Snooping Inside Video Game Music!

Any Bit Fever Dreams has coded an application to spy inside video game music files. Such files contain a wealth of instrument and arrangement data; giving modern day digital archaeologists the chance to analyze past masterpieces - and see how video game composers scored whole worlds within strict technical limitations.

This is my love letter to Yamaha fm synth that used the YMF262 OPL3 class music chip. I coded a program in C called "OPL3 Snooper" that runs on a F256K2*

Plays .VGM file format
Can string playlists of them
Can halt playback and give the OPL3 register values
Lets you try out the channels during pause with a MIDI in controller

What's an F256K2?

The F256K2 may look like a vintage microcomputer, but it's actually a brand new design. Originally developed by Foenix Retro System, this new retro computer will soon be fabricated by WildBits Computing Company: https://wildbitscomputing.com/

As you can see, this FPGA-based system is a sonic powerhouse! It features 2xSN76489,  2xSID, a Yamaha OPL3, a 64-voice SAM2695 General Midi "Wavetable" chip AND a VS1053b DSP chip (which can decode mp3!)...yep, I'll be adding one to my collection of musical micros :D

WildBits has an active Discord Server if you'd like to find out more. By the way, if you like retro-computing in general, I have a bunch of articles you might enjoy. See you next time!

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