Add custom music to RA3 tutorial - C&C: Red Alert 3

Here I explain how you can add music to original Red Alert 3 maps.
Keep in mind that this method removes the dynamic music.
The easy way is to add the music in WAV format, but keep in mind that the mod can become very large.
An other option is to add EALayer3 files to the mod using bibbers RA3 EALayer3 Asset Generator.
EALayer 3 files can be created from MP3 files. Notice that some MP3 files result in bad EALayer3 files with a lot of beeps.
You need the latest worldbuilder to edit the RA3 maps.
I'm using bibbers mod tools, so some things could be different.

Part 1a (WAV file method)

• Create a music sub-directory in your audio directory ( RA3 MOD SDK\Mods\\audio\music )
• Place your music in this new directory
• Load the music as a sound effect

  <AudioFile id="song_a" File="AUDIO:Music/Songa.wav" />
  <AudioFile id="song_b" File="AUDIO:Music/Songb.wav" />
  <AudioFile id="song_c" File="AUDIO:Music/Songc.wav" />

• Create an audio event as a random songlist

  <AudioEvent
  	id="Music_list"
  	inheritFrom="AudioEvent:BaseSoundEffect"
  	Volume="75"
  	MinRange="1"
  	MaxRange="999999"
  	Limit="1"
  	Control="LOOP"
  	Priority="HIGHEST"
  	Type="WORLD SHROUDED EVERYONE"
  	DryLevel="100"
  	SubmixSlider="MUSIC">
  	<Sound>song_a</Sound>
  	<Sound>song_b</Sound>
  	<Sound>song_c</Sound>
  </AudioEvent>

• Compile your mod ( needed to get a music reference in the worldbuilder )

Part 1b (EALayer 3 file method)

• Place a blank dummy WAV file in your audio directory ( RA3 MOD SDK\Mods\\audio )
• Use the RA3 EALayer3 Asset Generator to create asset and cdata files from your mp3 files. The names of your mp3 files will be the IDs of the AudioFile entries later. So, be sure you match the naming conditions ([a-zA-Z0-9.-_]+). In this examle the files are named 'song_a.mp3', 'song_b.mp3', 'song_c.mp3'
• Put the generated files to your assets directory ( RA3 MOD SDK\Mods\\assets )
• Load the music as a sound effect

  <AudioFile id="song_a" File="AUDIO:Blank.wav" />
  <AudioFile id="song_b" File="AUDIO:Blank.wav" />
  <AudioFile id="song_c" File="AUDIO:Blank.wav" /

• Create an audio event as a random songlist

  <AudioEvent
  	id="Music_list"
  	inheritFrom="AudioEvent:BaseSoundEffect"
  	Volume="75"
  	MinRange="1"
  	MaxRange="999999"
  	Limit="1"
  	Control="LOOP"
  	Priority="HIGHEST"
  	Type="WORLD SHROUDED EVERYONE"
  	DryLevel="100"
  	SubmixSlider="MUSIC">
  	<Sound>song_a</Sound>
  	<Sound>song_b</Sound>
  	<Sound>song_c</Sound>
  </AudioEvent>

• Compile your mod ( needed to get a music reference in the worldbuilder )

Part 2 Now that your mod has the music, you have to add it to the maps.

• First you need to extract the original RA3 (skirmish)maps
• Copy your mod .big file to the Red Alert 3\Data directory
• Add your mod to the RA3_wb_1.12.cfg file

  add-big <your mod>.big

• Start the worldbuilder
• Load a original RA3 map
• Add this script to Neutral:

  Stop any Path Music currently playing
  Disable the Path Music Dynamic State System
  Play Sound 'Music_list' as though it was a 2D sound

• Save the map
• Add the modified map to RA3 MOD SDK\Mods\\Additional\Data\Maps|Official\
• Remove your mod from the RA3_wb_1.12.cfg file
• Remove your mod from the Red Alert 3\Data directory
• Compile your mod again

Notice that you may hear a small part ( about 1 second ) of the dynamic music. That's because the script will be loaded after the music start.

Now you can play the game with your own music.