Custom Sound Guide

TRAIN CREW Custom Sound Guide

This guide explains where to place custom sounds and what to check when they do not play as expected. It is intended for users who can create folders and files.

Where to save custom sounds

Normally, place sound files in TrainCrew/Custom/sound/ under your Windows Documents folder. If there is no Custom/ folder under Documents, the game uses the Custom/ folder in its installation directory. To use the Documents location, create TrainCrew/Custom/ before starting the game.

Documents/
└─ TrainCrew/
   └─ Custom/
      └─ sound/
         ├─ Custom_Buzzer.wav
         ├─ station/
         │  ├─ StationSoundSetting.txt
         │  ├─ 出発時機下り.wav
         │  ├─ 放送冒頭チャイム.wav
         │  ├─ 接近チャイム.wav
         │  └─ 館浜/
         │     ├─ StationSoundSetting.txt
         │     └─ 放送冒頭チャイム特急上り.wav
         └─ train/
            └─ 5300/
               ├─ DoorChime.wav
               └─ EleHornB.wav

The files in this diagram are examples; you do not need to provide all of them. Use the station name or vehicle key for the station or vehicle you want to change. Prepare sound files in WAV format and match the full filename, including the .wav extension.

Sounds used by the game are loaded at the title screen. After adding or changing files, restart the game before checking them.

Placing station sounds

To use the same sound at every station, place it directly in sound/station/. To change the sound at only one station, place it in sound/station/[StationName]/. If the desired sound is not in a station’s folder, the shared sound directly under station/ is used. If you create another folder inside a station folder, sounds in that nested folder will not be loaded.

Name a station folder exactly as the station appears in the game. For example, use sound/station/館浜/ for 館浜 (Tatehama). Use the in-game Japanese station name; the Japanese part of an actual filename must remain unchanged.

Departure-bell filenames

You can provide the following sounds for the departure bell:

Sounds are searched for in this order: the station folder, directly under station/, legacy station-specific sounds, and then the in-game sound. If you use the legacy [StationName]下り.wav or [StationName]上り.wav, place it directly under station/.

To change the departure bell at Tatehama’s limited-express platform, place 出発時機特急上り.wav in sound/station/館浜/. This is a different sound from the regular 出発時機上り.wav. This sound is also used by deadhead and test trains departing from the limited-express platform.

Tatehama station staff’s boarding/alighting completion signal

Place the following sounds in sound/station/館浜/ to change the boarding/alighting completion signal at Tatehama’s limited-express platform.

These files and 出発時機特急上り.wav can also be placed directly under station/. If a matching sound is not in the Tatehama folder, the sound directly under station/ is used. If neither location has one, the legacy sound is used. Replacing the sound does not change when the station staff signal plays.

Announcement-opening and approach-chime filenames

The sound played at the beginning of an announcement is called the announcement-opening chime. The sound played along with an approach announcement or after it ends is called the approach chime. You can configure each with a separate file.

Use the following filename formats:

放送冒頭チャイム[TrainCategory][Direction].wav
接近チャイム[TrainCategory][Direction].wav

For [TrainCategory], use one of the Japanese tokens 一般 (regular), 特急 (limited express), 通過 (passing), or 回送 (deadhead), or omit it. For [Direction], use one of the Japanese tokens 下り (downbound) or 上り (upbound), or omit it. Do not include the square brackets [ ] in the actual filename.

The train category is selected according to the following conditions. For a passing train, 通過 takes priority regardless of the train’s service type.

For the arrival announcement of a train that will turn back, the announcement-opening chime and approach chime use the service category of its return journey.

Announcement-opening chimes before departure

For an announcement before departure, you can use an announcement-opening chime with 発前 (before departure) instead of a direction token. The same file is used for a manual simple announcement when it is a pre-departure announcement.

放送冒頭チャイム一般発前.wav
放送冒頭チャイム特急発前.wav
放送冒頭チャイム回送発前.wav
放送冒頭チャイム発前.wav

There is no 接近チャイム発前.wav type. At stations other than Tatehama, if the matching 発前 file is missing, no opening chime plays before departure. At Tatehama only, if no 発前 file is found, filenames without a direction, such as 放送冒頭チャイム一般.wav, are also checked. If none is found, the legacy chime for the train category is checked. Even at Tatehama, 放送冒頭チャイム下り.wav and 放送冒頭チャイム上り.wav are not used as substitutes for 発前 files.

Chime search order

Within the same station folder, files are searched for in this order:

1. A file matching both the train category and direction
2. A file matching only the train category
3. A file matching only the direction
4. A file with neither the train category nor direction

The same order is then repeated directly under station/. Therefore, a shared file in a station-specific folder takes priority over a more specific file directly under station/.

For example, for a regular downbound train, 接近チャイム is searched for in this order:

station/[StationName]/接近チャイム一般下り.wav
station/[StationName]/接近チャイム一般.wav
station/[StationName]/接近チャイム下り.wav
station/[StationName]/接近チャイム.wav
station/接近チャイム一般下り.wav
station/接近チャイム一般.wav
station/接近チャイム下り.wav
station/接近チャイム.wav

放送冒頭チャイム is searched for in the same order. Before departure, files with 発前 are searched for in station-specific and shared locations, in that order. At Tatehama only, within each folder the search order is train category + 発前, train category only, 発前 only, and no suffix.

This search order is the same for all train categories. With the new naming format, the game searches for a file matching the applicable train category and a shared file with no category specified. A file specifying a different train category is not used as a substitute. If no matching file is found, the game falls back to the legacy sound for that purpose and train category.

Legacy sounds are checked in this order: station-named file directly under station/, file without a station name, and then the in-game sound. For example, Chime_Comu.wav is searched for as [StationName]Chime_Comu.wav, then Chime_Comu.wav, then the in-game sound. If there is no new-format candidate and no matching legacy sound for that purpose, no chime plays. For a before-departure announcement at Tatehama, the game also falls back to the legacy announcement-opening sound in the table above. At other stations, if there is no matching 発前 candidate for a before-departure announcement, no opening chime plays.

When station sounds play

The announcement-opening chime plays at the beginning of an approach or passing announcement. By default, the approach chime plays after the announcement ends. To play it at the same time the announcement starts, change the station playback settings. If the approach display ends before the announcement finishes, the approach chime does not play.

By default, the approach chime plays once. To repeat it, enable looping. On platforms with a departure board, it stops when the approach or passing display ends. On platforms without a departure board, it stops about 15 seconds after a stopping train enters the platform, or when a passing train has passed the platform. You can choose whether it stops immediately or finishes its current play.

The departure bell plays when the required signal route and departure timing conditions are met. If the departure-timing indication goes out, the bell sound also stops. The approach chime for the same train is also stopped, following its configured playback-stop behavior. Placing a sound file does not make it play in situations where the relevant train or announcement is absent.

Station-specific playback settings

Place StationSoundSetting.txt directly under station/ or in a station folder. Settings directly under station/ apply to all stations; only the items specified in a station folder override them for that station. Items not specified in either location use the defaults in the table below.

Enter the ASCII values true and false as shown. Write each setting on one line in the form SettingName=Value. Blank lines and lines beginning with # do not affect the settings.

# Wait for the departure bell to finish before the conductor closes the doors
WaitForDepartureBellEnd=true

# Seconds before departure to stop the departure bell; -1 disables the cutoff
DepartureBellStopSecondsBeforeDeparture=10

# Seconds to advance the departure bell from the default. Range: 0-60; no earlier than 60 seconds before departure
DepartureBellAdvanceSeconds=15

# Play the departure bell after the departure announcement ends
PlayDepartureBellAfterAnnouncement=true

# Play the approach chime when the approach announcement starts
PlayApproachChimeWithAnnouncement=false

# Loop the approach chime until a stop command
LoopApproachChime=true

# Stop the approach chime immediately on a stop command
StopApproachChimeImmediately=false

To advance the departure bell, set DepartureBellAdvanceSeconds to a number of seconds from 0 to 60. Negative values are adjusted to 0, and values over 60 are adjusted to 60. The actual amount of advance depends on the signal route, and it will never be earlier than 60 seconds before departure. The departure announcement also starts earlier by the same number of seconds, but conditions such as the required signal route must still be met.

To stop the sound before the departure time, set DepartureBellStopSecondsBeforeDeparture to a value of 0 or greater. Set it to -1 to disable time-based forced stopping. Values below -1 cannot be used.

With PlayDepartureBellAfterAnnouncement=true, the departure bell plays after the departure announcement ends. If the announcement ends after the configured forced-stop time, the departure bell will not play on that occasion. WaitForDepartureBellEnd controls whether the conductor waits for the departure bell to finish after it starts playing.

Compatibility with legacy station sound names

Place legacy WAV files directly under sound/station/. They will not be loaded if placed in a station folder under their legacy filenames.

If a new-format file exists, it takes priority. You can try new-format sounds while keeping the legacy sounds in place.

Vehicle sound effects

Place vehicle sounds in sound/train/[VehicleKey]/. Replace [VehicleKey] with the identifier of the target vehicle; do not include the square brackets [ ] in the actual folder or filename. For example, to change sounds for 5300, place them in sound/train/5300/. Use the vehicle identifier for the folder name, not a train number or station name. If you do not know the identifier, check existing vehicle-specific sound folders or the vehicle’s distribution documents. The types of sounds that actually play vary by vehicle and equipment.

EmargencyBrake is the spelling used in the filename. Use it as written. Some vehicles use ドアチャイム.wav instead of DoorChime.wav. If there is no matching custom sound, the vehicle’s in-game sound is generally used.

Some sounds also support the legacy layout sound/[VehicleKey]_[SoundName].wav. For example, the door chime for 5300 is sound/5300_DoorChime.wav. For sounds supported by both layouts, sound/train/[VehicleKey]/[SoundName].wav takes priority. If the matching sound is not in the vehicle folder, the game checks the legacy sound/[VehicleKey]_[SoundName].wav and then the in-game sound. Place newly added sounds in sound/train/[VehicleKey]/.

Horns

Place horn WAV files in sound/train/[VehicleKey]/ as well. Electric horns support EleHornA.wav, EleHornB.wav, and EleHornC.wav; air horns support AirHornA.wav, AirHornB.wav, and AirHornC.wav. Which sound plays depends on the vehicle’s horn configuration. If a custom WAV is missing, the vehicle’s original sound plays.

Only if you also want to adjust how the horn sounds, place EleHorn.txt or AirHorn.txt in the same folder. The available settings are OnSpeed, OffSpeed, OffSpeed2, PitchOn, PitchOff, PitchSpeedOn, PitchSpeedOff, and Cut. These let you adjust the volume fade-in and fade-out, pitch, and behavior when the horn button is pressed briefly. Settings are used only when the corresponding custom horn WAV exists. After changing values, check how the horn sounds in the game.

Legacy sounds directly under sound/

Continue to place the following sounds directly under sound/:

These sounds play only when the corresponding equipment or in-game setting is used. Passenger boarding/alighting sounds such as Custom_Commuter_DepBell.wav are used when カスタム (Custom) is selected in the game. Some sounds may be silent if the selected sound file is missing.

Troubleshooting

A sound I placed does not play

First, check whether the game is using Custom/ under Documents or under the game installation directory. Also check the file location, filename, and .wav extension. After adding or changing sounds, restart the game and check in the relevant train and situation.

A shared or previous sound still plays after I changed a station sound

Check whether the station folder name exactly matches the station name in the game. A shared file in a station-specific folder takes priority over a category- and direction-specific file directly under station/. Use the “Chime search order” above to check whether another file is being selected first. If you also use legacy station-named WAV files, place them directly under station/, not in the station folder.

The chime before departure does not play

At stations other than Tatehama, an announcement-opening chime with 発前 in its name is required. 放送冒頭チャイム下り.wav and 放送冒頭チャイム.wav are not substitutes. Also check category-specific files such as 放送冒頭チャイム一般発前.wav.

The approach chime does not play or stops differently than expected

For regular and limited-express trains, provide a matching new-format approach-chime file. The legacy Passing_Bell.wav is only for passing trains. If playing after the announcement ends is too late, set PlayApproachChimeWithAnnouncement=true; to repeat it, set LoopApproachChime=true. To let the sound finish, set StopApproachChimeImmediately=false. It also stops on platforms without a departure board, but for a stopping train it may continue until about 15 seconds after entering the platform.

The departure bell does not play or plays too late

Check the required signal route and departure timing conditions. Having a sound file in place does not make it play before those conditions are met. With PlayDepartureBellAfterAnnouncement=true, the game waits for the announcement to end. To play it earlier, check DepartureBellAdvanceSeconds. If it stops before the departure time, check DepartureBellStopSecondsBeforeDeparture.

A vehicle sound does not change

Check the filenames in sound/train/[VehicleKey]/. If changing the legacy sound/[VehicleKey]_DoorChime.wav does not change the sound, check whether a file for the same sound exists in the higher-priority vehicle folder. Some sounds are not used by certain vehicle configurations, so check by performing the relevant operation.