Guild Wars 2

I’m not sure if this has already been posted but I wanted to present this for people that may not know this option exists. I’d like to preface this by noting that I am not an Anet employee or a Mac represntative. GW2 offers a function to allow users to make their own custom playlist for PC and Mac users a like. However the Mac method is slightly different than PC based on different folder names and locations.

Here is the GW2 Wiki page for custom playlist but is sort of vague and the file path is different than Mac:

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

First of all this process involves entering an extremely important library folder. It is unlikely that this process can cause problems but anytime you are making changes to files/folders I highly recommend having a recent backup.

Like the GW2 Mac client these instructions are currently in beta incase I forgot or missed a step.

1. You will need to make sure your user/library folder is visible. There are several methods to do so presented on the following link. Personally I prefer using the terminal command as it can keep it visible permanently until you use a command to hide it again. You can decide how to do so based on these instructions:

http://mac.tutsplus.com/tutorials/productivity/how-to-reveal-your-library-folder-in-lion-or-mountain-lion/

You can test that it is visible by opening finder select the username on the left and you should see a folder named Library that isn’t gray.

2. Now that you have your library folder visible I suggest you back that up as well to be redundant. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD YOU DELETE THE LIBRARY FOLDER OR RENAME OR MOVE THE LIBRARY FOLDER the library folder is critical for the MAC to operate. I repeat DO NOT DELETE, RENAME OR MOVE THE LIBRARY FOLDER. While creating a custom playlist you will not need to and should not have to move, rename or delete any folders/files within and including the Library folder itself. The only exception is adding the playlist file to the GW2 music folder and renaming the playlist file if you chose to do so.

3. This is where it gets more fun. Open a text editor, I suggest the basic TextEdit application.

4. Find the absolute path to the songs/sounds you want to use. In my experience the easiest way to do this is to open finder and select the All My Files option on the left. I have a bad habit of scattering files about in different directories. What I did was type .mp3 in the search and I get a drop down that says Kinds .mp3 audio. When I click this it filters everything out to only reveal .mp3.

Please see my note below on supported audio formats. Also note that the custom playlist feature does not support music in the native iTunes format. There are additional notes at the bottom regarding file name restrictions.

5. To find the absolute path to the file I have found the easiest way is to right click the file and select ‘Get Info’. This will open a pop up and you should see something that reads like this:

Where: /Users/YourUsername/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music/

Of course in my example it says iTunes because that is where my music files are located. Your absolute path may differ based on where you store your music. The process is still the same.

You will notice that the absolute path in my example does not include the filename itself. This brings us to the next step.

6. Copy and paste that absolute path into your text editor. Now go back to the ‘Get Info’ window that you should still have open. You will see a text box about the middle of the window that has the name of the file example: CoolSong.mp3

Now copy that name and paste it at the end of the absolute path you just pasted into text editor. Example: /Users/YourUsername/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music/CoolSong.mp3

Alternatively if you have better memory than me you can just type the filename at the end of the absolute path.

7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 for as many songs as you want to add to your custom playlist. I’m not sure if this is a true assumption but I didn’t add a large amount of songs, about 10 I think, out of concern that it might use more resources while the game searches for each song.

8. Your text file will ultimately need to be named .m3u but you won’t be able to save it that way initially using TextEdit. Instead save it as .rtf and save it to a location easy to remember. For starters we are going to name it mainmenu.rtf for testing purposes.

9. Navigate to your GW2 music folder. Start with opening finder the default is probably:

username/library/application support/Guild Wars 2/p_drive/user/application data/Guild Wars 2/music

At least that was the path in my situation. It could vary depending on how you have things set up.

There will probably be nothing in the music folder originally.

10. Paste or drag and drop the mainmenu.rtf file into the music folder. Now rename the file to mainmenu.m3u You will probably get a prompt asking if you are sure you want to change it to .m3u Select yes.

11. Launch the game and login to the main menu. If everything is working properly then you should hear your music playing after a moment.

12. Now if you want the songs to play in game then rename mainmenu.m3u to ambient.m3u

In a short time while in game you should hear your songs playing at certain times. They will most likely not play constantly unless you are just standing in certain spot for some time. In my experience with this there is often some delay between songs. Songs in the ambient playlist will play in random order with exception of the first song which always plays first when the playlist is first initiated. In other words when first entering the game. So if year hear the same song twice in a row it doesn’t necessarily mean something is wrong due to the random nature of randomness. That is unless you only have one song in your playlist

If this seems intimidating out of concern for breaking something that is understandable. However I tried to break it myself as a test by adding the .m3u play list to the music folder with incorrect absolute paths and the only thing that happened was the music didn’t play at all.

If you no longer want the custom playlist simply remove the .m3u file from the Guild Wars 2 music folder.

From GW2 Cutsom Playlist wiki on supported file types:

The game currently recognizes eight playlists:

Ambient
Battle
BossBattle
City
Crafting
MainMenu
NightTime
Underwater
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.

Supported media Playlist formats
.asx
.m3u
.pls
.wax
.wpl
Audio types
Anything covered by FMOD (by default) including:

.aiff
.flac
.mp3
.ogg
.wav
Many old-school formats are also supported including .mid or .it files. Native iTunes playlists are not supported. .m4a files are not supported.

Some music file names that may not allow the music to play:

If using an m3u playlist, files with # in either the filename or the generated “extra info” (artist or display title) may cause that playlist to function improperly or not at all.

Music files with the character ’ (apostrophe) in their names do not work.

And for one last reminder: DO NOT, I REPEAT DO NOT DELETE, RENAME, OR MOVE THE LIBRARY FOLDER. While creating a custom playlist you will not need to and should not have to move, rename or delete any folders/files within and including the Library folder itself. The only exception is adding the playlist file to the GW2 music folder and renaming the playlist file if you chose to do so.

I hope I have presented these instructions clearly. Also keep in mind that I do not work for Anet and the instructions I provided are based on my individual knowledge and experience using this method.

If you have any questions I will try to answer them to the best of my ability but I can’t promise it will be in a timely manner.