lba-midi-play

Small command-line player for the MIDI music in Little Big Adventure 1 (1994): point it at MIDI_MI.HQR, MIDI_SB.HQR, or Midi_mi_win.hqr from your game files and it plays a chosen track through your speakers.

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Quick start

1. An HQR file from the game (e.g. MIDI_MI.HQR) — next to the binary or pass a path.
2. A General MIDI .sf2 soundfont. The HQR only holds MIDI (note data); the soundfont defines the instruments. Without a font there is no audio.

make
./lba-midi-play MIDI_MI.HQR 3

• Linux: install a font package (e.g. timgm6mb-soundfont on Debian/Ubuntu — see Soundfonts) so a system .sf2 can be found automatically.
• macOS: put FluidR3_GM_GS.sf2 in /Library/Audio/Sounds/Banks/, or pass any .sf2 as the third argument (Soundfonts).
• Windows: build with MSYS2 MinGW (make → .exe), then pass a .sf2 path (Build → Windows).

If the program prints that no soundfont was found, pass the font explicitly:

./lba-midi-play MIDI_MI.HQR 3 ./MyFont.sf2

Playback exits when the track ends; press Enter to stop early.

Usage · Which HQR file? · Track index · How it works

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Build

# Clone or copy this directory alongside your game files, then:
make

The Makefile picks linker flags from uname: macOS (Core Audio), Linux (-lpthread -ldl -lm), MSYS2 MinGW (-lpthread -lm — no libdl on Windows). No configure; only cc, make, and the vendored headers.

Windows (MSYS2, portable across drives)

Use a MinGW environment (MINGW64 or UCRT64 in MSYS2), not the old MSYS-only shell, so you get a normal Windows .exe and uname reports MINGW… (what the Makefile expects).

MSYS maps drives as /d/..., /c/.... Examples:

# Project on D:  →  D:\lba2-hacking\lba-midi-play
cd /d/lba2-hacking/lba-midi-play

# Or under your MSYS home (often on C:), e.g. /home/User-PC/lba2-hacking/lba-midi-play
cd ~/lba2-hacking/lba-midi-play

make
./lba-midi-play.exe MIDI_MI.HQR 3 C:/path/to/some-font.sf2

Pass a .sf2 path as the third argument (Soundfonts); this build does not search default paths on Windows.

One-time MSYS2 setup (from a MinGW shell):

pacman -S mingw-w64-x86_64-gcc make

Requirements: a C99 compiler (cc / gcc), make, and tsf.h / tml.h / miniaudio.h (vendored). TinySoundFont and miniaudio — nothing else to link beyond the OS. Soundfonts load at runtime; see Soundfonts.

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Usage

# List tracks in an HQR file
./lba-midi-play MIDI_MI.HQR

# Play a track (uses the first system soundfont it finds)
./lba-midi-play MIDI_MI.HQR 3

# Play with a specific soundfont
./lba-midi-play MIDI_MI.HQR 3 /path/to/soundfont.sf2

# Play the Sound Blaster version of the same track
./lba-midi-play MIDI_SB.HQR 3

# Play the LBAWin Windows port version (native SMF, richer arrangements)
./lba-midi-play Midi_mi_win.hqr 3

Playback exits when the track ends; press Enter to stop early.

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The MIDI Files

LBA1 exists in three MIDI variants, all 33 tracks (indices 0–32 — see TRACKS.md):

File	Version	Format	Target hardware
MIDI_MI.HQR	DOS	XMIDI IFF	General MIDI over MPU-401 / Wave Blaster (e.g. Roland Sound Canvas SC-55)
MIDI_SB.HQR	DOS	XMIDI IFF	Sound Blaster OPL2/OPL3 FM synthesis
Midi_mi_win.hqr	LBAWin port	Native SMF	General MIDI, Windows multimedia

For the two DOS HQRs, MIDI_MI is the full General MIDI soundtrack — aimed at MPU-401 / Wave Blaster / external GM hardware. MIDI_SB is the Sound Blaster FM version: simplified arrangements for the OPL chip on typical machines. Same music in spirit; MI is the less-constrained arrangement, SB the hardware compromise.

MIDI_MI follows General MIDI (GM): fixed program numbers (e.g. piano, bass). Some DOS menus offered Roland MT-32, but MT-32 uses a different instrument map than GM, so the same file often sounds wrong there. A GM module (e.g. Roland SC-55) matches what this MIDI expects.

This tool plays all three.

MIDI_MI.HQR — DOS "MIDI Interface" version

Intended for General MIDI on typical 1990s setups (MPU-401, Wave Blaster, or an external module such as Roland Sound Canvas SC-55). Stored as XMIDI IFF (Miles), converted to SMF on load. Richer than the FM version: more voices, instruments like fretless bass, harp, synth brass, piccolo, layered pads. Files are usually larger (e.g. track 8: 21 980 bytes vs 10 540 in MIDI_SB).

Vachey described early LBA work on an Atari 1040 with samplers, later studio work at Delphine Records — not the same pipeline as the shipped DOS GM files, but in line with MIDI_MI as GM-targeted game audio (MO5.COM interview, 2019).

MIDI_SB.HQR — DOS "Sound Blaster FM" version

Intended for the OPL2/OPL3 FM synthesis chip on Sound Blaster cards. The original source (PERSO.C) selects midi_sb.hqr when MidiFM is set (FM driver active) and midi_mi.hqr otherwise. Arrangements are simplified: fewer voices, simpler patches. OPL FM chips have limited polyphony and cannot reproduce complex pads or layered strings, so tracks were re-arranged accordingly.

Midi_mi_win.hqr — LBAWin port version

Shipped with the LBAWin Windows port (dated 2001), by Sébastien Viannay (Adeline — story coding on LBA1, programming on LBA2). Not a commercial release; distributed via Magicball Network (magicball.net). GOG and Steam ship the DOS files only; Midi_mi_win.hqr comes from LBAWin separately. It differs from the DOS HQRs:

• Native SMF — no XMIDI wrapping
• SMF format 1 (multi-track), up to 14 instrument tracks per song
• Higher PPQN: mostly 384 (some 96 or 120) vs 60 for converted DOS XMIDI
• Real tempo per track (about 64–133 BPM) vs forced 120 BPM in this tool’s DOS path
• Longer arrangements: most tracks ~30–50% larger decompressed
• Tracks 24/25: DOS had a unique ~3 kB pair; WIN replaced both with a copy of track 3

Track 31 (Adeline logo jingle) is slightly shorter in WIN (139 vs 166 bytes) and track 26 (FLA flute) is nearly identical.

Soundfonts and the three MIDI sources

There is no single “right” soundfont for the GM HQRs; swapping .sf2 files changes the result a lot. That is separate from which HQR you open: MIDI_MI and MIDI_SB are different arrangements (GM vs FM-targeted), as above.

Playing MIDI_MI or Midi_mi_win today is largely about trying different GM soundfonts — same MIDI, different bank, different character.

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Tracks

LBA1 uses 33 MIDI indices (0–32) across the three HQR variants. Scene assignments, sizes, duplicates, CD vs MIDI routing, and naming caveats (vs Philippe Vachey’s separate OST) are in TRACKS.md.

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HQR File Format

HQR (High Quality Resource) is Adeline's general-purpose asset container.

File layout
───────────
Offset 0x00   uint32  Offset to entry 0's data  (= num_entries * 4; doubles
                       as the index table size, used to compute entry count)
Offset 0x04   uint32  Offset to entry 1's data
…
Offset N*4    uint32  Offset to entry N's data
Offset (N+1)*4  ← sentinel — equals the file size

At each data offset
───────────────────
+0  uint32  Decompressed (real) size
+4  uint32  Compressed size
+8  uint16  Compression mode
+10 bytes   Compressed (or raw) data

Compression modes
─────────────────
0   Uncompressed — data is read directly
1   LBA LZ mode 1 — back-reference length = (offset & 0x0F) + 2
2   LBA LZ mode 2 — back-reference length = (offset & 0x0F) + 3

All MIDI entries in the DOS HQR files use compression mode 1. The compression ratio is roughly 2:1 (e.g. MIDI_MI track 3: 8 612 bytes real, 4 790 bytes stored). Midi_mi_win.hqr also uses mode 1 for most entries; track 31 and track 26 use mode 0 (uncompressed) in both DOS and WIN.

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XMIDI Format

LBA uses XMIDI from Miles Sound System (MSS) — John Miles / Miles Design (later RAD Game Tools; Wikipedia). XMIDI is an IFF FORM container around MIDI event data.

IFF structure
─────────────
FORM <length>
  XDIR
    INFO <2>    num_tracks (little-endian uint16)
CAT  <length>
  XMID
    FORM <length>
      XMID
        TIMB  (optional: custom timbres — ignored)
        EVNT <length>  ← MIDI event stream starts here

Key differences from Standard MIDI File (SMF):

Property	XMIDI	SMF
Delta time encoding	Custom VLQ: sum non-high-bit bytes (readVLQ2)	Standard VLQ
Note duration	Stored inline after Note-On velocity	Explicit Note-Off event
Tempo	Forced to 500 000 µs/beat during conversion	As written
Controllers 0x6E–0x78	Miles-specific (loop, branch, timbres)	N/A

The converter (xmidi.c, from ScummVM/Exult via TwinEngine) outputs SMF format 0 at 60 PPQN, tempo 500 000 µs/beat (= 120 BPM).

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Soundfonts

Auto-discovery only checks a few paths where Linux and macOS often put a default GM bank. Anything else (FluidR3, GeneralUser, a download) — pass it as the third argument.

Search order:

1. Third argument if given: ./lba-midi-play MIDI_MI.HQR 3 my.sf2
2. /Library/Audio/Sounds/Banks/FluidR3_GM_GS.sf2 (macOS — if you placed that file there)
3. /usr/share/sounds/sf2/default-GM.sf2 (Debian/Ubuntu update-alternatives default GM)
4. /usr/share/sounds/sf2/TimGM6mb.sf2 (e.g. timgm6mb-soundfont package)
5. /usr/share/soundfonts/default.sf2 (Arch symlink — see Arch Linux below)

If nothing matches, pass any .sf2 path (absolute or relative), e.g. ./FluidR3_GM.sf2 next to the binary.

Linux: installing a soundfont

The program reads .sf2 directly — no FluidSynth, TiMidity++, or MIDI daemon.

On Debian/Ubuntu, sudo apt install timgm6mb-soundfont installs TimGM6mb and registers default-GM.sf2 via update-alternatives, which matches the search list above.

Larger banks (FluidR3, etc.): install the package (e.g. fluid-soundfont-gm) and either point update-alternatives --config default-GM.sf2 at FluidR3 or pass the full path to the .sf2 as the third argument.

Arch: see MIDI / FluidSynth wikis (e.g. soundfont-fluid). You can symlink a preferred bank to /usr/share/soundfonts/default.sf2 so auto-discovery finds it.

macOS

Put a GM .sf2 in /Library/Audio/Sounds/Banks/ as FluidR3_GM_GS.sf2 for auto-discovery, or pass any path as the third argument. ~/Library/Audio/... is not searched.

Windows

No default paths — lba-midi-play … HQR index C:\path\to\font.sf2 (or MSYS paths).

Soundfonts people often use (all General MIDI)

Soundfont	Rough size	Notes
TimGM6mb	~6 MB	Small; many Linux distros (Debian).
FluidR3 GM	~140 MB	Common reference; Debian, often FluidR3_GM.sf2 elsewhere.
GeneralUser GS	~30 MB	Free GM/GS; author’s site.
FreePats General MIDI	varies	Open instruments — FreePats.

Pass the path as the third argument if it is not your distro’s default-GM target.

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Implementation Notes

Architecture

main.c       CLI, argument parsing, miniaudio setup, playback loop
hqr.c/h      HQR decompression — adapted from TwinEngine (twin-e/src/hqr.c)
xmidi.c/h    XMIDI → SMF conversion — adapted from TwinEngine via ScummVM/Exult
tsf.h        TinySoundFont — SF2 synthesiser (single-header, Bernhard Schelling)
tml.h        TML — SMF parser (single-header, Bernhard Schelling)
miniaudio.h  Cross-platform audio I/O (single-header, David Reid / mackron)

Audio pipeline

The tool auto-detects format by checking the first four bytes of each entry (FORM = XMIDI, MThd = native SMF):

HQR file (on disk)
      │  hqr_get_entry_alloc()  — LZ decompress
      ▼
raw bytes (XMIDI or SMF)
      │  if XMIDI: convert_to_midi() — XMIDI IFF → SMF format 0
      │  if SMF:   used directly     (Midi_mi_win.hqr)
      ▼
SMF bytes (in memory)
      │  tml_load_memory()      — parse events, build linked list
      ▼
tml_message list
      │  audio callback: advance time, fire tsf_channel_* per event
      ▼
TSF rendered frames (float32, 44 100 Hz stereo)
      │  miniaudio data callback
      ▼
Speaker output

Timing

The callback renders audio in blocks between MIDI events: when the internal clock reaches event->time, it dispatches to TinySoundFont, then renders samples up to the next event (or the end of the buffer).

License

GPL-2.0-only — see LICENSE. Same spirit as the adapted HQR and XMIDI code (TwinEngine / ScummVM / Exult). TinySoundFont, TML, and miniaudio keep their own licenses in the headers (MIT or public domain); bundled in a GPLv2-compatible way.

Credits

• LBA MIDI music — Adeline Software International / Philippe Vachey (1994)
• TwinEngine (HQR + XMIDI code) — The TwinEngine team (GPL v2)
• XMIDI conversion — ScummVM / Exult lineage (GPL v2)
• TinySoundFont / TML — Bernhard Schelling (MIT)
• miniaudio — David Reid (MIT / public domain)