Hello there, everyone at Supermodel Forum!
Actually, there are just very few Sega Arcade Racing games out there whose Soundtrack I don't like that much. However, exactly that is the case with the otherwise splendid Scud Race. In fact, I've never been such a big fan of its Soundtrack, but thanks to earlier versions of the incredible Supermodel emulator, I was able to replace Scud Race's music tracks with my own favourite ones (I used some of the Electrical Guitar driven Hardrock songs from Daytona 2 and the pumping Eurobeat from Sega Touring Car Championship, which makes for a quite adventurous mixture, indeed, but works for me at least).
But now that the possibility to choose your own music for certain games doesn't seem to exist anymore since some good time (I am using the latest Supermodel build), I wonder if this nice feature could be reimplented in an upcoming version of Supermodel.
Best wishes from Germany to everyone in the community, especially to Mr. Thunderwing, my old mate from the Emuline forum!
From Pantherheart
Custom Music
Forum rules
Keep it classy!
Keep it classy!
- No ROM requests or links.
- Do not ask to be a play tester.
- Do not ask about release dates.
- No drama!
Re: Custom Music
Good news: I've just added this feature 
The PR should be merged in the next day or two and a new build should appear. You'll be able to edit a Music.xml file to insert MP3 music. Make sure the files are sampled at 32 KHz.
Here is an example of how good Scud Race can sound now. Incredible!
The PR should be merged in the next day or two and a new build should appear. You'll be able to edit a Music.xml file to insert MP3 music. Make sure the files are sampled at 32 KHz.Here is an example of how good Scud Race can sound now. Incredible!
-
Pantherheart
- Posts: 7
- Joined: Sat May 04, 2024 6:59 pm
Re: Custom Music
That's the news of the day, Bart,...what am I saying..., the news of the month! Easily! Only in my wildest dreams I was bold enough to expect that long missed feature to be back so soon. When do you actually sleep, Bart? It seems like you rarely do, because pushing Supermodel to that level of its latest quality needs sheer passion, to say the least, and is so amazing a new word should be invented for that programming performance you've conjured up here! 
Well, it is more than wonderful to hear that custom music can be added again from now on. Is it actually possible to use my old .mp2 files at 32 KHz as well, instead of converting them to MP3 or doing everything from scratch again?
By the way, great choice of artist who shoots Scud Race to musical heights not known before!
And besides, what music could be better than this for initiating a (Rick-) Rolling Start!! 
From Pantherheart
P.S. To clarify matters, I like the artist (and his voice) in the video. In fact, I grew up with the unparalleled Stock-Aitken-Waterman sound!
Well, it is more than wonderful to hear that custom music can be added again from now on. Is it actually possible to use my old .mp2 files at 32 KHz as well, instead of converting them to MP3 or doing everything from scratch again?
By the way, great choice of artist who shoots Scud Race to musical heights not known before!
And besides, what music could be better than this for initiating a (Rick-) Rolling Start!! From Pantherheart
P.S. To clarify matters, I like the artist (and his voice) in the video. In fact, I grew up with the unparalleled Stock-Aitken-Waterman sound!
Re: Custom Music
All of the work these days is being done my Matthew and Ian. I've been unfortunately too busy to contribute (plus the level of detail Matthew is getting into is beyond me ) but happened to have a free moment when I saw this, was curious about it myself, and decided to go for it. Keep in mind that this feature is a bit controversial and might be dropped in the future if it interferes with maintenance of the code base.
You should be able to use your old MP2 files as well. The MPEG decoder can handle either, as far as I'm aware.
To discover the necessary ROM addresses for songs in different games, you'll have to compile your own version of Supermodel with some lines commented out in MpegAudio.cpp. If I have time I'll try to figure them out.
) but happened to have a free moment when I saw this, was curious about it myself, and decided to go for it. Keep in mind that this feature is a bit controversial and might be dropped in the future if it interferes with maintenance of the code base.You should be able to use your old MP2 files as well. The MPEG decoder can handle either, as far as I'm aware.
To discover the necessary ROM addresses for songs in different games, you'll have to compile your own version of Supermodel with some lines commented out in MpegAudio.cpp. If I have time I'll try to figure them out.
-
Pantherheart
- Posts: 7
- Joined: Sat May 04, 2024 6:59 pm
Re: Custom Music
Oh, about Matthew and Ian, I didn't know about that. So credit where credit is due, and a big praise goes from me to them! Certainly, Supermodel wouldn't have gained that latest level of (high) accuracy without these two coding wizards then.
Anyway, thanks so much again, Bart, for involving yourself into the matter and your ambitions to revive this useful feature. Indeed, I also thought it could have been a bit controversial (maybe for another reason like that an Arcade game should be left as it is and not to be changed in any way(?)) - so I grab the future "Supermodel Custom Music" revision(s) as long as they'll be released. Besides, I personally only need it for Scud Race, and what I've seen so far, Supermodel runs it quite perfect since some time, doesn't it? But other people - with the wish to inject their own Soundtracks - might also go for different Model 3 games...
By the way, when the time comes and the "Custom Music Edition" is ready to be released, would it be possible to include all the information which is neccessary to alter the provided games' music within the emulator's 'Readme.txt'?
In any case, a thousand thanks for all the efforts you and your friends put into this! Actually, I still can't believe such a smooth emulator for Sega's fabulous Model 3 Arcade games exists, even to this day. It makes me go dewy-eyed day by day!
By Pantherheart
Anyway, thanks so much again, Bart, for involving yourself into the matter and your ambitions to revive this useful feature. Indeed, I also thought it could have been a bit controversial (maybe for another reason like that an Arcade game should be left as it is and not to be changed in any way(?)) - so I grab the future "Supermodel Custom Music" revision(s) as long as they'll be released. Besides, I personally only need it for Scud Race, and what I've seen so far, Supermodel runs it quite perfect since some time, doesn't it? But other people - with the wish to inject their own Soundtracks - might also go for different Model 3 games...
By the way, when the time comes and the "Custom Music Edition" is ready to be released, would it be possible to include all the information which is neccessary to alter the provided games' music within the emulator's 'Readme.txt'?
In any case, a thousand thanks for all the efforts you and your friends put into this! Actually, I still can't believe such a smooth emulator for Sega's fabulous Model 3 Arcade games exists, even to this day. It makes me go dewy-eyed day by day!
By Pantherheart
Re: Custom Music
It's already released and you just need to follow the instructions in Music.xml and edit accordingly.
Re: Custom Music
Oops, the file was packaged wrong. A new one should appear within a few hours that actually contains the new Music.xml file.
-
Pantherheart
- Posts: 7
- Joined: Sat May 04, 2024 6:59 pm
Re: Custom Music
Hi there, Bart!
I think you've documented the handling of custom music very well and self-explanatory, so that I would regard the wrong usage of it as something which is not easy to achieve. However, not just own .mp2 files don't seem to work in the latest Supermodel build (2024-08-10), Scud Race (Plus) also don't recognize the .mp3 counterparts. So I guess there must be something I did wrong or that I've overlooked. But the crucial question is: What could it be? I have inserted the right game name (scudplus) within Music.xml, together with the right song names according to where they belong. Furthermore, my music files sit in the same directory as the scudplus.zip and scud.zip file. I also tried to put the songs into the same folder where Music.xml can be found, but still no luck.
Well, maybe I don't see the elephant in the room, so to speak, but I don't have the slightest idea what could have gone wrong here.
By the way, you definitely made me smile again when I've read about your .mp3 placeholders!
Would it actually be possible to add even more "Astley-placeholder-mania? In fact, it is Scud Race's "Name Entry" and "Goal" part I would like to ask for. Because, yes, I have used my own music for those sections in an earlier Supermodel build as well.
By Pantherheart
I think you've documented the handling of custom music very well and self-explanatory, so that I would regard the wrong usage of it as something which is not easy to achieve. However, not just own .mp2 files don't seem to work in the latest Supermodel build (2024-08-10), Scud Race (Plus) also don't recognize the .mp3 counterparts. So I guess there must be something I did wrong or that I've overlooked. But the crucial question is: What could it be? I have inserted the right game name (scudplus) within Music.xml, together with the right song names according to where they belong. Furthermore, my music files sit in the same directory as the scudplus.zip and scud.zip file. I also tried to put the songs into the same folder where Music.xml can be found, but still no luck.
Well, maybe I don't see the elephant in the room, so to speak, but I don't have the slightest idea what could have gone wrong here.
By the way, you definitely made me smile again when I've read about your .mp3 placeholders!
Would it actually be possible to add even more "Astley-placeholder-mania? In fact, it is Scud Race's "Name Entry" and "Goal" part I would like to ask for. Because, yes, I have used my own music for those sections in an earlier Supermodel build as well.By Pantherheart
Re: Custom Music
They need to be in the same working directory as Supermodel. I use the command line, so it's the same folder as Supermodel.exe for me. Did you make sure to remove the comment blocks, too? Paste your music XML and your Supermodel.log files here.
-
Pantherheart
- Posts: 7
- Joined: Sat May 04, 2024 6:59 pm
Re: Custom Music
OMG! Deleting all the comment blocks exactly did the trick! Shame on me!
In my defense I can only bring up the argument that even if I surely read about removing all the comment blocks, my mind must have discarded this wise step within the next second, because to me everything looks like code within Music.xml. Bad mistake not paying attention to that detail, indeed.
So, yes, .mp2 at 32 Khz is accepted as well and runs like a charm. Now after choosing my own music, that's what I call the appreciate sound for such a milestone in Arcade Racing history!
Thanks for putting some work into it once again, Bart. Without you - and without using a very outdated build of Supermodel - I would still have to live with this not so delightful choice of music originally used for Scud Race. But that's just my humble opinion, with no claim to universality, of course.
By Pantherheart
In my defense I can only bring up the argument that even if I surely read about removing all the comment blocks, my mind must have discarded this wise step within the next second, because to me everything looks like code within Music.xml. Bad mistake not paying attention to that detail, indeed.
So, yes, .mp2 at 32 Khz is accepted as well and runs like a charm. Now after choosing my own music, that's what I call the appreciate sound for such a milestone in Arcade Racing history!
Thanks for putting some work into it once again, Bart. Without you - and without using a very outdated build of Supermodel - I would still have to live with this not so delightful choice of music originally used for Scud Race. But that's just my humble opinion, with no claim to universality, of course.
By Pantherheart