So let me get this straight: If you install BG1UB on either Tutu or BGT, then the routine installs 30 audio files in the override folder. All of those are sound effects from BG1 and they are provided by the installation package. For the English version, those files come with the UB download. For the French, Spanish and German version, there are the individual audio packages to be separately downloaded and used. When executed correctly, the installer converts the respective sound files and places them in override during the installation of UB.
Initially, I was asking myself why UB would provide the files instead of just extracting exactly the same resources directly from the given BG1 installation that was required for Tutu and BGT anyway. Apparently the audio packages were introduced about two and a half years ago, but the topics I found...
http://forums.pocketplane.net/index.php/topic,26202.0.htmlhttp://forums.pocketplane.net/index.php/topic,22315.msg318149.html#msg318149...didn't give an explanation. Then I realized the UB installation was probably meant to be self-reliant and therefore brings along these BG1 resources. And now we have a problem. I have examined the implementation and the usage of all the 30 sound files. I'm only using BGT so I can't make a statement about Tutu.
a) Using the designated German audio files is not a good idea. The German recordings of BG1 are louder than their English counterparts and the general volume of BG2. That's why for BGT, there is a mod which levels the volume of the German sound effects. I'm not saying this is a solution for UB though. If you install the mod and UB in the wrong order, then the louder sounds from UB will be used due to UB just blatantly tossing its sound files into override, therefore reversing the desired effect of the volume mod. Now I suppose the files delivered with UB could be adjusted, but then for someone not using the volume mod, again there will be a difference in sound levels. The broader point here is that the audio packages and the forced installation of those sounds by UB generally break the control over the consistency of the sound files, no matter which specific mod or installation procedure might be affected. Furthermore, ...
b) ... NOT using the German or any of the foreign audio packages is not a good idea either, because this just results in the English sounds from bg1ub\tra\English\ogg being installed. So if you have a foreign version and DON'T use the corresponding audio package, you get those 30 English sound bits sprinkled into your perfectly "foreign" game for no reason, which is quite annoying (I tested it). I guess this is also valid for the Italian, Russian and Polish installation of UB since there aren't even any audio packs for these languages, so they automatically get the English sounds. I further believe that this contradicts the intended behavior, because A64 once pointed out (reply #6 from the first link):
I could perhaps code the functionality in the core package to see if the [respective] language files exist in the language folder, and if they don't, ignore, but if they do [...], then they can use those.
c) Not only are those sound files causing trouble, I couldn't figure out why they ARE provided AT ALL. As I said, I assumed, for lack of better knowledge, that the sounds are installed by UB because they come from BG1 and don't exist in BG2. But that's not quite true. Again I did some rigorous testing and had a detailed look at everything. Of those 30 sound files, 10 are also present in BG2, without any difference. Why aren't these used then, or why are they replaced by their own exact counterparts from BG1? I see no reason for that. Then, for another 19 of the provided BG1 sound files, it's true that they don't exist in vanilla BG2, but guess what, they are
imported by BGT instead, so they are perfectly available as well - without any help or provision by Unfinished Business! The last file - and here comes the kicker - is also present in BG2 by default, but it is a different sound, which means BG1UB actually replaces an independent BG2 resource in this case.
In conclusion, all of the 30 sounds provided by UB (or by the language packs) are ALREADY there, without UB being installed (at least in my ordinary German BGT build). Therefore, what UB does here not only raises the aforementioned problems, but is also unnecessary. Consequently, a solution to fixing the issues of the current implementation would be to abandon this method: I don't know about Tutu, maybe the sounds are actually needed there, but for BGT, the "//sounds" part of the setup-bg1ub.tp2 code could be reworked to simply not apply to BGT anymore. Wouldn't that solve the problems and be more effective at the same time? Am I missing anything here? Please talk to me.
Based on my investigation, the following table shows the situation for all of the 30 sound files. The green "Yes" entries signal that UB does not need to provide these files. The differing BG2 resource "eff_p22c.wav" is a sound attached to the Glyph of Warding priest spell. UB places a different BG1 file with the same name in override, thereby creating a compatibility issue.
BG1 resource provided by UB | file present in vanilla BG2? | BG1 file imported by BGT? | annotations |
------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------ |
amb_e43b | no | yes |
delsv01 | no | yes |
delsv02 | no | yes |
delsv03 | no | yes |
delsv04 | no | yes |
eff_p22c | yes but differs | no | this file is a different sound in BG1 <> BG2 -- compatibility issue |
entar01 | no | yes |
entar02 | no | yes |
entar03 | no | yes |
entar04 | no | yes |
gandl01 | no | yes |
gandl02 | no | yes |
gandl03 | no | yes |
gandl04 | no | yes |
garrk13 | no | yes |
gnomf03 | yes but broken | yes |
halff01 | yes | no |
mustr08 | yes | no |
swenc01 | yes | no |
swenc02 | yes | no |
tanar01 | yes | no | German BG1 <> BG2 versions actually differ, but the BG2 version sounds better |
tanar02 | yes | no | German BG1 <> BG2 versions actually differ, but the BG2 version sounds better |
tanar03 | yes | no | German BG1 <> BG2 versions actually differ, but the BG2 version sounds better |
tanar04 | yes | no | German BG1 <> BG2 versions actually differ, but the BG2 version sounds better |
tanar05 | yes | no | German BG1 <> BG2 versions actually differ, but the BG2 version sounds better |
tanar06 | yes | no | German BG1 <> BG2 versions actually differ, but the BG2 version sounds better |
wench01 | yes but broken | yes |
wench02 | yes but broken | yes |
wench04 | yes but broken | yes |
wiltn01 | no | yes |