Author Topic: Module music support  (Read 1131 times)

I think it would be nice if tracker module support could be added to the game so that module files (.xm, .it, .mod etc.) put into the music folder would be handled like regular .ogg files.

A music module file is a file containing a few raw instrument samples and sequence data for how the samples are played; at what tempo, at what pitch and more. The result is relatively small music files with (mostly) superior sound quality to General MIDI files and it let the composer be way more expressive than a normal MIDI sequence. It is worth to note that most of my favorite modules are less than 50k in size.

There are hundreds of thousands of free music modules all over the internet, and seeing as information about who composed it and sometimes contact information is always embedded in the file itself, many are free to use for whatever you want.

Here's som code/info for adding module support to the Torque engine: http://www.garagegames.com/index.php?sec=mg&mod=resource&page=view&qid=9071


I know this will never happen, but I'd like to see SPC and PSF support (ADX support would be nice as well.  Since I'm dreaming, I'll mention that).  SPCs are emulated audio from the SNES.  No matter how long the song is, it's always 65k in size.  I've seen SPCs that are more than 12 minutes long.  Also, they loop infinitely.  So, to reiterate, this isn't going to happen (SPC support), but it'd be pretty neat if it did.  Useful as well.

ADX support would be nice as well, but that's even more unlikely.  Unlike SPCs (which users can't create.  They have to be pulled from a SNES game), ADX files can be created by anyone, and they have looping support.  The problem with ADXs, is that they're too big.  Realistically, a 500k ADX is not going to amount to much.  Though, a mono ADX will certainly afford more than a stereo one.

For code and info on SPCs (and a huge slew of emulated audio) and ADXs, you can check out Game Music Emu (for SNES, etc.) and in_cube (for ADX.  The source is available on that page).

As I said, this isn't going to happen.  Still, one can dream.  I'd like to see it, but if it ever did come about, my jaw would drop.  Only on April 1st would I even imagine such a thing might happen...  Still though, I provided some useful information, in case it interests anyone even in the slightest.

(more) ON-TOPIC: 
As for MOD, IT, XM, S3M, etc. support, I'm all for that.  Support for that is *far* more likely.  I think it'd be a good idea.  It allows for smaller files (smaller than 500k), and superior audio.  And, if done correctly, I think it can provide looping support.  So, please, feel free to ignore my dreams (above), and instead focus on MOD (and etc.) support.  I see far more use, and functionality, out of that one.

Man heck i'd be fine with MIDI support. They may not be the best quality, wait are'nt MIDI files completly computer generated, meaning they are the cleanest and clearest more than any studio could ever make (Minus the comparison to the real instrument). Anyways they would be very compact and we are'nt exactly making a production movie here lol. Take the entertainer for example i have a 3:36 version of it that sounds perfect and its only 16K or 6.28K ziped up.