like to list some Italian tracks, but there's just too many of them. You have Boccherini, Vivaldi, Scarlatti, Tartini, Albinoni, Corelli, Monteverdi, etc. for the Renaissance/Baroque. And then Paganini, Rossini, Verdi, Donizetti, Puccini, Bellini etc. for the Industrial/Modern.

In that case, try some of Shostakovich's music for modern Russia.
Shostakovich sucks in most (>90%) cases and no one should suffer his music. His occasional glimpses of brilliance cannot cover up the dullness, unoriginality, and vulgarity of his work in general. IMO.

@iOnlySignIn
Aaaahhh... But there are these hidden jewels that he has written... At least I think so. I don't have any direct links now, but I vaguely remember one of his pieces that I actually liked very much. Could be wrong, cause I haven't heard any of his pieces for a while now.

But now...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uy8bMCZhUDE

I just discovered Szymanowski's work. I must say I quite like it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQCzBLtwVlc
... The ever infamous Bear Dance by Bartók.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1o0f_mhNAjA
Bartók's Romanian Folk Dance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3X9LvC9WkkQ
I think that everyone should know this. This used to be my favorite Hungarian Dance, but then I heard a wonderful rendition of the 4th one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnEd3mLm3TQ
Brahms' Ballade g Minor Op 118 No. 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_VCbnqbwwA
:3 Rachmaninoff - Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 18 I. Moderato (Rubinstein) Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VXwwkwephI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1AxKK4_UpU
Rachmaninoff - Prelude in G Minor Op 23 No. 5 ~ I personally prefer the piano version over the orchestral one.

(It is here that I remember I only wanted to find a Debussy piece. :P)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-1ERRRUM-c
Uggh... This is an amazing piece, but so many "pros" ruin it by playing this too fast. Gieseking is probably the best tempo out there. I know it was supposed to be played fast, but I think that the speed ruins the piece. Just ma two cents.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hOKcdZJJFU
... My hands. D:

Shostakovich sucks in most (>90%) cases and no one should suffer his music. His occasional glimpses of brilliance cannot cover up the dullness, unoriginality, and vulgarity of his work in general. IMO.
I've seen "The Nose" and it was the most confusing thing ever.

But otherwise it's the other way around for me. The Jazz Suite stuff makes up for all the rest.

I've done it and it works exactly as planned!

I've followed Dumanios' advice and used the Warlords songs to create an East Asian and a Middle Eastern soundtrack. Which soundtrack you hear depends on state religion at the moment: Confucianism, Taoism, Hinduism and Buddhism get the East Asian soundtrack during the Classical, Medieval and Renaissance eras; Islam and Zoroastrianism get the Middle Eastern soundtrack during the Medieval and Renaissance eras and Christianity gets the usual soundtrack.

Without state religion, your medieval soundtrack uses Classical pieces instead to avoid Christian medieval music for the Amerindians or early Mongols.

I'll commit that soon, and will make modules that expand the number of tracks with stuff from SoI etc. in the future.

Why don't you add few chants of the Confucianism, Taoism, etc?
What exactly is East Asian soundtrack like?

Well, currently I'm just using music that's already part of Civ (the Warlord scenarios specifically) to avoid too much traffic. Look at Dumanios' post on the first page if you want to see what kind of music it is (partially Civ3 stuff for example, and imo it's all rather Chinese sounding for the East Asian soundtrack).

As I said, I can release more later.

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The Shining Path: I'm thinking Babylonia.

EDIT: I just remembered it was a Chinese specific track but it never struck me as such.

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Aristotle's Pupil: Greece.

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Funeral March: Plays upon failing a UHV.

Huge nostalgia wave. It's all under one playlist.

Please add these to DoC in some form.

Quite a few Classical buffs here, or at least knowledgeable people on the subject.
And I must be one of youngest users here, you guys talking about when you were playing the original Civ!

I've seen "The Nose" and it was the most confusing thing ever.

Trust me, the story is at least 10 times worse. Any Gogol fans here? He named me.
The original Medieval: Total War soundtack was quality material as I remember, Middle-Eastern (not Indian) music's largely missing from the game.

And I must be one of youngest users here, you guys talking about when you were playing the original Civ!

I hope that doesn't imply I'm old. :rolleyes:
I played Civilization II (my first Civ title) when I was a small child.
(I always skipped the wonder movies for The Great Library & SETI because they scared the crap out of me back then)
Went back and booted up Civilization II for PSX though since my PC disc is scratched up
and I couldn't figure out how to get it to run on x64 anyway.
I got a lot of good ideas from playing it again thanks to it.
I also realized, Leoreth, that there's a wealth of Wonder movies to be gained from Civilization II.
If you cut out the end of Sun Tzu's War Academy, you get a perfect Wonder Movie for Terracotta Army.

EDIT: I just remembered it was a Chinese specific track but it never struck me as such.


Really? That sounds like the archetype of Chinese music to me (the instruments and pentatonic). It'd be nice to implement, but make it Chinese, not Babylonian ;)
Oh, and that funeral march track is also in Civ4: maybe it's more high-detailed there, I don't know.

The Funeral March is Bismarck's BG music :D

Ahem, copyright laws, anyone?

Ahem, copyright laws, anyone?

Throwing the baby out with the oil here.
The music from Warlords and a couple composers is already in here.

Currently I'm just using stuff that everyone has paid for.

The SETI video was the worst. Just seeing the last ten seconds while playing at 2-3AM as a kid after One More Turn Syndrome was the absolute worst.

bfZw022VmMw

Semi-related, but these were around at around the same time, contributing to that.

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79HmgT9pbvI

Ancient Aliens is not scary :(

But yeah, I've paid for Civ 2. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm sure it's okay.

IDK about the International Laws, but isn't it's okay to use music from copyrighted publisher as long as you noted the origin & composer etc in the metadata?

Using copyrighted music in games (even if they're non-profit) doesn't fall under fair use as far as I know.

even if you credit the author? hufft

EDIT : Apparently, no. :(
Had just read an article related to it and it requires you to track down the composer and asking for permissions which is too tiresome and bothersome.. :sad:

The SETI video was the worst. Just seeing the last ten seconds while playing at 2-3AM as a kid after One More Turn Syndrome was the absolute worst.

bfZw022VmMw

Semi-related, but these were around at around the same time, contributing to that.

8rYKc9w8LU0

79HmgT9pbvI

Ancient Aliens is not scary :(

But yeah, I've paid for Civ 2. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm sure it's okay.

The one time I flipped out playing computer game was when I first saw the Grey's in original Deus Ex. Still best game ever made.

I don't see what the big problem is, most of the game mentioned here are at least over a decade old and probably under 100 people know about this Mod.

I'm pretty sure a lot more than 100 people know about this mod.

I estimate it to more than 500...

I think many RFC player plays DoC too

I don't see what the big problem is, most of the game mentioned here are at least over a decade old and probably under 100 people know about this Mod.
I don't think it's a big problem either, especially using stuff that has been featured more prominently on youtube for several years.

Still, I'm the one bearing legal responsibility, so please understand that I prefer to err on the side of caution here.

so is there a playlist somewhere now? really like the indonesian music :-)

I would love it if some of the good diplomatic music will play too.

I would love it if some of the good diplomatic music will play too.
I can provide some Guqin music for China like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjPmTTCQvbM&feature=related

O, I mean that the current diplo-music we have now will play in the general game too.

so is there a playlist somewhere now? really like the indonesian music :-)

Which one?

For the modern era - for any civs, where something kinda (post-modern abstract) might be good, might be worth getting in touch with indie musicians and singers etc.

I know for a fact that the artist Metaphorest is a fan of Civ 4 and your mod hehe ;) If there was a track or two suitable you can let me know and i can ask her! Here's one i think could suit? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yxjvu4WMQc or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RMYbPCEvpA&feature=relmfu Anyways a lot more of her stuff is available to hear here too https://www.facebook.com/Metaphorest

Good luck with the music progress! I was also saying to the (realism Invictus mod) about helping with a few wonder vids when i get sometime, which i could maybe help you with too if you needed anything like that.)

I know for a fact that the artist Metaphorest is a fan of Civ 4 and your mod hehe ;)
This is so weird :blush:

Congrats on 10k posts, Leoreth.

Oh, didn't even notice that. Thanks.

This is so weird

Aweee hehe whats weird about it? Im all intrigued now haha!!! Its just a great mod (she plays Carthage mostly!) Anyway let me know if you reckon any music might be useful for any of the modern eras etc! You can pm me if you like about it!

It's just that ... I don't know, knowing somebody plays my mod whose music I can listen to on Youtube makes it all a lot more real.

It's just that ... I don't know, knowing somebody plays my mod whose music I can listen to on Youtube makes it all a lot more real.


:) Ah totally - i used to mod loads for OFP, and its weird the disconnect (Because modding can be so insular even when you post online in a busy forum community) that imagining real folk sitting playing with your creative work can be a bit weird and impressive haha!

Exactly :)

Which one?

Hmmm hard to tell. It's a calm track played with a flute I would guess :blush:

Now in the next era I noticed the same track plays again but a little bit different, whith more instruments, making it sound deeper.

I already tried with my Shazam app to find the track but it doesn't recognize it :lol:

Hmmm hard to tell. It's a calm track played with a flute I would guess :blush:

Now in the next era I noticed the same track plays again but a little bit different, whith more instruments, making it sound deeper.

I already tried with my Shazam app to find the track but it doesn't recognize it :lol:

Darmasetu's diplomacy music? Sure Shazam won't recognize it ;)

A very nice woodwinds music similar to that music.. one of my favorite too! :goodjob:
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