GEMS
From Sega Retro
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GEMS (Genesis Editor for Music and Sound effects) is a sound driver used in 186 documented games for the Sega Genesis, including Sonic Spinball. It was developed by Jonathan Miller (drivers and firmware), Burt Sloane (programming), Chris Grigg and Mark Miller (concept and design) of Recreational Brainware by Sega's request, and mainly used by western developers.
The software integrates a programming language that can be built into the composition file and is context - sensitive to gameplay events within the game itself.This is acomplished by setting aside shared memory space that will allow the sound driver to comunicate with the game and vice-versa.Using this technique, the music can change to reflect conditions within the game.For instance, it can be used to track the number of enemies onscreen and change pitch tempo when a certain threshold is reached or it can be timed to play when certain effects, shuc as flashes of light, are used.
While in games using other drivers, such Alien Soldier or Shinobi 3 basic behaviour such as playback speed is controlled by a single variable (which can be easly manipulated by an action replay or hex editor), GEMS has to change the data of the whole music track stored on the ROM for the same effect. This can be easily noticed by comparing data in partially PAL optimized games, such as Cool Spot.
On September 24, 2007, drx released the official GEMS development kit.
Download GEMS Development Kit
File: GEMS.zip (324 kB) (info)
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Contents
List of Sega Mega Drive games that use GEMS
A
- AAAHH!!! Real Monsters
- Action 52
- The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends
- Aero the Acro-Bat
- Aero the Acro-Bat 2
- Andre Agassi Tennis
- Another World
- Arcade Classics
- Awesome Possum
B
- B.O.B. (Space Funky B.O.B.)
- Baby's Day Out (beta)
- Ballz 3D
- Barbie Super Model
- Bass Masters Classic
- Bass Masters Classic Pro Edition
- Batman: Revenge of the Joker
- Batman Returns
- Battletech
- The Berenstain Bears' Camping Adventure
- Beyond Zero Tolerance (beta)
- Blood Shot (Battle Frenzy)
- Body Count
- Bonkers
- Boxing Legends of the Ring
- Brutal: Paws of Fury
C
- Caesar's Palace
- Cal Ripken Jr. Baseball
- Cannon Fodder
- Captain Planet and the Planeteers
- Chakan: The Forever Man
- Champions World Class Soccer
- Championship Pool
- Chavez II
- Clay Fighter
- Cliffhanger
- Clue
- College Football's National Championship
- College Football's National Championship II
- College Slam
- Comix Zone
- Cool Spot
- Crystal's Pony Tale
D
- David Crane's Amazing Tennis
- David Robinson's Supreme Court
- Daze Before Christmas
- The Death and Return of Superman
- Demolition Man
- Desert Demolition
- Dick Vitale's "Awesome Baby!" College Hoops
- Dinosaurs for Hire
- A Dinosaur's Tale
- Disney's Aladdin
- Donald in Maui Mallard
- Doom Troopers
- Double Dragon V: The Shadow Falls
- Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story
- Dragon's Revenge
- Duke Nukem 3D
- Dune: The Battle for Arrakis
- Dungeons & Dragons: Warriors of the Eternal Sun
E
- Earthworm Jim
- Earthworm Jim 2
- Ecco Jr.
- ESPN Baseball Tonight
- ESPN National Hockey Night
- ESPN SpeedWorld
- ESPN Sunday Night NFL
- Eternal Champions
- Evander Holyfield's Real Deal Boxing
- Ex-Mutants
F
- F1 World Championship Edition
- Ferias Frustradas do Pica-Pau
- Flashback: The Quest for Identity
- Frank Thomas Big Hurt Baseball
- Fun-n-Games
G
- Garfield: Caught in the Act
- Gargoyles
- Generations Lost
- Goofy's Hysterical History Tour
- The Great Waldo Search
- Greatest Heavyweights
- Greendog: The Beached Surfer Dude
H
I
J
- Jammit
- Jelly Boy (beta)
- Jeopardy!
- Jimmy White's Whirlwind Snooker
- Joe Montana II Sports Talk Football
- The Jungle Book
- Jurassic Park
- Jurassic Park: Rampage Edition
- Justice League Task Force
K
- Kawasaki Superbike Challenge
- Kid Chameleon (Chameleon Kid)
- Krusty's Super Fun House
M
- Madden NFL '96
- The Magic School Bus
- Marko's Magic Football
- Marsupilami
- Menacer 6-Game Cartridge
- Mick & Mack as the Global Gladiators
- Mickey's Ultimate Challenge
- Monopoly
- Mortal Kombat 3
- Muhammad Ali Heavyweight Boxing
N
- NBA Action '94
- NBA Action '95 Starring David Robinson
- NBA Jam
- NBA Jam Tournament Edition
- NBA Hang Time
- NCAA Football
- NCAA Final Four Basketball
- NFL '95
- NFL Football '94
- NFL 98
- NFL Quarterback Club
- NFL Quarterback Club '96
- Nightmare Circus
- Normy's Beach Babe-O-Rama
O
P
- The Pagemaster
- Paperboy II
- Phantom 2040
- Pink Goes to Hollywood
- Pinocchio
- The Pirates of Dark Water
- Pirates! Gold
- Pocahontas
- Power Monger
- Premier Manager 97
- Prince of Persia
- Pro Quarterback
- The Punisher
R
- RBI Baseball '94
- The Ren & Stimpy Show Presents Stimpy's Invention
- Risk
- Robocop vs The Terminator
- Roger Clemens' MVP Baseball
S
- Scooby-Doo Mystery
- SeaQuest DSV
- Sega Channel
- Shadowrun
- Shanghai II: Dragon's Eye
- Shaq-Fu
- The Simpsons: Bart's Nightmare
- The Smurfs
- Sonic Spinball
- Spider-Man: The Animated Series
- Spirou
- Spot Goes to Hollywood
- Star Trek: The Next Generation: Echoes from the Past
- Super Battle Tank: War in the Gulf
- Super Battleship
- Super High Impact
- Super Mario World 64
- Sylvester and Tweety in Cagey Capers
T
- Tale Spin
- Taz-Mania
- Taz in Escape From Mars
- TechnoClash
- Tecmo Super Baseball
- Tecmo Super Hockey
- Tecmo Super NBA Basketball
- Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends
- Tintin in Tibet
- TNN Bass Tournament of Champions
- TNN Outdoors Bass Tournament '96
- ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron
- Toxic Crusaders
- Toy Story
- Toys
- Troy Aikman NFL Football
U
V
W
- Wild Snake (beta)
- World Series Baseball
- World Series Baseball '95
- World Series Baseball '96
- World Series Baseball 98
- WWF RAW
- WWF Royal Rumble
- WWF Super Wrestlemania
- WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Game