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https://github.com/superctr/MDSDRV

Sound driver for Sega Mega Drive
https://github.com/superctr/MDSDRV

68000 genesis megadrive mml music-macro-language sgdk z80

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Sound driver for Sega Mega Drive

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README 

        
MDSDRV

======

A sound driver for Sega Mega Drive/Genesis.



## Features

- Runs on the 68000 with the Z80 controlling PCM playback.

- 16 monophonic tracks that can be used for BGM or sound effects.

	Each track can be assigned to a channel with 4 levels of priority.

- Can use any combination of FM, PSG and PCM sound sources.

- FM3 special mode:

	- Can assign each or a pair of FM3 operators to one or more

		separate tracks with volume control.

- PCM playback modes:

	- 2 channel PCM playback at ~17.5 kHz with volume control

	- 3 channel PCM playback at ~13.3 kHz with volume control

	- Samples can play at 8 different sampling rates independent of

		the mixing rate

- Compact sequence format

	- Sound data can be compiled from MML files using `ctrmml`

- Various effects supported:

	- PSG volume envelopes

	- Pitch envelopes

	- Portamento

	- Fade in/out

	- Song volume and tempo control

- Macro tables

	- Allows for channel parameters and registers to be modified

		automatically as a note is playing.

- Equal temperament scale with 256 steps per semitone, allowing for

	easy detune or pitch slide effects.

- Unencumbered source code

- Fully position-independent code - supports any assembler or toolchain

	by including the binary blob.

- Uses approximately 1 kb (1024 bytes) of RAM.

- Integration with SGDK



### Upcoming features

- System C2 support is currently in the experimental `c2` branch.



## How to use

Feel free to join the [Discord server](https://discord.com/invite/BPwM6PJv7T)

if you have any questions or feedback.



### Composing sound data

[mmlgui](https://github.com/superctr/mmlgui) provides an easy way

to compose music and sound effects using Music Macro Language (MML).



For information on the MML dialect, see

[here](https://github.com/superctr/ctrmml/blob/master/mml_ref.md).



### Compiling sound data

The `mdslink` tool of [ctrmml](https://github.com/superctr/ctrmml)

is capable of building the sound data files (`mdsseq.bin` and

`mdspcm.bin`).



	# creates 'mdsseq.bin' and 'mdspcm.bin'

	mdslink -o mdsseq.bin mdspcm.bin mymusic.mml ...



Sound data files can be in MML (Music Macro Language) or MDS formats.

For information on the MDS binary format, see

[mdsseq.md](doc/mdsseq.md).



### Building MDSDRV

All required tools for building are already in the repository, you just

need to run `build.bat`. These are Windows executables, so for other

operating systems, `wine` is required.



	# creates `main.bin` (test ROM) and `mdsdrv.bin` (sound driver blob)

	wine /c build.bat



To quickly generate a ROM (in Windows) with a single song, you can drag

and drop a .MDS or .MML file into "quickrom.bat"



### Using MDSDRV

Once compiled, using MDSDRV should be as easy as including the binary

files (`mdsdrv.bin`, `mdsseq.bin`, `mdspcm.bin`) in your project, and

calling the correct addresses inside the `mdsdrv.bin` blob.



#### File listing

- `main.bin` is the sound test ROM. It is built from  `main.68k`.

- `out/mdsdrv.bin` is the sound driver binary. It is built from

	`blob.68k`.

- `out/mdsseq.bin` is the compiled sequence data. It is built from

	music and sound effect files using `mdslink`.

- `out/mdspcm.bin` contains PCM sample data. It is also built using

	`mdslink`.



#### SGDK test project

- See [sample/sgdk](sample/sgdk/README.md).



If the SGDK environment variables are set, calling `build.bat` should

automatically build the SGDK test program.



#### Interfaces

- See [api.md](doc/api.md)



#### Sound data reference

- See [mdsseq.md](doc/mdsseq.md)



#### Precautions when using DMA

- See [dma.md](doc/dma.md)



The Z80 code has a protection mechanism against reading ROM

during DMA transfers. Please read [dma.md](doc/dma.md) for information

how to use it.



## Copyright

© 2019-2022 Ian Karlsson.



MDSDRV is licensed under the terms of the [zlib license](COPYING).



### Other programs included in this repository

`mdslink` is part of [ctrmml](https://github.com/superctr/ctrmml) and

is licensed under the terms of the GPLv2. But all code is written by me

and I give myself permission to use it here :).



`asm68k` is owned by SN Systems and is non-free. However it was last

released 25 years ago. I hope to move away from using it soon. The code

does however currently still use a lot of specific directives, and I

prefer its listing outputs for debugging... Please bear with me as I

try to find a good replacement.



`sjasmplus` is licensed under the zlib license. The version included in

this repository has been downloaded from the

[Github repository](https://github.com/sjasmplus/sjasmplus).



`salvador` is released under the zlib license. The version included in

this repository has been compiled from the source code in the

[Github repository](https://github.com/emmanuel-marty/salvador).



## Special thanks

- Sik: for making suggestions and giving inspiration for the Z80 driver.

- Yuzo Koshiro: For creating the MUCOM88 driver which was an

	inspiration to this project.

- All beta testers.