RivenSoundHack Official Home Page

October 22, 1999:

I'm afraid to say that it looks like this project is dead. I haven't done any work on it in quite some time. Anyone who wants to use my code and continue the work I'm happy to have you do that. Gabe Bauman has done some good work at his MHK page so check that out too.

April 9, 1999:

I'm still working on RSH (really slowly). Right now I've managed to get a valid WAVE header along with the sound output, but it sounds really distorted. I'm now very confused about what type of ADPCM they are really using. From the MHK files it looks like MS ADPCM, but that doesn't work in the WAVEs. I'm working with the creator of SoundHack, Tom Erbe, to figure it out, since his program plays the sounds really well. If you want a version, email me.

December 1, 1998:

The current version of RivenSoundHack is Alpha 2 (developer).

Download at the bottom of this page.

Release Notes

This version is actually useful! It allows you to choose a resource and save it. Unfortunately, it only works in Windows under Visual J++ :-(
RivenSoundHack is written in Java! Yeah! Why, you ask? Well, mainly because I want to learn Java (and OOD) but also because that way those pesky PC users will be able to use RSH as well.
RivenSoundHack is public domain. Source code is included in the download package. Let me know if you get the urge to tinker and want to have stuff included with the next release (eg. a better UI, allow users to modify the sounds in the MHKs..).

Overview

This program relates to the awesome game Riven (The Sequel to MYST) by Cyan.

The purpose of this program is to listen to the great music in Riven at any time on the computer. The music is stored in the .MHK files found in the Data directory on the hard drive where Riven has been installed. Specifically, it is stored in the files named X_sounds.MHK (where X is some letter).

In addition, the music is also compressed with ADPCM 4-1 pulse-code modulation compression which is a pain in the butt (although it's a sweet compression system) and means I have to create a header and tack it on the the front of the files. The music is compressed in the WAVE (Microsoft) ADPCM format.

On the mac, "SoundHack" by Tom Erbe is capable of playing ADPCM compressed files without a header, which is the only way to do it right now.. On the PC there doesn't sem to be any program capable of fudging the headers, but as soon as I get the headers working any Windows program will be able to play it.

DOWNLOAD RivenSoundHack Alpha 2 (developer)

The 2nd developer release of RSH is now available. Download it. Unfortunately this release uses the Windows WFC windowing classes and is thus dependent on Windows. It runs under Visual J++, other configurations are unknown.

The first developer release of RSH is available. Download it.

Back to the Home Page of Simon Woodside.

Last modified Nov 21, 1998

Simon Woodside's email address is sbwoodside@undergrad.math.uwaterloo.ca .

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