Introduction:
This is going to be a long one, but I really wanted to try and explain as much as I can!
As we know, jukebox files can be modded in and utilized via Looyh's hook, but other than that getting any eventmusic file to play using the same method does not work. As a community, this has been a huge roadblock to getting some more custom music/presentation into the game. Unfortunately, this method does not involve replacing the eventmusic files as it is still a mystery on how to accomplish that at this point in time. I know many members in the community have spent countless hours trying different methods, and that is also true for myself (lots and lots of nights spent trying to find a solution!). The other night I found out where the voice/music combo that plays during the initial introduction of many games, accompanied by the animetedsting.iff. There have been a few mods that have swapped out the default graphic that plays in this file, instead using the team matchup over the 2k logo. The voice/music that accompanies this graphic is in global.iff. This sfx file included in the global.iff (sfx-nba-animationsting_01.RESA) IS replaceable. The opening intro only goes for about 13 seconds, so I figured that was at least something and better than nothing. One of the music files that I was going to swap out the voiceover/music intro with was accidently left at full length (45 seconds), and when testing it - continued to play throughout the entire opening presentation before tip-off, even after the 13 second animatedsting!
So after that discovery, we now have a way to get full intro music into the game that you would commonly see in a TV broadcast!
Important Info/Explanation:
This method involves replacing the voiceover/2k music sfx located in the global.iff, AS WELL AS another solution involving replacing the "start game" button sound effect that plays when the option to continue to the game appears after the game is finished loading during the 2kTV segment. This file is also in the global.iff (menu-start-game_01.RESA).
2K22 has a variety of opening intros - sometimes the opening animatedsting will play, other times it goes right into other presentation elements. There really isn't any rhyme or reason as to when what intro is going to play, but I noticed that in MyLeague games when the matchup is designated as 'National TV', you will almost always get the animatedsting intro. Of course, without a guarantee that you'll get the intro I immediately started to look at other sound effects that could be replaced during the 2KTV segment that appears before games - so that there was an all-around way to get your choice of music into the game no matter the designation. I found the sfx file that plays when the "Continue" to game button appears (listed above as menu-start-game_01.RESA), and now we have a 100% foolproof method that will guarantee intro music in any game you want. For all intensive purposes, I created two versions of every theme - one to play when the game is ready to enter during the 2KTV segment, and another that plays when the animatedsting intro video is guaranteed to come on.
EDIT: As of 3/7/22, I have elected to exclusively use the method that plays the theme music when the game is finished loading during the 2K TV segment. This clears up confusion and ensures that the network music of choice will play every game.
There are other presentation elements during pre-game that will play music - so I worked to replace any of those files with silence to ensure that the only music you get is your selected theme.
These files include -
003797-000000-000000-000000-000000-000000.wav: Commonly plays when players are in the tunnels and locker rooms before the game.
teasermusic_aleksjameskairo_legendarygen4.iff, teasermusic_kairo_wayupgen4.iff: Pre-Game hype videos that sometimes play, containing audio.
nat_anthem_usa_ll.wav: I found that it really did conflict with the theme music when it comes up, but of course this can be left un-muted as well! All personal preference.
Although eventmusic can't be substituted, if it IS replaced it plays back nothing, so that actually was useful for this workaround.
Mod Folder Name Designations:
In the files I have made available, there will be two distinct designations at the end of the Mod folder title (which brings me to say that I made a separate mod folder for each theme).
These are -
Regular: Activate the mod folder with this designation when you want your selected theme to play during any game you enter. This is the only way it is 100% guaranteed to play. It has also become my preferred method. The music will start the second the game is ready to enter, so be sure to hit continue! You also can't go into the edit line-up screen before the game is loaded if you want your network theme to play, so keep that in mind!
NOTE - The animatedsting intro WILL play sometimes, so I have replaced the sfx connected to that graphic with silence in these specific files.
EDIT: As of 3/7/22, I have elected to exclusively use the method that plays the theme music when the game is finished loading during the 2K TV segment. This clears up confusion and ensures that the network music of choice will play every game. The information about the 'NatTV' folder designation below does not apply to future mod pack updates! There is also a new mod pack structure.
NatTV: Activate the mod folder with this designation when you only want your selected theme to play if the aniamatedsting intro plays - usually only during national TV MyLeague matchups (It can also appear randomly, but not often I have found).
You can rename the mod folders to whatever you want, mine are a little long-winded but I wanted to make it very clear what each intro theme was, as well as the designation.
Current Problems/Conflicts:
To be honest, the music plays and usually doesn't interfere AT ALL with most introduction scenes. That being said, there are a few instances where you are going to find some conflicts, as well as the theme running past tip-off.
These are -
Player Introductions: If this comes up before your game, it is going to sound a little disjointed and unrealistic. You can always skip through these straight into the game introduction.
Classic Team Match-Ups: These games usually cut right to tip-off with no formal introduction. So, the music file will play well into the start of actual gameplay. This can be worked around if the classic team replaces a current team in a custom roster.
Human Interference: If you rapidly click through the pre game presentation scenes, the music file will play ALL THE WAY through, probably past tip-off. There is no way to get this file to stop since it is being used in an unconventional manner. If you want the full effect, I would let everything play through but you can manipulate and skip some scenes. I wouldn't skip every single one!
There could also be the potential for the music files to play when you aren't intending them to. 2K re-uses a great deal of their sound effects for different things, so I'm hoping this doesn't interfere with anything mundane that I didn't notice in my testing
Final Remarks:
Most music files are 40-45 seconds long. They WILL play all the way through so like I mentioned above in potential conflicts, don't skip over everything right to the tip-off! if you let it be, it should come to a natural conclusion and I have to say, it really works well. I spent hours (and I mean hours) testing different themes and their sound levels, so I think I got all of them at a pretty good point. Please let me know if the volume levels on any of the files could use tweaking! I really hope people find these modifications effective, and as always if any improvements should be made leave a reply! Tell me how they are and maybe if this is finally an effective way to include network music themes into NBA 2k22, we are all in business! This isn't a perfect solution, but I think it does the job as intended.
I will probably end up posting a tutorial/walk through at some point if it is wanted, but I do know there are many of you that already probably have a good idea on how to edit the game files to import your own themes into the game after reading through this. I found that sfx files WILL play until the end, if modded past the conventional allocated time it was meant for. Perhaps we can find and manipulate some sfx files that play in between quarters, or during halftime that could help us get more network music into the game. This was a long and tedious process, so there could be a problem or two with any of the files that I simply didn't notice, so give them some testing. If anyone wants to give this a go, the more the merrier when it comes to custom presentation! I really wanted to continue the discussion regarding eventmusic files and perhaps eventually this workaround will not be needed when we can figure out how to hook eventmusic files.
Video Examples:
UPDATED 3/7/22
1. Go into the REQUIRED MOD FOLDER FILES folder and copy and paste those files into your MAIN Mod Folder.
2. Go into the Network Folder, and version of theme (if applicable) that you want to use, and copy the Mod_ folder into your NBA 2k22 directory. You can copy all of them and rotate as you see fit using Looyh's hook.
3. IF you only use one mod folder, just copy the global.iff file in the Mod_ folder and paste it into your base mod folder for the game and disregard step 2 of this method.
4. You should be good to go!
METHOD 2 (Use if you ALREADY HAVE a custom global.iff file for other existing game modifications):
1. Go into the REQUIRED MOD FOLDER FILES folder and copy and paste those files into your MAIN Mod Folder.
2. Go into the Network Folder, and version of theme (if applicable) that you want to use, and go into the Resa folder.
3. Locate where your existing custom global.iff is (In your Mod directory), and open it up via archive - I use 7-Zip.
4. Go back to the Resa folder for the theme you want to use, and drag and drop the 'menu-start-game_01.RESA' file into your custom global that is opened in 7-Zip.
Make sure you confirm when the pop-up asks if you want to replace the default file.
5. You are done! You should now have your selected network theme music in the game after you restart NBA 2K22 as long as your modified global.iff file is in an activated, or base Mod Foler.
6. If you want to make custom variations of your global.iff, simply make copies of the global.iff you intend to use and repeat steps 1-5 above to have different
network theme music variations ready to go!
Credit to Vetmin for explaining this process and improving my understanding! Makes the process easier for everyone involved.
