GoldenEye 007 Nintendo 64 Community, GoldenEye X, Nintendo 64 Games Discussion

[madmax386]

i was wondering if there was any way of adding your own audio or music to goldeneye or perfect dark?

[SubDrag]

We don't know the audio format but would love for someone who does to help there!

[Kode-Z]

I believe the audio format is a .usf file, which in layman's terms is a more advanced version of the MIDI file. The instruments used in the tracks are taken from a soundbank which is stored in the ROM (similiar to a soundbank stored on an electronic keyboard). [Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm sure this is right!]

I remember I made an AR code years back which removed certain instrument parts from the tracks in GE.

It's funny you should mention this as I have been working on this for a while. As a musician myself, I have composed my own version of the James Bond Theme that I think would be great for a solo mission!

[radorn]

Kode-Z.
USF is not the format for goldeneye, nor for any game, but rather for N64.
USF files are not something that exist inside a rom, but rather USF's are hacked and trimmed down roms (.libusf) plus custom save states (.miniusf) of the game's execution so they only contain the stuff necessary to play music.
The player is actually a N64 emulator that runs these roms and the songs are "selected" through the use of those save states.

You can play the music not because the player understands the specific format of a given game, but because the trimmed down ROM contains the program that runs on n64's hardware to play it. USF's contain both the sequences and samples AND the program that plays them on the N64. USF set makers don't need to understand a game's specific format because they already have the code that plays it inside the very game.

You can't, say, modify or create a USF an insert it in a ROM. It just doesn't work that way. USF's are not MIDIs, not even close.
MIDI is an interpretable sequence of commands that play sounds on an instrument (be it virtual or real), while USF is a complex custom pile of code that HAPPENS TO SERVE THE PURPOSE OF PLAYING MUSIC, but you don't intepret it, you rather execute it as is. You don't understand it more than you understand N64's hardware.

[Kode-Z]

radorn wrote:

Kode-Z. USF is not the format for goldeneye, nor for any game, but rather for N64. USF files are not something that exist inside a rom, but rather USF's are hacked and trimmed down roms (.libusf) plus custom save states (.miniusf) of the game's execution so they only contain the stuff necessary to play music. The player is actually a N64 emulator that runs these roms and the songs are "selected" through the use of those save states. You can play the music not because the player understands the specific format of a given game, but because the trimmed down ROM contains the program that runs on n64's hardware to play it. USF's contain both the sequences and samples AND the program that plays them on the N64. USF set makers don't need to understand a game's specific format because they already have the code that plays it inside the very game. You can't, say, modify or create a USF an insert it in a ROM. It just doesn't work that way. USF's are not MIDIs, not even close. MIDI is an interpretable sequence of commands that play sounds on an instrument (be it virtual or real), while USF is a complex custom pile of code that HAPPENS TO SERVE THE PURPOSE OF PLAYING MUSIC, but you don't intepret it, you rather execute it as is. You don't understand it more than you understand N64's hardware.

Fair enough - Looks like the person who told me this info a few years back didn't know what he was talking about! I was merely quoting that person, hence the comment about correcting me if I'm wrong, which you did!!!

I don't have a lot of knowledge on the N64 Hardware, but the info this person told me just seemed to make sense.

[zoinkity]

To get a better idea how you program audio, I suggest looking at some of BigN's demos, as well as the tracker and mp3 demo source. The last two were probably the work of either obsidian or crazynation - can't remember off hand.

As for reverse-engineering the audio code... Well, it may have used only standard libraries with no modification. If that's the case, then the same can be done to generate new audio. If not... well, that would suck royally. Either way it's a pain. There's too many other things to do.
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Last edited by DELETED on Sat May 03, 2008 8:45 am; edited 2 times in total

[zoinkity]

PD is different. It uses mp3s with a different header or something.

You can recover the audio binary however by setting a small bit of code off of the AI interrupt, copying the pertinent data to a set location. As for interpretation, that would require reverse-engineering the routine and reading an awful lot of documents.
_________________
(\_/) Beware
(O.o) ze
(> <) Hoppentruppen!