This is mostly a rant blog post, so here goes...
As probably a lot of you are like me and enjoy game music. Some of it's definitely nostalgia, but there's plenty of game music I enjoy for games I've never played nor likely would thanks to the like of OCRemix. For a long time actually getting the soundtrack to a game was often more the work of a tape recorder than any hope for an actual release. However as time has progressed, it's become a lot more common that games will include their soundtrack as mp3/ogg files, sometime even gratis as part of buying the games.
Then there's games like the eXceed trilogy. Normally, games in the trilogy would cost $5.99 but the soundtrack would cost $3.99. Due to the Steam Summer Sale, the whole trilogy can be bought for $4.99. Want all the soundtracks too and the cost bumps up to $12.49. For me, it's hard to justify spending as much or more for the music for the game--which, you know, includes the music--as the game itself.
So, the pricing is absurd, but the absurdity doesn't really stop there. Lots of games don't officially come with their soundtrack, but if you search through many you'll find a BGM folder or similar full of semi-cryptic named files. If you're really lucky it's all properly metadataed. If you're unlucky, the music is there but it's in some semi-standard data blob format which you have reasonably good odds of googling and finding a way to extract the music. If you're really unlucky, the music is some totally non-standard data blob or blobs and you're probably better off looking else for the music.
In this case, though, eXceed moves into the seemingly nefariously obtuse category. It turns out that each game has its own bgm folder. The first one even has mp3 files properly marked, albeit without any metadata or a proper name (it's just increment numbers). eXceed 2nd and 3rd, though, have bgm folders with "mv" files. Checking with file and it turns out that some are detected as RIFF wave files and Ogg vorbis files. A quick check and for eXceed 2nd, "RIFF" has been changed to "cIFF" in several files. Something similar with eXceed 3rd, "OggS" to "C~gS".
So, I decided to leave some "helpful" information on these findings on eXceed 2nd's discussion board on steam. Maybe other users will find it useful. Certainly, it'd be better if people were buying the official soundtrack for the metadata or for the arrangement. Of course, they could also pull a Capcom--MMXLC--and make the sound player stop playing if the window loses focus; I mean, they can't risk people turning MMXLC into a de facto soundtrack and avoid buying the official one, right?
Edit - And not be a completely negative rant: if you're looking for some good cute'em ups that include their soundtrack look at the Gundemonium Collection. For a more straight shoot'em up there's Raiden IV: Overkill. Finally, there's Trouble Witches Origin - Episode1 which doesn't have a free soundtrack but currently on sale it's $0.99 (and normally it's $3.99). I don't have a problem per se with having to pay for the soundtrack. To me it's more the principle of spending such a (relatively) substantial amount to buy the music a second time, especially if it's being obfuscated on purpose just so they can charge that (relatively) substantial amount.
As probably a lot of you are like me and enjoy game music. Some of it's definitely nostalgia, but there's plenty of game music I enjoy for games I've never played nor likely would thanks to the like of OCRemix. For a long time actually getting the soundtrack to a game was often more the work of a tape recorder than any hope for an actual release. However as time has progressed, it's become a lot more common that games will include their soundtrack as mp3/ogg files, sometime even gratis as part of buying the games.
Then there's games like the eXceed trilogy. Normally, games in the trilogy would cost $5.99 but the soundtrack would cost $3.99. Due to the Steam Summer Sale, the whole trilogy can be bought for $4.99. Want all the soundtracks too and the cost bumps up to $12.49. For me, it's hard to justify spending as much or more for the music for the game--which, you know, includes the music--as the game itself.
So, the pricing is absurd, but the absurdity doesn't really stop there. Lots of games don't officially come with their soundtrack, but if you search through many you'll find a BGM folder or similar full of semi-cryptic named files. If you're really lucky it's all properly metadataed. If you're unlucky, the music is there but it's in some semi-standard data blob format which you have reasonably good odds of googling and finding a way to extract the music. If you're really unlucky, the music is some totally non-standard data blob or blobs and you're probably better off looking else for the music.
In this case, though, eXceed moves into the seemingly nefariously obtuse category. It turns out that each game has its own bgm folder. The first one even has mp3 files properly marked, albeit without any metadata or a proper name (it's just increment numbers). eXceed 2nd and 3rd, though, have bgm folders with "mv" files. Checking with file and it turns out that some are detected as RIFF wave files and Ogg vorbis files. A quick check and for eXceed 2nd, "RIFF" has been changed to "cIFF" in several files. Something similar with eXceed 3rd, "OggS" to "C~gS".
So, I decided to leave some "helpful" information on these findings on eXceed 2nd's discussion board on steam. Maybe other users will find it useful. Certainly, it'd be better if people were buying the official soundtrack for the metadata or for the arrangement. Of course, they could also pull a Capcom--MMXLC--and make the sound player stop playing if the window loses focus; I mean, they can't risk people turning MMXLC into a de facto soundtrack and avoid buying the official one, right?
Edit - And not be a completely negative rant: if you're looking for some good cute'em ups that include their soundtrack look at the Gundemonium Collection. For a more straight shoot'em up there's Raiden IV: Overkill. Finally, there's Trouble Witches Origin - Episode1 which doesn't have a free soundtrack but currently on sale it's $0.99 (and normally it's $3.99). I don't have a problem per se with having to pay for the soundtrack. To me it's more the principle of spending such a (relatively) substantial amount to buy the music a second time, especially if it's being obfuscated on purpose just so they can charge that (relatively) substantial amount.
