IMS Format
| Format type | Music |
|---|---|
| Notation type | MIDI |
| Instruments | OPL |
| Max channel count | 9 or 11 |
| Max track count | 1 |
| Max pattern count | 1 |
| Max order count | 0 |
| Tags? | Title |
| Games |
The IMS Format is an Ad Lib music format, based on the standard MIDI format. It is commonly seen in Korean DOS games.
The format is very similar to the AdLib MIDI Format, but has an additional instrument table appended. The instruments themselves are stored in a separate instrument bank in AdLib Instrument Bank Format.
File format
The file consists of a MIDI part that mostly matches the AdLib MIDI Format v1.0 and an instrument table that tells the player what instruments are to be loaded.
The instrument table is appended to the end of the MIDI data and has the following header:
| Data type | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| BYTE[2] | cSignature | 0x77 0x77 ("ww") |
| UINT16LE | numInstruments | Number of instruments used by the song |
This is followed by a list of instrument names, repeated numInstruments times:
| Data type | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| char[9] | name | Instrument name - must be NULL-terminated |
Each of the instrument names refers to the name of an instrument of an external instrument bank.
MIDI Commands
- Except for 8#, all commands match the AdLib MIDI Format.
- As with usual MIDI files, the "running status" is supported for commands 8#..E#.
| MIDI message | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 8# nn vv | Note Retrigger | Stops the current note, then plays a new note if (vv > 0) |
| 9# nn vv | Note On | Plays a note (vv > 0) or stops it (vv = 0) |
| A# vv | Volume Change | Changes the volume of the current note (also works after Note Off) |
| B# xx xx | ignored | MIDI Control Change |
| C# ii | Instrument Change | references an instrument from the instrument table |
| D# xx | ignored | MIDI Channel Aftertouch |
| E# ll mm | Pitch Bend | usual MIDI pitch bend, usually in the range of 1 semitone up/down |
| F0 7F 00 ii ff F7 | Tempo Change | new Tempo = Initial Tempo * (ii + ff/0x80) |
| F0 xx ... xx F7 | ignored | MIDI SysEx (without length) |
| F8 | Delay Overflow | causes a delay of 240 ticks |
| FC | Song End | stops the song or restarts it from the beginning if looping is enabled |
Tools
The following tools are able to work with files in this format.
| Name | Platform | Play? | Create new? | Modify? | Convert/export to other? | Import from other? | Access hidden data? | Edit metadata? | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OCPlay | DOS | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Credits
This file format was reverse engineered by Valley Bell from IMS songs used by Family Production games and by disassembling Lychnis. If you find this information helpful in a project you're working on, please give credit where credit is due. (A link back to this wiki would be nice too!)
Also thanks to MaliceX for helping to identify games that use IMS songs.