To locate your project's installation directory, click the  icon against your project's listing in the Launcher, and select the Reveal in Explorer option from the menu.

At this point, you must decide if you'd like to follow the entire tutorial, or skip the setup and other instructions for FMOD Studio, Wwise and/or SDL Mixer.

• To implement the entire tutorial, please extract and copy the contents of the Showcase_Audio_Source.zip package into your project folder.
• If you prefer to skip the middleware setup/instructions, then copy the contents of the Showcase_Assets.zip package into your project folder.

Make sure none of the downloaded asset files are write protected.

FMOD Studio

If you choose to use FMOD Studio with this tutorial, begin by creating a folder named fmod in the /Assets/Audio directory of the project created in the previous step. Inside the fmod folder, create two new folders named ace and assets respectively.

Assuming FMOD Studio has been downloaded and installed on your system, launch it, and create a new FMOD project of the name fmod_project. Save this project inside the /Assets/Audio/ directory of your CRYENGINE project.

Next, to define where FMOD saves Soundbanks so that they can be read by the Engine;

• Open the Preferences window using the Edit → Preferences option from FMOD Studio's main menu.
• Navigate to the Build panel of this window and enter ../fmod in the Build banks output directory field. Alternatively, the folder can be manually selected by clicking the Browse button and locating the /Assets/Audio/fmod folder.
• In the same panel, click Desktop under the Project platforms section and set the value of the Output sub-directory field to assets.

Pressing the F7 key should generate the Master Bank. The final step in the middleware setup involves configuring the ACE to use your choice of middleware implementation.

To have the Engine's audio system load the FMOD implementation;

• Open the Console by selecting the Tools → Advanced → Console option from the Engine's main menu;
• Set the value of the s_ImplName CVar to CryAudioImplFmod by typing s_ImplName = CryAudioImplFmod in the console.

Wwise

If using Wwise with this tutorial, create a folder named wwise in the /Assets/Audio directory of the project created in the previous step. Inside the wwise folder, create two new folders named ace and assets respectively.

• Download and launch the Wwise Launcher from the audiokinetic website.
• Install the version of Wwise that is compatible with your Engine build, then choose to install the Authoring Tool package also.

Wwise

After the installation ends, launch Wwise and click New on the Project Launcher window to create a new project. Name the project wwise_project and save it in the /Assets/Audio/ directory of your CRYNENGINE project as shown below.

wwise_project

Next, to define where Wwise generates SoundBanks so that they can be read by the Engine;

• Select the Project → Project Settings option from Wwise's Main Menu and navigate to the Soundbanks tab.
• Under the Soundbanks Path section, click on the  symbol, and navigate to the Assets/Audio/wwise/assets of your CRYENGINE project directory.
• Click OK,  and then press F7 to change the layout of your Wwise project window. Click the Generate All button at the top of the project window.

SoundBank Paths

If you now open the Assets/Audio/wwise/assets folder in your project directory, you'll find that files such as Init.bnk and Init.txt have already been created by Wwise.

To have the Engine's audio system load the Wwise implementation;

• Open the Console by selecting the Tools → Advanced → Console option from the Engine's main menu.
• Set the value of the s_ImplName CVar to CryAudioImplWwise by typing s_ImplName = CryAudioImplWwise in the console.

SDL Mixer

The Assets/Audio directory of your project contains a folder called SDLMixer, which contains two folders named of ace and assets. If using an SDL Mixer audio middleware implementation, the files created during the course of this tutorial will be stored within these two folders.

To have the Engine's audio system load the SDL Mixer implementation;

• Open the Console by selecting the Tools → Advanced → Console option from the Engine's main menu.
• Set the value of the s_ImplName CVar to CryAudioImplSDLMixer by typing s_ImplName = CryAudioImplSDLMixer in the console.

The s_ImplName CVar defines which audio middleware implementation (SDL Mixer, FMOD Studio or Wwise) is loaded by CRYENGINE's audio system. It's recommended to set its value via the user.cfg file of your project.

Audio System Controls must be stored in an ACE Library; these Libraries are saved in the .../Assets/Audio/fmod/ace directory of the project if using FMOD, .../Assets/Audio/wwise/ace directory if using Wwise, or .../Assets/Audio/sdlmixer/ace when using SDL Mixer.

An Audio System Control can be created by;

• Dragging a middleware control from the Middleware Data panel to a Library in the the Audio System Controls panel.
• Clicking the Add button at the top of the Audio System Controls panel.
• Right-clicking a Library and selecting Add from the context menu.

For an in-depth overview of the ACE tool window, its panels and menu options please refer to its user documentation.

FMOD Studio

If using FMOD Studio, the audio effect for gunfire has been included in the _Audio_Assets/FMod Studio/chapter_01/ folder of the Audio Showcase assets' installation directory as Play_w_gun_fire_01.wav.

Creating an Event and Soundbank on FMOD Studio

Drag and drop this .wav file from disk to the Events tab on the left of your FMOD project; this opens the Create Event window with the option to create a 2D Event or a 3D Event. Select 2D Event and click the Create button to complete the process.

Play_w_gun_fire_01

After the Event, a Soundbank needs to be created. Soundbanks store metadata related to audio assets, and also contain compressed/encrypted audio material. To create a Soundbank for the imported gunfire audio asset;

• Open the Banks tab on the left of your FMOD project, right-click, and select the New Bank option from the context menu. Let's call the Soundbank Weapon.
• Save the FMOD project (Ctrl + S), then switch back to the Events tab of the FMOD project. An   icon against the create Event indicates that it hasn't been associated with a Soundbank.
• Assign the Play_w_gun_fire_01 event to the Weapon Soundbank by right-clicking the event, and selecting Assign to Bank → Weapon from the context menu. When done, press F7 to build the created Soundbank.

Creating an Audio Trigger 

For the Play_w_gun_fire_01 event to be triggered in the Showcase_Audio level, it needs to be connected to an audio Trigger in the ACE. If you haven't already, open the ACE in CRYENGINE by using the Tools → Audio Controls Editor option from its Main Menu.

You should now be able to see the folder structure of your FMOD project in the Middleware Data panel, with the Play_w_gun_fire_01 event listed under the Events folder, and the Weapon Soundbank under the Soundbanks folder. 

To create a Trigger;

• Right-click within the Audio System Controls panel and select Add → Library; recall that all Audio System Controls must exist within Libraries.
• Let's name the Library Weapon. Once it has been created, simply drag and drop the Play_w_gun_fire_01 event from the Middleware Data panel to the Weapon Library in the Audio System Controls panel.

The created Trigger will be listed with the  icon on the Audio System Controls panel, but for it to function, the Weapon Soundbank must be imported too. To import the Soundbank;

• Create a new Library in the Audio System Control panel; call it Preloads. 
• Drag and drop the Weapon Soundbank from the Middleware Data panel into it. This creates a Preload Request with the same name in the Audio System Control panel.
  
  

Save both the Weapon and the Preloads Libraries by clicking the  button at the upper left corner of the ACE. To preview the created Trigger in the ACE;

• First refresh the audio system by clicking the  button at the upper left corner of the ACE.
• With the Trigger selected, double-click it, press the spacebar or right-click it and select the Execute Trigger option from the context menu.

Wwise

If using Wwise, the audio effect for gunfire has been included in the _Audio_Assets/Wwise/chapter_01/ folder of the Audio Showcase level assets' installation directory as w_gun_fire_01.wav.

Creating an Event and Soundbank on Wwise

Press the F5 key in Wwise to switch back to its Designer Layout.

On the left of your project window is the Project Explorer, it consists of several hierarchies; while the Interactive Music Hierarchy is reserved only for music, sound effects can be imported into the Actor-Mixer Hierarchy. To import our gunfire audio effect;

• Click on Default Work Unit under Actor-Mixer Hierarchy and click the  icon at the top of the panel to create a new Actor-Mixer. Name it Weapon.
• Drag and drop the w_gun_fire_01.wav file from the _Audio_Assets/Wwise/chapter_01/ folder of the Audio Showcase level assets directory into the newly created Actor-Mixer.
• Click Import on the Audio File Importer window that appears; w_gun_fire_01 should now be listed as a child of the Weapon Actor-Mixer within the Project Explorer of your Wwise project.

Wwise import asset

To now actually create an Event for the w_gun_fire_01 object, right-click the w_gun_fire_01 Sound SFX container and select the New Event → Play option from the menu. If you switch to the Events tab in the Project Explorer, then you should be able to see the created Event Play_w_gun_fire_01.

• Expand the Events item at the top of the hierarchy; the Play_w_gun_fire_01 should be listed under Default Work Unit.
• Click the  icon at the top of the Project Explorer panel to create a new folder, name it Weapon, and place the Play_w_gun_fire_01 event into it.

Since SoundBanks store metadata and other information related to an audio asset, then we need to create a SoundBank for the created Event so that it can be used in our level. 

• Open the SoundBanks tab of the Project Explorer.
• Select the Default Work Unit listing and then click on the  symbol to create a new SoundBank; name it Weapon.

Save your Wwise project. We now need to add the Play_w_gun_fire_01 Event to the Weapon SoundBank, so that Wwise recognizes in which SoundBank the Event's data needs to be stored. To do so;

• Press the F7 key to switch to the SoundBank Manager layout.
• Expand the Default Work Unit hierarchy item in the middle panel and select the Weapon SoundBank.
• Switch to the Events tab in the Project Explorer, then drag and drop the Weapon folder into the SoundBank Editor panel at the bottom of the screen.

In this way, we've defined that all the content of the Weapon Events folder should be built into the Weapon SoundBank. Save the Wwise project again, and click the Generate All button at the top of the window.

Weapon SoundBank

Creating an Audio Trigger

For the Play_w_gun_fire_01 event to be triggered in the Showcase_Audio level, it needs to be connected to an audio Trigger in the ACE. If you haven't already, open the ACE in CRYENGINE by using the Tools → Audio Controls Editor option from its Main Menu.

You should now be able to see the folder structure of your Wwise project in the Middleware Data panel, with the Play_w_gun_fire_01 event listed under the Events folder, and the Weapon Soundbank under the Soundbanks folder.

To create a Trigger;

• Right-click within the Audio System Controls panel and select Add → Library; recall that all Audio System Controls must exist within Libraries.
• Let's name the Library Weapon. Once it has been created simply drag and drop the Play_w_gun_fire_01 event from the Middleware Data panel to the Weapon Library in the Audio System Controls panel.

The created Trigger will be listed with the  icon in the Audio System Controls panel, but for it to function, the Weapon Soundbank must be imported too. To import the Soundbank;

• Create a new Library in the Audio System Control panel; call it Preloads.
• Drag and drop the Weapon Soundbank from the Middleware Data panel into it. This creates a Preload Request with the same name in the Audio System Control panel.

Save both the Weapon and Preloads Libraries by clicking the  button at the upper left corner of the ACE. To preview the created Trigger in the ACE;

• First refresh the audio system by clicking the  button at the upper left corner of the ACE.
• With the Trigger selected, double-click it, press the spacebar or right-click it and select the Execute Trigger option from the context menu.

SDL Mixer

If using SDL Mixer, the audio effect for gunfire has been included in the _Audio_Assets/sdlmixer/chapter_01/ folder of the Audio Showcase level assets' installation directory as Play_w_gun_fire_01.ogg.

• Create a folder called Weapon under /Assets/Audio/sdlmixer/assets in your project.
• Drag and drop the Play_w_gun_fire_01.ogg from _Audio_Assets/sdlmixer/chapter_01/ into the newly created Weapon folder.

For Play_w_gun_fire_01.ogg  to be triggered in the Audio Showcase level it needs to be connected to an audio Trigger in the ACE. If you haven't already, open the ACE in CRYENGINE by using the Tools → Audio Controls Editor option from its Main Menu.

You should now be able to see the Weapon folder in the Middleware Data panel, with the Play_w_gun_fire_01.ogg included.  

To create a Trigger;

• Right-click within the Audio System Controls panel and select Add → Library; recall that all Audio System Controls must exist within Libraries.
• Let's name the Library Weapon. Once it has been created, simply drag and drop the Play_w_gun_fire_01.ogg file from the Middleware Data panel to the Weapon Library in the Audio System Controls panel.

The created Trigger will be listed with the  icon in the Audio System Controls panel. Save the Weapon Library by clicking the  button at the upper left corner of the ACE. To preview the created Trigger in the ACE;

• First, refresh the audio system by clicking the  button at the upper left corner of the ACE.
• With the Trigger is selected, double-click it, press the spacebar or right-click it and select the Execute Trigger option from the context menu.

Note
Remember to save created Libraries in the ACE using the  button; the Ctrl + S shortcut only saves changes made to a level.

When the Play_w_gun_fire_01 Event is selected in the Audio Systems Control panel, its properties are listed in the center Properties panel; deactivate the Enable Panning and Enable Attenuation toggles, and save the created Library. 

The gunfire volume is too low? Select the Play_w_gun_fire_01 Trigger in the ACE and increase the value of the Volume (dB) field in the Properties panel to -6. 

FMOD Studio

If you go back to the chapter_01 folder that contained the Play_w_gun_fire_01.wav file in the previous step, you'll find four distinct audio tracks named l_cg_amb_one_shot_tree_movement_0X.wav.

These sounds are meant to mimic the natural rustle of leaves and serve as the basis of the level's ambience. In this step, we'll combine all four audio assets to form a 3D Event in FMOD which will then be connected to an Audio Trigger Spot Entity so that it can be heard within the level.

Creating a 3D Event in FMOD Studio

Open the Audio Bin in FMOD Studio by selecting the Window → Audio Bin option from its main menu, or by using the Ctrl + 3 keyboard shortcut; the Audio Bin is where the project's audio assets are stored.

To keep the Audio Bin organized, we create a folder named Ambience and within it, another folder called oneshots. Drag and drop the four audio asset files Play_l_cg_amb_one_shot_tree_movement_0X.wav into the oneshots folder.

Audio Bin

Switch back to the Events tab in FMOD Studio's main window. We need to create a folder by right-clicking within the tab and selecting the New Folder option. We will name the folder oneshots within a folder named Ambience (as we did in the Audio Bin).

Next, drag and drop the four audio asset files l_cg_amb_one_shot_tree_movement_0X .ogg from the Audio Bin into the oneshot folder of the Event tab; as before this opens the Create Event window with the option to create a 2D Event or 3D Event.

Since we need to create a 3D Event;

• Select 3D Event in the Create Event window.
• Check the Create a new event with one multi-instrument radio box under Additional options, and then click the Create button to complete the process as shown in the GIF below.

Rename the Event to Play_l_cg_amb_one_shot_tree_movement by double-clicking it.

3D Event

As with the Play_w_gun_fire_01 Event created in the previous step, a Soundbank is needed to be able to use and hear the Play_l_cg_amb_one_shot_tree Event in our project. To do so;

• Create a new bank called Ambience in the Banks tab of your FMOD project window.
• Switch to the Events tab, drag and drop the Play_l_cg_amb_one_shot_tree Event into the Ambience Soundbank in the Banks tab.
• Save changes and then press F7 to save all banks.

Ambience

If you switch to the Audio Controls Editor, you'll now find the Play_l_cg_amb_one_shot_tree Event listed under Events → Ambience → oneshot of the Middleware Data panel. This now needs to be connected to an audio Trigger in the Audio System Controls panel.

To do so;

• Create a Library called Ambience in the Audio System and within it, a folder named oneshot.
• Drag the Play_l_cg_amb_one_shot_tree Event from the Middleware Data panel into the oneshot folder on the Audio System Controls panel.

Now since the Event's Ambience Soundbank containing its audio playback information also needs to be loaded into memory for it to function, a Preload Request for the same needs to be created in the ACE.

• Create a new Library called Preloads, then drag and drop the Ambience Soundbank from the Banks folder in the Middleware Data Panel into it.
• Save Libraries and preview the Play_l_cg_amb_one_shot_tree Trigger in the ACE.

Wwise

If you go back to the chapter_01 folder that contained the w_gun_fire_01 file in the previous step, you'll find four distinct audio tracks named l_cg_amb_one_shot_tree_movement_0X.wav.

These sounds are meant to mimic the natural rustle of leaves, and serve as the basis of the level's ambience. In this step we'll combine all four audio assets to form an Event on Wwise, which will then be connected to an Audio Trigger Spot Entity so that it can be heard within the level.

Creating an Event and SoundBank in Wwise

Open Wwise and create a new Actor-Mixer within the Default Work Unit of the Actor-Mixer-Hierarchy. Name it Ambience. We then need to create a Random Container, whose function will be to play the l_cg_amb_one_shot_tree_movement_0X audio files randomly;

• Right-click the Ambience Actor-Mixer and select the New Child → Random Container option from the menu.
• Drag and drop all the l_cg_amb_one_shot_tree_movement_0X.wav audio files from the _Audio_Assets/Wwise/chapter_01/ folder of the Audio Showcase Level asset's directory into the Random Container.
• Name the Random Container l_cg_amb_one_shot_tree_movement.

You could preview the randomization of these tracks by selecting the Random Container and pressing the spacebar. The Random Container can operate in different modes and which can be changed via the Play Type section of the Random Container Property Editor on the right panel.

Play Type

The next step is to create an Event for the l_cg_amb_one_shot_tree_movement Random Container. 

• Right-click the Random Container and select the New Event → Play option from the menu. This should create a new Event called Play_l_cg_amb_one_shot_tree_movement in the Events tab of the Project Explorer. 
• Create a folder called Ambience under Events → Default Work Unit, and move the Play_l_cg_amb_one_shot_tree_movement Event into it.

Since this Event also requires a SoundBank, switch to the SoundBanks tab of the Project Explorer and create a new SoundBank called Ambience. Switch your Wwise window to SoundBank Layout by pressing F7, then assign the Ambience Event folder to the Ambience SoundBank as we did in the previous section. 

Remember to click Generate All to regenerate all SoundBanks, and save your Wwise project when complete.

Ambience Event and Soundbank

If you switch to the Audio Controls Editor, you'll now find the Play_l_cg_amb_one_shot_tree Event listed under Events → Ambience of the Middleware Data panel. This now needs to be connected to an audio Trigger in the Audio system Controls panel.

To do so;

• Create a Library called Ambience in the Audio System and within it, a folder named oneshot.
• Drag the Play_l_cg_amb_one_shot_tree Event from the Middleware Data panel into the oneshot folder on the Audio System Controls panel.

Now since the Event's Ambience Soundbank containing its audio playback information also needs to be loaded into memory for it to function, a Preload Request for the same needs to be created in the ACE.

• Create a new Library called Preloads, then drag and drop the Ambience Soundbank from the Banks folder in the Middleware Data Panel into it.
• Save Libraries and preview the Play_l_cg_amb_one_shot_tree Trigger in the ACE.

SDL Mixer

If you go back to the chapter_01 folder that contained the Play_w_gun_fire_01.ogg file in the previous step, you'll find a track called Play_l_cg_amb_one_shot_tree_movement.ogg.

Its audio is meant to mimic the natural rustle of leaves, and serves as the basis of the level's ambience. In this step we'll connect the audio file to an Audio Trigger Spot Entity so that it can be heard within the level.

• Begin by creating a folder called Ambience within the /Assets/Audio/SDL_Mixer/assets directory of your project and copy the Play_l_cg_amb_one_shot_tree_movement.ogg file into it.
• In the ACE, create a Library called Ambience in the Audio Systems Control panel, then drag and drop the Play_l_cg_amb_one_shot_tree_movement.ogg file from the Middleware Data panel into it.

Save Libraries and reload the audio engine as before.

Although the MinDelay and MaxDelay values are defined in seconds, they're specified in milliseconds within this tutorial due to a bug in Engine release 5.6.4 that produces unexpected results.