zummone
Monkey Island 2 Bone Song (MT-32)
updated
The story is I was looking for this footage in higher quality than what you can find on YouTube and I sort of had it all along without ever realizing it, so here it is. It's not technically the highest quality because YT compression really made a number on the encoding, and I tried to upscale it to 1080p to compensate for that but it might only have gotten worse. I could upload raws some time in the future tho.
Said frustration was caused by playing the really good 2011 re-release of Sonic CD on my PS3, finding out there were previously unheard sections of the songs that served as looping junctions to start them over without those abrupt fadeouts that were featured in the original version (and were par for the course on any games with red book audio; seriously, you have to commend the SCD team for even attempting getting rid of this near-ubiquitous technical limitation) and finally seeing their use amount to nothing.
Yes, aside from one or two cases, their presence was totally wasted, because what happened was that the looping junction would go off, and that led to the song starting all over again, which is not something that is supposed to happen: the transition between the junctioning section and the main song is supposed to be seamless, it's always been that way for the sequenced songs of most games including entries in the Sonic series (not excluding CD and its "Past" themes), and that's likely the main reason why they weren't able to implement this system: it probably relied on too many strict mechanical timings that they couldn't meet on every hardware and at any condition, especially the slightly worn down units. In modern games, you'd usually set aside two pre-recorded files for each music track, with one that only plays at the start, which then switches to the second file that is supposed to continously loop with no inbetweens. So what would be the reason to play the starting portion again? What results is a stark, unnatural sounding transition and I hated it.
Apparently the person in charge for the 2011 remake's looping portions was GeneHF, a former member of the Sonic community which found a job at SEGA, good for you man, but you could have tried harder. Also pink jacket is best Lupin.
A small background: these loops are small samples that were supposed to be always loaded in the Mega CD's sound RAM (which meant they didn't need to be loaded whenever the CD track was over) and were originally found in a prototype version of the game that was probably referred to by the developers as version 0.28, and is more commonly known as 510. Their data was gradually deleted in further updates, and that might have allowed for more digital sound effects to be played back in their place. I once mistakenly thought that the fadeless red book tracks that went with these loops could only be found in this version, which as of 2013 only had low quality MP3 rips of those tracks, so I imagined that notion might have put a dent when I would eventually tackle this, which was a source of procastination.
What made me finally resume interest in my year-spanning project was the recent happening of Hidden Palace's Sonic Month, with the subsequent dump of a build that might just be the very next one that was burned after 510. I basically got what my 2013 self wished he had (along with some HDD space), so it was finally time to get to work. Although these loops were probably intended for even earlier versions of these tracks, and even though later builds such as 0.70a/712 which was widely available back in 2013 featured those coveted, fadeless tracks I was looking for, using the ones from the only available build that still holds their data just feels right to me.
Sorry for being so long-winded, but there are still some things that I wanted to mention: when I started working last November, I put myself some harsh (and in hindsight, dumb) limits for supposed accuracy: no fading-in of red book tracks (even though the hardware fully supports it, but I did not remember it, whoops), try not to extend the loops, always use the intended loops even though the song may feature the same identical portions. As you will hear, I ended up scratching all of these self-made rules but the last one of them.
Now let's get to the actual commenting of what I did:
||To be filled, because I don't have time for this right now, but I still wanted to publish the video on New Year's Eve||
I basically grabbed the stars from Sonic 2, updated their palette and placed them in the VRAM area they needed to be. If you want to see how they look like for yourself, here's the savestate that was used to make this video.
cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/637490570964500496/648532502180528128/invincfixs3.gsx
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This might not be news to anybody, but apparently people who preordered the game in Asian territories (no idea about the rest, couldn't really find anything) got a DVD/Blu-ray of this animated short which is supposed to bridge the first and second game with a couple of sub tracks and, most importantly, dual *audio* tracks. Yes, there is indeed a window into a universe where you may be able to hear Kat, Raven, and Syd not speak Frenchanese gibberish (even though it's cute and kinda has its own limited logic) but intelligible Japanese, with all the proper speaking habits to really make you able to delve in what the original developers intended their characters to feel like. Something that sadly gets lost in translation. When I originally found this alternate voice track on YouTube (courtesy of Shizu Channel) I was extatic and couldn't believe what I was hearing. It is then, that with my limited understanding of aural moon runes, I was able to find out what the characters and subs were both saying didn't exactly match up. As a honest fan of GR, this troubled me a lot. Which is why I decided to go through with this video, including what I believe are the closest subs I can come up with, maybe not the best from a writing standpoint, but something that justifies the effort nonetheless. If you find something's wrong just chime in the comments and I'll fix it.
I've also gone the extra mile and replaced each instance of the Japanese names (characters have slightly different names in Japan) with the western counterpart, except for 7:46 because I'm not a wizard yet, sorry ;_;
I hope I have at least given you a reason to revisit this wonderful OVA with new insight.
store.playstation.com/#!/it-it/tid=CUSA02453_00
Look at that cute eye-flinching animation when Kat is close to light sources though.
The exact time frame was 07:21:13 UTC (July 19th 2018).
Journey™
store.playstation.com/#!/it-it/tid=CUSA00470_00
Proper subs coming btw.
In questo caso stavo anche facendo una caccia al tesoro online...una di quelle cose scomparse il 19 luglio ._.
Non è che serva a molto questo video, ma è bello da vedere e almeno mostra un po' com'era fare le cacce al tesoro.
GRAVITY RUSH 2
store.playstation.com/#!/it-it/tid=CUSA04943_00
store.playstation.com/#!/it-it/tid=CUSA04943_00
English Version: youtube.com/watch?v=gBNjlTm94ag
English Version: youtube.com/watch?v=0mudpyT1d-0
If you're wondering "Did he just record, translate, and upload this video because (reason)?", you're probably right.
Please let me know in the comments if there's something wrong with the translation.
I may have uploaded this video months after the previous one (Green Hill Zone) but this was actually my first serious attempt at a remix after reverse-engineering the MGS1 music format. This rendition dates back to July/August 2017, while Green Hill Zone was finished in September, a month after. While I can argue it sounds good enough, like the GHZ mix, there are many improvements to be made: the bassline is not 100% accurate (I made this before doing a proper cross-examination of both the MSX and NES themes), as it seems the MSX version tries to do both the bass and rhythm on one square channel since I think the third PSG square can turn to noise, while the Famicom/NES version has its own dedicated channel for noise so the triangle is free to do its bass things. This remix is more partial to the MSX theme which is the original, but the NES port is actually better in certain regards.
What I mean is, after I get another go with this song, I will try to replicate what the original, pre-console arrangement sounded like, and maybe add some more bells and whistles. Originally there was an extra horn section in this remix, but I cut it down because it took too much attention.
I hope you like it!
The song itself is an extended version (or rather, the original version) of the very first musical cue you hear in the first cutscene of the game, on Chapter R-00 (there's also a small excerpt in the credits). Due to the calm nature of the song, and the fact the demo is missing a chapter results/customize music (if such things were even implemented back then), I'm willing to bet this was once used for that purpose, before being superseded by the final version. Nevertheless, I managed to make it loop pretty nice, and it's a really good song in my opinion, so here it is.
Keen fans of this game might have already heard the starting cue featured here in the Mega64 skit (which has most of the original versions in the background, along with rare glimpses of an unheard alpha version of Stains of Time), but the one from the demo (this video) already seems more polished.
My thanks to Emilio Lopez (@EmannLand) for the amazing artwork, I was completely out of ideas. I hope he won't get mad for using it without asking permission.
Also, let me know if you want a download of this, along with the instrumental track.
As the title clues you in, this personal rendition of Locked and Loaded (the early "Rules of Nature") is supposed to conventionalize the song to its later official equivalent, making them last about the same. There are some rough edges, but the whole thing was done remarkably fast. When it will be available for download, I'll promise those rough edges will be gone, but even as of now they're not easily noticeable.
This "remix" was one of the main reasons that prompted me to delve into the MGR demo files, allowing me to find that early I'm My Own Master Now snippet. There's also another thing that I plan to do with Locked and Loaded, but that will likely come in the following months.
I think the Godzilla/Kaijuu imagery is perfect for this song, so please enjoy it! :D
This could be considered a window into one of the holy grails of MGR's soundtrack, and I'm REALLY glad I found it by accident. Basically every pre-Platinum or pre-Maniac Agenda mix (except for Return to Ashes, sadly) has been datamined from the official demo, EXCEPT for I'm My Own Master Now, since it being on the demo meant it was one of the first songs to be "finalized" with the unmistakeable electronic signature that characterizes the final game's vocal tracks. I say this, but there is actually a full version of the original Dark Skies hidden within the demo files as well. But like Rules of Nature (which we also miss an actual "pre-mix" version), it is based on an earlier take of the song, dubbed "I'll Cut You Down to Size", that like "Locked and Loaded" reflects the early "edgier" stage of development, the one we could witness from the 2011 trailer.
But whatever, both of those songs and everything else have been uploaded on YouTube, except for this little gem. Now for the reasons this might have survived, your guess is about as good as mine, but hunches aside, this chunk of the song may have served some purpose that got ultimately scrapped when the music was finalized by Platinum. This leftover is in itself an anomaly, Wolf's leitmotiv is howled (like the vocal track), but there is no guitar solo (like the instrumental), although that could very well be due to it being a beta version. The howling part is only heard when Wolf calls the Gekko and then never again, it could be possible this portion of the song was supposed to fit in a loop somewhere, but all of this got revised in the final version, probably due to the "new" guitar solo they superimposed on the vocal part.
Never the less, it is actually amazing being able to hear the song like this, the drums are CRYSTAL clear, and the guitar kicks all kinds of ass. While I love me the Platinum Mix, said drums and guitar were sadly muffled out, as this song strayed from metal to techno metal (the rhythmical part was also probably redone from scratch, since it was also on a different time signature I believe).
To close this up, this small snippet is timed between 1:31 and 1:53 of the official release if you want to compare.
What is the point of this video? To help you remember you need to spread the word -- to fight for change. That's what keeps me alive.
This is the fruit of my recent reverse-engineerings. I actually had this ready in *gasp* September, but I could only share it now because of convoluted reasons that I wasn't too happy with. I also have another one ready that just needs to be put in video form.
As mentioned in the video, this is a work in progress. While the bulk of the song may be done, the volume levels are not nice enough for me and some ADSR leave a lot to be desired; the feel of the original song is not quite there yet.
That said I hope you can at least enjoy what can be done with MGS1's sound engine. And yes, that is an actual square waveform, built in within the game!
If you want your own version recorded, pm me.
This is how the original scene would have been played.
Translation sucks, I know. It's not meant to be 100% accurate. I mixed some basic Japanese grammar knowledge I have, made extensive use of Google/Google Translate and spiced it up with common sense. While I was originally striving for a literal translation (might as well just copy the English script otherwise), some things didn't kind of click in my head so I made some slight edits.
A partially implemented German dubbed version of this dialogue is found in most PAL releases.
This video has got 3 subtitles tracks:
1. US - Jeremy Blaustein (official translation)
2. English (my own translation)
3. Italian
If my translation is dead-accurate, it's only thanks to Inductor, who did a great job providing me with invaluable help.
I took some liberties with the facial expressions, but they look alright to me.
Well, this is something you don't definitely hear every day and probably wouldn't ever have thought of listening to, 18 years after the game originally came out.
What you have here is an actual music track from the first Metal Gear Solid, which is a pretty beautiful and dramatic take on The Best Is Yet to Come (RIka Muranaka) using the game's internal engine, sequenced by none other than Kazuki Muraoka I would assume.
It is found inside every stage related to the first Wolf boss fight, and a little analysis of prototype builds shows it was supposed to start after Meryl was shot and the codec scene kicked in, from a time when there was little to no music post processing inside the voice streams.
I think this track had a great potential to carry a feeling of hope even when things looked the most desperate and even Snake couldn't help but feel depressed (like in the Meryl's blood flashback). The intended use for it is never the less clear.
FLAC:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/806zvvnork49dk5/The_Best_Is_Yet_to_Come_%28STAGE_Ver.%29.flac
MIDI (I think it deserved an attempt, sorry for bad tempo/quantization, I tried):
http://www.mediafire.com/download/xy98pn345p6zdb5/The_Best_is_Yet_to_Come_%28STAGE_Ver.%29.mid
La versione inglese (youtube.com/watch?v=uBM3MSgLAp8) ha molto più senso (anche se alcune frasi italiane sono sempre fenomenali), e sopratutto chi se n'è occupato ha avuto modo di capire che verso la fine c'era una scelta multipla, che appare come una sola frase nella versione italiana.
You can acquire it by clicking on the link below.
http://www.mediafire.com/download/bxuhhdncrb68bsp/FFVIII_TRIAL_TRACKS.7z
Mega Drive recording beefed up from 50Hz to 60Hz, using the magic of frame rate editing and temporal audio manipulation.
It is the only way to record anything resembling 60Hz gameplay from a PAL Mega Drive, without processing the RGB source or straight up replacing the master clock. Being PAL, the colors are better and the rainbow banding is almost unnoticeable (it's more of a yellow/blue banding).
This level was generated from an Aladdin cartridge.


