ARMOUR BEATS
USER MANUAL - CURRENT ALPHA BUILD
World of Tanks 2.4.1 | 23 October 2026

Armour Beats plays local MP3 music and optional internet radio in the garage
and during battles. It has three panel sizes, editable playlists, shuffle,
four playback modes and an armoured interface with adjustable accent colour.


1. INSTALLATION AND FIRST START
==============================

Close World of Tanks before installing or replacing the mod.

Place armourbeats_2.4.1.wotmod in your game's versioned mods folder.
For the current tested game version, this is:

    World_of_Tanks_EU\mods\2.4.1.0\

Replace an older Armour Beats package rather than leaving two copies installed.
The built .wotmod contains the artwork and playback runtime. Players do not
need to install Python, copy the source images separately or use a separate
armourbeats_runtime.zip.

To use the settings page, install Aslain Mod Menu separately, together with
its required Gameface loader. The current integration was developed using
Aslain Mod Menu 2.1.06. Its files stay separate from Armour Beats.

Local MP3 playback does not require VLC. Internet radio requires the VLC
desktop application and an internet connection.

Quick start:

1. Launch the game and enter the garage.
2. Open Aslain Mod Menu and select ArmourBeats.
3. Under Default MP3 location, click Choose folder... and select your music
   folder. Select a parent folder to include MP3s in its subfolders.
4. Click L on the player to open the large panel.
5. Click a track, then Play. You can also double-click a track to start it.
6. Adjust volume and choose your playback mode.

The selected music folder is remembered for future launches.


2. PANEL SIZES, MOVEMENT AND CONTROLS
===================================

Use the S, M and L buttons beside the track display:

    S - Small: track display and size buttons.
    M - Medium: track display, playback controls and volume.
    L - Large: all controls, plus MP3 tracks, playlists or radio stations.

All three sizes share the armoured appearance and selected accent colour.
Changing size does not stop playback.

Moving the player
-----------------
Hold the left mouse button on the track-display strip and drag. On the large
panel, you can also drag using the Armour Beats nameplate. Release to place
it. The position is saved. Buttons and the volume slider remain controls,
rather than acting as drag handles.

Playback controls
-----------------

    PREV       Play the previous track. With Shuffle enabled, navigation can
               choose a different unplayed track instead of playlist order.
    PLAY       Start the selected track, or resume playback.
    PAUSE      Pause the current track. Click Play to continue.
    NEXT       Play the next track; Shuffle changes the track choice.
    SHUFFLE    Toggle shuffled playback independently of the playback mode.
    MODE       Click the button currently labelled OFF, LOOP, ONCE or
               NEXT LIST to cycle through the four playback modes.
    RADIO/MP3  Switch between radio and MP3 controls.

Keyboard shortcuts - hold CTRL + ALT, then press:

    UP         Increase Armour Beats volume by 5%.
    DOWN       Decrease Armour Beats volume by 5%.
    LEFT       Play the previous MP3 track.
    RIGHT      Play the next MP3 track.

The Play button lights while audio is playing. Shuffle and the playback-mode
button light when enabled. Prev and Next briefly light when pressed.

Volume
------
Drag the metal handle or click a point on the volume track. The percentage
shows the current level. This changes Armour Beats audio, not the game's
master volume.

With the slider focused, arrow keys change volume in 5% steps. Home sets 0%
and End sets 100%.

Selecting a track highlights it; double-clicking starts it immediately.
Selecting a different playlist loads its tracks but does not itself start
that playlist. Select a track and press Play when ready.


3. PLAYBACK MODES AND SHUFFLE
===========================

Click the mode button to cycle:

    OFF -> LOOP -> ONCE -> NEXT LIST -> OFF

OFF
Play the selected track, then stop. Prev and Next can still be used manually.

LOOP
Continue through the current playlist or All MP3 queue. At the end, return
to the beginning and keep playing.

ONCE
Continue through the remaining tracks in the current queue, then stop.
Without Shuffle, starting halfway down a playlist plays from that point
to its end; it does not go back for earlier tracks.

NEXT LIST
Finish the current named playlist, then load and play the next playlist in
the player's dropdown order. Continue through subsequent playlists and stop
after the final one. The on-screen label is NEXT LIST.

Load a named playlist first to use playlist chaining. All MP3 is a library
queue, not a named playlist, so it has no next-playlist position.

Shuffle
-------
Shuffle works with all four modes. During automatic progression it avoids
repeating a track within a pass through the queue. In Loop, a new pass starts
once that queue is exhausted. In Once, playback stops after the shuffled pass.
In Next List, playback moves on to the next playlist after the pass finishes.

In Off mode, Shuffle does not enable automatic progression: the current track
still plays once and stops. Starting a track manually or changing the queue
can begin a fresh pass.

Playback modes apply to local MP3 queues, not continuous radio streams.


4. YOUR MP3 LIBRARY AND PLAYLISTS
===============================

Choose one parent music folder. Its MP3s and supported playlists are scanned
recursively, including subfolders. You do not need to open every subfolder.

The player displays names without folder paths or file extensions. Actual
filenames and paths are retained internally, so the files are not renamed.
Tracks with the same filename in different folders can therefore look alike.

Large-panel controls
--------------------

    REFRESH   Rescan the music folder after adding or moving files.
    ALL MP3   Load all scanned MP3 tracks into the current queue.
    Dropdown  Choose a saved playlist or return to All MP3 tracks.

The dropdown saves room by showing playlist choices only when opened.
Playlist selection is also available from the mod menu's Choose playlist...
button, which opens a file chooser.

Supported playlist formats are .m3u8, .m3u and .txt containing local MP3 paths.
New playlists use .m3u8. Keeping playlists inside the selected music folder,
or its subfolders, makes them available in the large-panel dropdown.

Creating a playlist
-------------------

1. Open Aslain Mod Menu > ArmourBeats > Create playlist...
2. Enter a playlist name.
3. Select tracks in Available MP3 tracks, then click Add >.
   Use Ctrl-click to select separate tracks or Shift-click for a range.
4. The Playlist order list contains the tracks that will be saved.
5. Select entries in that list and use Remove, Up or Down as needed.
6. Click Create playlist.

The playlist is saved in your music folder and loaded into the player.
Press Play to start it. Cancel closes the editor without saving changes.

Editing a playlist
------------------

1. Open Aslain Mod Menu > ArmourBeats > Edit playlist...
2. Choose the playlist file to edit.
3. Use Add > to add available tracks, Remove to remove entries, and Up/Down
   to change their playback order.
4. Click Save to update the original playlist when its name is unchanged.
5. Use Save as... to choose a different filename or location and keep the
   original playlist. Changing the name before Save also saves under that
   new name rather than deleting the old file.

Saving loads the edited playlist into the player. Cancel leaves the saved
file unchanged. Removing an entry only removes it from the playlist; it does
not delete the MP3 from your computer.

For an obvious place in the dropdown and Next List sequence, save playlists
inside the selected music folder. Playlists opened from elsewhere can play,
but may not appear in that folder's dropdown or chaining order.


5. INTERNET RADIO
=================

Install VLC desktop if you want radio. Armour Beats checks the usual VLC
installation locations. MP3 playback continues to work without VLC.

1. Open the large panel and click RADIO.
2. Choose a country, or All countries.
3. Enter a station name and click SEARCH, or use POPULAR.
4. Click a returned station to start it.
5. Use Play/Pause and the volume slider as usual.

You can also enter a direct HTTP or HTTPS stream URL and click PLAY URL.
Use the audio stream address, rather than a station's normal website page.

Switching RADIO/MP3 changes the controls being shown. It does not stop audio
by itself. Starting an MP3 replaces the radio stream; starting a station
replaces MP3 playback.

Stations and search results depend on the external radio directory and the
station's own availability. If one fails, try another station or direct URL.


6. MOD-MENU SETTINGS
===================

Open Aslain Mod Menu and select ArmourBeats.

Font size
---------
Range: 10 to 16. Default: 12.
This scales the interface text relative to its default sizes. Choose a value
and press Apply to commit it. Larger text can shorten the visible portion of
long names.

Accent colour
-------------
Choose a colour for illuminated controls, display text and highlights.
Presets include amber, green, red, blue and white. The weathered metal stays
neutral. Press Apply to commit the colour.

Font size and accent colour are saved through the settings menu and restored
on later launches. Cancel discards unapplied changes to these settings.

Library actions
---------------
Choose folder..., Create playlist..., Choose playlist... and Edit playlist...
open their dialogs immediately. They do not wait for Apply, and pressing
Cancel in the mod menu does not undo a folder choice or a playlist already
saved in one of those dialogs.

Without a settings menu
-----------------------
Armour Beats can run independently with its default font size and amber
accent. Folder, Create and Edit controls appear in the large player panel
when a usable settings menu is unavailable. The playlist dropdown remains
available in the large panel either way.


7. WHAT IS REMEMBERED
====================

Remembered between game launches:

- The selected MP3 folder.
- The player window position.
- Saved playlist files and their track order.
- Font size and accent colour, when a settings-menu provider is installed (Aslains mod menu).

The current alpha starts its playback worker with Loop mode, Shuffle off
and volume at 75%. It does not automatically restore the last playing track,
last selected playlist or playback position after a full restart.


8. QUICK TROUBLESHOOTING
=======================

No tracks appear
Choose the correct parent music folder and press REFRESH. This build scans
MP3 files; other music formats will not appear as playable tracks.

A new playlist is missing from the dropdown
Save it inside your selected music folder, or a subfolder, then REFRESH.
You can also use Choose playlist... in the mod menu to open it directly.

A playlist skips tracks or no longer loads
MP3 paths may have changed because files were moved or renamed. Restore the
files to their original locations or update the playlist with valid tracks.

No sound
Check the player's volume and play/pause state, then check Windows audio
output and the application's level in the Windows volume mixer.

Radio does not play
Check VLC desktop is installed and the internet connection is working.
Try another station or a direct stream URL. Radio is optional.

The settings page is missing
Check Aslain Mod Menu and its required loader are installed for the game
version being used. The player can still run using its standalone controls.

Playlist editor reports that the list is too large
Choose a smaller parent music folder. The library scanner is limited to
2,000 MP3s, 200 playlists and 20,000 visited files; the editor also has a
transfer-size limit that depends on filename lengths.

Reporting a problem
Note the panel size, whether you were in garage or battle, and the exact
steps that caused it. Keep the game's python.log and game.log for diagnosis.
Include any visible error message and whether it affects MP3, radio or both.


CURRENT BUILD NOTES
===================

This manual describes the current alpha, rather than promising features for
a future release. Garage/battle playback, playlists, the armoured panels and
dragging have been reported working during development. Behaviour can still
change as testing continues.
