How to get all in-game Warcraft Music
Every few weeks/months, we get the question about how to get the in-game music on .mp3. As someone who loves the in-game music, but who is rather cheap, I found a good way to do this via the internets. Now, I am sharing it with you!
It's pretty simple. It's also not against the terms of service (AFAIK) to open up the files and look/listen to them. Once you modify the files in some way, you're treading on tenuous ground.
What you need to begin:
1) Your World of Warcraft data files
These files are labeled .mpq. You can find them in your "world of warcraft\data" folder, wherever that is in your computer (PC will tend to be "C:\program file\world of warcraft\data" and macs will be "drive\applications\world of warcraft\data", but you may be special and different.)
Currently, I have several data files in that folder: common.mpq, common-2.mpq, expansion.mpq, litchking.mpq, patch-2.mpq, patch.mpq
2) An MPQ extractor.
On my mac, I use MPQ Extractor. The site offers several others, but this is the one I use.
On my PC, I use MPQEditor. It's a bit bulky and the English in it is atrocious, but the general results are very good; plus you can only extract a bit at a time.
How to get WoW mp3 files out of the game files
Let's say you want to get music from Dragonblight, which is an area in the WoTLK expansion.
For Mac:
1) Launch MPQ Extractor for Mac
2) Have the MPQ extractor open your target MPQ, in this case the litchking.mpq data file.
(Menu Bar)-->Open-->(Navigate to folder)-->click on "litchking.mpq"
Wait a while
3) Getting the music folder out of the MPQ
In your Data folder, unless you specified otherwise, you should see a folder called "litchking"
In the "litchking" folder, click on the "sounds" folder. Then click on the "music" folder"
4) Open the "Dragonblight" folder. You're done!
For PC:
1) Launch MPQEditor
2) Have the MPQ extractor open your target MPQ, in this case the litchking.mpq data file.
Open MPQ Archive-->(Navigate to Folder)
You should get a pop-up dialog box. Leave all things checked that are already checked. Check
"Open the MPQ in read-only mode" and then click "OK".
3) Getting the music folder out of the MPQ
- On the left pane of the MPQ archive, click on the "plus sign" next to the "sound" folder
- You should now see a "music" folder under the "sound" folder on the left panel
- Click on the "music" folder. Folders will appear on the right pane.
- Select all folders you care about on the right pane.
- On the top menu bar, click "Operations-->Extract". Set a location for where you want these files (the default is a folder called Work on the desktop) and click Okay.
- Wait a while
4) Navigate to wherever you put the music folder. Open it up and navigate down to the "Dragonblight" folder. You're done!
-----
Note that the sound files are named internally. You may want to rename them. The cool thing about the sound files in iTunes is that the files are signed by who composed them. You can eventually learn who does what music you love. Check out all the tavern music/argent crusade music done by the composer David Arkenstone", a legitimate composer.
Any questions? Feel free to ask!
It's pretty simple. It's also not against the terms of service (AFAIK) to open up the files and look/listen to them. Once you modify the files in some way, you're treading on tenuous ground.
What you need to begin:
1) Your World of Warcraft data files
These files are labeled .mpq. You can find them in your "world of warcraft\data" folder, wherever that is in your computer (PC will tend to be "C:\program file\world of warcraft\data" and macs will be "drive\applications\world of warcraft\data", but you may be special and different.)
Currently, I have several data files in that folder: common.mpq, common-2.mpq, expansion.mpq, litchking.mpq, patch-2.mpq, patch.mpq
2) An MPQ extractor.
On my mac, I use MPQ Extractor. The site offers several others, but this is the one I use.
On my PC, I use MPQEditor. It's a bit bulky and the English in it is atrocious, but the general results are very good; plus you can only extract a bit at a time.
How to get WoW mp3 files out of the game files
Let's say you want to get music from Dragonblight, which is an area in the WoTLK expansion.
For Mac:
1) Launch MPQ Extractor for Mac
2) Have the MPQ extractor open your target MPQ, in this case the litchking.mpq data file.
(Menu Bar)-->Open-->(Navigate to folder)-->click on "litchking.mpq"
Wait a while
3) Getting the music folder out of the MPQ
In your Data folder, unless you specified otherwise, you should see a folder called "litchking"
In the "litchking" folder, click on the "sounds" folder. Then click on the "music" folder"
4) Open the "Dragonblight" folder. You're done!
For PC:
1) Launch MPQEditor
2) Have the MPQ extractor open your target MPQ, in this case the litchking.mpq data file.
Open MPQ Archive-->(Navigate to Folder)
You should get a pop-up dialog box. Leave all things checked that are already checked. Check
"Open the MPQ in read-only mode" and then click "OK".
3) Getting the music folder out of the MPQ
- On the left pane of the MPQ archive, click on the "plus sign" next to the "sound" folder
- You should now see a "music" folder under the "sound" folder on the left panel
- Click on the "music" folder. Folders will appear on the right pane.
- Select all folders you care about on the right pane.
- On the top menu bar, click "Operations-->Extract". Set a location for where you want these files (the default is a folder called Work on the desktop) and click Okay.
- Wait a while
4) Navigate to wherever you put the music folder. Open it up and navigate down to the "Dragonblight" folder. You're done!
-----
Note that the sound files are named internally. You may want to rename them. The cool thing about the sound files in iTunes is that the files are signed by who composed them. You can eventually learn who does what music you love. Check out all the tavern music/argent crusade music done by the composer David Arkenstone", a legitimate composer.
Any questions? Feel free to ask!