Secrets of the .sng file

[LightWolf]

Everyone knows it as that music thing thing that you need a batch file for it to work, and then a way to undo it for everything else to work. However, that is not strictly true. Did you know:
1. You do not need a batch file for it to work. It can be placed under the name descent.sng within the .hog file.
2. If you do this, it does not need an undo mechanism. It is .hog-dependent with this method.
3. You can actually use it to deviate from the classic "game01,game02,game03,game..." filename order. You can actually use it to allow music to play with different filenames. I'very actually gotten a "final.hmp" to play because of this.
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The first two probably make sense, but the third? That's because of how a .sng works. It is essentially a configuration file that tells Descent what track to play when. The first 5 are for stuff that usually doesn't matter (like the title song - you can't change that within a custom .hog anyway). After that, however, the magic happens. You put "asdf.hmp" in the seventh spot within the levels' allocated space, and, so long as asdf.hmp exists within the .hog, it will play on level seven.

So there ya have it! If you have any .sng questions, just shoot me a PM!

[Sirius]

I believe placing it in the .hog file only works with D1X/D2X - which is why the older missions resorted to the .bat approach.