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When searching this forum, I was unable to find information on creating WADs that only change sound effects. Hypothetically, you'd apply such a WAD when playing other level packs (preferably that don't come with their own sound edits). I was hoping to find a tutorial on how to create a WAD solely for changing the sound effects when playing ZDoom. These sound effects might be randomized from a list and based upon various triggers.

Incidentally, in your personal experience, what utility program would you recommend? I only know enough about coding to know one doesn't need to learn an entire textbook on coding to accomplish such a task, so such a utility would be most useful, but since there are multiple options out there, and this is a specific task, you likely know which one is most suitable.

I guess if you need an example, what if you wanted to make a WAD that replaced every sound effect with a different goose honk? I'm not asking for one to be made. I'm asking for the tools to make such a thing myself.

Thank you for your time.

https://zdoom.org/wiki/SNDINFO
https://slade.mancubus.net/index.php?page=downloads
plus an audio editor such as Audacity, should be all you need.

Thank you very much, and have a very good day.

It took quite a bit of finagling because I couldn't understand the terminology specific to Doom, but I believe I've worked out what I wanted to achieve via the above resources generously provided by bLUEbYTE. It took experimentation with copied examples to finally get right. As such, I wish to share my methodology, and if it's erroneous, then I hope someone may provide more correct information for future generations to benefit from.

[*] First thing's first: Planning what I want to do. I want to create a WAD that changes the sounds used by the engine. Hopefully it'll be compatible with any map set. I decide for this example that I want to replace the pistol's sound effect with two randomized goose honks.

[*] I opened up Slade and created a new WAD archive. I made sure my WAD was selected among the tabs up top.
[*] I dragged and copied two sounds into the Entries panel. For this example, I'll name them GOOSHNK1 and GOOSHNK2.
(I suspect that these files must be eight characters long, because Doom was created in the stone age. )
[*] I created a new entry under the Entries panel, which can be achieved by clicking Archive > New > New Entry.
[*] I renamed my new entry to SNDINFO in the Entries panel. I was then able to edit its text in the Entry Contents panel.

[*] I referred to this very important document worth backing up that's linked to from the official wiki here: https://github.com/rheit/zdoom/blob/mas ... o.txt#L166 Although it was confusing at first, I looked at examples for randomized sounds inside this document.
[*] I typed in the following into the SNDINFO's text inside Slade: [*] I proofread the syntax above for typos. We all make them, we all miss our own, and another pair of eyes never hurts. I then saved the SNDINFO and saved the WAD archive.

[*] I applied the WAD to GZDoom and ran different level packs, and fired the pistol numerous times to confirm my success!

I realize this might not be as in-depth as preferred as I'm not particularly knowledgeable with this stuff, but I sincerely hope that this helps others with the same or a similar goal, and if anyone can clarify any of these points, please do so. We shouldn't let someone's creativity remain blocked by a lack of comprehension on the technical know-how. Let's continue to share and spread our expertise for the good of human evolution.