Module, can you add sounds without hak?

MrDamage

Hi everyone
I’m a novice builder when it comes to the more in-depth. Hoping someone can just answer this.
Q1:
Can I add a sound to a module like say a wolf howl(just example) without having to make a haks folder?
Was going to try a story based mod but it needs a few sound effects and I’d like to add a narration and maybe even a custom npc portrait. Is the only way any of this is possible is to make a hak?
Thanks in advance for any help

Proleric

There's no reason to be afraid of making a hak. It's by far the most robust method of adding content, ensuring that your work doesn't corrupt other modules.

Technically, the alternative is to add files to the appropriate folder (see table in my installation guide). This is sometimes appropriate for trying things out. However, from the player's point of view, that quickly adds up to a lot more folders to install, and each folder can end up with an eclectic assortment of files, with no easy way to tell which module they belong to. The NIT tool can be used to manage this, I understand, but that again places the onus on the player. You can fully automate the process on Steam, but presumably not all players will buy EE that way.

Way easier (and more friendly to other authors) to put all your content into one hak. The nwhak program in the utils folder allows you to import files. Under Windows, it helps to associate the .hak extension with that program, too.

MrDamage

Awesome! Thanks for the info. You hit the nail on the head with yeah I’m a bit worried about trying to make a hak. I’ll give it a go cheers