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Tech and Homebrew => Turbo/PCE Game/Tool Development => Topic started by: ccovell on October 30, 2017, 04:51:25 PM
Title: Binary Star, a musicdisk for the PCE with SCC (MSX) tunes!
Post by: ccovell on October 30, 2017, 04:51:25 PM
Hi, folks. This is more-or-less in time for the PCE's 30th birthday, but Konami's SCC add-on for the MSX turns 30 as well. Since this summer I've been working on making a sort of SCC emulator/player for some of Konami's fab MSX tunes, and so why not release it today?
It plays .VGM tunes which I compressed down to a nybble stream by bit-encoding only the SCC and AY PSG writes. The AY PSG is mappable to any of the PCE's channels, but I have one of them (for noise hits) usually mapped to the PCE's last channel. I even have AY envelope emulation in there, although the AY chip creates voltage spikes through the envelope that just aren't feasible to emulate on the PCE.
Anyway, that's the tech specs. Enjoy and leave a comment!
Post a thumb on Pouet.net (demoscene site): http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=72039
Youtube video capture (from emulator): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLmwpvkw-0I
Technical document now added: http://www.chrismcovell.com/texts/binarystar-tech.html
Title: Re: Binary Star, a musicdisk for the PCE with SCC (MSX) tunes!
Post by: Michirin9801 on October 30, 2017, 04:57:30 PM
This is great! It's always nice to have more music to listen to on the PCE ;3 Thanks for this ccovell ^^ Also, nice visual effects!
Title: Re: Binary Star, a musicdisk for the PCE with SCC (MSX) tunes!
Post by: Arkhan on October 30, 2017, 05:08:17 PM
sweet.
It's be cool if we could fiddledick with the panning and mix the tunes more than they ever dreamed they could back then.
Title: Re: Binary Star, a musicdisk for the PCE with SCC (MSX) tunes!
Post by: Dicer on October 30, 2017, 05:56:31 PM
It's be cool if we could fiddledick with the panning and mix the tunes more than they ever dreamed they could back then.
That level of control was a possible option, but for each song or group of songs, is just for obsessives. Purists might want MONO; the stereo arrangement was how I thought it would fill the L+R spaces & frequencies.
You can also press Select (hidden feature) to hear each channel soloed. Or, Y'know, mix them in proper high-fidelity using the KSS plugins for WinAmp & Audacity.
Title: Re: Binary Star, a musicdisk for the PCE with SCC (MSX) tunes!
Post by: Arkhan on October 30, 2017, 06:22:17 PM
So many goodies to download and try lately. It's an embarrassment of riches! :mrgreen:
bwwahahahaha and now you are partaking in MSX soundsssssssssssss
the darkside will soon consume youuuuuuuuuu
and we can share cake.
Title: Re: Binary Star, a musicdisk for the PCE with SCC (MSX) tunes!
Post by: SmokeMonster on October 31, 2017, 07:59:29 AM
Thanks, Chris. This is quite brilliant :D
Title: Re: Binary Star, a musicdisk for the PCE with SCC (MSX) tunes!
Post by: Vimtoman on October 31, 2017, 08:05:52 AM
Looks great too. Thanks
Title: Re: Binary Star, a musicdisk for the PCE with SCC (MSX) tunes!
Post by: ccovell on November 04, 2017, 01:58:13 AM
Thanks, everyone.
I've added an entry on Pouet and a video on Youtube:
http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=72039
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLmwpvkw-0I
Title: Re: Binary Star, a musicdisk for the PCE with SCC (MSX) tunes!
Post by: Necromancer on November 06, 2017, 01:52:01 AM
Thanks for the video. I've still not gotten around to checking it out for myself, so this is a good substitute.
Sweet tunes and I love the graphical flair, especially the birthday cake. :mrgreen:
Title: Re: Binary Star, a musicdisk for the PCE with SCC (MSX) tunes!
Post by: spenoza on November 06, 2017, 02:57:19 AM
So, do you need to make custom sound files for this, then?
Title: Re: Binary Star, a musicdisk for the PCE with SCC (MSX) tunes!
Post by: pixeljunkie on November 06, 2017, 03:25:50 AM
awesome - downloading this tonight! thanks!
Title: Re: Binary Star, a musicdisk for the PCE with SCC (MSX) tunes!
Post by: shubibiman on November 06, 2017, 04:52:42 PM
Pretty cool stuff indeed. Thanks :)
Title: Re: Binary Star, a musicdisk for the PCE with SCC (MSX) tunes!
Post by: ccovell on November 15, 2017, 01:56:38 AM
Hi, folks. I've written up an overly-detailed tech document about Binary Star: http://www.chrismcovell.com/texts/binarystar-tech.html
It was mostly asked for by scene people who didn't really know much about the PC-Engine, technically. So it may cover some familiar territory.
Enjoy...? :dance:
Title: Re: Binary Star, a musicdisk for the PCE with SCC (MSX) tunes!
Post by: touko on November 15, 2017, 04:20:52 AM
Wahou, very complete and instructive, thanks a lot . :wink:
Title: Re: Binary Star, a musicdisk for the PCE with SCC (MSX) tunes!
Post by: Arkhan on November 15, 2017, 12:49:17 PM
I loled at your "f*ckin figure it out" thing for the MSX subslot part of the chart.
Someone else had said / wrote something similar a few years back. He wrote something trying to explain it.
Title: Re: Binary Star, a musicdisk for the PCE with SCC (MSX) tunes!
Post by: spenoza on November 16, 2017, 02:30:24 AM
Some of the instruments in Gradius 2 actually sound rather Soldier-series-esque. Interesting. Are you planning on packing up any other neat music collections using this fine player you've created?
Title: Re: Binary Star, a musicdisk for the PCE with SCC (MSX) tunes!
Post by: Arkhan on November 16, 2017, 05:32:16 AM
Some of the instruments in Gradius 2 actually sound rather Soldier-series-esque. Interesting. Are you planning on packing up any other neat music collections using this fine player you've created?
too bad the Goonies homebrew doesn't have VGMs AFAIK. That would be cool to hear on PCE.
Hell, a f*cking Goonies game on PCE would be cool in general. That's probably the best homebrew game I've ever seen anywhere, ever:
Totally biased because Goonies, but it's also a really well done game, and plays like how Goonies 2 on NES probably SHOULD have been, lol.
Snatcher/SD Snatcher might be cool too, but would require some player-diddling. Snatcher/SDSnatcher used SCC+, and that opens up the waveform capabilities slightly in that each channel can have a unique waveform as opposed to the 4 possible with regular SCC.
It's only one extra, but it's still one
Title: Re: Binary Star, a musicdisk for the PCE with SCC (MSX) tunes!
Post by: Gredler on November 16, 2017, 06:23:08 AM
Go home MSX homebrew port of goonies, you sound drunk
Title: Re: Binary Star, a musicdisk for the PCE with SCC (MSX) tunes!
Post by: Arkhan on November 16, 2017, 07:23:59 AM
It's not a port. It's a completely brand-new homebrew game made by a few people. (Who ultimately stopped doing MSX stuff because this other idiot cracked / redistributed the game, and did some other spiteful/moronic crap)
The OG Konami Goonies game was funny, but only used PSG tunes because it came out before SCC was released.
Title: Re: Binary Star, a musicdisk for the PCE with SCC (MSX) tunes!
Post by: _joshuaTurbo on November 28, 2017, 06:48:54 AM
It was quite enjoyable to read the “tech page” you created...it allows me to have a far greater appreciation of what BINARY STAR actually does.
Now...how can I get the XZR (MSX) soundtrack pumping out of the heart of my PCE?
Thank you.
XZR 1 and 2 on MSX don't use the SCC, lol.
They just use regular PSG tunes. only Konami and a few homebrew games use the SCC.
XZR II came with a music CD on MSX though. You could swap those tracks in!
It was a ”Christmas Wish”...
...in the same spirit of asking folks to create a SCD sequel to Blodia—I don’t think it will ever happen for PCE.
:)
BUT! I didn’t know about XZRII actually including a CD (I didn’t know that sort of thing even happened; keep in mind that I am pretty ignorant of nearly the entire MSX realm.)
Title: Re: Binary Star, a musicdisk for the PCE with SCC (MSX) tunes!
Post by: Arkhan on December 10, 2017, 05:51:02 PM
Some other MSX games came with cassette tapes.
Ultima III and Hydlide III both did, and had cool rock redoodles of the music.
This one's the best.
Title: Binary Star, a musicdisk for the PCE with SCC (MSX) tunes!
Post by: esteban on December 11, 2017, 08:39:26 AM