RingingBloom for editing .bnk files

[Kvellen]

Link to Github: https://github.com/Silvris/RingingBloom

Getting it to start seems to require installing Version 3.1 of .NET Core SDK.

RingingBloom is made for modding .bnk/.pck files in recent Capcom games. Since these games all use Wwise (the same audio engine used in Deadfire) it seems to work for editing .bnk files for Deadfire as well. I haven't really tested it very much beyond what is in video above. The only issue I've encountered thus far is the audio file I replaced in the .bnk seems to only play once per scene. There may be other issue I haven't noticed.

There's small wiki for how to use and set up the program but here is the setup that worked for me:

The "Soundbank.xml" file and all of Deadfire's .bnk files can be found under the "StreamingAssets" directory of the game folder:
"\Pillars of Eternity II Deadfire\PillarsOfEternityII_Data\StreamingAssets\Audio\Windows"

• MAKE SURE TO CREATE A BACK UP OF A .BNK FILE BEFORE EDITING AND/OR REPLACING IT.
• The mode "None" seems meant for non-Capcom games. This is what I used. It is possible that one of modes for a Capcom game might work and possibly produce better results (as I said I haven't tested the program very extensively).
• I created 2 folders outside of the Deadfire directory called "Import" and "Export" and set them as the respective default paths for those action in RingingBloom under "Options". "Import" is where I placed a copy of the "global.bnk", and once I had made the edit to the file ("You must gather your party" was named "Imported Wem 185" and has the id: "58017498") I saved it to the "Export" folder.
• The files in the .bnk are listed in a numerical order by their ID number, however the RingingBloom instead gives each file a display label of "Imported Wem *". Your best bet is to find a sound is to open the "Soundbank.xml" in notepad and search for the name of the file which should should eventually lead you to the file id.

Edited August 4, 2023 by Kvellen

[Kvellen]

Tested the "You Must Gather Your Party Before Venturing Forth." line with a restored back up. I'm willing to cautiously say that file only playing once per scene seems to be a feature of the "vo_narr_gather_party" event and not the audio file. So might not be an issue with RingingBloom's method of audio replacement.

That said I have run into a new issue. It seems some audio files that are mentioned in "Soundbank.xml" and "Global.txt" are not showing up when opening the "Global.bnk" in RingingBloom. "imp_glb_pen_gun" (1160047966) for example. Might be these files are contrainers for a collection of other files. Which will mean a lot more extra digging to replace them. Assuming it is possible at all.

Edited August 9, 2023 by Kvellen

[Noqn]

Oooh exciting, there were a couple of the narrator's voice lines baked into global.bnk that I couldn't cover with No Narrator Updated. I'll have to check this out, many thanks!

On 8/3/2023 at 4:59 PM, Kvellen said:

YES FINALLY

[Kvellen]

On 8/17/2023 at 6:09 PM, Noqn said:

Oooh exciting, there were a couple of the narrator's voice lines baked into global.bnk that I couldn't cover with No Narrator Updated. I'll have to check this out, many thanks!

Have you had any luck with this? I noticed there are .bnk files that correspond to the problem conversations mentioned in the mod description: "si_luminous_adra_vein.bnk", "si_finale.bnk", and "LAX03_00_si_beyond_transition.bnk". Could be that the files that need to be replaced are be in these possibly?

Alternatively have you tried removing the "LoadAudioBankPlayAudioEvent" scripts in the conversations that are referencing the audio files? Removing both instances of such a script in "11_si_luminous_adra_vein.conversationbundle" that referenced "vo_narr_11_si" from both "-200" nodes (truly a bizarre place for a script... ) seemed to stop the narration for the "As your hand touches the dim adra..." playing when I tried it.

Edited April 21 by Kvellen

[Noqn]

23 hours ago, Kvellen said:

Have you had any luck with this?

Thanks for reminding me

I tried it now with the remaining voiced line in the finale, and it works flawlessly! The sfx of the wheel getting destroyed from the same .bnk still plays appropriately, so seems like just removing a single baked wem leaves the rest intact.

23 hours ago, Kvellen said:

Alternatively have you tried removing the "LoadAudioBankPlayAudioEvent" scripts in the conversations that are referencing the audio files? Removing both instances of such a script in "11_si_luminous_adra_vein.conversationbundle" that referenced "vo_narr_11_si" from both "-200" nodes (truly a bizarre place for a script... ) seemed to stop the narration for the "As your hand touches the dim adra..." playing when I tried it.

iirc I considered that way back but didn't want to edit any of the convo files

[Noqn]

Uploaded the new files: https://www.nexusmods.com/pillarsofeternity2/mods/360?tab=files#file-container-miscellaneous-files

Massive thanks @Kvellen

[Kvellen]

Fantastic, just gave it a quick test on my end and everything in the Hasongo conversation sounds like it should sans the Narrator!