Detecting song start/stop during emulation

jannone · Post by **jannone** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 11:36 pm

Hey guys,

Sorry if this had already been asked, but I couldn't find any information on this very specific topic.

I want to know if it is possible to hack ZSNES in a way as to detect the start and stop of songs during gameplay. The idea is to then suppress the normal playback and use an .mp3 file instead, so that we would be able to play remixed songs in the original game, while maintaining the original sound effects.

Has this been done before? I know that there is a special version of MAME for Golden Axe that accomplishes exactly that. But then again, never found a generic solution involving the SNES.

Thanks,
Rafael

Deathlike2 · Post by **Deathlike2** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 11:58 pm

I believe the short answer is no.

If you've ever used the dump SPC feature, there are some games that haven't had their music dumped. (I forget the exact reason, but some songs are simply dynamic such as getting on/off Yoshi in Super Mario World) In any case, there is no generic solution for your request/thought.

jannone · Post by **jannone** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 12:55 am

That's really unfortunate.

Is there, at some stage in the hardware, any way to inspect which notes are being played, regardless of the particular sample? (so that the emulator could associate a particular note sequence with the beginning of a given song, and work from that point on)

Deathlike2 · Post by **Deathlike2** » Mon Sep 03, 2007 5:18 am

The SPC isn't a "MIDI player". The SPC also produces sounds. The sounds don't go on a special channel or processor like the Genesis does.

What you are suggesting requires romhacking to know where things are done.. it is the equivalent suggestion to a "hires project" for games.. you actually have to know the intricacies of the game (the graphics or audio data are not stored in some standard format or in a standard portion of the rom). In any case, the hack/replacement/whatever you want to call it would not be called emulation at all.

jannone · Post by **jannone** » Tue Sep 04, 2007 11:37 pm

I see...
Well, thanks for taking the time to explain, I appreciate it.