Unreal Music

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by [SAS]Roswell

[email protected]

 

 

Overview:

The mysteries of .umx part 1

Forward:

This is my first tutorial. You can hear some of my work on the new total conversion for UT called SAS: Into the Lion's Den.

Content:

Creating music for Unreal and Unreal Tournament can be one of the most rewarding experiences one will have in creating original game content. That said, it's also more tricky than it appears. Unreal Tournament uses a proprietary file type, .umx , to store music for the game. During your first searches on the internet, most realize very quickly that there is no utility to create a .umx file. This fact alone is prohibitive of many aspiring music gurus creating original tunes for Unreal games.

UMX Exposed

In reality, there is nothing mysterious about .umx files. The .umx extension is merely a designation given by the crew at Epic Games to any number of mod files.

Okay, But What Is a Mod File

Mod files are created by what is known as tracking software. As a general rule, the beauty of mod files is that they allow would-be composers easy access to layering via looping music tracks at points of repetition. (This is the reason you'll often hear the same backdrops in Unreal Tournament music, but with additional insturmentation added each time it is played.) This function, however, can also prove quite frustrating for those who wish to have complex song structures in Unreal Tournament. Many of my first attempts at game music were rendered useless because of this "feature". The sad truth is that many (including myself) feel that Epic Games (and other licensees of the engine) made a horrible mistake not enabling the Galaxy audio engine to recognize .mp3 or .wav content.

About:

E-Mail Roswell: [email protected]