It would take quite a lot of time to list "everything" in one post. Besides, I don't know them "all" and frankly I'd rather spend the time playing. I'm sure most players feel the same way. For an example on how difficult it can be to identify the correct folder and file name look at Prestige Power Slide below. My hope is that with time this thread will contain the most common sounds players wish to silence.
Posting requests for folder and file names.
Search this thread first before requesting sound file names and locations. If you don't do a search first then do not be surprised if your request goes unanswered if that information already exists. An easy way to search only this thread is to click "(show all)" near the top right of the thread. Then press CTRL+F to get your browser to pop-up a find window.
Please keep in mind everything that is involved in responding to requests [see the next section]. Understand why there may be delays in responding. Identifying and providing this information is done as a courtesy so please respect that. Limit yourself to the sounds that significantly detract from your play experience. The sounds that give you a head-ache. Ones that you go out of your way to avoid.
Not significant: "It would be nice if I didn't have to listen to that."
Significant: "As much as I love this game, I can't play it anymore because of that sound."
Only describe what causes the sound to be made in-game. Try to be as specific as possible. For example, "the sound Hasten makes" is a little vague because it makes one sound when activated and another sound while it's running.
Please don't critique sounds here. You don't need to explain why you don't like a sound. Show consideration for the people who bring the game its depth and immersiveness through sound. If you feel strongly enough about a change that would make things better there are several methods of directly providing that feedback where it will do the most good. This thread isn't one of them.
How can I find the folder and file name information for myself and/or respond to requests?
It is simply trail and error. The key is to have a list to experiment with. CuppaJo provided me one. She has offered to do the same for others. Please keep in mind the volume of PMs I imagine she gets! No need to go flooding her in-box with these requests. You may PM me with an email address (it is a big list) and I'll send you the one I got from her that also has my notes on the ones I've experimented with.
What you do with that list is use it to experiment with silencing various sounds until you discover the one that silences the sound you intended. To experiment one silences the sounds you want to test. Then you start up the game and see if you got it. If not, you have to completely exit the game (quit to desktop) and try again. Sometimes you do this over and over and...
Sometimes it is straight forward. Take Hasten's activation as an example [see below]. It is a player power called Hasten. Makes sense it is in the "powers" folder and the file is called "hasten.ogg". (I'll explain "hasten2.ogg" in a bit.)
Sometimes it is not so straight forward. The Targeting Drone loop is a good example. It is a player power called Targeting Drone. In the "powers" folder are two files called "targeting_loop.ogg" and "targetng2_loop.ogg". But guess what? Those weren't the right ones. The correct one is in the "weapons" folder and it is called "targetdrone_loop.ogg". That wasn't too hard either.
Sometimes it seems bizarre. Look at Prestige Power Slide. "enemies" folder? "Green_loop.ogg"?!? It took me a long time to get that one right. One must keep in mind when doing these experiments that the folder and file names were not picked to make doing this easy. They were chosen by the sound designers for reasons that make sense to them. They are the only ones it needs to make sense to. How did I stumble on the right folder and file? I shotguned it.
First I look for the obvious names that would match like with Hasten. Two files had "hasten" in their names. I copied and renamed my "silence.ogg" twice to the powers folder I had made. Then I started up CoH and activated Hasten. Bingo! Got it first try. If I had wanted to I could have gone back and disabled one or the other by renaming the file. (I like adding "_" to the front of the name. When sorted by name it shorts up at the top of the list and is easy to rename back to the original name if I need to.) Because it was a very tight shotgun spread I didn't bother. Flight/Hover is another good example.
When obvious doesn't work I widen the spread by trying blocks of ten or so files that don't seem to obviously belong to some other power. For example I never tried "IceArmor_loop.ogg" when looking for the Dark Armor loop.
For the really tough ones I use a sawed-off shotgun. With Prestige Power Slide I silenced every sound that ended with "_loop" that I hadn't already tried. I checked to see that it was at lest one of a list of about 40 sounds. Then I started splitting the list in halves and trying again until I narrowed it to the one I wanted. As an example of what I mean I'll use a starting list of six fake file names for brevity.
1st game launch for this test:
Sound1_loop.ogg
Sound2_loop.ogg
Sound3_loop.ogg
Sound4_loop.ogg
Sound5_loop.ogg
Sound6_loop.ogg
No sound heard. One of them is the file I want.
2nd test run:
_Sound1_loop.ogg
_Sound2_loop.ogg
_Sound3_loop.ogg
Sound4_loop.ogg
Sound5_loop.ogg
Sound6_loop.ogg
It made the sound so it must be one of the ones I disabled. We silence sounds by substituting a silent sound file. We disable the substitution by renaming the file or deleting it.
3rd run I have:
_Sound1_loop.ogg
Sound2_loop.ogg
Sound3_loop.ogg
The sound is quiet again. I deleted the other 3 files, but if I thought I might be trying them again soon I would just disable them with "_".
4th game launch it looks like:
_Sound2_loop.ogg
Sound3_loop.ogg
It makes the sound. WooHoo! Even though it makes the sound again I know the correct file name now because it has to be the silenced sound file I disabled.
5th and final test (I like to be sure 
):
Sound2_loop.ogg
I hope everyone now understands what is involved and what you could be getting into when you request the sound file listing. Please understand what you are asking someone else to do when posting a request for folder and file name info. Realize why I requested that you limit yourself to the sounds that *significantly* detract from your experience while playing. When you do hunt down the info on your own please post your final results in the manner requested if you think it likely someone else would want to know too.
Please use the format in the following post as a template for providing the information. This is all anyone needs to silence a sound using the method described in the initial post. Additional information may be deemed inappropriate by moderators/players and warrant the deletion/reporting of that post.
When silencing a sound understand that sounds get re-used. In addition, more than one sound can be made simultaneously. For example miasma_lopp.ogg is one of the looping sounds heard when running a dark armor. It is also made by the FX of enemies under the influence of other various powers.
One can't be selective in this regard. Any object or action coded to make a sound does it by playing the related sound file. If you have silenced that sound it will be silent for everything that is coded to play that file. Also worth noting is the same sound may be used in different files. If you hear a sound you know you silenced it is most likely a different file being played. You will need to silence that file too if you don't want to hear it.
Sound Information:
Description: Hasten activation
Folder name: powers
File name: hasten.ogg, hasten2.ogg
Description: Targeting Drone loop
Folder name: weapons
File name: targetdrone_loop.ogg
Description: Prestige Power Slide loop
Folder name: enemies
File name: Green_loop.ogg
Description: while flying or hovering
Folder name: powers
File names: air_loop.ogg, Flight1.ogg, Flight_loop.ogg, Flight1_loop.ogg, Flight2_loop.ogg, Flight3_loop.ogg, Groupfly_loop.ogg, Hover_loop.ogg
Description: Super Speed activation
Folder name: powers
File name: Run5.ogg
Description: Super Speed loop
Folder name: powers
File name: ForceField5_loop.ogg
Description: Fortitude loop
Folder name: powers
File name: intel_loop.ogg, Intel2_loop.ogg
Description: Dark Armor loop
Folder name: powers
File name: miasma_lopp.ogg, obsidian_loop.ogg
Description: Ice Armor loop
Folder name: powers
File name: IceArmor_loop.ogg, IceArmor2_loop.ogg
Description: made when using (or queuing) a power that hasn't recharged yet
Folder name: frontend
File name: Recharge.ogg
Description: Shadow Cloak loop
Folder name: enemies
File name: Blue_loop.ogg
Intel2_loop.ogg is a fairly wide-ranging sound file, it is used in a number of different powers. The sound it generates is a deep basso-rumbling noise. The power which caused me to disable that particular loop is the DA power, Cloak of Darkness, but it is for other stuff as well.
I also have power2_loop.ogg disabled, but I can't for the life of me remember which power it is cutting out...something really annoying though (and likely in /DA), because those are the only ones I've bothered with.
Great Wall of Prophecy, reveal to us God's will that we may blindly obey.
Free us from thought and responsibility
We shall read things off of you.
Then do them
Your words guide us.
We're dumb
Description: Peacebringer high-pitched whine
Folder name: powers
File name: peaceeyes1.ogg
[Note: This is the noise on the blasts and flight activation, not the shapeshifting "boom".]
Description: Peacebringer shapeshift "boom"
Folder name: powers
File name: nova4.ogg
Description: Warshade shapeshift "boom"
Folder name: powers
File name: nova2.ogg
These might also be used for the Energy Blast:Nova power (and others?).
There are four files in the "powers" folder: nova.ogg, nova2.ogg, nova3.ogg, nova4.ogg. I have an Energy Blaster with Nova. Nova still made the sound when I tested it after silencing #2 and #4. However due to its recharge time I only tried three times. It might use any of the four at random (it sounded the same to me all three tries). Or it might be positional (user hears one sound, observer hears another). Also, when CoT are doing that green glow ritual thing it sounds a lot like this. I didn't check.
Yep. One of those Kheld "boom" sounds is also used for the CoT ritual animation. There are other sounds they make too so you can still hear them. The screen still shakes.
Very good guide, Impkin. And yes, thanks go to all those that have provided assistance.
(My /DA scrapper doesn't give me a headache anymore, yay!)
"City of Heroes. April 27, 2004 - August 31, 2012. Obliterated not with a weapon of mass destruction, not by an all-powerful supervillain... but by a cold-hearted and cowardly corporate suck-up."
Do you happen to have the name and location of the file for Death Shroud? Thanks for this work, it's great.
Thank you very much for this guide. It's appreciated more than you can imagine. 
Anyone know what the sound is for a "bubble plopping" sound? I think it's for a buff and you hear it repetitively, maybe from some sort of earth spell? Like bubbles being burst with a very low or slow noise? Thank much for your time
Very good guide.
What do I use to silence Portal Corp portals?
<《 New Colchis / Guides / Mission Architect 》>
"At what point do we say, 'You're mucking with our myths'?" - Harlan Ellison
Dingly_Dang
[ QUOTE ]
Do you happen to have the name and location of the file for Death Shroud?
[/ QUOTE ]
Sorry, I don't have access to that power to test for it. Nothing is called deathshroud or something similar. If it isn't one of the ones used for Dark Armor try the two Matuse mentioned above.
If none of those are it then you or someone with access to that power will need to hunt for it. PM me with an email address and I can send you the complete list.
Arch77
[ QUOTE ]
Anyone know what the sound is for a "bubble plopping" sound?
[/ QUOTE ]
I think you are describing Stone Armor: Mud pots
Description: Mud pots loop
Folder name: powers
File name: mudpots_loop.ogg
Heraclea
[ QUOTE ]
What do I use to silence Portal Corp portals?
[/ QUOTE ]
These things had me cursing at my computer. They use 4-5 different sounds and some of them aren't obvious from the names. Unfortunately at the time I did it (about 7 months ago), I wasn't taking notes. CoH is currently unplayable for me due to the mega-patch (I6) causing severe rubber-banding and mapserver disconnects. It took me 20min to go from the tram in Sky to about half-way to the TI exit where I gave up.
Try these, Folder\file name:
Peregrine\reactor1_loop.ogg
Peregrine\reactor2_loop.ogg
Tech\Room3x_loop.ogg
Tech\spacemachine1m_loop.ogg
Tech\spacemachine1_loop.ogg
Tech\Teslaroom1_loop.ogg
Tech\Teslaroom2_loop.ogg
Tech\Teslaroom3_loop.ogg
Tech\Teslaroom4_loop.ogg
Things should calm down in about a week and I'll verify these if no one else has by then.
As of the most recent Training Room patch (and CoV Beta as well), having files in these folders appears to cause the client to lock up at the "Loading..." banner.
The only solution appears to be to remove or rename the 'data' folder, which restores the annoyingly loud default sounds.
Silas Dark
D.E.F.E.N.S.E. Incorporated
[i]"City of Heroes is at its best as a Superhero game that's implemented as an MMO, rather than as an MMO that just happens to be about Superheroes..."[/i]
How horrible.
That ruins the Vidiot Map enhancements. 
I hope there is a workaround soon.
-Jentia Argool(Bostic)
Freedom Server
Spines/Regen I5 Guide!
SG:-Civic Alliance
Jentia Argool (41)- Spines/Regen Scrapper
Justice Server - Jab Molassie (14) En/Ela Brute
Devil Mas(11) Dk/Dk Brute
Hechler Glocklan (20) Th/Dk MM
.ogg files can be played by by Winamp, as far as I can tell. If this is the case then the process of pinpointing individual sound files should go *much* more smoothly, but I'm at work and can't try this at the moment. Has anyone else tried this?
Can anyone help point me to exactly which sound is being used for the Assault Rifle/Slug power?
[ QUOTE ]
As of the most recent Training Room patch (and CoV Beta as well), having files in these folders appears to cause the client to lock up at the "Loading..." banner.
[/ QUOTE ]
Something else was causing this for you.
I silenced some sounds in CoV beta, never had a prob.
Was on Training room Sat and Sun, no prob.
[ QUOTE ]
.ogg files can be played by by Winamp, as far as I can tell. If this is the case then the process of pinpointing individual sound files should go *much* more smoothly, but I'm at work and can't try this at the moment. Has anyone else tried this?
[/ QUOTE ]
If you installed Audacity, I think it installs a decoder that allows Windows Media Player to play .oggs. It might have been some other .ogg editor though. I played around with many
However, the orginal game sounds are not on your computer as .ogg files. Any further discussion on how they are stored or how to listen to them in their original/game installed format would break the agreement that allows this thread to exist or I would explain further, sorry.
Description: Shadow Fall loop
Folder name: powers
File name: miasma_lopp.ogg
Note: miasma_loop.ogg is used in a lot of the various "Dark" power sets for both powers and their FXs.
Jonyu (Brute Rep?) made this post in the Brute forum that I think is worth mentioning here:
[ QUOTE ]
I've seen a lot of complaints about this so I brought it up before we went live. We changed it so certain toggle effects fade out but it didn't make it into live. Dark Armor shouldn't be so bad anymore once this gets updated. The same goes for Mud Pots.
[/ QUOTE ]
What wasn't clear was if it was only those two powers and only for Brutes.
If only most (or all IMHO) of the constant looping sounds would be changed to fade out like Super Jump does.
Description: Murky Cloud loop
Folder name: powers
File name: miasma_loop.ogg, whirlwind_loop.ogg
Note: miasma_loop.ogg is used in a lot of the various "Dark" power sets for both powers and their FXs.
"Tell my tale to those who ask. Tell it truly, the ill deeds along with the good and let me be judged accordingly. The rest is silence." -- Dinobot
Anyone know which sound is the one used for blinkies? Thats one I might want to make louder.
Heroes
Dysmal
Lumynous
Sam Steele
Pluck
Wile
Slagheap
Pressure Wave
Rhiannon Bel
Verified
Stellaric
Syd Mallorn
Villains
Jotunheim Skald
Saer Maen
Jen Corbae
Illuminance
Venator Arawn
Taiga Dryad
Tarranos
I concur with Dismal on blinkie sounds.
Also, what is the splashing water sound?
I would prefer to lower the sounds rather than silence them, but this is a good workaround. I do remember once replacing a file with something else, but the times weren't quite right so it did funky stuff and I replaced it with a silent file instead.
Can anyone help me with the "Death Shroud" Sound?
I disabled:
glow3_loop.ogg
glow7_loop.ogg
Intel2_loop.ogg
obsidian_loop.ogg
power2_loop.ogg
strength_loop.ogg
and still have that low end thrum(sorta like the blinkey sound) that gives me a headache.
I ended up just disabling all _loop.ogg for the time being, and the noise went away, and the headache it caused is gone too.
The first and most important thing to do is read this thread by CuppaJo:
A note on viewing pigg files.
Request to moderators: Please delete any posts that break the rules, not the entire thread.
Requests to readers: Please report any posts that break the rules.
Rule 1: Do not ask or explain how to view or change *.pigg files or any other CoH files.
Rule 2: Do not ask or explain how to view or change *.pigg files or any other CoH files.
Rule 3: Do not ask or explain how to obtain and use software for viewing or changing *.pigg files or any other CoH files. See the section in the first follow up post on how to respond to requests for sound file names and locations if you want to contribute.
Rule 4: Do not ask how or explain why this works. Questions and information of that nature might be considered "reverse engineering". Better safe than sorry.
Please comply with these rules. Doing so is what will allow this information to remain available in these forums.
OK, OK! I get it. So how do I silence a sound?
These instructions are meant for anyone with minimal Windows knowledge. I want to provide enough information so that every CoH player can improve their personal game play experience. Do not be daunted by the post's length. If you can play CoH you can do this.
The way to kill any game sound is to put another sound file in the correct directory with the name of the sound file used to make that noise. This replacement file must be in the Ogg Vorbis format and it can not be of zero length. In other words, to kill a sound you replace it with one second of silence.
Where do I get one second of silence in the *.ogg format?
However you want to. How I did it was to use a free program called Audacity.
I got it here: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
- Run Audacity.
- Click on the "Generate" menu. Choose "Silence". It should have created 30 seconds of silence.
- Use your mouse and highlight about one second. This doesn't have to be exact.
- Click on the "Edit" menu. Choose "Trim". There is also a button following the "Cut", "Copy", "Paste" buttons called "Trim outside selection" that does the same thing.
- Click on the "File" menu. Choose "Export As Ogg Vorbis..."
- Call the file whatever you want and save it anyplace you want. I recommend calling it "silence.ogg" and saving it to the Desktop. You will be copying this file to folders you create and renaming it so keep that in mind when deciding what to call it and where to save it.
- Exit Audacity. You won't need to use Audacity again (for this) unless there is something wrong with that "silence.ogg" you just made.
Why don't you just provide a link so I can download a silence.ogg?
If I could afford the bandwidth and knew how to do it, I would make a "silence.ogg" file available for download. But I can't and I don't so I won't. If someone wants to provide a link to a "silence.ogg" I'm sure it would be appreciated by many players.
Please do not provide links to anything other than a single silent sound. Not even a silent sound pack. In order to do that the sound pack would have to contain the actual folder and file names used by CoH. Such a link or pack, especially if it was a modified CoH sound, could be considered as distribution of copyrighted material and subject to consequences.
OK, now that I have a silent sound what do I do with it?
You need to know where to copy it and what to rename it as so the game will use your silent sound file instead of the default sound file. The base location for all your silenced sound files is:
C:\Program Files\City of Heroes\data\sound\ogg\
This assumes that you installed the game to its default directory. If you installed it someplace else then you should know enough to adapt these instructions to fit your custom installation.
*You are not making any changes to any files owned/installed by CoH*. Simply put: if any of the following folders already exist then you or a 3rd party put them there. You or the 3rd party would need to handle it on your own.
- Open the "City of Heroes" folder and create a new folder called "data".
- Open the "data" folder you just created and add a new folder called "sound".
- Open the "sound" folder you just created and add a new folder called "ogg".
You now have your base file location set. The sounds will be grouped in sub-folders inside the "ogg" folder. Each sound you wish to silence will go in a sub-folder. The name of the sub-folder depends on the sound.
The information provided for a specific sound assumes you have already created the above base folder. The "Folder name:" provided here is located in the "C:\Program Files\City of Heroes\data\sound\ogg\" folder. The name of the folder is where you copy your "silence.ogg" file to. The "File name:" provided here is what you need to rename that copy of your "silence.ogg" file to.
That is all there is to it. The next time you launch CoH that sound will not be made. If CoH is running while you do this (not recommended), exit completely (quit to desktop, not the log-in screen) first.
Example:
Description: Targeting Drone loop
Folder name: weapons
File name: targetdrone_loop.ogg
To silence this sound you copy your "silence.ogg" file to a folder called "weapons". If you have never silenced a sound that goes in the "weapons" folder then you will need to make a "weapons" folder first. Once you copy your "silence.ogg" into the "weapons" folder you then rename it to "targetdrone_loop.ogg".
Specific how-to:
If you hold down the "Ctrl" key you can click on and drag the "silence.ogg" file to the "weapons" folder you created. It will make a copy. You can also right-click on "silence.ogg" and pick "Copy". You then right-click on an empty spot in the open "weapons" folder/window and pick "Paste".
To rename the "silence.ogg" file you copied into the "weapons" folder right-click on the file and choose "Rename" (or highlight it and press the "F2" key). Type "targetdrone_loop.ogg".
I did what you said, but now CoH doesn't work right!
How do I undo this?
If you followed instructions then it will work. If something isn't working as you expect then something was not done right. Try again. Go slower. Follow the instructions more carefully. If the sound you expected to be silenced is still making noise then either the description was misunderstood or the wrong folder/file name has been posted.
The quickest and easiest way to undo this customization is to rename the "data" folder you made. I use "_data". Or just delete it. If you suspect that your customizations are causing problems playing CoH then undo them.
What happens the next time there is an update or a patch?
One of the great things about CoH is it keeps improving. Should the name of a folder or file change in a future patch the game would default back to playing the intended sound.
If just the sound was changed (the folder and file name remain the same) a customized client would still play the silenced sound. If one wished to hear the changed sound they could either disable the "data" folder or the specific sound file by renaming it.
DO NOT ASK TECH SUPPORT TO MAKE THIS WORK FOR YOU.
This customization is totally and completely unsupported. If you are having any technical issues of any kind you will need to rename or delete the "data" folder *before* you contact Tech Support. I have been doing this for over a year. This customization has not caused any issues for me or any of the people I have done it for.
Also, *because this is totally and completely unsupported*: should the program feature that allows it to work change there are no grounds for demanding that the hypothetical change be undone. You can ask. You can plead. But there is no basis for calling it a bug and demanding a fix or reversal.
A comment about courtesy.
If you found the sound bothersome then most likely so do other people. This customization *only* affects your client. Other players will still hear the sound(s) unless they also customized their clients.
Be courteous to your fellow players. Just because you aren't bothered by keeping a power running all the time now because you silenced it doesn't mean you should keep it running when you don't need it. You obviously didn't like hearing that noise. Why inflict it on others when there is no reason to? Turn off your powers when you are just standing around chatting, training, buying, etc.
Giving credit where credit is due.
This isn't my brain-child. Someone explained the concept to me over a year ago. I am sorry that I do not remember who they are. All I've done is come up with the format to present this information and the how-to steps for enabling all players to benefit from it should they wish to.
A huge thanks to CuppaJo and the rest of this Forum's Moderator team for allowing this thread. Because of its content I asked before posting. This is just one of the uncountable ways they continually show that providing a fun, enjoyable game for as many people as possible is what motivates them.
A special THANK YOU! to the sound designers.
A big concern of mine is that this thread might be taken wrong. What I hope y'all take from this is that setting the volume low or muting the sound entirely simply isn't an option. Different people are sensitive to different things. That's all there is to this thread. Half of the game experience is auditory. You have the most wonderful toy box. Thank you for sharing your toys with us!