[Request] CD Quality Audio Tracks #2853
Description
Hello,
In the old days of Atari 800XL it was common to store program data inside a stereo cassette.
In one channel it contained the program data and in other channel it contained an audio file to listen to while loading the program.
This was useful for educational software, for example a language teaching tool that combines atari and a cassette to teach the language.
These videos are a demostration of such programs
In Snes we can use a MSU-1 file
An "msu file" in the context of SNES refers to the MSU-1 (Media Streaming Unit), an enhancement chip that adds features like high-quality CD audio to Super Nintendo games. These files are not games themselves but are paired with a standard SNES ROM and contain enhanced audio or video data. When a game is run, the MSU-1 chip reads these external files to provide the enhanced content, making games sound and look better than originally possible.
How can this be implemented in TIC-80?
By having a separate file with the PCM files similar to MSU-1. Maybe with a *.ticm extension (TIC Multimedia) file that contains the multimedia files and a mapper lua file to replace the audio tracks for the pcm files. This way any game can have "enhanced" multimedia audio files and normal TIC sounds if the ticm file is not present.
- Tutorial on creating PCM files: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pDXdaWS9-Q
Note: PCM is used in MSU since Snes is really limited. But maybe TIC can support FLAC format instead to be more efficient.
Example
- game.tic -> Traditional TIC game
- game.ticm -> Multimedia enhancement to game.tic (A simple tar file with the audio files and a init.lua file)
game.ticm/init.lua
Multimedia = {
settings = {
game = "game.tic",
},
audio = {
"audio1.flac", -- Replaces Music at 00
"audio2.flac" -- Replaces Music at 01
nil -- Do not replace Music at 02 (Keep the original)
}
}Why?
I think TIC-80 could be a wonderful platform for educational software that could benefit from cd quality audio files. Small interactive games with high quality audio can improve the learning experience of both children and adults.
Reference
- https://github.com/qwertymodo/msupcmplusplus
- https://sneslab.net/wiki/MSU1
- https://www.atarimagazines.com/v2n10/AtariTapes.php
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