Any way to mod/customise sounds?

I know vuvuzelas can be annoying but once I found the file I thought "well, this might be different"
Great, take your time and once you have it I will just follow the instructions to make it work. If its okay with you, I will be looking for some more files and then this can be updated.
Thank you and cheers for this.

Boas, eu tambem estou tentando alterar o ficheiro para por os canticos dos principais clubes europeus (claro slb,SCP e fcp estão la lista ) , com os comentarios do Nuno Matos.

I've received many questions about adding sounds into Football Manager over the last few years. I have written a guide and decided to post it here for anyone seeking information, help or tips on the matter.


- Tommy H -



SOUND EDITING FOR FOOTBALL MANAGER 2018



*SOME BASIC THEORY

(NOT all this will be required to set up the sounds but I'll post this in case you want to study the editing process further. Placing your own sounds in FM isn't that complicated once you get the hang of it, but it will be all the more rewarding, promise!)


The sound files of FM18 are located in the compressed archive file named simatchviewer_uncompressed.fmf in C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Football Manager 2018\data\ -folder.
You can use the free Football Manager 2018 Resource Archiver (Found in Steam Library -> Tools) to extract the files. You will the extracted sound files in the folder C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Football Manager 2018\data\simatchviewer_uncompressed\sounds\

You can place your own (requires a particular kind of .wav format) custom sound files into the extracted ---\sounds\ folder, add the names of your custom sounds into match_sounds.cfg and make FM18 play those sounds in the match engine.


The match_sounds.cfg and match_events.xml files define which sound files are used in the FM18 match engine and in which particular situations (i.e. match events).

You can open both, the match_sounds.cfg and match_events.xml, with Windows Notepad or some other basic text editor.
(You'll find both of these files in: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Football Manager 2018\data\simatch\events)

These are sound triggers:
SOUND_HIGH_ANTICIPATION

For example, in match_events.xml you have an event id=2 (the individual match event ID that is neat for finding a specific event within the file):
EVENT_LOSE_CONTROL_OF_BALL;INGAME - - -
Scrolling down, you'll see that it is associated with a sound trigger:
<string id="sdon" value="SOUND_LIGHT_GROANS" />
<string id="sdtw" value="" />

"sdon" means sound one and "sdtw" means sound two. You can use 0-2 different sound triggers for a single match event, sound one, sound one and sound two, or neither.

In the example above, the event EVENT_LOSE_CONTROL_OF_BALL;INGAME activates sound trigger SOUND_LIGHT_GROANS.
Now, when you open match_sounds.cfg in notepad and search "SOUND_LIGHT_GROANS", you'll find the same exact trigger. These two files work in tandem. If a trigger already exists, you can just replace a sound or add another alternative sound to the trigger. If you need to create a whole new trigger or associate a trigger existing in match_sounds.cfg with an event in match_events.xml, then you need to edit the match_events.xml as well.

In FM18's default match_sounds.cfg the trigger looks like this:

SOUND_LIGHT_GROANS, "FM_crowd_push2", 0, 1, 2, 0

And it has a similar trigger for other events right after it, with the same sound (FM_crowd_push2) associated:

SOUND_LIGHT_GROANS_OPPOSITION, "FM_crowd_push2", 0, 4, 2, 0

In my edited general match_sounds.cfg, the trigger looks like this:

SOUND_LIGHT_GROANS, "FM_crowd_push2", 0, 1, 2, 0
SOUND_LIGHT_GROANS, "0304_cmonref", 0, 1, 2, 0

That's because there are two sounds instead of one for the match engine to randomly choose from.

If you open the ---\sounds\ folder and search for "FM_crowd_push2", you can listen to, and know, exactly what type of sounds the trigger will cause to be played. And, remembering the match_events.xml, you know at least one event in that file that triggers these specific sounds.


Now you know how to address specific files to be used for specific match events, and if you wish, how to change or add sounds being listed as options in a sound trigger.



*CREATING A NEW SOUND TRIGGER 1.0

example:

I've added two triggers to event <integer value="185" id="id" /> EVENT_YELLOW_CARD;INGAME that had no sounds associated to it at all.

It used to look like this:
<integer id="isst" value="0" />
<integer id="flsh" value="0" />
<integer id="rtct" value="2" />
<string id="sdon" value="" />
<string id="sdtw" value="" />
<integer id="meci" value="4" />
<integer id="plrc" value="1" />
<integer id="refc" value="2" />

Now it looks like:
<integer id="isst" value="0" />
<integer id="flsh" value="0" />
<integer id="rtct" value="2" />
<string id="sdon" value="SOUND_YELLOW_CARD_OPP" />
<string id="sdtw" value="SOUND_YELLOW_CARD" />
<integer id="meci" value="4" />
<integer id="plrc" value="1" />
<integer id="refc" value="2" />

Then I added two sound triggers and many mentions of alternative sound files in match_sounds.cfg to enrichen the atmosphere:

SOUND_YELLOW_CARD, "FM_crowd_badref", 0, 1, 2, 0
SOUND_YELLOW_CARD, "0304_Baddec", 0, 1, 2, 0
SOUND_YELLOW_CARD, "FM_crowd_boos_small", 0, 1, 2, 0
# SOUND_YELLOW_CARD, "FM_ref_wnker", 0, 1, 2, 0
# SOUND_YELLOW_CARD, "FM_ref_wnker2", 0, 1, 2, 0
# SOUND_YELLOW_CARD, "FM_ref_wnker3", 0, 1, 2, 0
SOUND_YELLOW_CARD_OPP, "FM_crowd_quiet_applause", 0, 4, 2, 0
SOUND_YELLOW_CARD_OPP, "FM_sub", 0, 4, 2, 0

The hashtag (#) mark means the game will NOT take the line starting with # into account, and thus I have rendered the English "Wanker!" shouts non-existent in the neutral, general sound setup version. In English match_sounds.cfg file these lines are enabled.
Now, all I have to do is make sure those files ussed above are in the game's \sounds\ folder and they will be used when someone receives a yellow card in a match.



- So, what does the "0, 1, 2, 0" or "0, 4, 2, 0" or something else mean in a sound trigger line? That is explained below:


*CREATING A NEW SOUND TRIGGER 2.0
Slightly advanced theory... useful when creating new sound triggers

About the order in which the sounds are played during in-game events, there is a numerical value placed after each sound that is mentioned in the match_sounds.cfg. That value defines how often it is to be selected in comparison to other sounds for the same sound TRIGGER.

There is a brief explanation provided by SI at the very beginning of their default match_sounds.cfg:

#
# Sound config file
#
# id, filename (without .wav extension), loop flag, sound type, chance, pre-cache flag
#
# types:
#
# 0 - MST_BACKGROUND
# 1 - MST_CROWD
# 2 - MST_PITCH_EVENT
# 3 - MST_REF_EVENTS
# 4 - MST_OPP_CROWD
# 5 - MST_BACKGROUND_OPP_CROWD
#
# The higher the chance number the more likely the sound is to be picked.
# Note: this has no effect if only one sound supplied for an id so use a default value of 1

Here's what it means:

You have the sound trigger named trigger "SOUND_HIGH_ANTICIPATION". There are currently 2 optional sounds (filenames "FM_crowd_excited" and "FM_crowd_excited2" ) that the trigger randomly plays. That randomness can, however, be adjusted using the 3rd value in the sequence 0, 1, 2, 0. (= number 2 in this case.) It is the chance value - how often the sound will be chosen from among the alternatives in the sound trigger. (This trigger has 2 alternative sounds.) According to my tests, chance value 1=rare, 2=normal 3=often. I believe that, 1-3, is the full scale of possible chance values. Adjusting those values lets you define the probability of saounds to be used, in relation to eachother.

The other values in the sequence are:
First 0 = loop flag. 1 means that sound will loop untile next sound of the same type is triggered. 0 means sound looping is off.
Second value (1 in here) = sound type. Sound types are listed above (0 - MST_BACKGROUND and so on...) I won't go into detail about these, unless you want, but they are very useful when making completely new triggers for example REFEREE sounds or OPPOSING CROWD etc. But yeah, intricate stuff...
Third value, chance, we already covered.
Fourth and final value (0 in here) = pre-cache flag. I believe it means whether the sound will be cached ready for use at the brginning of the match, before it is even needed for the first time. Caching of course helps the sound play faster, withoud any delay caused by loading the sound file. Just how big a difference it makes is unknown to me. Anyway value 1=sound should be pre-cached and 2=sound will not be pre-cached.

SOUND_HIGH_ANTICIPATION, "FM_crowd_excited", 0, 1, 2, 0
SOUND_HIGH_ANTICIPATION, "FM_crowd_excited2", 0, 1, 2, 0




*IF YOU CREATE YOUR OWN SOUNDS, WHAT FILE TYPES & FORMATS WILL WORK IN FOOTBALL MANAGER?

- Sound files are to be exported as .wav 16 bit
- Mono (especially) or stereo (should also work)
- Resampled to 22050 Hz (Sample Rate)
- Length: I don't know why, but the maximum length of a sound (at least pre-FM18) seems to be around 10-11 seconds. This is weird, because there are default sound files in FM much much longer than this...
- As you export the file, BE SURE to clear all possible METADATA, i.e. info of artist or music style or album etc. info that can be stored in the file, because for some reason soundfiles with metadata will not play at all in FM!!


And that's as far as I've gotten with my sound editing guide for FOOTBALL MANAGER so far...

can this be done for fm 2020 the crowd sounds terrible?

Yes, it can be done for FM 20.

is it possible to add goal songs?