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File Format: CDS
A proprietary format developed by Crystal Dynamics. Its structure is almost identical to a standard MIDI file of "Type 0" (SMF0). It can be used in conjunction with soundbanks of multiple formats to play sequences with custom sounds. These files can't be found directly, and have to be extracted first by using utilities (desnd or msqsplit).
The magic number should be "QESa".
| Name | Type | Endianness |
|---|---|---|
| Magic number | ASCII character x4 | N/A |
| Quarter note time | Unsigned 32 bit integer | Little |
| Pulses per quarter note | Unsigned 16 bit integer | Little |
| Version number | Unsigned 16 bit integer | Little |
The body of a cds file is comprised of a set commands that highly resemble the command set of standard MIDI files. In fact, most of them look identical.
The body continues all the way to the end of the file, and should typically terminate with FF4400. Some extra zeroes may be present due to 4-byte alignment padding.
Crystal Dynamics, however, implemented their own flavor of the MIDI standard and used non-standard undefined commands that trigger specific functions within the sound engines of their games. Most of the custom commands are meta events and most of their uses are currently undocumented.
A loop begins with 0xFF2E01XX and terminates with 0xFF2F00. Sometimes these loops can be unbalanced, meaning that either a "loop begin" marker or a "loop end" marker is missing. The number of "loop begin" markers should always be equal to the number of "loop end" markers. Loops can be recursively nested, so to expand them you need a recursive function that can parse them and unroll them. If a loop is infinite, or its count is equal to 1, then it does not need unrolling.
| Value | Custom event |
|---|---|
| FF0001XX | Sequence number(?) |
| FF0101XX | |
| FF0201XX | |
| FF0300 | |
| FF0400 | |
| FF0503XXXXXX | Set tempo (XXXXXX is the quarter note time in Big Endian), it is the equivalent of FF5103XXXXXX in standard MIDI, which is the command for changing the quarter note time/tempo |
| FF0601XX | |
| FF0701XX | |
| FF0800 | |
| FF0900 | |
| FF0A00 | |
| FF0B00 | |
| FF0E01XX | |
| FF1001XX | |
| FF1200 | |
| FF1300 | |
| FF1402XXXX | |
| FF1502XXXX | |
| FF1802XXXX | |
| FF1A01XX | |
| FF1C01XX | |
| FF2401XX | |
| FF2501XX | |
| FF2902XXXX | |
| FF2E01XX | Loop begin (XX is the number of times the loop has to be read. If XX = 0 then the loop gets read infinitely many times) |
| FF2F00 | Loop end, but in standard MIDI makes the whole track stop (Crystal Dynamics used FF4400 for this) |
| FF3101XX | Loop begin(?). Seen used in more complex 'Type 0' sequences. XX appears to be just a label |
| FF3201XX | Loop end(?). Seen used in more complex 'Type 0' sequences. XX appears to be just a label |
| FF3302XXXX | |
| FF3402XXXX | |
| FF3502XXXX | |
| FF3602XXXX | |
| FF3802XXXX | |
| FF3903XXXXXX | Beginning of 'Type 0' sequence(?). Probably incorrect guess |
| FF3A03XXXXXX | |
| FF3B03XXXXXX | |
| FF3C03XXXXXX | |
| FF3D03XXXXXX | |
| FF3E03XXXXXX | |
| FF3F03XXXXXX | |
| FF4100 | |
| FF4200 | |
| FF4300 | |
| FF4400 | Stop/End |
| FF4506XXXXXXXXXXXX | |
| FF4801XX | |
| FF4900 | |
| FF4B02XXXX | |
| FF4C02XXXX | |
| FF4D02XXXX | |
| FF5002XXXX | |
| FFF0nnXXXXXXXXXX... | ASCII Text. Probably used for manufacturer's ID, but here it can output any text. "nn" is the number of how many "XX" bytes are gonna be found. |
| FFF104XXXXXXXX |