Custom Hitsounds / Killsounds 101

This guide will teach you how to:

1. Download and use custom hitsounds / killsounds
   
2. Make your own hitsound / killsounds using Audacity[www.audacityteam.org]

Introduction - What is a hitsound?

A hitsound is simply a sound that plays whenever you hit somebody. A killsound is a sound that plays whenever you kill somebody. Simple right?
TF2 has a list of hitsounds / killsound you can choose from, however, you can make your own or download one easily.

1. Create the Folders

First off - you'll need to make the folders. follow these steps:
1. Navigate to your "tf" folder - C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\Team Fortress 2\tf (by default)
2. In "tf" look for a folder named "custom" - if you don't have one then create it.
3. In custom make a new folder. Name it whatever you like. In that folder, now create a new folder named "sound", in sound make another folder, which we'll name "ui". That's it.

This is how it should look (assuming your folders are by defualt):
C:\Program Files(86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Team Fortress 2\tf\custom\filename/sound\ui
Unless you've moved your library, if you have it should like this:
Z:\steam\steamapps\common\Team Fortress 2\tf\custom\filename\sound\ui

2. Download the Hitsound Files

Now, download a hitsound (and / or killsound). I recommend Huds.tf's sound directory[huds.tf].
Find a hitsound / killsound that you like and download it.

Now, drag and drop those files into the folder "ui" that you've made earlier.
--->

3. Making Your Own from YouTube Videos / Other Sound Files

As said before, it's 100% possible to make your own hitsound. Let's go over the things you'll need:

• Audacity[www.audacityteam.org] (Install the program if you don't have it)
  
• A YouTube video that contains the sound that you want (If you already have a .mp3 / .wav file of your desired sound you may skip this part).

Download the YouTube video using any YouTube downloader that you trust (in a .mp3 or .wav format). Open it up in Audacity.
Trim the file, so that you'll only have the part that'll become your hitound.
Now, export the file to .wav. Make sure the Project rate is 44100 hz (displayed in the bottom left corner), and the bitrate isn't above 320 kbs.

Name your file "hitsound" if you want it to be your hitsound or "killsound" if you want it to be your killsound.

If you already have a sound file, just trim it to your liking or rename it into "killsound" / "hitsound" as is. Again, make sure the project rate is 44100 hz, and that the bitrate isn't above 320 kbs.

4. In - game

Make sure that Hitsounds and killsounds are enabled, and they should be 'default' as seen in the pic below:


Next, either use the console or simply TF2 Advanced Options to determain the pitch of the hitsound (depends on how hard you hit). Either use these:


Or use the console:

Enter these commands into the console:

tf_dingaling_pitchmaxdmg 5
tf_dingaling_pitchmindmg 195

The number is for how high the pitch will be, and you can change it.

Or you can put it in autoexec.cfg:

Add the commands to autexec.cfg, found in C:\Program Files(86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Team Fortress 2\tf\cfg (or another directory, mentioned above). If it's missing

Create a new .txt file with notepad in which you'll need to enter the commands, name it autoexec.cfg
and select Save as type: All files.



Move autoexec.cfg to the following directory C:\Program Files(86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Team Fortress 2\tf\cfg
(again, if you've moved the Steam library to a different location, you'll need the file to be in a diffrent directory. If the cfg directory is missing, simply create it.)

Done and Dusted!

Alright ,you're done. I hope this was easy to follow, do let me know if you need any help.

[Sonic]

thx demoknight tf2 approves of this message

[CarpetHater]

Man, i love you, thanks for explaining it. I tried getting the hitsound to work over 20 times with no success, and i found out that the problem was the bitrate, mine was 32 and that made it not work, but now it does.

[Flip Floppa]

Nvm, I got it working thanks to Tobi Redfield's comment!

[Flip Floppa]

How tf do I lower bit-rate???

[Nemesis Endfield]

As a note: If you test in the console with "play hitsound / killsound" and console replies with "Failed to load sound 'hitsound.wav' " move the files out of ui folder and place it on sound folder

[Minty_Mechanic]

My killsound works, but my hitsound does not. After some time playing, some sounds (including the killsound) just cut out altogether.

[quiteironic]

OK. I was just fucking around with the files. And I was like, well, let's see if it works as a hitsound. So I renamed the killsound file to hitsound. And guess the fuck what? IT. WORKS. PERFECTLY. AS. A. HITSOUND! WTF?!?!?!?!?!?!? WHY TF?!?!?! HAS I EVER?

[WangXongXie]

Yeah, it's really not user friendly.
I'd check this link
https://superuser.com/questions/437462/how-to-view-the-bitrate-of-a-media-file-in-audacity
for the bitrate, but if that doesn't work I'd recommend reinstalling the game or just giving up. I hope this helps.

[quiteironic]

It seems that the project rate is fine, but I cannot see anything relating to the bitrate. This whole process is so confusing. :(

[WangXongXie]

You can tell this information by opening the file on Audacity.
Always happy to help, don't worry about.