143 lines
10 KiB
Markdown
143 lines
10 KiB
Markdown
# Unheard City - user guide
|
|
|
|
Replace voice lines, music, ambience and sound effects, and edit subtitles and menu text in **Batman: Arkham
|
|
City (PC, Steam)**. Everything you change can be put back with one click.
|
|
|
|
## Install and start
|
|
1. **Windows:** unzip the download and double-click **Install.cmd**. It installs Unheard City for your user (no
|
|
admin rights), adds it to the Start menu (and, if you want, the desktop) and offers to start it. Running a
|
|
newer version's Install.cmd later upgrades it. To remove it: Settings > Apps > Installed apps > Unheard City.
|
|
You can also skip installing and run `UnheardCity.exe` from the unzipped folder.
|
|
**Linux:** unpack the download and run `UnheardCity`.
|
|
2. The game is found through Steam automatically. If not (other drive, Linux/Proton), a red bar appears at
|
|
the top: click **Choose game folder…** and pick the folder that contains `BmGame` and `Binaries`
|
|
(Linux: usually `~/.steam/steam/steamapps/common/Batman Arkham City GOTY`).
|
|
3. **Close the game** while you apply or revert changes (the files are locked while it runs).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
## Language
|
|
There is **one language setting**: the **Language** list at the top of the window. It starts at the language the
|
|
game is set to (Steam > game properties > Language) and applies to everything you edit:
|
|
- **Sounds**: the voice lines of that language, plus the sounds every language shares (music, ambience,
|
|
effects). The game has voices in English (INT), French, Italian, German and Spanish; for the other languages
|
|
(Latin American Spanish, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Japanese, Korean) it plays the English voices, so the
|
|
editor shows those and says *voices: INT* next to the list.
|
|
- **Subtitles** and **Menu text**: the texts of that language.
|
|
Changing it reloads the lists; the next start is again in the game's language.
|
|
|
|
## Names
|
|
Every voice line has one name in every language, taken from the game itself (e.g. `Speech_TAPE_JOKER_1_04`, the
|
|
same as in the Subtitles tab): the line `Speech_X` in English is the same line `Speech_X` in French, Italian,
|
|
German and Spanish. Inside a WAD entry the game stores the variations of a line in a different order in each
|
|
language, so the position-based name is kept only as a second name (`Speech_TAPE_JOKER_1#4` = the 4th WEM of
|
|
that entry in this language; search finds both). When the game plays one of two versions of a line, the
|
|
second is shown as `NAME#2`. About 6 % of the lines are named by no game event; they take the name of their
|
|
English recording in every language. A few recordings are stored twice in the game files: both rows belong to
|
|
the same line and are changed and reverted together.
|
|
|
|
## Find a sound
|
|
- Type in the **search box** (Ctrl+F): words can be parts of the name, a category, a character, your own
|
|
notes or tags, or an ID like `b49cdf48`. All words must match.
|
|
- Narrow down with **Group** (Speech, Music, Ambience, SFX), **Category** (e.g. *Interview tapes*,
|
|
*Combat barks*, *Cinematics*), **Character**, **Archive** (speech language, SFX or BANK), **Tag**, **Modified
|
|
only** and **Favorites only**. Combine them freely; results update instantly.
|
|
- **Character** is the verified speaker from the curated catalog. Grey `~` names are only *mentioned* in the
|
|
sound's name (useful hints for the many unlabelled lines); tick *Include characters mentioned in names*
|
|
to filter on them too.
|
|
- Click a column header to sort (length, size, status, ...). Ctrl/Shift-click selects several rows.
|
|
- Archive **BANK** holds the short sounds stored inside soundbanks (footsteps, foley, combat,
|
|
weapons, menu sounds, grunts). Many are named after the game event that plays them (`Play_...`), the
|
|
rest after their bank (`CHR_Bane_3`). The editor shows the bank and how many copies the game keeps of
|
|
the sound; a replacement is written into every copy.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
## Listen
|
|
The editor under the list shows the selected sound in three columns side by side (drag the dividers to
|
|
resize them): **Listen**, **Replace** and **Subtitle**. Select a row and press **Space** (or double-click) to
|
|
play the original. In **Listen**:
|
|
- **Original** / **Installed** play the game's original and what is currently in the game. Click on a
|
|
waveform to play from that point. **Loop**, **Volume** and **Stop** (Esc) work for everything.
|
|
- **A/B** switches between the original and your replacement at the same position, to compare.
|
|
|
|
## Replace
|
|
|
|
1. **Load file…** (Ctrl+O): WAV, FLAC, OGG, OPUS, MP3 or AIFF. (M4A/WMA work only if ffmpeg is installed.)
|
|
Or choose a microphone in the list and press **Record**, then **Stop recording**. Listen with
|
|
**Replacement**; record again as often as you like.
|
|
2. Adjust: **Keep … to** trims (or right-drag on the replacement waveform), **Trim silence**, **Gain**,
|
|
**Normalize**, **Match loudness** (to the original; recommended for voice lines).
|
|
3. **Apply to game** (Ctrl+S). The audio is converted to the original's format and written into the game files.
|
|
The row turns bold and shows *Modified*.
|
|
|
|
Size rule: voice lines and effects must fit into the original's size (the *Max size* column), because the
|
|
game reads exactly that many bytes. Longer audio is encoded at lower quality to fit; if it still does not fit
|
|
you are asked to shorten it. Music (`Music_…`) can be any length. A warning appears when your audio is longer
|
|
than the original, since the game may cut it off.
|
|
|
|
## Undo
|
|
- **Revert** in the editor puts that sound back exactly.
|
|
- Right-click rows → **Revert selected**; toolbar **Revert all** puts every original back.
|
|
- Originals are kept in your user data folder (`%APPDATA%\UnheardCity` on Windows,
|
|
`~/.local/share/unheardcity` on Linux), so reverting works after updating or reinstalling the app too.
|
|
Uninstalling keeps this folder; use **Revert all** before uninstalling if you want the game back to original.
|
|
Before the first change to a game file, a full copy of it is kept there too: optional for the WAD archives
|
|
(Settings), always for soundbanks, packages and text files (they are rebuilt from that copy).
|
|
- If Steam "Verify integrity of game files" or an update undoes your changes, a bar offers **Re-apply my
|
|
changes** or **Forget them**. Do not use "verify" to undo mods; use Revert all.
|
|
|
|
## Subtitles
|
|
The **Subtitles** tab lists the subtitle of every speech line in the selected language (see *Language*).
|
|
- Search by text or line name, filter by **Character** and **Category** (taken from the linked speech sound),
|
|
or show **Modified only**. Select a row to edit its text below and press **Apply** (or Enter).
|
|
- Each subtitle replaces the original *in place*, so it can be at most as long as the original (the counter
|
|
shows *used / room* characters). Latin-1 subtitles accept Latin-1 characters only (accents are fine);
|
|
Russian, Polish, Japanese and Korean subtitles accept any character.
|
|
- **Go to the sound** opens the speech line in the Sounds tab. In the Sounds tab, the editor of a speech line
|
|
shows its subtitle in the **Subtitle** column next to the audio: edit both side by side, **Apply** /
|
|
**Revert** the subtitle there, or **Show in list** to jump back to the Subtitles tab.
|
|
- **Find and replace…** works on the rows the filters show (texts that would not fit are listed and skipped).
|
|
- **Revert** / **Revert all texts here** put the original text back (every copy in every game file).
|
|
- About 30 subtitles per language have no sound in the game (texts such as the Arkham City Stories, unused
|
|
radio reports); they have no linked sound. A subtitle of a line the game plays in two versions belongs to
|
|
both. The game itself has no subtitles for efforts and grunts and for most combat barks and cutscene lines.
|
|
|
|
## Menu text
|
|
The **Menu text** tab lists every menu, HUD, bio, riddle and credits string of the selected language (about
|
|
7,000), grouped by **File** (e.g. `FRONTEND`, `GFxUI`, `Bios`). Search, edit, apply and revert work like
|
|
subtitles; menu texts can be of any length but cannot contain line breaks (keep the game's own markers such
|
|
as `\n` as they are).
|
|
|
|
## Notes, tags, favorites
|
|
Right-click → **Notes & tags…** (F2): free text and comma-separated tags, searchable and filterable.
|
|
Click the **★** column to mark favorites. These are stored in your user data folder, not in the game.
|
|
|
|
## Share your changes (mods)
|
|
- **Export mod…**: choose which changed sounds and texts to include and save a `.acmod` file (the exact game
|
|
data plus the audio, so it also works for another language whose original has a different size).
|
|
- **Import mod…**: shows which sounds match this game, then installs them. You can revert them like any change.
|
|
- Changed subtitles and menu texts are exported and imported with the sounds (listed as *Text*); a text stays
|
|
in its language (a French subtitle edit changes the French subtitle).
|
|
- In another language, voice lines are matched by the game's own identity of the line, so the same line is
|
|
replaced even where its position differs. Voice lines from packages made with versions before 3.1 carry no
|
|
such identity: the import lists them instead of guessing (export the mod again with this version).
|
|
|
|
## Settings
|
|
|
|
Game folder, where originals are kept, the full-backup option and the playback device. The recording device
|
|
is chosen next to the Record button. **Background**: show or hide the Arkham City wallpaper behind the filter
|
|
panel; **Background strength**: how visible it is (10 % by default).
|
|
The editor panel opens tall enough to show all its controls; drag the divider above it to change that.
|
|
|
|
## Troubleshooting
|
|
| message | what to do |
|
|
|---------|-----------|
|
|
| "Cannot write … close the game" | quit Arkham City (and anything else using the file) and try again |
|
|
| "not a Batman: Arkham City folder" | pick the folder that contains `BmGame` and `Binaries` |
|
|
| "audio is too long for this sound" | shorten the audio (see the original's length) |
|
|
| "the text is … characters long but this subtitle has room for …" | shorten the subtitle (the counter shows the room) |
|
|
| "Cannot read … Supported: WAV, FLAC, …" | convert the file to WAV/MP3/FLAC, or install ffmpeg |
|
|
| "changed outside this tool" | the game files were changed by an update or another tool; revert or confirm to overwrite |
|
|
| no sound when playing | choose another playback device in Settings |
|