SFX & Music Generator

Format rules (Godot 4.x)

Never .mp3: licensing baggage and worse looping than .ogg.

Directory layout

assets/audio/
├── music/
│   ├── menu_theme.ogg
│   ├── battle_calm.ogg
│   └── boss.ogg
├── sfx/
│   ├── player/
│   ├── enemy/
│   ├── ui/
│   ├── combat/
│   ├── world/
│   └── pickup/
├── ambience/
│   ├── forest_day.ogg
│   └── cave.ogg
└── voice/

Naming convention

{category}_{system}_{action}_{variant}.{ext}

Numbered variants (_01, _02, _03) for any sound that plays often — pick at random + slight pitch variation to avoid ear fatigue.

Generation workflow

Step 1: identify what you need

Step 2: generate

ElevenLabs MCP (text_to_sound_effects):

Good prompts are specific: material, intensity, distance, mood.

MusicGPT MCP for music tracks: specify mood, tempo (BPM), instruments, genre, target length.

Step 3: free fallback sources

Audio bus layout

Set up in Audio → Audio Bus panel. Save the layout as default_bus_layout.tres.

Master
├── Music
├── SFX
│   ├── Player
│   ├── Enemy
│   ├── UI
│   └── World
├── Voice
└── Ambience

Effects per bus:

• Music: Compressor (gentle), Limiter
• SFX: Limiter
• Voice: Compressor (heavier), HighPassFilter
• Ambience: LowPassFilter (subtle)
• Master: Limiter at -1 dB ceiling

Volume reference (set in code via AudioServer.set_bus_volume_db(bus_idx, db)):

AudioManager pattern

# autoload/audio_manager.gd
extends Node

const SFX_POOL_SIZE := 16

var _sfx_players: Array[AudioStreamPlayer] = []
var _sfx_cache: Dictionary[StringName, Array] = {}  # name -> Array[AudioStream] variants

func _ready() -> void:
    for i in SFX_POOL_SIZE:
        var p := AudioStreamPlayer.new()
        p.bus = "SFX"
        add_child(p)
        _sfx_players.append(p)
    _load_sfx_variants()

func play_sfx(name: StringName, pitch_variation: float = 0.1) -> void:
    var variants: Array = _sfx_cache.get(name, [])
    if variants.is_empty():
        push_warning("SFX not found: %s" % name)
        return
    var p := _get_free_player()
    if p == null:
        return
    p.stream = variants.pick_random()
    p.pitch_scale = randf_range(1.0 - pitch_variation, 1.0 + pitch_variation)
    p.play()

func _get_free_player() -> AudioStreamPlayer:
    for p in _sfx_players:
        if not p.playing:
            return p
    return null

func _load_sfx_variants() -> void:
    # Group _01, _02, ... as variants of same name
    var dir := DirAccess.open("res://assets/audio/sfx")
    # Walk dir, group by base name without _NN suffix, populate _sfx_cache.
    pass

For positional 2D/3D sounds use AudioStreamPlayer2D / AudioStreamPlayer3D instead — pool the same way.

Music crossfade

func crossfade_music(new_stream: AudioStream, duration: float = 1.5) -> void:
    var fading := _music_player_a if _active_music == _music_player_b else _music_player_b
    var rising := _music_player_b if fading == _music_player_a else _music_player_a
    rising.stream = new_stream
    rising.volume_db = -80.0
    rising.play()
    var tw := create_tween().set_parallel()
    tw.tween_property(fading, "volume_db", -80.0, duration)
    tw.tween_property(rising, "volume_db", _music_target_db, duration)
    tw.chain().tween_callback(fading.stop)
    _active_music = rising

For stinger-driven transitions consider AudioStreamInteractive (Godot 4.3+).

Import settings (Godot)

Set in the Import dock. Save defaults via "Set as Default for ..." so future imports inherit.