FF11 ASCII art would suck, so I drew Rydia instead.
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-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=FF11 Music Hacking Guide=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
v2.3 by LockeZ (ff3lockez@yahoo.com)
So, you don't particularly like the music in Final Fantasy 11? You'd rather
have more Uematsu, or perhaps the Beatles? Maybe you'd like to add music to
the areas that have none? Until now you've just had to mute the game and play
other music externally. But the problem with that strategy is that when you
get in a battle, your CD doesn't change to battle music. In FF11, though, you
can easily change what music the game actually uses. No hacking programs
needed (though there's one that helps). All you need are some wav format songs.
You can change the songs in both the PlayOnline viewer and in FF11 itself, as
well as in Tetra Master. Note that this is perfectly harmless to do. It
doesn't conflict with Square's rules, and any version updates will still work
fine. If POL tries to update your files when you sign on, you did it wrong.
It you let it update at that point, it should reinstall whatever files you
accidentally deleted.
This guide is obviously for the PC version of FF11. I haven't tried any of this
on the PS2 version. I don't know of any way to directly access files on the
PS2 hard drive, though, so I don't see how it would work.
A NOTE ON TECHNICAL STUFF YOU NEED TO KNOW
------------------------------------------
Please note that any time I name the folder that a file should be in on your
computer, I do not list the complete path. When you installed the game for the
first time, you got to CHOOSE where to install the game, so there's no way for
me to know exactly where on your hard drive the folder is installed. Thus, all
folder names start at the folder you installed FF11 to initially. By default,
FF11 is installed to C:\Program Files\PlayOnline. So, unless you changed that
yourself while installing, you should assume that all the folders I list start
with C:\Program Files\PlayOnline. So, in My Computer, navigate to that folder,
and then start there with the rest of the path that I list out. If none of that
makes sense, then you probably should not be using this guide, as there is stuff
in here that's a lot more technical than finding folders on your hard drive.
CONVERTING FILES TO BGW FORMAT
------------------------------
FF11, Tetra Master, and PlayOnline use bgw format for their music files.
There are two ways to convert files to bgw format. Either way, you need wav
files to start with.
That's wav, not mp3. Mp3 files will not work. If you want to use mp3s, you
have to convert them to wavs first using some program or another. A program at
www.mp3fe.com/download/mp32wav.zip has been recommended to me. iTunes can also
probably convert them, but please don't email me asking how to use iTunes.
-=LOW BUDGET METHOD=-
The first method, which is direct, simple, and the first method I discovered,
is to simply change the file extension on a .wav file to .bgw. Please note
that in order to change the extensions of files, you must have your Windows
Folder Options set to show extensions for known file types. If done
correctly, changing the extension should give you a warning that the file may
not work.
The problem with the first method is that songs will not repeat. When they
get to the end, they just stop, and there is no music until the game plays
a new song. This doesn't make a big difference in PlayOnline, but in the
games it can be quite a nuisance. The second method, below, remedies this.
-=GOOD METHOD=-
The second method is to use a program called FFXI Music Converter, or Ximc.
I didn't make this program, but rather it was sent to me. It's quite useful.
Huge props to some Japanese dude who made the program, and huge props to
Vindalesin of Remora for translating and completing the music list that's in
the program. Download it at http://burger.sandwich.net/XIMC.zip and use
Winzip or a similar program to unzip it. Much of the program is in Japanese,
but the "WAV -> BGW" and "BGW -> WAV" buttons are clearly labelled. Uncheck
the box in the program if you don't want it to rename each file.
This program will sometimes fail to create a file. This is usually because
your .wav file's quality is too low. The game uses a bitrate of 187 kbps
(48 kHz, 16 bit stereo). If your sound conversion program is totally pimped
out, your file quality might actually be too high. A .wav file's quality
can be changed by opening it in the "Sound Recorder" program that comes with
Windows, and choosing Save As.
This second method is REQUIRED to convert sound effects, such as wind files
(see the section later about adding music to normally silent areas) or bard
songs. To make it convert to and from .spw instead of .bgw, maximize the
program. You will see a new option: BGM or SE. Click on SE and it will
let you manipulate sound effect files instead of background music files.
If you're interested, here are what the other options in that program do:
Checkbox by the first button: If this is checked, files converted to .bgw
format (or .spw format) will be called music100.bgw (or se000100.bgw).
The number in the filename can be changed with the upper-right entry box.
If this is unchecked, the file will retain its original filename (with the
new file extension, of course).
Top-right entry box (defaults to 100): If the box is checked, this controls
the number that is given to newly created .bgw files. You will want to
change this number each time you convert a file, or else uncheck the box.
If the box is checked and you don't change this number, each file will have
the same filename, and they will overwrite each-other!
The other entry boxes (default to 1, 127, and 0): I have no idea. Frankly
these don't seem to affect anything. Maybe it has to do with file quality.
I can't read Japanese.
IN PLAYONLINE VIEWER
--------------------
The files that the viewer uses are listed in the subfolder
SquareEnix\PlayOnlineViewer\viewer\data\system\bgm and are in .bgw format.
Convert a file to .bgw format, and then rename it to whatever.101.bgw and
put it in the folder. Actually, 101 is an arbitrary number; any three-digit
number will work.
After you put your new files in right folder, open PlayOnline. Click on
Navigator, then Options, then Viewer, then BGM. All the songs that PlayOnline
comes with will still be listed if you didn't delete them, and all your new
songs will be listed as well. Whatever songs you want it to play, select and
choose OK. Whatever songs you don't want it to play, select and choose Clear.
It now plays your songs instead of the normal ones!
The file Dolphin_(by_Noriko_Matsueda).113.bgw is used while you are connecting
to your PlayOnline account. If you want to change what music is played during
that part, you will need to overwrite that file with a new one.
IN FINAL FANTASY XI
-------------------
The music files that FF11 uses are located in the subfolders
SquareEnix\FINAL FANTASY XI\sound\win\music\data (for original version music),
SquareEnix\FINAL FANTASY XI\sound2\win\music\data (for Rise of Zilart music),
SquareEnix\FINAL FANTASY XI\sound3\win\music\data (for Chains of Promathea), &
SquareEnix\FINAL FANTASY XI\sound4\win\music\data (for Rise of Aht Urhgan).
If you're not sure which expansion a certain music file is from, just check
all four folders.
Convert your .wav files to .bgw first of all. To do that, look in the section
about converting, above. Now look in the list below and find the song you want
to replace. The list tells you which file is used for that song. Find your
converted song that you want to use instead of the original, and change the
filename of your song so it's the same as the original song's filename. Copy
your song into the correct folder so that it overwrites the original file.
Now your song will replace the old one and be used at whatever times the
original would have been used at during the game.
For example, if you had a .wav song you wanted to use for your Mog House, you
could convert it, rename it to music126.bgw, and put it in the music folder
for original version music (since Mog Houses are from the original version),
replacing the music126.bgw file that's already in that music folder. Since
music126.bgw is used for your Mog House, your song will now be used for your
Mog House.
Back up your old files! If you fail to do so and want to make a file go back
to the original one, you can try simply deleting your custom file and leaving
no file by that name in the folder. The next time you log onto FF11, it
*should* automatically start downloading the original song. If you're lucky.
If you're unlucky, you get to reinstall the game. So sorry; next time make
copies of the originals and keep them in another folder somewhere.
A huge shout-out to Lord Skylark for basically giving me the entire list for
the original game and Zilart expansion. The rest was pieced together through
submissions by about twenty different people. The song files are listed below.
Note that this list is also contained within the Ximc program, if you download
Ximc from my site.
FF11 SONG LIST
--------------
music101.bgw: Battle: In overworld, solo
music102.bgw: Battle: In dungeon, in party
music103.bgw: Battle: In overworld, in party
music104.bgw: Ghelsba
music105.bgw: Mhaura
music106.bgw: Ship
music107.bgw: San D'Oria
music108.bgw: Title Screen: Rise of Zilart
music109.bgw: Ronfaure
music110.bgw: Jeuno
music111.bgw: Death
music112.bgw: Selbina
music113.bgw: Sarutabaruta
music114.bgw: Batallia Downs
music115.bgw: Battle: In dungeon, solo
music116.bgw: Gustaberg
music117.bgw: Ru'Lude Gardens
music118.bgw: Rolanberry Fields
music119.bgw: Battle: Shadow Lord
music120.bgw: Nation Selection Screen
music121.bgw: Approching Shadow Lord
music122.bgw: Delkfutt's (Used in cut scenes)
music123.bgw: Hopelessness (Used in cut scenes)
music124.bgw: Recollection (Used in cut scenes)
music125.bgw: Battle: Burning Circle
music126.bgw: Mog House
music127.bgw: Anxiety (Used in cut scenes)
music128.bgw: Airship
music129.bgw: Battle: Fishing Battle Theme #1
music130.bgw: Tarutaru Female Creation
music131.bgw: Elvaan Female Creation
music132.bgw: Elvaan Male Creation
music133.bgw: Hume Male Creation
music134.bgw: Yuhtunga Jungle
music135.bgw: Kazham
music136.bgw: Battle: Fishing Battle Theme #2
music137.bgw: Battle: Chains of Promathea Final Battle
music138.bgw: Battle: Treasures of Aht Urhgan, In overworld
music139.bgw: Battle: Treasures of Aht Urhgan, In dungeon
music142.bgw: Beseiged ~Fated Strife~
music143.bgw: Hellriders
music144.bgw: Assault ~Rapid Onslaught~
music146.bgw: The Colosseum
music147.bgw: Eastward Bound (Ferry)
music148.bgw: Forbidden Seal
music149.bgw: Wajaom Woodlands
music150.bgw: Arrapago Reef
music151.bgw: Windurst
music152.bgw: Bastok
music153.bgw: Crystal Prelude
music154.bgw: Metalworks
music155.bgw: Castle Zvahl
music156.bgw: Chateau d'Oraguille
music157.bgw: Fury (Used in cut scenes)
music158.bgw: Sauromugue Champaign
music159.bgw: Sorrow (Used in cut scenes)
music160.bgw: Repression (Used in cut scenes)
music161.bgw: Despair (Used in cut scenes)
music162.bgw: Heavens Tower
music163.bgw: Sometime Somewhere (Used in cut scenes)
music164.bgw: Xarcabard
music165.bgw: Galka Creation
music166.bgw: Mithra Creation
music167.bgw: Tarutaru Male Creation
music168.bgw: Hume Female Creation
music169.bgw: Regeneracy (Used in cut scenes)
music170.bgw: Pirate Attack on Ferry
music171.bgw: Altepa Desert
music172.bgw: Black Coffin
music173.bgw: Caedarva Mire
music174.bgw: Aydeewa Subterrane
music175.bgw: Nashmau
music176.bgw: Chocobo Track
music177.bgw: Chocobo Racing
music178.bgw: Al Zahbi
music179.bgw: Title Screen: Treasures of Aht Urhgan
music181.bgw: Chocobo (Short version)
music183.bgw: A Puppet's Slumber (Used in cut scenes)
music184.bgw: Eternal Gravestone (Used in cut scenes)
music185.bgw: Ever-Turning Wheels (Used in cut scenes)
music190.bgw: The Sanctuary of Zi'Tah
music191.bgw: Battle: Rise of Zilart, In overworld
music192.bgw: Battle: Rise of Zilart, In dungeon
music193.bgw: Battle: Rise of Zilart, Boss
music194.bgw: Raogrimm's Theme (Used in cut scenes)
music195.bgw: Belief (Used in cut scenes)
music196.bgw: Fighters of the Crystal (Used in cut scenes)
music197.bgw: Tu'Lia Restoration (Used in cut scenes)
music198.bgw: Eald'narche (Final Dungeon)
music199.bgw: Grav'iton
music200.bgw: Kam'lanaut's Theme (Used in cut scenes)
music201.bgw: Ending
music202.bgw: Quest 1 (Used in cut scenes)
music203.bgw: Quest 2 (Used in cut scenes)
music204.bgw: Quest 3 (Used in cut scenes)
music205.bgw: Quest Completion (Used in cut scenes)
music206.bgw: Yve'noile's Theme (Used in cut scenes)
music207.bgw: Ve'Lugannon Palace
music208.bgw: Rabao
music209.bgw: Norg
music210.bgw: Tu'Lia
music211.bgw: Ro'Maeve
music212.bgw: Chocobo
music213.bgw: Hall of the Gods
music214.bgw: Wedding
music218.bgw: Battle: Chains of Promathea, Solo
music219.bgw: Battle: Chains of Promathea, Group
music220.bgw: Battle: Chains of Promathea, Boss Theme
music221.bgw: Movapolos
music222.bgw: Promyvion
music223.bgw: Ballista: Winning
music224.bgw: Dusk and Dawn (Used in cut scenes)
music225.bgw: Pso'Xja
music226.bgw: Ballista: Losing/Draw
music227.bgw: Summerfest
music228.bgw: The Garden of Ru'Hmet
music229.bgw: Carpenter's Landing Raft
music230.bgw: Tavnazian Archipelago
music231.bgw: Disaster (Used in cut scenes)
music232.bgw: The Ruler of the Skies (Used in cut scenes)
music233.bgw: The Celestial Capital – Al'Taieu
music234.bgw: Happily Ever After
music235.bgw: First Ode: Nocturne of the Gods (Used in cut scenes)
music236.bgw: Fourth Ode: Clouded Dawn (Used in cut scenes)
music237.bgw: Third Ode: Memoria de la Stona (Used in cut scenes)
music238.bgw: A New Morning
music239.bgw: Christmas Jeuno
music240.bgw: Second Ode: Distant Promises (Used in cut scenes)
music241.bgw: Fifth Ode: A Time for Prayer (Used in cut scenes)
music242.bgw: Title Screen: Chains of Promathea
music243.bgw: Grav'iton (Duplicate...)
music244.bgw: The Mothercrystals (Used in cut scenes)
music245.bgw: Tavnazian Safehold
music900.bgw: Ending: Chains of Promathea
IN TETRA MASTER
---------------
This method is pretty much identical to the FF11 music-changing method.
The files that Tetra Master uses are located in the subfolder
PlayOnline\SquareEnix\TetraMaster\data\WIN\sound\music. Convert your .wav
files to .bgw. You can't just name the songs whatever you want, though. The
filenames have to be exactly the same as the files already in the folder. The
new song will replace the old one and be used at whatever times the original
would have been used at.
For example, if you had a .wav song you wanted to use for the main menu,
you could convert it, rename it to music215.bgw, and put it in the folder,
replacing the file with that name that's already in the folder. Since
music215.bgw is used for the main menu, your song will now be used for the
main menu.
Props to Fire_element25 for this list.
TETRA MASTER SONG LIST
---------------------
music200.bgw: Room Select
music201.bgw: (unknown)
music202.bgw: Card Select
music203.bgw: In-Battle
music204.bgw: Loss 1
music205.bgw: Auction House
music206.bgw: Card Shop
music207.bgw: (unknown)
music208.bgw: Player Status
music209.bgw: Options
music210.bgw: Rankings
music212.bgw: Win
music213.bgw: Loss 2
music215.bgw: Main Menu
music216.bgw: (unknown)
ADDING MUSIC TO DUNGEONS
------------------------
You can also add music to areas that have none. How, you ask? All the areas
without music have a wind sound effect in the background. All you have to do
is replace the wind with a song. You can't modify sound effects just by
changing the extension in this case; you have to use the program, the second
method listed above in the file conversion section. Huge props to ME, I AM
AWESOME for thinking up this method and getting it to work.
The folder for most wind files is SquareEnix\FINAL FANTASY XI\sound\win\se\se001
but there are also a couple more wind files in
SquareEnix\FINAL FANTASY XI\sound2\win\se\se001. I'm fairly sure they're for
the Rise of Zilart areas. I would imagine you replace sound2 with sound3 to
find the folder for Chains of Promathea wind files, but I don't have that
expansion. Convert your wav file to .spw. Rename it so that it's the name of
the file you want to replace (se001001.spw or whatever). Move your new spw file
to the correct folder and replace the default file. You now have music in that
area.
Here are all the known issues with this method.
1) The background music you add won't cut out when the battle music starts.
You can remedy this by either:
a) Using silent .wav files for the in-dungeon battle songs.
b) Using short "battle begin" type sounds for the in-dungeon battle music
and making them not repeat by manually changing the filename from .wav to
.bmg instead of using the conversion program.
c) Setting the sound effects to half volume so you can hardly hear the
background music over the battle music but can hear it fine otherwise.
Use this option if you add music to any otherwise-silent "overworld" areas.
2) Sometimes, with longer songs you'll get the song playing twice at once; it'll
be at two different parts of the song, overlapping. It's only midly annoying
since it usually cuts out after a minute or so and most songs are repetitive
anyway. You can fix this by only picking one or two of the wind files for an
area to replace with music, instead of replacing all of them. But that only
makes the next problem worse:
3) Music doesn't repeat properly. My best estimate is that it only starts over
when the wind in the area changes. Wind will change due to weather patterns,
day/night, and other things I never paid attention to because fishing sucks.
4) Some areas use the same wind as each-other. Some areas use more than one
wind file depending on the time or weather. In these cases, it is highly
recommended you use the same song for all of the different areas. Either
that, or just use real wind for the files that overlap.
Here is the list of areas that I know which wind sound effect is for. Please
help me by changing other wind files in the wind folder and writing down where
you hear them, and emailing me. I no longer play FF11, so I need help
completing and maintaining the list.
FF11 BACKGROUND SOUND EFFECT LIST
---------------------------------
Many of the areas that actually have real background music also have wind in
the background. You probably don't want two songs playing at once in these
areas, so I've marked them with a tag to let you know not to change
them.
Sound effect 001003 is used in a bunch of places that don't have music, but
also in Windurst. Use your own judgement. I leave it as normal wind, but you
might want to change it to music and then nullify Windurst's real music file.
Number 001065 has a similar issue, but as the caves in Valkurm are few and far
between, I just let the songs overlap.
I made most of this list myself, though one or two people have submitted an
area. It's not gonna get updated any more unless you people send me more info,
though, because I don't play FF11 any more.
Want to help expand this list? The best thing you can do is change
undocumented wind files to songs that you'll recognize if you hear, and see what
songs play as the wind when you go to different areas. Email me your results
if you find anything I don't have listed.
For a while, people were also willing to send me gil to help me get to harder
areas so I could test the files. But I've stopped playing. I deleted my
account in November 2004. So unless other people find more wind files, this
list probably won't be updated any time soon.
CHANGING BARD SONGS AND OTHER SOUNDS
------------------------------------
You can change bard songs too. Change them the same way you would change the
wind sounds. Open the Ximc program, maximize it, change to Sound Effect mode,
change a .wav file to .spw, and replace the bard song file. The bard songs
are in the folder SquareEnix\FINAL FANTASY XI\sound\win\se\se021 . Here's
the list of what each one is:
You can theoretically change any sound effect in the game. But there's 6243 of
them at the time of this writing, which doesn't even include the Chains
expansion, so I'm not going to go through and figure them all out for you. Here
are a few useful ones.
The level up tune is SquareEnix\FINAL FANTASY XI\sound\win\se\se000\SE000007.wav
if you want to change that one; put a one second delay at the beginning so it'll
line up right.
The sounds for Call and Call1 through Call22, the really obnoxious ones which
people use in macros and such, are located in the folder
PlayOnline\SquareEnix\FINAL FANTASY XI\sound\win\se\se000 and are named
se000017.spw to se000039.spw in increasing order. I recommend changing them
all to either soft bells or total silence.
CONVERTING THE ORIGINAL FILES TO A PLAYABLE FORMAT
--------------------------------------------------
This is actually pretty easy. You just download the Ximc program at
http://burger.sandwich.net/XIMC.zip and run it. Right below the WAV -> BGW
button is a BGW -> WAV button. Click it and find the file you want to
convert. The .wav file will appear in the folder that the original .bgw file
is in. This will make a .wav file, not a .mp3 file. If you really need it in
.mp3 format for some reason, you're on your own, although I hear iTunes can do
that. But don't email me about anything related to iTunes.
This might infringe the copyright and probably makes Square mad because they
sell fewer soundtracks, so do it at your own risk. I can't be held responsible
for you stealing the music. Personally, I went to all the trouble of figuring
all this stuff out because I DON'T like the music, but so many people email
me about this that I thought I'd add it to the guide. I'm assuming it's
illegal.
If you can't use that program for some reason, or you can't get it to work,
there's another way to listen to the songs. Move them from FF11 or Tetra
Master into the folder used for PlayOnline music, which is located in
SquareEnix\PlayOnlineViewer\viewer\data\system\bgm and rename them from
whatever.bgw to whatever.101.bgw. Use whatever file name you want as long
as it ends in .101.bgw. Now you can play the song in PlayOnline, or even set
it as a random background music for the PlayOnline viewer. Open PlayOnline,
and click on Navigator, then Options, then Viewer, then BGM, and all the songs
will be listed. Choose the one you want to play, or click OK to set it to
play randomly in POL.
There's also a plugin for Winamp called in_ffxi.dll that will allow Winamp to
play .bgw files directly. I didn't make this, and take no credit for it.
It can be downloaded from http://burger.sandwich.net/ffxi_winamp_plugin.zip .
Unzip that file with Winzip or a similar program. Move the .dll file to the
Plugins folder inside of your Winamp folder. Usually, by default, this folder
is Program Files\Winamp\Plugins unless you changed it during installation.
Now Winamp can play the original .bgw files from FF11. This plugin actually
also allows Winamp to play sound effect files, but they will have heavy static.
Note that songs music137.bgw, music900.bgw, and all songs from Aht Urhgan on
are in a different format, and can't be listened to by any of these ways. Ximc
crashes spectacularly, and in_ff11 produces garbled noise. Not even PlayOnline
Viewer and Tetra Master will be able to play these songs. There is a trick to
listening to them if you really want, though. Pick one song, make a copy, name
it music126.bgw, and replace the real music126.bgw song. Then that song will
play in your Mog House. You could, of course, use any other song in the game
instead of your Mog House, but the Mog House is probably the easiest way to go.
Copyright 2004-2006 Ben McAlpin. Reproduce freely.
If you sell this guide on eBay, I will take your future wife hostage, put
balogna on the hood of your car, email your entire porn directory to your
mother, drink all your beer, and drop your car keys down the sewer.
