Difference between revisions of "VGM"

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The '''''Videogame Music''''' format stores the audio data that is sent to various audio chips used in videogame consoles, arcade consoles, pinball machines, and home computers. ''VGM'' takes a different approach than most formats. Rather than house the original sound files (like [[MIDI]] / [[MOD]]) or the game's extracted audio code (like [[NSF]] / [[SID]]), ''VGM'' logs all of the data being sent to an audio chip. To playback a song, this data is sent to an emulated chip, which, if emulated properly, yields identical sound to the game. To use a piano metaphor, ''VGM'' doesn't copy the sheet music, and it doesn't record the played music with a microphone, rather it records the motions made by the hands of the pianist. This approach is the same as [[DRO]] and [[IMF]], but for a much wider range of audio chips, ''VGM'' could be seen as a superset of those formats.
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The '''''Videogame Music''''' format stores the audio data that is sent to various audio chips used in videogame consoles, arcade consoles, pinball machines, and home computers. ''VGM'' takes a different approach than most formats. Rather than house the original sound files (like [[MIDI]] / [[MOD]]) or the game's extracted audio code (like [[NSF]] / [[SID]]), ''VGM'' logs all of the data being sent to an audio chip, identical to the SNES's [[SPC]] format. To playback a song, this data is sent to an emulated chip, which, if emulated properly, yields identical sound to the game. To use a piano metaphor, ''VGM'' doesn't copy the sheet music, and it doesn't record the played music with a microphone, rather it records the motions made by the hands of the pianist. This approach is the same as [[DRO]] and [[IMF]], but for a much wider range of audio chips, ''VGM'' could be seen as a superset of those formats.
  
 
While this method bypasses having to emulate the countless custom methods that have developed over the years for storing and playing videogame music, it is not without its share of problems. Only the processed data is recorded, not the original files and code. This means that it is not possible to easily edit the music once it's recorded. It also means that each song must be timed by hand since the audio chip never sees the actual start and stop of looping music.
 
While this method bypasses having to emulate the countless custom methods that have developed over the years for storing and playing videogame music, it is not without its share of problems. Only the processed data is recorded, not the original files and code. This means that it is not possible to easily edit the music once it's recorded. It also means that each song must be timed by hand since the audio chip never sees the actual start and stop of looping music.
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Also, only Windows has full support of the [[VGM]] format, as other systems such as [[Macintosh]] and [[Linux]] offer very little support for the format.
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In addition, there are some chips such as the [[Namco WSG]] and [[DCS]] which are not intended to be implemented into the format.
  
 
Here's a breakdown on which chips are used by which systems:
 
Here's a breakdown on which chips are used by which systems:

Revision as of 20:40, 20 November 2015

Videogame Music
VGM.png
Developer:
Header: Custom
Content: Log
Instruments: Combined
Target Output
Output - Digital Audio.png Output - MIDI - No.png Output - FM Synthesis.png Output - PSG.png
Released: 2001
First Game: N/A
Extensions
  • *.vgm
  • *.vgz

The Videogame Music format stores the audio data that is sent to various audio chips used in videogame consoles, arcade consoles, pinball machines, and home computers. VGM takes a different approach than most formats. Rather than house the original sound files (like MIDI / MOD) or the game's extracted audio code (like NSF / SID), VGM logs all of the data being sent to an audio chip, identical to the SNES's SPC format. To playback a song, this data is sent to an emulated chip, which, if emulated properly, yields identical sound to the game. To use a piano metaphor, VGM doesn't copy the sheet music, and it doesn't record the played music with a microphone, rather it records the motions made by the hands of the pianist. This approach is the same as DRO and IMF, but for a much wider range of audio chips, VGM could be seen as a superset of those formats.

While this method bypasses having to emulate the countless custom methods that have developed over the years for storing and playing videogame music, it is not without its share of problems. Only the processed data is recorded, not the original files and code. This means that it is not possible to easily edit the music once it's recorded. It also means that each song must be timed by hand since the audio chip never sees the actual start and stop of looping music.

Also, only Windows has full support of the VGM format, as other systems such as Macintosh and Linux offer very little support for the format.

In addition, there are some chips such as the Namco WSG and DCS which are not intended to be implemented into the format.

Here's a breakdown on which chips are used by which systems:


Chip

Manufacturer

Devices

051649 Konami MSX with SCC1, and some Konami arcade games.
053260 Konami Some Konami arcade games.
054539 Konami Some Konami arcade games.
AY-3-8910 General Instrument Hundreds of arcade games, Mockingboards Sound I and Sound II, MSX, Oric 1, Colour Genie, Elektor TV Games Computer (Expanded Version)
AY-3-8912 General Instrument Vectrex, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum 128, some arcade games.
AY-3-8913 General Instrument Mockingboards A, C, D, M, and v1, some arcade games.
AY-3-8914 General Instrument Intellivision, Intellivision II
C012294 (POKEY) Atari Atari 8-bit home computers.
C140 Namco Several Namco arcade games.
DMG-CPU B Nintendo Game Boy
HuC6280 Hudson Turbo Grafx 16, a some arcade games.
MSM6258 OKI X68000
MSM6295 OKI Some arcade games.
PWM Sega Sega 32x
Q-Sound Capcom Capcom CPS-1 and CPS-2 arcade platforms.
RF5C164 Ricoh Sega Mega CD
RF5C68 Ricoh System 18 and System 32 arcade platforms.
RP2A03 (APU) Ricoh Nintendo Entertainment System.
Sega PCM Sega Various arcade games.
SN76489 / SN76496 Texas Instruments BBC Micro, Game Gear (with stereo extensions), Mark III, SC-3000, Master System, SG-1000, and Genesis.
T6W28 Texas Instruments NeoGeo Pocket (variant of the SN76489).
UPD7759 NEC Various arcade games.
Y8950 Yamaha MSX with MSX-Audio, a few arcade games.
YM2149 (SSG) Yamaha MSX2, Atari ST.
YM2151 (OPM) Yamaha Capcom CPS-1, and Sega arcade platforms and the Sharp X68000.
YM2203 (OPN) Yamaha NEC PC-8801, various arcade games.
YM2413 (OPLL) Yamaha Japanese Sega Master System, Mark III, and the MSX-1 with FM-PAC, VRC7.
YM2608 (OPNA) Yamaha NEC PC-8801, NEC PC-9801, some arcade games.
YM2610 (OPNB) Yamaha NeoGeo, various arcade games.
YM2612 (OPN2) Yamaha Genesis, FM Towns.
YM3526 (OPL) Yamaha Various arcade games.
YM3812 (OPL2) Yamaha PC with AdLib or Sound Blaster, and various arcade games.
YMF262 (OPL3) Yamaha PC with Sound Blaster 16, and some arcade games.
YMF271 Yamaha Some arcade games.
YMF278B (OPL4) Yamaha MSX with Moonsound and some arcade games.
YMZ280B Yamaha Various arcade games.

Players

(Category)

Editors

(Category)

Converters

(Category)

VGM to ?

? to VGM

Games

(Category)

Game Gear VGM Glitch

Sometimes, VGM files logged through Game Gear games will not play. This can be fixed by changing the 4F byte (usually located from 0040 to 004F) to FF.

Links

Retrieved from "https://vgmpf.com/Wiki/index.php?title=VGM&oldid=75100"