[GC] Skies of Arcadia Legends

[Shonumi]

It's possible that they stored some sound effects in a single file, perhaps an archive of some sort that gets extracted at runtime. There are a lot of files under the SoA sound folder (like hundreds), but none of them are helpfully named, have you checked all of them? What kind of tool are you using to actually play these files?

Probably not entirely helpful, but keep in mind that this game's audio was compressed to fit onto a single GC disc instead of 2 DC discs. Maybe investigating the DC version would yield some results.

[credburn]

I'm no expert, so some of this might be bad reading on my end...

There are hundreds of sounds in the /sounds folder, but they're all mono right and left channel duplicates. So there are only really half as many sound effects as there appears to be. I think this has to do with the way the Dreamcast handles sound? Regardless, yes, I have listened to every single one of those sounds. They are indeed sounds, but they're just not the sounds I'm looking for. Sound files in the /sound folder include sounds for special moves, ship battles, and things like that, but environmental sounds or standard combat sounds (menu sounds, fighting sounds, doors opening and footsteps and such) aren't in this folder.

I have extensively tried to get into the Dreamcast's files as well. I've spoken with some people far more experienced than I in ROM hacking. There are a lot of .mlt and .p04 files on the Dreamcast version that probably hold the remaining sound effects, but nobody seems to be able to find a way to read them. The Gamecube version does not have the .mlt or .p04 files, though; just the sounds I'm not looking for.

I guess the other sounds must be hidden in a single archive somewhere, but I've not been able to find any clue to tell me which one, or how I would go about getting into it...

Now, there are some .samp files, but previously I've not had any luck with these...doing some research right now, I realize I must have been going about it wrong. These may be the missing sound effects, but extracting them seems problematic. There is a Python script that supposedly can do it (https://github.com/Nisto/musyx-extract) but I know nothing of using Python...

[Shonumi]

I wonder if there's a way Dolphin can detect when certain files from the game are being read. If not available currently, I wonder if it's possible to hack Dolphin's code to do so. That way you could at least see what's accessed before or during a battle, for example, and maybe guess what's used for stuff like the menu.

On a higher-level, it may be possible to intercept some of the commands sent to the Gamecube's DSP to get a clue about certain sound effects. Might not reveal much, just a few more clues.

Both routes are pretty technical though, and require a fair understanding of how certain parts of the GC work.

[credburn]

(06-28-2017, 02:37 PM)Shonumi Wrote: Both routes are pretty technical though, and require a fair understanding of how certain parts of the GC work.

Far more than this simple mind can fathom.  If I could figure out how to work the Python, maybe I could do this myself.  I downloaded Python and attempted to use it like DOS but...I guess it isn't so simple as that.

[JosJuice]

(06-28-2017, 02:37 PM)Shonumi Wrote: I wonder if there's a way Dolphin can detect when certain files from the game are being read.

Yes. Enable File Monitor in the log settings and set the log level to warning.

[credburn]

Hm. Well, looking up more information about the Python scripts, it suggests that every .samp file should have an accompanying .sdir file. In Skies of Arcadia, there are no .sdir files but there are .info files, that is all gibberish when I try and look at it.

[Shonumi]

(06-28-2017, 04:47 PM)JosJuice Wrote: Yes. Enable File Monitor in the log settings and set the log level to warning.

Thanks, I'll try that later today and see what happens.

[scroeffie]

hi iam a new dolphin emulator user i have been playing skies of arcadia iam almost at the end
now i cant enter the ice land ? like 3 meter before entering the island of ice it just freezes !!
i tried 2 difrent versions 1 is gmc 1 is iso same problem the music is stil playing and windows is oke
i changed nothing to the settings just using a gamecube controller
i battled the spider monster thing in the skie no problems ,after that i can see where the island is under the ice
when i get to close my ship freezes i cannot turn my ship nothing !! i even tried the newest dev emulator same thing
i cant try the pal version becuase my save game wont work on pal

[Dieselweasel]

I cant seem to get this game to play at 30fps no matter which version I use and which settings I try. The best I have been able to do is around 25fps without sound on. With sound on I can drop all the way down to 15fps I have no issues running any other games Its just this one game. Years ago this game ran fine but on windows 10 in 2017 at least for me it seems to run really bad and I would love a solution or any suggestions.

[Zerynthia]

I'm having the same issue as scroeffie. The game has played like a dream without any issues up until the part where you have to look for the Ice ruins. The game just stops, the sound still plays, the propellers on My ship still move. The freeze happens when you go to the top part of the map, I assume where the city is located. I'm playing the game using a PAL version (GEAP8P). I was going to try to play the USA version (I didnt fancy playing from the start to where I was though), so I changed the Savestate from EU to USA and tried with a USA version, same thing oddly enough.

I'm not sure what details to add, I've not changed any of the settings for Dolphin as the game runs so well. Sad times, get near the end and it goes west