OMI
| Origin MIDI | |||||
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| Developer: | Origin Systems, Inc. | ||||
| Header: | Custom | ||||
| Content: | Notational | ||||
| Instruments: | External | ||||
Target Output
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| Released: | 1990-09-26 | ||||
| First Game: | Wing Commander (DOS) | ||||
| Extensions |
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Origin MIDI (OMI) is an audio format created by Origin Systems and was used in the Wing Commander and Worlds of Ultima games of the early 1990s. The format stores game music and can be sent to various output devices including AdLib, Sound Blaster, and Roland MT-32. Instrument data for each device is stored in a TIM archive file and the audio driver is STRAX.DRV. The actual music files from the game do not have a file extension; OMI is used to help distinguish the format since it is similar enough in structure to be confused with MIDI, but different enough to prevent most MIDI players from playing it. Like MIDI, OMI allows for meta data including song and track titles, however, not every composer added them.
Although the Worlds of Ultima games use the same engine as Ultima VI: The False Prophet (DOS), they use this new audio format instead of the earlier M format. Subsequent Origin games used John Miles's XMI format.
Contents
Players
Currently there are no players that support this format.
Games
| Released | Title | Sample |
|---|---|---|
| 1990-09-26 | Wing Commander (DOS) | |
| 1990-??-?? | Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire (DOS) | |
| 1991-??-?? | Ultima: Worlds of Adventure 2 - Martian Dreams (DOS) | |
| 1991-??-?? | Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi (DOS) | |
| 1993-??-?? | Wing Commander Academy (DOS) |
How to Obtain
The files must be extracted from the each game's LZC compressed music data files.
Technical
Like a MIDI file, each OMI file begins with "MThd" and contains "MTrk" at the start of each track.
You can study the format by using the unpack_lzc.exe tool created by the Nuvie team.
