Guild Wars 2

so one of the hidden features of GW2 is the ability to customize your playlist, not by simply muting the game and playing iTunes over it, but by setting specific playlists to play at specific times.

so i decided to try it out for the first time today. after the hassle to make the song actually play, i managed to make an “ambient” playlist, which contained a single song. i imagined that “ambient” means when you’re just walking around in PvE, and that since there’s a “city” and “title screen” options (according to the guide i followed), i assumed my ambient playlist wouldn’t just overlay the entire game’s soundtrack.

but i was wrong.

not only does the song play everywhere, regardless of context, it also ignores my audio settings, and just keeps on looping nonstop, without a pause between the plays.

so i have two questions:

1- how the heck do i make this work as intended?

2- is there a way to add a custom playlist that just “adds” to the existing soundtrack, without outright replacing it? i like how each region has its own exploration themes, and i still want to listen to those songs, but i thought it would be nice if i could add this one other song to the list.

—

i guess i might as well leave a suggestion here to the devs (if they read it) for something to do on a rainy day, maybe a pet project of the sound team and a bored programmer: revamp this system. make it work, make it more customizable, make it more intuitive, and give us the options to be more selective with when the song plays (for example, “Kryta Event”).

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Customized_soundtrack

applekwisp.2139:

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Customized_soundtrack

yes, i know all that, but my “Ambient” playlist is overlaying every possible song in the game, from the title screen to the city themes. and i was hoping there was some way to just add the song to the overall soundtrack, rather than replace the current ones with it.

but mostly making it actually work.

No current way at the moment, unless you want to buy the gw2 soundtracks and then sort them yourself.

Esplen.3940:

No current way at the moment, unless you want to buy the gw2 soundtracks and then sort them yourself.

hmm. thought as much.

what about the playlist playing at all times, nonstop, rather than popping the song occasionally, at the situation intended? i don’t suppose i actually have to make all 8 playlists in order to have the ambient one play only when i’m exploring?

BrunoBRS.5178:

Esplen.3940:

No current way at the moment, unless you want to buy the gw2 soundtracks and then sort them yourself.

hmm. thought as much.

what about the playlist playing at all times, nonstop, rather than popping the song occasionally, at the situation intended? i don’t suppose i actually have to make all 8 playlists in order to have the ambient one play only when i’m exploring?

I’ve been using my own playlists for a while now and never had issues with playing the playlists I want when I wanted to.

However, I tested what the OP said and removed all other playlists except for Ambient and it did override all others, that does look like a bug to me and it’s not as intented.

If you change any of the other playlists, for example City or MainMenu the playlist will play when appropriate only, the Ambient override bug occurs when you are using just an “Ambient” playlist.

Unfortunately, the system is very limited, you can’t add locations to the playlist name, for example Ambient-Ascalon to play when in Ascalon. Also, some playlists that were created after BWE2 (this feature appeared there), like the Vistas that appeared in BWE3, don’t have a playlist. The game will use its default music when viewing them, instead of using a playlist.

Edit: scratch that, it’s not a bug, it’s a feature. From the wiki:

Each playlist can designate a primary and secondary playlist to look for. Most playlists default to Ambient if they do not exist; this allows you to create just one custom playlist to override the in-game music.

So the Ambient override is intended

maddoctor.2738:

BrunoBRS.5178:

Esplen.3940:

No current way at the moment, unless you want to buy the gw2 soundtracks and then sort them yourself.

hmm. thought as much.

what about the playlist playing at all times, nonstop, rather than popping the song occasionally, at the situation intended? i don’t suppose i actually have to make all 8 playlists in order to have the ambient one play only when i’m exploring?

I’ve been using my own playlists for a while now and never had issues with playing the playlists I want when I wanted to.

However, I tested what the OP said and removed all other playlists except for Ambient and it did override all others, that does look like a bug to me and it’s not as intented.

If you change any of the other playlists, for example City or MainMenu the playlist will play when appropriate only, the Ambient override bug occurs when you are using just an “Ambient” playlist.

Unfortunately, the system is very limited, you can’t add locations to the playlist name, for example Ambient-Ascalon to play when in Ascalon. Also, some playlists that were created after BWE2 (this feature appeared there), like the Vistas that appeared in BWE3, don’t have a playlist. The game will use its default music when viewing them, instead of using a playlist.

Edit: scratch that, it’s not a bug, it’s a feature. From the wiki:

Each playlist can designate a primary and secondary playlist to look for. Most playlists default to Ambient if they do not exist; this allows you to create just one custom playlist to override the in-game music.

So the Ambient override is intended

well that’s stupid :/

so basically if i want to play a certain song when exploring, i either redo the entire soundtrack for the game, or i let that song play the whole time, on an endless loop, ignoring my “time between songs” setting :/

oh well.

this is one of those features that sound awesome in theory, but just come out as kitten. i appreciate that it’s there, but if it doesn’t work very well, then it’s of little use.