SquareTex's Further Adventures in Stream Rename BAT Files. :D by SquareTex at 5:48 PM EST on January 12, 2020
Over a year ago, I had released a batch file renaming the files from the Infinite Undiscovery rip to match the OST listing. At the time, I was musing over doing further projects, but...had been too lazy to do so. <;P
But recently, as I picked up a bigger memcard for my phone and wanted to move more looped goodness onto it, the productivity sputtered back into action.
While I wish I could rename my IU thread and append further projects over there, I cannot find to do so. So I'm gonna stick whatever rename projects I finish from now under this thread.
Starting with...
Stella Deus (PS2 ADX streams)
It's further Sakimoto and Iwata goodness in the vein of Final fantasy Tactics. (Or maybe I should just call it Basiscape goodness?) And in my mind, their music and the colder months just...seem to fit. So wanting to add more to my wintery playlist, I decided to take this one on.
Gotta admit, though, there's one flaw with this music that bugs the tar outta me. It's almost as if Sakimoto and Iwata made the music with two loops and an ending, so that the game's sound editor(s) could have enough room to play around with and find optimal loop points. Instead, it feels like said editor(s) just set the loops at the start and finish of the workfiles and called it a day!
So, instead of smooth looping goodness, the music plays, comes to a stop, there's an awkward pause...and it starts over. Imagine if you made a Tactics playlist, but entered every song twice...that's what it feels like!
Ah well...shambolic "editing" or no, it's still tasty Basiscape goodness, and I'll take it. Here's the batchfile. :)
And as always, make sure you backup the original streams...just in case something goes awry. :D
Star Ocean 4 (ACE repackage) by SquareTex at 6:09 PM EST on January 12, 2020
Next up, we have the XBox 360 version of Star Ocean 4 - The Last Hope. And here's where it's important to note...this is for the "2017-05-14" release containing ACE stream files, not the earlier set of XMAs. (Which seemed to have been named already!)
I FINALLY sat down and worked on this one this afternoon, and I'm glad I did. I've been really fond of the OST, and so now I and other Sakuraba fans can enjoy it all in its full-looped glory.
...oh, and with one addition. "Momentary Reprieve", which I assume is a sleep jingle, was on the OST, but not in the streams. So I'm throwing it in thee as well, just like I did with "Another Challenge" for Infinite Undiscovery.
The goodies are in the following 7z. Backup files etc etc etc. :D
I recommend taking a look at vgmstream's tagging support too: https://github.com/losnoco/vgmstream/blob/master/README.md#tagging
Example: https://pastebin.com/yqxkujZd (save as "!tags.m3u" and open that file with a recent-ish vgmstream version) You can even alter looping in the m3u (see "virtual txtp").
Oh...things have certainly advanced when I wasn't looking! o_O
This may actually come in handy with a recent issue I came across. I was trying to make a rename batch for the PS2 version of Dragon Quest 5. And while it was doing a good job of RENAMING the ADM files, the process of renaming was somehow STRIPPING OUT the looping info! And that...yeah, kinda defeats the purpose. :\
I expect this way would retain the looping info just fine. I'll try it out next time I sit down and do some more work. Thanks for the hints! :)
*meekly returns* by SquareTex at 7:30 PM EDT on April 4, 2021
Welll, umm...as you can see, this thread has been long dead. I got TOO easily distracted by other things, and never made tagsets for Dirge of Cerberus OR Dragon Quest V (PS2)! <:)
However, NOW that the tri-Ace codec has surrendered its secrets, the Star Ocean 3 and Valkyrie Profile 2 sets have finally appeared...and I expect they need tagging. So unless someone's already taken up the task, I'd want to get back to work finally. :D
VP2 will be a snap, but I have another idea for SO3. I COULD base the tags on the OST tracklisting, but the one unfortunate thing is that the mainly orchestral tracks and more upbeat tracks were placed on separate albums. And back in the day, I enjoyed the upbeat Volume 2 so much, I hardly gave Volume 1 a chance.
At one time, I had come across the music listing from the in-game sound test which seemed to appear in game-chronological order. It took some digging, but I finally managed to find it again: https://www.ign.com/faqs/2004/star-ocean-till-the-end-of-time-music-mode-faq-545388
There's just one problem with this list; it's based on the original Japanese version of the game, and not the director's cut. Thus, DC songs like "Beyond the One" aren't listed, and I have no clue where they'd go.
If you know of an updated list, or can tell me chonologically where the DC tracks WOULD go, please point me in the right direction! I would love to make a playlist based on this order because I'd like both styles of music to get their fair share, as in SO's 2 and 4.
Right...let's see how long it takes for me to get productive again... ;)
edited 7:59 PM EDT April 4, 2021
Star Ocean 3 - roughly chronological tags by SquareTex at 1:07 AM EDT on April 5, 2021
Well...I must say that while it still takes a great deal of time to match OST track names to audio files, the !tags.m3u method is definitely the way to go! :D
Here's a - you might say - preliminary take on a chronological track listing, blending the two volumes and the director's cut OSTs together.
As needed, I can still release a tagset based on the OST orders, but I know this will be my preferred way to enjoy some classic Sakuraba. :)
Yes, the !tags convention is the way to go; we should try to keep extracted sources the most unmodified/pristine possible.
Valkyrie Profile 2 tags by SquareTex at 6:46 PM EDT on April 15, 2021
And now there's some MORE complete Sakuraba! :D
VP2 was MUCH easier, as the tracklisting across both volumes was pretty much set chonologically already. There's two changes I've made: 1. "Movement of Distorted Causality", which starts out the 1st disc of Volume 2, has been moved to the front of the playlist before "Overture to the Destiny", as it is the opening movie. 2. A handful of tracks from previous titles - plus an "8-bit" version of "Incarnation of Devil"! :D - have been placed between "A Thoughtful Strategy" and "Time Brings About Retrospection", as I expect they are from VP2's Seraphic Gate.
CastleVania LoI - need help here... by SquareTex at 7:07 PM EDT on April 29, 2021
So for my next trick, I decided to finally make a tagset for CastleVania - Lament of Innocence. Was going along fairly well in matching up the names, I put the list in order, set the !tags.m3u up, load it into WinAmp...
...and nothing's showing up except a few garbled characters in the playlist window.
I'm attaching the file as-is, as I can't seem to find what might be off. Just a bit disheartening, as both SO3 and VP2 went great, but THIS one is like, "Oh no you won't, either." <:P