Modding help with DLG files and music in TSL

[Skyfront117 0]

I'm fairly new to modding TSL, and I found out that some DLG files have music tracks assigned to them so that they will play during that dialogue/cutscene. I had an idea to assign a music track to each party member so that it will play when speaking to them on the Ebon Hawk (or anywhere, really, during normal conversation with them), for example playing Kreia's theme while you speak to her. I managed to do this with holocron toolset, but I don't know how to make the background music for the level to stop when the dialogue starts nor to end the dialogue music when the conversation ends. ¿Does anyone have an idea of what i could do / where I could start looking? Any help is appreciated!

[DarthParametric 3,945]

1 hour ago, Skyfront117 said:

I don't know how to make the background music for the level to stop when the dialogue starts nor to end the dialogue music when the conversation ends

Like a lot of other things in the game, the answer is via scripting. For vanilla modules, typically this is done in concert with the module's GIT file, which has provision for a day music track and a night music track (a leftover from Neverwinter Nights). This is linked to an row ID in ambientmusic.2da which points to the music track that loops in the background. Using scripting, you can start/stop the current music and switch it to a different track.

For example, in K1 when you encounter Malak in the Leviathan Hanger, the trigger script switches the module from its default music, track 11 (mus_area_sewers), to track 8 (mus_theme_malak): https://github.com/KOTORCommunityPatches/Vanilla_KOTOR_Script_Source/blob/master/K1/Modules/M40AC_Leviathan_Hangar_lev_m40ac/k_plev_malakmov2.nss#L5

Or in TSL, for the introduction of Nihilus, it switches from track 8 (mus_sith) to 4 (mus_nihilus ) https://github.com/KOTORCommunityPatches/Vanilla_KOTOR_Script_Source/tree/master/TSL/TSLRCM/Modules/852NIH_Ravager_Bridge/a_nih_intro.nss

Or this script in TSLRCM, which switches the Ebon Hawk's default track to the romance track (mus_s_romance) which they added to their version of ambientmusic.2da: https://github.com/KOTORCommunityPatches/Vanilla_KOTOR_Script_Source/blob/master/TSL/TSLRCM/Modules/006EBO_Ebon_Hawk_(post-Dantooine)/a_006romance.nss

At the end of your conversion, you can add another script to the exit node of the DLG which stops the new music track, switches it back to the original one, then sets that to play.

Typically any time you need to know how to do something, there's a vanilla example you can crib from.