PlayStation (PS1) Dragon Quest VII and IV Music Format (SEQQ)
Dragon Quest VII and IV (DQ7/DQ4) do not use the generic SEQ/VAB driver. Both games are developed by Heart Beat and use the same custom driver (there could be some minor differences, as usual).
. Dragon Quest Monsters does not use SEQq because the game is probably developed by Enix and Tose, not Heart Beat.)). It is very similar to Generic SEQ, however, it is slightly different.
Read moreMy Generic PSF (Portable Sound Format: PSF1, GSF) Ripping Strategy
Here I introduce my PSF ripping method.
Introduction
I assume you already know about the following things:
- What is PSF? - A format for video game music rips. In most cases, a PSF is a compressed game ROM whose non-sound stuff is removed by ripper.
- "Streamed?" "Sequenced?" What's the difference? etc. - Read PSF Frequently Asked Questions - Neill Corlett's Home Page
- What is pointer)? - For this purpose, I recommend you to learn C.
- Do I need to learn assembly? - At least you need to know basics. (for example: "What is a register?" "What is a stack?") If you already know one of assemblies, I think you can solve your problems during ripping by pinpoint googling.
Prerequisites
- Emulator (Debugger) - such as no$psx or no$gba debugger
- It must have step execution function. (Step Into, Step Over, Run To Return)
- It definitely should have a function that can change instructions by using assembly.
- It should change register value. (If not available, use an external tool such as MHS.)
- IDA Pro - it will help you in reading assembly a lot. See also: IDA Pro - How To Load Game ROM
- Memory Scanner - such as Cheat Engine or Memory Hacking Software (MHS).
- This tool is optional. It is handy when the emulator does not have built-in RAM search function.
- It can be used to set a memory breakpoint, when the emulator does not have a memory breakpoint feature. (thankfully, nocash debuggers has the feature)
Typical structure of unaltered game
I think a game has routines like the following typically:
Read moreIDA Pro - How To Load Game ROM
- PS1: As The Open PSF ripping guide said, open PS-X EXE as "Sony Playstation PSX image". Then load PsyQ sigunatures.
- GBA: Read IDA Pro Tutorial - The PokéCommunity Forums. You may want to add IO (4000000h-4000800h) segment and identify IO xrefs.
- NDS: Romhacking.net - Utilities - Nintendo DS loader module for IDA Pro
Example Of Sequenced VGM Analysis: PS1 Hokuto no Ken
Have you read How to Analyze Sequenced Video Game Music? This article is an actual example of it.
Note that this is a sort of platform-independent tip. Here I analyze sequences without disassembly.
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