IL2 Sturmovik doesn't unlock files when done

[mrburns]

When playing a radio station, IL2 locks the .wav file its playing but never unlocks it.
If it plays 5 songs, all five wav files remain locked.
Is there someway of unlocking them without leaving the game?

I think this is a bug because locked files should only remain locked while in use.

[K_Freddie]

You're running on Win7(or 8 ) I gather.
It's a known problem that win7 doesn't release the files when the application closes.
I go to the Task-Manager (Ctl^Alt^Del) -- Processes
.. and terminate the process with extreme prejudice

[mrburns]

Which process would that be?

[K_Freddie]

Just returned from outer space... maybe you've already discovered this - The game exe file, is the process to terminate

[K_Freddie]

Maybe I miss-understood...
The game has it's own OGG codec... The game exe process probably locks the audio functionality, so you won't be able to unlock the audio without shutting the game down.

sorry!

[mrburns]

Would be nice if it would unlock files its done using. Audio files it hasn't yet used are unlock until used. I understand locking a file in use, but when done playing it (over the radio) it should be unlocked.

[Pfeil]

Can I ask what you're trying to achieve here? Are you looking to have some sort of dynamic radio station by swapping out files on-the-fly?

Personally I would like to see this particular bit of functionality expanded slightly, or even just fixed. The fact that the randomisation of music in IL2 is utterly broken(I.E. just plays in sequence) makes it much less usable than it could be.

[mrburns]

Yes. I have a routine to randomize the files but it requires the files to be unlocked. Right now it works only before the game. During the game only the files that haven't been used can be changed.

[Pfeil]

I have a workaround for you; IL2 plays files in alphabetical order, this enables you to use a prefix(aaa, 001, etc) to determine the order files are played in.

If you use a high id(zzz, 999, etc) for the first file you play, you can later add files with a lower ID which will be played first.
IL2 refreshes the radio folder(I.E. starts from the first song) every time you tune to that station.
This should enable you to add new files while in flight, even if it doesn't allow for fully automated randomisation.

Keep in mind, using console(Shift-Tab) command "MUSIC PLAY STOP" skips to the next song in the alphabetical order, so you can't skip backwards or to new songs.

You can however play the first song in the directory using "MUSIC PLAY PATH [path to radio station directory]". This has the same effect as switching from and to the station.

[mrburns]

I'll see what I can do with that knowledge.

But your comment about starting with say '999' as the title begs the question of how do you determine the first song? Or are you assuming only the one song in the folder and its called '999'...