Anyone know if it's possible to extract Loom's CDDA.SOU?

[marzipan]

(The big file distributed with the Steam version, that is.)


I tried a couple of versions of ScummRev and they couldn't even recognise the header somehow. Is there anything else that's likely to work?

[LogicDeLuxe]

I don't have it, but judging by the size, it is probably some lossless codec similar to FLAC.

[marzipan]

Doubt it...

CDDA.SOU - 276 MB (289,808,802 bytes)

CRC32: B5BB6B64
MD5: E444985CC1AA65780D912B4FE21A6043
SHA-1: C12627258FC0E9FD5F6BAB63D546CD5297BFBC22


Might ask over at LucasForums as well.

[clone2727]

If you open it up in a hex editor, what are the opening few bytes?

[DCDayDreamer]

Judging by size the audio file could well be in FLAC format, but it's funny that they have named the file CDDA.SOU, even though it's lossless, FLAC is certainly not the same as CDDA. The file might actually contain compressed raw audio data, I do not know anything whatsoever about the Steam version or how it decodes audio, so that's just a wild guess.

[marzipan]

If you open it up in a hex editor, what are the opening few bytes?

Code: Select all

00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 20 03 00 00 7A 58 00 00 A2 21 46 11 4B 1A 04 00

Code: Select all

................ ...zX..¢!F.K...

Doesn't appear to have a specific header by the looks of things. There are also no FLAC references in the file, unless you count the many occurences of the term 'flac' as part of and/or amongst wordy gibberish. Indeed, there don't appear to be any clear sections of wording throughout the file. Is this encrypted somehow, or is this typical of SCUMM-coded files?

[MusicallyInspired]

Judging by size the audio file could well be in FLAC format, but it's funny that they have named the file CDDA.SOU, even though it's lossless, FLAC is certainly not the same as CDDA. The file might actually contain compressed raw audio data, I do not know anything whatsoever about the Steam version or how it decodes audio, so that's just a wild guess.

It's probably just called CDDA because it's ripped from the Loom CD version's single CD audio track (which contains all the speech, music, and sound effects in the game).

[marzipan]

Well it's probably gone through a reduced quality process, seeing as ripping the audio track off a Loom CD to WAVE format results in a 500Mb+ file.

[fingolfin]

500 MB original data, 250 MB CDDA.SOU -- lossless encoders like FLAC typically can compress audio data to about 50% of the original size, while with lossy encoders like MP3 or Ogg it's usually more like a factor of 1 to 10. Go figure ...

[marzipan]

Wouldn't FLAC files have clear headers referencing FLAC though? And MP3 and OGG can certainly reduce a 500Mb+ file to less than 100Mb with the right settings.

Maybe this is PCM or WAV but reduced to 22050Hz, or using some ADPCM compressor or something.

[DCDayDreamer]

I agree with fingolfin, FLAC compression normally reduces the file size about 50%, that's why I suspected the file to contain the audio as FLAC to begin with. My ripped WAV was 551Mb, so if you work on 50% file reduction, you'd end up with a FLAC size of 275.5Mb - and that's pretty damn close to the 276Mb of the Steam version.

Still baffled why they named it CDDA though, unless like MusicallyInspired posted - it's just to point out that it's a rip of the CD version audio file. As to what format the audio is in?, we'll have to wait and see if someone can figure it out.

[marzipan]

Well it's just a matter of waiting for a response over at Mixnmojo. Fingers crossed...


In other Steam news, perhaps I should point out (if the devs here hadn't made it clear already), that taking the "000"-type files out of LA's Steam EXEs is as simple as tossing them into a hex editor and using the search function to track down a matching set of the first two lines of bytes, making a selection as large as the original 000 file (which you should need for comparison reasons of course), copying and pasting the selected code into a new file, saving it under an appropriate name, and bobsyerlonglosthalfbrotherscousin, your Steam-y LA game of choice is ScummVM-able! No encryption present, no complicated patching procedures required.


Of course, what would be a better thing to do in the long run to help the general audience out - posting a detailed guide on how to extract their own 000 files out of the executables of their legitimately bought Steam downloads, or posting all the necessary 000 files online somewhere (unless spreading these small files alone is still just as bad as the whole thing), similar to the BS/FF videos being made available?

[LordHoto]

... or posting all the necessary 000 files online somewhere (unless spreading these small files alone is still just as bad as the whole thing), similar to the BS/FF videos being made available?

Of course that's still as bad as offering the whole game for download. Since you still distribute copyrighted material without being allowed to.

[LogicDeLuxe]

which you should need for comparison reasons of course

Which pretty much defeats the purpose, doesn't it?
Well, it's good for proving that no encryption is involved, but that's about it.

[marzipan]

which you should need for comparison reasons of course

Which pretty much defeats the purpose, doesn't it?
Well, it's good for proving that no encryption is involved, but that's about it.

That's where a guide detailing exact offset ranges, what to rip etc comes in handy.

If there's enough demand for it I may write up such a guide and put it on here in the future.