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Instructor
Original Poster
#1 Old 26th Apr 2017 at 3:40 PM

This user has the following games installed:

Sims 3, World Adventures, Ambitions, Late Night, Generations, Pets, Showtime, Seasons, University Life
Default Help With Custom Music
I was quite nostalgic for the sims 2 and wanted to add some of my favourite build/buy/cas songs in sims 3 . I wanted to be played in build/buy mode and cas. I added them by placing them in custom music folder.
Is there a way to make them play in cas/build/buy mode not through stereo?
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#3 Old 28th Apr 2017 at 12:09 AM
Considering the number of times I've seen this question asked, I would suggest writing a tutorial if you know how to do it. It will save room in your PM box.

I am Ghost. My husband is sidneydoj. I post, he downloads, and I wanted to keep my post count.
Group for Avatar Makers* Funny Stories *2017 Yearbook
Lab Assistant
#5 Old 24th Jun 2018 at 11:45 PM Last edited by bobgrey1997 : 25th Jun 2018 at 3:21 AM.
I know it has been a little over a year since the last post (tutorial), but I have a question about this:
I finally found this just last night (thank you VERY MUCH for sharing!) and have decided to use it to replace all of the music in build/buy mode as well as map mode. I have just finished changing what I think is the base-game's map-mode music (only listed as something like 'map_01'-'map_04') and am about to test it in-game. My question, however, is do I have to go through every single expansion's "fullbuild" files to replace every song for map mode, or will my file overwrite all EA files on this?

[EDIT]: Also, it seems to crash the game. I have changed the 4 basic map music files and put them in a package in my mods folder. The game does not overwrite the others, so I will have to replace them to, however, anytime one of my custom songs plays in the map, my game crashes...
Test Subject
#6 Old 30th Mar 2019 at 11:48 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Wojtek
Tutorial � replacing .SNS files with custom music

A list of programs you have to have in order to succeed. Click on the name of the program to be redirected to the download page, where you can obtain the program.
1. s3pe - Package editor
2. Audacity - Sound editor (you may have to download a plugin to be able to export MP3 files)
3. EALayer3 - Sound decoder (download the 3-0.6.2 version)
4. cmd.exe � Windows Command Prompt (find it via the Windows search tool)

In this tutorial you'll learn how to replace the files in a .SNS format with custom music. The Sims 3 music is stored in a big file i.e. FullBuild1.package

Part 1. Working with Ñ•3Ñ€e

Step 1.1 Download and install Ñ•3pe if you haven't already.

Step 1.2 Configure Ñ•3Ñ€e
1.2.1 - You'll find the FullBuild file, depending on your system and where you installed the game in: [�]/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3/GameData/Shared/Packages.



OR

If you want to edit the sounds from an Expansion Pack, you just open the appropriate folder of the Expansion Pack you want to take the file from, for example FullBuild_p21 from the Sims 3 Into the Future EP:



1.2.2 � Open the FullBuild file you want to export the .sns file from (either the Fullbuild from the base game or an expansion pack).
1.2.3 � Tick the 'Sort' and Display 'Names' and 'Tags' at the bottom. Now you can see the names and tags
1.2.4 � Click 'Name' (in the upper-left corner, below 'File') to put the names in the alphabetical order.



Step 1.3 Find and extract the desired .sns file (skip this step if you have the file already)
1.3.1 � You can do it by looking at the names of the files on the list, but you need to narrow down the list to .SNS files. At the bottom you've got various options to narrow down what the main window shows. The field you're looking for is ResourceType. Paste 0x01EEF63A here, tick the box next to the blank, click Set and tick the Filter active box. You may need to wait a little bit, but in the end you'll have a full list of .SNS files. In this tutorial I'm going to replace the main sims 3 theme.



1.3.2 � SNS file has the _AUD tag. Once you have found the file, double click it.
1.3.3 � A window will pop up with the resource details (TGI) of the file. The .sns files belong to 0x01EEF63A Type, the one you chose when narrowing down what the program displays.
1.3.4 � Close the resource details window, right-click the file you selected earlier, click Export/To file...
1.3.5 � The extension of the file is .sns. Save it somewhere you can find it easily later.



Part 2. Working with Audacity

Step 2.1 Prepare the audio file
2.1.1 � Find the file you want to replace the game's default.sns file with.
2.1.2 - Your sound should be in the MP3 format.

Step 2.2 Download and install Audacity if you haven't already

Step 2.3 Set the file up in Audacity
2.3.1 - Open Audacity and import the file there.
2.3.2 (optional) - If you're familiar with the program, you can adjust the file to your liking before exporting the final version.
2.3.3 - Make sure the project sampling (Hz) is set to 44100 and its sample format is 32-bit float (Stereo). You can edit it by clicking on the arrow, which is encircled in the picture.



Step 2.4 Once your file is ready, export it as an MP3.
2.4.1 - Make sure you've installed the LAME codec for Audacity.
2.4.2 - File/Export sound... OR Ctrl+Shift+E
2.4.3 � Type the name of the file, click 'Save as a type', choose 'MP3 files' from the list and click 'Options'.
2.4.4 � Set up the Bit Rate Mode to: Variable, Quality to: 3,155-195 kps, Variable Speed to: Standard and Channel Mode to: Joint Stereo.
2.4.5 - Now your file is ready for export. Click OK, ignore the Metadata box and save the file somewhere you can find it easily. You can replace the �old� MP3 file if you want to.



Part 3. Working with EALayer3

Step 3.1 Download and open ealayer3-0.6.2-win32.zip, extract the 'ealayer3-0.6.2-win32' folder and save it somewhere you can find it easily.
3.1.1 � Find cmd.exe (via Windows search tool) and copy it to 'ealayer3-0.6.2-win32' folder.
3.1.2 � Copy the MP3 file you exported from Audacity earlier and paste it in the 'ealayer3-0.6.2-win32' folder.
3.1.3 � Create a .txt file and paste the following code:
Code:
ealayer3 -E NAMEOFYOURMP3FILE.mp3 -o NAMEOFYOURMP3FILE.sns

3.1.4 � Replace the NAMEOFYOURMP3FILE with the name of your MP3 file. Copy the whole line
3.1.5 � Open cmd.exe and paste the line (right click/Paste NOT Ctrl+v), hit Enter and after a while a new .sns file (NAMEOFYOURMP3FILE.sns) is generated and placed in the folder where you keep cmd.exe, your MP3 file and EALayer3.exe.
3.1.8 � Now you need to change the name of the file. Find the original .sns file you exported from s3pe. In my project this is the main theme. Copy its name and paste it into the newly generated .sns file. It should look moreless like this:
S3_01EEF63A_001407EC_[b]INSTANCEANDTHENAMEOFTHEFILEINS3PE[b]%%+_AUD.sns

In this project the name of the .sns file is:
S3_01EEF63A_001407EC_5F25B76F5ABC0A0B_Sims3_Main_Theme01%%+_AUD

Part 5. Working with Ñ•3Ñ€e

Step 5.1 Packing the .sns file with Ñ•3Ñ€e
5.1.1 � Open ѕ3рe, File/New OR Ctrl+N. Right-click just anywhere, Import/from file... Choose the .sns file that was generated and hit 'Open'. A window pops up. It's a good idea to select 'Replace duplicates' and check 'Compress', 'Use resource name' and 'Rename if present'. Click OK.



Now your file is imported into a package. Now you can save your ready package (File/Save OR Ctrl+S). Give it your name or initials and a descriptive name of your package. Save your package into My Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3/Mods/Packages/subfolders if you use any and click Save.

Part 6. Testing the sound in-game.

6.1 Now you can test your new sound in-game.
6.1.1 � Launch the game and load one of your saves or start a new game in any of the towns available. In my case this is the load loop, so I only have to load the game.
You can see the result in a short clip I recorded. I attached the package file with the new load loop (the one which is played when a sim is about to choose the alternative timeline of Oasis Landing) so that you could download it and test it yourself. You can find it in the attachments list.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4jbobC8LeQ

I tried to do my best to explain it in a comprehensible manner. If something needs further explanation or correction, just let me know. You need more pictures or examples? Let me know.


Could someone try explaining or making a video tutorial on this? I have bad ADHD and I cannot freaking understand how to figure this crap out.
Test Subject
#7 Old 28th Nov 2019 at 10:44 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Wojtek
Tutorial – replacing .SNS files with custom music

A list of programs you have to have in order to succeed. Click on the name of the program to be redirected to the download page, where you can obtain the program.
1. s3pe - Package editor
2. Audacity - Sound editor (you may have to download a plugin to be able to export MP3 files)
3. EALayer3 - Sound decoder (download the 3-0.6.2 version)
4. cmd.exe – Windows Command Prompt (find it via the Windows search tool)

In this tutorial you'll learn how to replace the files in a .SNS format with custom music. The Sims 3 music is stored in a big file i.e. FullBuild1.package

Part 1. Working with ѕ3рe

Step 1.1 Download and install ѕ3pe if you haven't already.

Step 1.2 Configure ѕ3рe
1.2.1 - You'll find the FullBuild file, depending on your system and where you installed the game in: […]/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3/GameData/Shared/Packages.



OR

If you want to edit the sounds from an Expansion Pack, you just open the appropriate folder of the Expansion Pack you want to take the file from, for example FullBuild_p21 from the Sims 3 Into the Future EP:



1.2.2 – Open the FullBuild file you want to export the .sns file from (either the Fullbuild from the base game or an expansion pack).
1.2.3 – Tick the 'Sort' and Display 'Names' and 'Tags' at the bottom. Now you can see the names and tags
1.2.4 – Click 'Name' (in the upper-left corner, below 'File') to put the names in the alphabetical order.



Step 1.3 Find and extract the desired .sns file (skip this step if you have the file already)
1.3.1 – You can do it by looking at the names of the files on the list, but you need to narrow down the list to .SNS files. At the bottom you've got various options to narrow down what the main window shows. The field you're looking for is ResourceType. Paste 0x01EEF63A here, tick the box next to the blank, click Set and tick the Filter active box. You may need to wait a little bit, but in the end you'll have a full list of .SNS files. In this tutorial I'm going to replace the main sims 3 theme.



1.3.2 – SNS file has the _AUD tag. Once you have found the file, double click it.
1.3.3 – A window will pop up with the resource details (TGI) of the file. The .sns files belong to 0x01EEF63A Type, the one you chose when narrowing down what the program displays.
1.3.4 – Close the resource details window, right-click the file you selected earlier, click Export/To file...
1.3.5 – The extension of the file is .sns. Save it somewhere you can find it easily later.



Part 2. Working with Audacity

Step 2.1 Prepare the audio file
2.1.1 – Find the file you want to replace the game's default.sns file with.
2.1.2 - Your sound should be in the MP3 format.

Step 2.2 Download and install Audacity if you haven't already

Step 2.3 Set the file up in Audacity
2.3.1 - Open Audacity and import the file there.
2.3.2 (optional) - If you're familiar with the program, you can adjust the file to your liking before exporting the final version.
2.3.3 - Make sure the project sampling (Hz) is set to 44100 and its sample format is 32-bit float (Stereo). You can edit it by clicking on the arrow, which is encircled in the picture.



Step 2.4 Once your file is ready, export it as an MP3.
2.4.1 - Make sure you've installed the LAME codec for Audacity.
2.4.2 - File/Export sound... OR Ctrl+Shift+E
2.4.3 – Type the name of the file, click 'Save as a type', choose 'MP3 files' from the list and click 'Options'.
2.4.4 – Set up the Bit Rate Mode to: Variable, Quality to: 3,155-195 kps, Variable Speed to: Standard and Channel Mode to: Joint Stereo.
2.4.5 - Now your file is ready for export. Click OK, ignore the Metadata box and save the file somewhere you can find it easily. You can replace the “old” MP3 file if you want to.



Part 3. Working with EALayer3

Step 3.1 Download and open ealayer3-0.6.2-win32.zip, extract the 'ealayer3-0.6.2-win32' folder and save it somewhere you can find it easily.
3.1.1 – Find cmd.exe (via Windows search tool) and copy it to 'ealayer3-0.6.2-win32' folder.
3.1.2 – Copy the MP3 file you exported from Audacity earlier and paste it in the 'ealayer3-0.6.2-win32' folder.
3.1.3 – Create a .txt file and paste the following code:
Code:
ealayer3 -E NAMEOFYOURMP3FILE.mp3 -o NAMEOFYOURMP3FILE.sns

3.1.4 – Replace the NAMEOFYOURMP3FILE with the name of your MP3 file. Copy the whole line
3.1.5 – Open cmd.exe and paste the line (right click/Paste NOT Ctrl+v), hit Enter and after a while a new .sns file (NAMEOFYOURMP3FILE.sns) is generated and placed in the folder where you keep cmd.exe, your MP3 file and EALayer3.exe.
3.1.8 – Now you need to change the name of the file. Find the original .sns file you exported from s3pe. In my project this is the main theme. Copy its name and paste it into the newly generated .sns file. It should look moreless like this:
S3_01EEF63A_001407EC_[b]INSTANCEANDTHENAMEOFTHEFILEINS3PE[b]%%+_AUD.sns

In this project the name of the .sns file is:
S3_01EEF63A_001407EC_5F25B76F5ABC0A0B_Sims3_Main_Theme01%%+_AUD

Part 5. Working with ѕ3рe

Step 5.1 Packing the .sns file with ѕ3рe
5.1.1 – Open ѕ3рe, File/New OR Ctrl+N. Right-click just anywhere, Import/from file... Choose the .sns file that was generated and hit 'Open'. A window pops up. It's a good idea to select 'Replace duplicates' and check 'Compress', 'Use resource name' and 'Rename if present'. Click OK.



Now your file is imported into a package. Now you can save your ready package (File/Save OR Ctrl+S). Give it your name or initials and a descriptive name of your package. Save your package into My Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3/Mods/Packages/subfolders if you use any and click Save.

Part 6. Testing the sound in-game.

6.1 Now you can test your new sound in-game.
6.1.1 – Launch the game and load one of your saves or start a new game in any of the towns available. In my case this is the load loop, so I only have to load the game.
You can see the result in a short clip I recorded. I attached the package file with the new load loop (the one which is played when a sim is about to choose the alternative timeline of Oasis Landing) so that you could download it and test it yourself. You can find it in the attachments list.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4jbobC8LeQ

I tried to do my best to explain it in a comprehensible manner. If something needs further explanation or correction, just let me know. You need more pictures or examples? Let me know.


Does increasing the bitrate and quality of the MP3 to up to 320kbps (whether variable or constant) also work? I think if someone wanted to simply replace the music from the game with higher quality rips from the official soundtrack releases (FLAC or 256kbps-320kbps M4A), there probably should be a mod for that.
Lab Assistant
#8 Old 3rd Dec 2019 at 7:53 PM
Thank you for the tutorial Wojtek.
Has anyone replacing music in this thread experienced strange distorted bleeping at the very start of certain tracks when ingame? Some tracks even seem to be crashing my game too, when previewed in the settings menu. I have all of the games soundtracks in FLAC and was hoping to make my own higher bitrate music mod, but I can't even seem to get the music to work with the encoding settings Wojtek provided.
Lab Assistant
#9 Old 4th Dec 2019 at 8:59 PM
A little update for anyone else that may stumble across this thread and bump into the same issues:

I found this tutorial and so far I've converted three more tracks that seem to be playing perfectly with the HEX edits and accompanying .SNR files. I didn't bother with the .AUDTUN part of the tutorial as I wanted the music to be in the correct mixer. Also, I'm not entirely sure what effect this would have on the game but I've been encoding my tracks at 320kbps CBR (Insane preset) using the LAME command line encoder.

The only issue that seems to persist no matter what I've tried is that the new tracks only play once, and nothing new plays after the songs end. Looping is also broken. I assume this is related to something that can be configured in the .AUDTUN files, but nobody really seems to know anything about them.
Mad Poster
#10 Old 27th Dec 2019 at 6:51 AM Last edited by jje1000 : 27th Dec 2019 at 7:12 AM.
Quote: Originally posted by mypantsfelldown
The only issue that seems to persist no matter what I've tried is that the new tracks only play once, and nothing new plays after the songs end. Looping is also broken. I assume this is related to something that can be configured in the .AUDTUN files, but nobody really seems to know anything about them.


As far as I know, @Buurz was able to resolve those issues- I have not found the time to look into this myself, but you may want to contact them for more questions.
Quote: Originally posted by Buurz
As for the AUDTUN files, I did some tests, and it seems that AUDTUNs of the game music (main menu, loading, map, cas, build and buy) don't work the same way as AUDTUNs of the radio stations.
AUDT resources contain playlists. Game's radio stations lists can be changed easily by deleting samples of the existing songs and/or adding samples of the new songs. There's no need to replace the sns/snr files of the station songs. Editing AUDTUN is enough.

But unfortunately, other AUDT resources behave differently. If you add a sample of a new song, the game won't see it. If you delete a sample of an existing song, the game will still play it. Probably the game uses some additional resources, and I have no idea which ones.
Thus, we can either delete all blocks from AUDT (to remove the sound completely) or replace the sns/snr files.

In order to reduce the size of the package file, unnecessary sns/snr resources can be replaced with empty mp3. I tested this workaround with theme and buy music, and it worked.
Test Subject
#11 Old 24th Sep 2021 at 11:19 PM
Great tutorial; I was able to successfully convert some CAS music from Sims 4 to Sims 3 and even got it to work at the highest bitrate & quality (320kbps). Audio distortion is fixed following the guide @mypantsfelldown posted by hex editing both your .SNS and an additional converted .SNR file. Only issue is testing it in the settings menu crashes the game, but only once I click the checkmark to close...? Seems to occur regardless of my bitrate options.

probably busy starting another project instead of finishing my last one
Test Subject
#13 Old 25th Sep 2021 at 3:39 AM
Quote: Originally posted by nitromon
The only crashing I am aware of is when you are using junction link with your TS3 user folder.

No junction drives here; I keep everything on the same disk in the default documents folder.

However I think I found the solution. It's because I created a default replacement song and there's some additional tunings needed to be done so it's loaded correctly.

If anyone comes to this thread in the future with a similar issue as me, instructions to fix it are here in the description. (THANK YOU @mypantsfelldown!!!)

probably busy starting another project instead of finishing my last one
Test Subject
#14 Old 15th Nov 2021 at 12:05 AM Last edited by NerdyAthleticism : 10th Dec 2021 at 12:50 PM.
It seems default replacement game music is not fully functional. Creators who have done this like @mypantsfelldown seem to have created new runtime scripts that enable playback of their newly introduced audio whilst disabling the vanilla--so it's not a "true" default replacement despite functioning exactly like one.

In my experience, "true" default replacement music (directly replacing .sns/.snr files) crashes the preview menu, and likely does the same during gameplay for unknown reasons.

If only EA would give us more insight on how they utilized game audio.

EDIT: This is actually not true; it seems that both default replacement methods work as expected. More information below.
Test Subject
#16 Old 10th Dec 2021 at 1:00 PM
Quote: Originally posted by nitromon
If you go through the download area, you'll find one that is TS3 music replacement with a music release version. It is all the same music as TS3, same names included, except replacing the sound files as you've mentioned.

I'm sorry you cannot get your version working, but that really goes into the modding forum. But your failure to get it working does not in anyway indicate the method is incorrect. And I find your conclusion is more out of frustration than fact. Please do not discourage other people from trying this method, just because you couldn't get it working.

I have done 2 music replacements, both in the download area. All this is, is creating your own SNS/SNR files and then editing or creating a new music list to direct the game to load those music. If you are replacing the default, you don't even need to edit those lists. Those list do not in any way affect whether the game crashes or not, but how you compress and edit the music does.

I have done this many times in the 2 music mods, sometimes after one compression it wouldn't work, but keeps crashing. Sometimes it just have noise in the beginning or end. It is all about trimming or adding the silence in the beginning and a lot of it is trial and error. Once you have done that, the rest of the music should be compressed correctly and it will not crash. The only exception is if you are using junction links, in which case it requires the 2 file method with a header file.

I haven't done this in a while, so I can't really go into the specifics, but I have also posted a lot of my own research on this topic in other threads here. Feel free to look it up in the modding forum:

https://modthesims.info/download.ph...614#post5618614

Here's the direct summary and tutorial:
https://modthesims.info/showthread....871#post5602871


I'm not sure where this is coming from. My pseudo-default replacement runtime script works great; no frustration here.

However upon further investigation, you are correct; 'true' default replacement .snr/.sns function as expected with changes to their compression settings. I've updated my original comment so as not to spread false info.
Test Subject
#18 Old 12th Jan 2022 at 6:09 PM
Quote:
...default replacement game music is not fully functional...

Ooops, I think he was reading the link I posted to the default replacement which does work by only overriding the AUDTUN files. My bad D:

Anyways, I can replace game music just fine but I'm trying to replace a ringtone sound effect which only results in extreme distortion followed by an immediate crash when testing. I've noticed in the tutorial it says:
Quote:
"...value 40 (hex) that we wrote into address 04 seems to indicate that the sound file is using mp3 EALayer-format..."

but the value of EA's ringtone (which im replacing) is "20" at address 04. which makes me wonder, can I encode using mp3 EALayer-format to override something encoded differently, so long as I specify the correct *new* mp3 encoding value at address 04...?
or do we have any idea what encoding value 20 is, so I can just use the same one?

hopefully this question makes sense...I've revised it maybe 10 times just sitting here trying to make as much sense as possible

probably busy starting another project instead of finishing my last one
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