Half-Life Sound Selector

This section of the website will guide you along the path to playing your own music whilst playing Counter-Strike (1.6 & Source). As well as tutorials on how to use HLSS, there are also a number of pre-modified HLSS sound clips and songs of some of the more popular sounds played with HLSS that you can download here.

Please check out the HLSS Support Forum for help and HLSS problem solving.

» How to install and setup HLSS

1. To start with it might just help to have the program! So download HLSS here. (You may have to enter the login details found on the page to get the file.)

2. Once you have the .zip file you will need to extract it. If you don't already have it, you can download WinZip here to extract the files. Create a new folder on your hard-drive and extract the .zip folder into it using WinZip.

3. Open the new folder which will now have the extracted files in it. Firstly open the Installing.txt file and follow the instructions which will allow HLSS to play sound files.

4. The HLSS program is the executable (.exe) file. Double click this file to open up HLSS.

5. Now you have the HLSS interface in front of you; go to File > Options.... This is where you tell HLSS where your Counter-Strike folder is located. To do that click the Browse... button under Game Directory and find the right folder....

For Counter-Strike 1.6 it will be:
C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\your@email.com\Counter-Strike\cstrike.
For Counter-Strike Source it will be
C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\your@email.com\counter-strike source.

6. Only for Counter-Strike 1.6: Go to File > Script Setup... and click Other. There is no need to fill in the box below. Do not do this step if using HLSS for CS Source!

HLSS is now all set to play .wav files...

» Preparing Sound Files for HLSS

1. HLSS can only use .wav (wave) sound files. If you already have a .wav file you would like to use then you must check that the file is of 8000Hz and in 16 bit Mono format.

2. To get a .wav file into the correct format you can either use the Sound Recorder which comes with Windows, or another converting program. Personally I use this wav converter but Sound Recorder can do the same job: File > Properties > Convert Now... > 8.000 kHz,16 bit, Mono.

Music Converter

3. If the .wav file you have is too long you should cut it so to select the best part to play to keep the clips short. I use this wav splitter which I find easy to use.

Wave Splitter

Instead of preparing your own .wav files here are some sounds that have already been prepared for you to download...

» Download Sound Files for HLSS

Note: Due to the nature of sound settings in some servers the sound quality of some of these HLSS sound files is not the best. Different servers will play different sound qualities. Also please note that the majority of these sounds files are not full versions but sound clips. You can determine by the sound file size how long the clip lasts for.
In the HLSS download there are already a couple of HLSS .wav files ready for you to use.

GO TO HLSS SOUND DATABASE HERE!

» Adding Sound Files to HLSS

Okay, you have your .wav files via one-way-or-another, now all there is to do is add them to your HLSS playlist...

1. With HLSS running, click to add a new sound file.

2. Then find your .wav by clicking and selecting the file to add.

3. Click in the Shortcut field then press any key which is not already used by Counter-Strike. Most of the Num-pad buttons are fine to use. This key is now assigned to play the sound file you just added.

NB. Do not move .wav files once they are assigned. This will cause them to fail to play unless you reassign them.

» Playing HLSS Sound Files in Counter-Strike

1. When you are ready to unleash your music into the game click in HLSS.

2. In Counter-Strike press the key you assigned to the sound file then press the Delete key to play and stop the sound.

3. Do not continuosly play sound files in Counter-Strike, especially if they are muffled, because some players, understandably like to play in "peace". If you are suffering from another player playing non-stop HLSS sound files then you can Mute them in CS by hitting Esc, clicking Player List, selecting the player then clicking Mute In-game voice.

» Server-Side Configuration

If you run a Steam game server, you can improve the quality of voice communication (including HLSS) by setting the following commands in the ./server.cfg file:

sv_voicecodec voice_speex
sv_voicequality 5

That's It!

I have made the process seem a lot longer than it actually is because I have tried to explain various features in a bit of detail. Once you have read through this guide once, it shouldn't take more than a few minutes to get your sound playing on Half-Life Sound Selector.
Well I hope this has all been of some use to you; I read a lot of posts about how to get HLSS working and numerous players asking on the server how I get the sounds to play so this is for all of you! If I have made any mistakes whilst typing or made broken links please contact me.
Please check out the HLSS Support Forum for HLSS help and HLSS problem solving. Feel free to lend a hand to others having difficulties :o)

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About the Author

Name: emit.
E-mail: emitind[at]hotmail.com
Website: http://www.intheholecs.net

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Last updated: 21/06/2008