Spirit Tracks Conversion Question by Elven Spellmaker at 5:26 PM EST on December 17, 2011
Hey all,
I have a problem getting any version of VGMTrans(I have about 5 different versions) or SSEQ2MID to convert all Spirit Tracks SSEQs into MIDI.
It's the same ones that won't convert in either programme.
It will convert lots of them, but things like the over world themes will not convert but they convert to 2SF/Mini2SF fine. I know they are sequences though because I can mute the instruments using the 2SF dialogue inside the 2SF settings.
Does anyone happen to know why this is please? Any information would be excellent!
Thanks.
P.S. If you need SSEQ samples of ones that work and don't I can provide them.
The reason they "convert to 2SF/mini2SF fine" is because you're not converting them at all. That's the entire point of xSF in general. The actual data itself (format, sequences, samples, etc.) remains unchanged. The only "change" is that instead of using the Spirit Tracks "driver" (aka, the software that runs the sequences, from the original game), you're using the Ys driver (aka, the "generic driver" which runs most of the Nintendo software development kit-created sequences, which is from some Ys game that I can't recall the exact name of).
I am not familiar at all with VGMtrans, and have never used it. But my guess is that some of the sequences in Spirit Tracks do things in a way that VGMtrans (or SSEQ2MID apparently) doesn't expect to see. It may actually be a very simple fix (again, I'd have no idea), but since there's no easy way to modify VGMtrans (no source code, that I know of), even if it's a simple fix, how would you know what to fix, what change to make, and where to fix it (but what about SSEQ2MID? I know even less about that than I do VGMtrans)? Considering that the tracks seem to work with the generic driver just fine (do they though? Has anyone (you?) checked what Spirit Tracks sounds like as 2SF, and what it sounds like in the actual game (specifically, the tracks that won't convert in VGMtrans or SSEQ2MID)?), I'm left to assume that it's something "small", and is probably correctable, if we only knew what the problem was. Either that, or the generic driver is robust enough that, even when it encounters something it's unfamiliar with, it' able to continue playing the SSEQ data, and just ignore the parts it doesn't "like".
Honestly, it seems the only way to take care of this problem, is to find someone who can modify SSEQ2MID/VGMtrans, or someone who is familiar with the SSEQ format, and find what those programs might be choking on. Sorry I was essentially not-helpful-at-all, but I wanted to make sure it was clear that you don't "convert" things to an xSF format. Sure, you may package them up into an xSF format. You may rearrange them. Sometimes, you may even alter them slightly, so that they play nice with the generic driver being used. But ideally, no conversion (aka, turning the in-game audio format/sequence data into something else) should actually be taking place.
Hopefully someone else has a more positive response. Mouser X over and out.