[V1.0] Rayman 30th Anniversary - DOS OST Patch

[Cresceda]

Hi all,

Over the last couple of months, I have been working on an OST patch for the rereleased DOS version of Rayman 1 in Rayman 30th Anniversary Edition. A short description:

The game runs through an emulator, which in turn runs most of the original Rayman 1.0 (USA) game files from 1995. However, the music player system and new tracks have taken command/assumed direct control over the original functionality. This is, in part, done through the new game loader environment, emulator and a (very unstable) script inside of the game files.
This patch does not subvert the new track system: it is added upon and runs above the system. In that sense, it´s an modded system on top of a new system on top of an old system. This means the old system is not restored, but rather mimicked.

I will upload a gameplay video later.

Please go through the README, I have tried to make the patching as easy as possible by a single click. It is also underneath.

Link: Here

README:

Rayman30th Anniversary Edition DOS Track Patch - By Cyllene
==========================

IMPORTANT: start a new save after patching:
------------------------------------------
Use a NEW save after applying this patch.
Track behavior is tied to save-generation/state and existing saves can end up with broken background music routing. This is especially true for already-played levels. It can be restored by reverting the original track system through running "revert_dos_track_fix.bat" or reinstalling the game (after a save backup).

What this patch does in a nutshell
--------------------
- Replaces the Rayman DOS `rayman.info` script with a patched version that remaps music tracks to the original 1995 DOS CD track flow. This patch is an overwrite on top of the original developers' overwrite, as to mimic original behavior.
- Replaces the in-game DOS MP3 music set (`~mp3music`) with the provided `OriginalCDTracks` files.
- Repackages `assets.pie` properly so Dreamm emulator can load the patched files.

How to patch
-----------
1. Read this README fully once.
2. Extract/unzip this patch folder next to your `assets.pie` in the game's root folder.
3. Install 7-Zip (or ensure `7z.exe` is available).
4. Run `apply_dos_track_fix.bat`.
5. Accept the prompt only if you read the full README.
6. Start the game with a NEW save file.

What the apply script does
--------------------------
- Unpacks `assets.pie` -> `assets.zip` with Cowabunga64.
- Extracts into `DOSTrackFixes\PatchedGameFiles`.
- Replaces:
- `roms\DOS\dreamm.ifs\game\rayman.info`
- `roms\DOS\dreamm.ifs\install\rayman\rayman\~mp3music\*.mp3`
- Rebuilds `assets.zip` as store/no-compression and repacks it to `assets.pie`.
- Renames original `assets.pie` to `assets.stock` (or `assets.stock2`, `assets.stock3`, etc. if needed).
- Cleans temporary extraction files.

How to revert
-------------
- Run `revert_dos_track_fix.bat`.
- This restores from `assets.stock` back to `assets.pie` and shows a success message.
- If you want the patch back after reverting/cleanup, re-download the patch package.

IMPORTANT warning about saves (I don't want to ruin your day)
-----------------------------
Do NOT apply this over a save file you already played on if you care about consistent music behavior.
Track behavior is tied to save-generation/state and existing saves can end up with broken background music routing.

Known issues (planned for future patching)
------------------------------------------
- Confirmed support: Rayman30th Anniversary Edition 1.0. Other versions still need compatibility testing.
- Cheats:
- Infinite lives is currently not working.
- Unlock all levels, unlimited restarts and all powers cheats do work.
- Infinite health currently gives 5 HP instead of 3, but HP can still drop when damaged.
- These issues are due to very sensitive flow in how the game reads stored game-state information and needs further testing.
- Unlock 60 levels and the other DOS games are not supported yet.
- Music resets to 0:00 around 4:52 (this also appears natively). A fix is in progress (or at least it has been for a month).
- Using old saves after patching may cause very broken background music behavior.
- Old music functioning often had pauses in between songs due to the way those discs worked. This game plays songs after each other.
- I haven't had the chance to play the full game, so some tracks may be wrong. I will go over that after enjoying the game lol.

Planned updates
------------------------------------------
- A Rayman PS1 and Rayman Gold version (on the DOS version) may be in the works... (Suspense ~Cutting the Ropes~?)

On a personal note
------------------------------------------
This is the first patch I have every created. The few hundred hours of work that has been put into reverse engineering through Ghidra, x64dbg, DynamoRIO, windbg and some other programs without any prior skill. To the point of it becoming a bit obsessive and taking a toll. Especially that darned 4:52 reset; the current version has existed for five weeks now.
One may ask, why do this when Rayman Forever exists? Or at least that's come to my mind quite a bit.
Rayman Gold was the first game I've ever played. Rayman 2 was the second. The game bears a special place in my heart and despite the awesome & incredible efforts of the composer who worked on this anniversary edition, the game felt surprisingly empty and uncanny without the original soundtrack. I think it may be the first thing I am reminded of when thinking of the game when I was three or four years old behind a computer that ran on Windows Millenium. Those 128mb's of RAM were really insane.
"See you in Rayman 4!", is something I've come to hope given recent news. I want players to be able to get the game and support the franchise without feeling bad and not wanting to play the game due to the missing tracks. I want the best for the players, the developers and the company. I want Rayman to have a future.

I'm gonna give myself a break for a little bit before fixing the issues mentioned above. I hope you enjoy the patch and hopefully: See you in Rayman 4!
- Cyllene

[RayCarrot]

Nice work! The music for the MS-DOS version is indeed a bit tricky to patch due to the game loading from preset save-states where the CD tables (containing the CD track positions and lengths) have already been defined. They also added additional audio tracks, with multiple of them actually being unused, even if they updated which levels play what tracks.

I recently updated the Rayman Control Panel with full modding support for the 30th Anniversary Edition, allowing you to modify the .pie archive as well as containing a module for replacing the music in all of the MS-DOS versions, with the save-states automatically being updated for the tracks you set. This allows you to retain your original save files while applying mods to the game, and also doesn't interfere with the original patches applied for the achievements and enhancements. I can help you out with any technical details if you have any questions about how it all works! You can also view the code for updating the CD track tables in the save-states here. I released my own mod as well which replaces the MS-DOS music with the original PS1 soundtrack, but that's a bit different from yours since yours is strictly the original MS-DOS variants I believe.

[Hunchman801]

Amazing stuff!

This is probably a good occasion to highlight that TAIVAS here is working on a remastered soundtrack that's more faithful to the original, and he's been looking for help to mod it into the game. I think there's probably a good opportunity for collaboration here!

[TAIVAS]

Yooooo! This looks great! Something I could probably use here: viewtopic.php?t=75931.

If this fix works consistently, I could just replace all the mp3s with my remade tracks and the music would be replaced right? And bam - a working remade soundtrack?

I'm not that familiar with modding, but from my understanding something that simple would work, unless there's some weird audio quality issues and lenght stuff, as in tracks overlapping, but that can of course be fixed later on. None of my tracks go longer than 4:52 so there's probably no problem there.

*edit*
I also tried to find a way to contact the guy that made the first PSX OST patch here: https://gamebanana.com/sounds/86151. The mod didn't seem that easily modifiable and I had no idea on how to contact him. Maybe we here can make something work