Author Topic: Modded ISOS for Emulators  (Read 6242 times)

midgarsfinest

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Modded ISOS for Emulators
« on: 2016-06-06 18:38:12 »
So I've researched the Web, and the forums, and have yet to see any real answer to my question. Can I mod an ISO and use that ISO in an emulator?

I own several copies of Final Fantasy VIII. I would very much like to use the .ogg music files that I have created on the epsxe playstation emulator on my LG G5. (Open ISO, replace music, recreate ISO, play on emulator).

off course this sounds too easy to be true, and I hesitate to feel confident because if it were possible, I believe there would be many modded ISOS available for download on the web.

Any help or advice is appreciated.

Edit:

I'm starting to understand why this isn't common practice. Though I am able to extract the .BIN file, I am unable to extract the .IMG file in order to view and edit the files within. While using 7Zip, I encounter the error, "Can not open file as archive". When using WinRar I receive the error message, "The archive is either an unknown format or damaged." While using PowerISO, I receive the error message, "The file format is invalid or unsupported."

I am sure that with a little more knowledge I could break some ground here, and I understand not everyone has time to teach a noob about the ins and outs of unsupported archives, but If anyone is willing, I am a quick learner. I browsed through the tools here in the Qhimm forums, but I honestly wouldn't know where to begin when attempting to view and edit .IMG files that appear to be archived in a manner that can only interact with by the System it was originally designed for.
« Last Edit: 2016-06-07 22:36:26 by Covarr »

Ansem

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Re: Modded ISOS for Emulators
« Reply #1 on: 2016-06-06 18:56:44 »
You can mod ISOs to an extent, but what you want to do is no small task. First off, I don't think the PS or any emulator for that matter can actually use .ogg files. You'd have to convert it to an XA track, I think, and then... Well, then you'd somehow have to fit it all into the ISO and program FFVIII to be able to use it. Like I said, it's one hell of a task for little profit.

Unless I'm wrong, and ISO modding has become easy these days. :P It's not like I've kept track of things lately.

midgarsfinest

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Re: Modded ISOS for Emulators
« Reply #2 on: 2016-06-06 19:34:42 »
For PC versions of these games, it was quite simple. Replace the original .ogg with a new one, but renaming it the same as the old. This way the system would recognize it as the original. I opened the file location, found the .ogg files, and replaced them. Then closed the folders and started the game up with a new soundtrack. I guess my question is, if we can open an ISO, like opening up the files on pc games, we should be able to replace these files, keeping the same files names, and recreate the ISO without the system knowing any better. I'm currently in the process of trying to get expand the ISOs so that I can attempt this. I'll keep detailed notes, in case this isn't as smooth as I hope it will be.

Edit:

Please see OP
« Last Edit: 2016-06-06 19:59:08 by midgarsfinest »

Covarr

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Re: Modded ISOS for Emulators
« Reply #3 on: 2016-06-06 19:56:20 »
It's not as simple as replacing files on the PS1, as the audio formats used are rather different. OGG is a streaming format, which has the full data* of already-rendered audio. The PS1 version uses sequenced music, essentially a soundfont and a list of notes and effects. While the PS1 game does have some streaming audio support (used in FMVs, among other things), I don't know that it'd be possible to replace the music engine with a streaming one. What's more, the audio mixing needed to make streaming music and streaming FMV audio play at the same time could prove troublesome.

Suffice to say that the amount of code needed for such a task would be no small feat. The formats are so different that music replacement really isn't remotely as simple as swapping in the desired files.

midgarsfinest

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Re: Modded ISOS for Emulators
« Reply #4 on: 2016-06-06 21:09:06 »

It's not as simple as replacing files on the PS1, as the audio formats used are rather different. OGG is a streaming format, which has the full data* of already-rendered audio. The PS1 version uses sequenced music, essentially a soundfont and a list of notes and effects. While the PS1 game does have some streaming audio support (used in FMVs, among other things), I don't know that it'd be possible to replace the music engine with a streaming one. What's more, the audio mixing needed to make streaming music and streaming FMV audio play at the same time could prove troublesome.

Suffice to say that the amount of code needed for such a task would be no small feat. The formats are so different that music replacement really isn't remotely as simple as swapping in the desired files.

Excellent points. As for the sound and audio mixing, I successfully recreated an fmv with custom audio. However, it was on the Steam Version of the game and the files were easy to replace.

   Regarding the music engine, does it need to be replaced in order to replace the original audio? If we are able to format midi files identical to the original, we could trick the img file from knowing that anything was even changed. If size is the issue, I could understand that.
« Last Edit: 2016-06-07 22:36:11 by Covarr »

midgarsfinest

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Re: Modded ISOS for Emulators
« Reply #5 on: 2016-06-06 21:21:15 »
Like I said, it's one hell of a task for little profit.



Au contrair. If I could create my own version of the game, as well as having the ability to revisit and modify the iso as new mods present themselves, the reward would be more than worth the effort. Ideally, I would be able to take the modded ISO to any emulator -- in a perfect world, off course.

My ultimate goal would be to have the Roses and Wine experience that I have on my desktop, on a mobile device or tablet. Here is a link to FF8 with the mods I preferred at the time I captured this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glt-uhw77s0&list=PLvPTJKb375qbj5roZ8vH0buRTTAZhDp9f
« Last Edit: 2016-06-06 21:27:19 by midgarsfinest »

Covarr

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Re: Modded ISOS for Emulators
« Reply #6 on: 2016-06-06 23:36:59 »
As for the sound and audio mixing, I successfully recreated an fmv with custom audio.
Pre-mixing it in the FMV is one thing, and fairly easy. Mixing two separate streaming audio sources from different files (bgm, fmv) in realtime is a totally different beast, and one that could prove problematic for the weak little PS1, especially while running the rest of the game's logic.

midgarsfinest

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Re: Modded ISOS for Emulators
« Reply #7 on: 2016-06-06 23:57:08 »
Pre-mixing it in the FMV is one thing, and fairly easy. Mixing two separate streaming audio sources from different files (bgm, fmv) in realtime is a totally different beast, and one that could prove problematic for the weak little PS1, especially while running the rest of the game's logic.
Ahh. See what you mean now.

Edit: Although, it should be noted, I don't intend to run the game on the original ps1. I'm hoping My LG G5, along with other devices, can emulate with a lot more power to spare.
« Last Edit: 2016-06-07 22:35:57 by Covarr »

Covarr

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Re: Modded ISOS for Emulators
« Reply #8 on: 2016-06-07 22:01:55 »
Edit: Although, it should be noted, I don't intend to run the game on the original ps1. I'm hoping My LG G5, along with other devices, can emulate with a lot more power to spare.
Do the PS1 emulators on these devices support overclocking the emulated PS1? As a general rule, even if the host machine is powerful enough, you don't want the emulated system to run faster than the real thing, as it can introduce all sorts of timing issues.

Not that it especially matters, because I don't think anyone wants to code the mixer this would need from scratch. That would be far and away the most difficult to develop mod the PS1 version of FF7 has ever seen.

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midgarsfinest

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Re: Modded ISOS for Emulators
« Reply #9 on: 2016-06-07 22:34:28 »
I haven't done any solid research but I have come across posts where some android devices were being oveclocked for emulator purposes. There also frame limiter settings within most emulators with the sole purpose of preventing the system from exceeding certain speeds.

I totally get where you are coming from by warning against the time and effort it would take to accomplish this. But surely there were doubters, and even Devs, that had those same fears with every task they undertook.
« Last Edit: 2016-06-07 22:35:51 by Covarr »