Sound Effects

Agent of Empires can play sound effects when agent sessions change state, providing audio feedback for transitions like starting, running, waiting, idle, and error states.

Features

  • 🔊 State transition sounds (start, running, waiting, idle, error)
  • 🎵 Multiple installation options (bundled, AoE II extraction, custom)
  • 🎨 Fully customizable - use any .wav/.ogg files
  • ⚙️ Configurable via Settings TUI
  • 🎯 Per-transition sound overrides
  • 🎲 Random or specific sound modes

Quick Start

  1. Install sounds:

    aoe sounds install

    This downloads and installs CC0 fantasy/RPG sounds from GitHub to your config directory.

  2. Enable sounds in settings:

    • Launch aoe (TUI mode)
    • Press s to open Settings
    • Navigate to the Sound category
    • Enable sounds

  3. Test it: Start an agent session and listen for the transition sounds!

Available Sounds

Agent of Empires can download 10 CC0 (public domain) fantasy/RPG sound effects from GitHub:

Default State Transition Sounds

  • start.wav - Spell fire sound (session starting)
  • running.wav - Blade sound (agent actively working)
  • waiting.wav - Misc sound (agent waiting for input)
  • idle.wav - Book sound (agent idle)
  • error.wav - Roar sound (error occurred)

Additional Variety Sounds

  • spell.wav - Alternative spell/magic effect
  • coins.wav - Coin/reward sound
  • metal.wav - Metal impact sound
  • chain.wav - Chain/lock sound
  • gem.wav - Gem/crystal sound

All sounds are from the 80 CC0 RPG SFX pack by SubspaceAudio.

Installation

Install Sounds from GitHub

aoe sounds install

This downloads and installs 10 CC0 (public domain) fantasy/RPG sounds from the GitHub repository to:

  • Linux: ~/.config/agent-of-empires/sounds/
  • macOS: ~/.agent-of-empires/sounds/

Note: Requires an internet connection for the initial download. Sounds are downloaded from: https://github.com/njbrake/agent-of-empires/tree/main/bundled_sounds

Useful Commands

Check installed sounds:

aoe sounds list

Test a sound:

aoe sounds test start

Sound Modes

Random Mode (default)

Picks a random sound from your sounds directory for each transition.

Specific Mode

Always plays the same sound file. Useful if you want one signature sound for all transitions.

Configuration

Global Settings

Configure sounds for all profiles:

  1. Launch aoe TUI
  2. Press s for Settings
  3. Select "Sound" category
  4. Configure:
    • Enabled: Turn sounds on/off
    • Mode: Random or Specific
    • Per-transition overrides: Set specific sounds for each state

Profile Settings

Override sound settings per profile:

  1. In Settings, toggle to "Profile" scope (top-right)
  2. Configure sound overrides for this profile only

TOML Configuration

You can also edit configuration files directly:

Global: ~/.config/agent-of-empires/config.toml (Linux) or ~/.agent-of-empires/config.toml (macOS)

[sound]
enabled = true
mode = "random"
on_error = "error"  # Use specific sound for errors

Profile: ~/.config/agent-of-empires/profiles/<profile>/config.toml

[sound]
enabled = true
on_start = "spell"
on_running = "metal"
on_error = "error"

Custom Sounds

Add your own sounds to ~/.config/agent-of-empires/sounds/:

  1. Supported formats: .wav, .ogg
  2. File naming: Use descriptive names (e.g., wololo.wav, rogan.ogg)
  3. Reference in config: Use the filename without extension

Example:

# Linux
cp ~/Downloads/wololo.wav ~/.config/agent-of-empires/sounds/

# Then in settings, set "On Start" to "wololo"

Audio Playback

Sounds are played using platform-native audio players:

  • macOS: afplay
  • Linux: aplay (ALSA) or paplay (PulseAudio)

If sounds don't play, ensure you have audio tools installed:

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt install alsa-utils pulseaudio-utils

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S alsa-utils pulseaudio

Troubleshooting

Sounds not playing?

  • SSH Session: Audio doesn't work over SSH - you need a local terminal with speakers/headphones
  • Check that sound files exist in ~/.config/agent-of-empires/sounds/
  • Verify sounds are enabled in Settings
  • Test audio with: aplay ~/.config/agent-of-empires/sounds/start.wav (Linux)
  • Check logs: AGENT_OF_EMPIRES_DEBUG=1 aoe

Want Age of Empires II sounds? If you own AoE II, manually copy the taunt files to your sounds directory.

Custom sounds aren't listed?

  • Ensure files have .wav or .ogg extension
  • Check file permissions are readable
  • Restart the TUI to refresh the sound list

License

Bundled sounds are CC0 1.0 Universal (Public Domain) - no attribution required. You are free to use, modify, and distribute them for any purpose, including commercial use.

Source: OpenGameArt.org - 80 CC0 RPG SFX by SubspaceAudio