Music listening improved

In ets2 the music player doesn't have a lot of extra features.

This guide will show you how to:

• Have randomized music playlists in ets2 using vlc streaming
  
• Listen to music from other sources (ie. youtube) in ets2 with ingame sound control using vlc streaming

Streaming with vlc

In ets2 you can't randomize the order in which your music is being played, in vlc you can.
For this you can use vlc to stream your music. This music stream can than be added to ets2 like your radio stations. Therefor giving you the ability to control the volume within the game.

To do this you need to open vlc and go to Media >> Stream.
Add a file or playlist (as far as I am aware the playlist has to be in .xspf format) by pressing add and selecting the file you want to stream. Multiple files can be added here.
Next hit stream to enter the streaming wizzard. Click next.
Select http for the destination then add. The following screen should appear.
Select a port (doesn't matter but remember it we will need it later) and give a path in the form [name].mp3
Click next.
From the dropdown box you can select the fromat you want to stream in. Select the standard mp3 profile (if you want you can also select a different profile or not transcode but I only tested with these settings). Also note that ets2 will only accept the mp3 format.
Click next.
Click Stream.

Stream from network sources

To play from other sources you almost have to follow the same steps as the previous part only this time when you are in the "Open Media" screen you will want to select Network.
Here you can enter any network link with playable audio.
If your internet is unstable you might want to click the more options checkbox and increase caching.
Follow the same steps as in the previous part untill the last screen from vlc.
In the textbox add ":sout-delay-delay=500" to the end of the line.
Then press stream.

Adding your stream to ets2

Now you will be streaming your selected music to the selected port.
To listen to the stream in ets2 you have to add your stream like you add your radio with the link being "http://localhost:[chosenPort]/[pathname].mp3", the other details aren't important.
(The entire line in the live_streams.sii is "RADIO_URL|RADIO_NAME|GENRE|LANGUAGE|BITRATE|FAVORITE(1 or 0)")

If you want your music playing from another pc change localhost to the ip-address of that pc and make sure you have the port open in the firewall.

Issues and solutions

• After selecting the stream in ets2 it plays music then stops playing
  After the music stops it should start playing soon. I have yet to find the reason behind this.
  
• When streaming from a network source the music sometimes stops
  If the music stops in ets2 it means it hasn't received music for a short time. To fix this problem you can try to increase the caching and delay in vlc.

Outro

Now you can play music in different ways and from different sources.
If you have any improvements or other methods to de the same or even more please comment.

I hope this helped you.

[bimmingham]

how do you get the path name of a youtube stream?

[Wagreed]

Well it should be good but for me Shift+Tab and web browser works fine

[Lollypop (SLO)]

This is applicable for Windows game only as media player in SteamOS/Linux version doesn't support streams.

[BelgianCat]

I'm specifically talking about streaming music via a youtube link for example. I followed all the steps, the channel does appear in my Radio channels, but it doesn't connect to it at all, it just attempts to constantly connect and does nothing.

[BelgianCat]

It'd be handy if you were less vague. I did everything mentioned but it doesn't work for me.
Perhaps a youtube video could clarify it more?

[FakeCross]

can you make a video tutorial ?

[xxchu]

nice

[???]

when I closed the radio station and tried to open it again it stopped working.

[Gregory_TheGamer]

@Bartelomeus OK, thank you.

[Bartelomeus]

@Expression Spotify doesn't have an option to stream to mp3 so that is not an option. Also vlc couldn't open any other way wouldn't work with vlc.