CMF (MACS Opera)
From Video Game Music Preservation Foundation Wiki
| MACS Opera | |||||
 |
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| Developer: | Arndt Hasch | ||||
| Header: | Custom | ||||
| Content: | Notational | ||||
| Instruments: | Internal | ||||
Target Output
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| Released: | 199?-??-?? | ||||
| First Game: | Kaiser (DOS) | ||||
| Extensions |
|
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- Not to be confused with Creative's better-known format.
CMF is a format that holds one song and several OPL2 instruments that can be used as sound effects.
Players
(Category)
- AdPlug - DOS, foobar2000, UNIX, Winamp, XMMS
- SoundFX MACS Opera - DOS
Editors
(Category)
- SoundFX MACS Opera - DOS
Converters
(Category)
? to CMF
- SoundFX MACS Opera - DOS - MOD
Games
(Category)
| Released | Title | Sample | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 199?-??-?? | Kaiser (DOS) | ||
| 1992-0?-?? | SoundFX MACS Opera (DOS) | ||
| 1992-0?-?? | Traders (DOS) | ||
| 1992-1?-?? | Vision (DOS) | ||
| 1992-1?-?? | Abenteuer Atlantis (DOS) | |
|
| 1992-??-?? | Stone Age (DOS) | ||
| 1993-0?-?? | VL - Das Spiel (DOS) | Only company jingle. | |
| 199?-??-?? | Sword of Honour (DOS) | ||
| 199?-??-?? | Dimo's Quest (DOS) | ||
| 1994-??-?? | Vision 2 (DOS) | ||
| 1994-??-?? | Balduin Run for Fun (DOS) |
How to Obtain
CMF files reside directly in the file system without compression or linking, as the official driver requires.
Technical
Every file must begin with "A.H." and a zero.
Considerable features and limits of the format are:
- Rhythm mode. The game program of Abenteuer Atlantis (DOS) overrides that.
- No loop information. Game programmers enable and disable looping themselves.
- No tempo information. The official editor and driver rely on the default programmable interval timer, putting for example 4/4 songs at 137 or 68 BPM. The game program of Abenteuer Atlantis (DOS) sets hard-coded intervals to achieve other tempos, but every other software plays them too slow. VL - Das Spiel (DOS) synchronizes with the vertical blank interrupt.
Considerable options and limits of the driver are:
- No automatic buffer. Game programmers must allocate memory themselves. In fact, Abenteuer Atlantis (DOS) would abort on files with over 10 patterns.
- Fading at variable speed. However, the volume is only set on new notes, not already-playing ones, hence long notes are inaudible upon start (but not upon loop) and may hang during fade-out.
- Arpeggiating variable number of the first channels on the PC Speaker.
