Multimedia Exploration Journal: March 24, 2003
Whatever would I do with out the various used video game shops, used software
shops, pawn shops, and assorted other "spent" shops? I imagine that I would
have to pay full price for new software or possibly hunt down titles on eBay.
At this point, I am beginning to refine my multimedia scavenger hunt somewhat.
I have plenty of Microsoft AVI and Apple Quicktime samples. I have plenty of
samples for other media formats commonly used in computer games such as Smacker,
Bink, Interplay video, and Westwood Studios multimedia. Now I am trying to
find sample material for formats I have not seen before.
Educational CD-ROMs
I discovered an interesting source for old CD-ROM/multimedia titles:
My local public library. However, after
scavenging through at least 10 different educational titles, I realized that there is
little opportunity to uncover weird and wonderful multimedia formats. Many
of these discs stick to standard AVI and Quicktime media with older codecs.
Legoland
Legoland, a piece of Lego media, published by Lego Software. I guess
these people do not outsource a single function. I was not sure if it contained
multimedia but I thought it might be fun to play anyway (as if I would have
time for that with my hectic multimedia hacking schedule).
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Actually, the game CD-ROM does come come with several large AVI
files, mostly Indeo 5/MS ADPCM. There are also several files of a
promotional nature for Lego's geographically-disperse Legoland theme parks. The
game-related media files showcase some rather competent computer
animation. I had no idea that a Lego person's face could show so much
emotion.
Additionally, the game also uses many, many MS ADPCM WAV files for audio
samples. Further, the game also comes with another CD-ROM which ostensibly
showcases more Lego Software products. No surprises here in the multimedia
department: MS Wave files, Shockwave Flash, and even some MPEG movies. There
is one MPEG movie called alpha.mpg. I am not exactly sure what the game is
but it looks like Lego's answer to Konami's Metal Gear Solid and Ubi Soft's
Splinter Cell. Check this little guy out. Manaical supervillians
everywhere have a powerful new adversary.
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Emergency Room: Disaster Strikes
This is another ER simulation game. It is published by
Legacy Interactive
and purportedly features "100 EXCITING Cases". It bears the Macromedia
and Quicktime logos so there is probably nothing new in the multimedia
department. Still, it was so much fun watch the Quicktime movies from
Legacy's Code Blue that I wanted to check this
out too.
Legacy follows the same technology pattern as Code Blue, employing Quicktime files with
Sorenson SVQ1 video and Qualcomm Purevoice audio.
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The multimedia contained has a bunch of people sitting in front of
disaster-like backdrops (burning buildings, flashing emergency lights probably
chroma-keyed on top of a blue screen). These people are doing their best
to act hurt as a result of assorted emergency situations. It is usually
hard enough for people in these multimedia computer games to act in the
first place, but to act like they have a dislocated joint or a missing finger
or are choking and turning blue,
I think that's a little too much to ask. Further, according to the
credits the game has 11 different actors and actresses at every accident
scene. I know I am supposed to suspend disbelief for a little while but
I just can not get past the idea that these are some very unlucky people
living in a very dangerous city.
But if trying to act hurt isn't hard enough, imagine trying to get an infant to act.
That's exactly what happened in this clip from the game. The dialog:
"Oh my god, she's burnt bad!" That doesn't seem to bother the baby, who
has found something more fascinating up in the sky
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This is another title from
Dreamcatcher Interactive.
These people are quickly becoming my favorite company for interactive
movie gaming schlock. I can always count on their games to contain so
much multimedia that they span multiple CD-ROMs and I never know what format
they are going to use for the FMV.
The game is copyright 2001 and caries a 'M' rating: For mature audiences only.
The game spans 3 discs. All of the FMV appears to be in Bink format.
[Link:
Bink samples]
I briefly mentioned the Sega Saturn version of this title in
a previous journal entry. I wanted
to compare and contrast the data files between the 2 games. Both games have
similar data file names, although the Saturn version packaged them into a resource
file. Because of this I cannot compare the file sizes. I still think that the
.avs files sound suspiciously like FMV files.
Here we have The 11th Hour, the sequel to 7th Guest
which pioneered the whole FMV-driven interactive movie genre (so now you
know who to blame).
The discs have media/ subdirectories which contain .gjd files just like in
7th Guest. I believe these to be resource files packaging multiple
FMV files.
Interesting note: This game also comes with Doom WAD files which recreate the mansion
in the original 7th Guest game.
Followup: It seems that this game uses the RoQ format. In fact, according
to this old
Wired article, the RoQ format was designed specifically for The 11th Hour.
It would later be used in Quake III and games based on the Q3 engine.
2-CD game from LucasArts. 1997. Hopefully, it contains some of that special
animation that LA games like to use. Sure enough-- plenty of .SAN files.
[Link:
LucasArts SAN samples]
This game received such horrifying reviews when it was finally released
that I was afraid someone might see me purchasing a used copy for $2.
I remember seeing the trailer on an Eidos trailer CD-ROM. I was stunned that
it used Microsoft Video-1 and I was curious if the game did the same.
As promised on the jewel case copy, the game packages "18 ear-numbing songs
in MP3 format." I suppose this game was released back when MP3 was an
awe-inspiring technical hallmark. The game also has 2 .pak resource files.
No indication of FMV.
I read an interesting article about FMV in video games that credited this
Activision game with making great use of FMV. However, there are only 2
Smacker files in a CUTSCENE/ directory: CREDF01.SMK and INTROF01.SMK.
[Link:
Smacker samples]
Evil Islands: Curse of the Lost Soul (MobyGames entry)
2001 title by Nival Interactive and Fishtank.
The website is still active.
The game uses Bink movies all the way.
[Link:
Bink samples]
Professor Peskin Unleashed
Copyright 1999, Maximum Efficiency Products. That, and URL
http://www.radianthealth.org,
is the only thing the CD surface indicated. But
my curiousity got the better of me.
No data on this CD. Rather, the disc contains 3 audio tracks which are just
recordings of some kind of personal health seminar. The third audio track
states, "That's the end of CD #1, please put in CD #2 to continue."
Followup: Hmm...according to Google's translation of
this page:
"Perkins Management/Maximum Efficiency Products (www.radianthealth.org) -
the General Solicitor established a legal agreement and a permanent judicial
order with this company based on Houston, which elaborates dietetic
supplements promoted by Internet and television. The demanded one,
Brian S. Peskin, made assertions without scientific base on the benefits
that would be obtained when consuming their herbarios products. Between
such declarations, the demanded one informed that its tea could help to cure
cancer and the syndrome of the attention deficit (attention deficit to disorder,
ADD). Peskin also falsely appeared like a medical doctor."
Computer Gaming World Demo Disc, No. 163, February 1998
A handful of wav and Smacker files, but nothing else in the multimedia
department. I guess they actually went for playable demos instead of
FMV trailers.
3-CD game published by Activision. Certainly a far cry away from Zork's
origin as a text-based adventure game that could fit on a single floppy disc.
The game contains many, many AVI files. Nothing so unusual about that. However,
the files use the video fourcc 'DUCK'. Could it be? A PC game that uses the original
Duck Truemotion video codec? Sure enough. They play under a Duck/AVI player.
The audio is reported as MS IMA ADPCM (format 0x11) but it does not sound
correct at all. It is reasonable that they are using one of Duck's own
ADPCM variants.
[Link:
AVI samples compressed with DUCK]
Tex Murphy Games
I decided to investigate some of the old Tex Murphy detective adventure games by Access Software.
I still have
Under A Killing Moon (MobyGames entry)
and
The Pandora Directive (MobyGames entry).
Under A Killing Moon is a 4-disc game. Only the first game contains
any program files. All 4 discs contain a mastertx/chap01/ directory with a
series of *.ap files. These files contain all of the data-- audio, video,
and textual-- for the game. It is difficult to find any patterns in these
resource files. However, some of them do have plain WAV files inside. When
extracted, they do not sound normal, but in a strange way-- the audio is
mostly static but sometimes there is coherent audio.
The Pandora Directive has a similar arrangement with each of 6 CD-ROMs having
a data01/ directory that contains many .ap resource files. It is beginning
to look like these resource files are simply concatenation of data files.
In other words, the resource files have no headers, though the data files
inside often to.
by Mike Melanson (mike at multimedia.cx).
Multimedia Exploration Journal
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