[CaveOfMonsters]

I've been attempting to do this now for about 3 years and have had absolutely no success. The most I was able to achieve was making the music silent which also messed up a lot of other things in the rom.

Is there any documented information on how to do this?

I just need new music to replace the NES Bubble Bobble music and any help, advice or assistance is very appreciated.

Thank in advance.

[Cyneprepou4uk]

Create new music and sfx in Famistudio and replace sound engine in the game.
https://famistudio.org

[Jorpho]

I've been attempting to do this now for about 3 years and have had absolutely no success.

Have you learned anything in three years that you would care to share..?

Is there any documented information on how to do this?

As it is entirely likely that its sound engine is unique, it would not be surprising if there was no documented information.

As noted in the other post, sometimes completely replacing the sound engine is the best option.

[CaveOfMonsters]

That sounds like a great option I didnt even realise that was possible. How would I go about this? What will I need to replace the sound engine?

The progress I made was so far being able to locate the music blocks in the rom with a hex editor. Changing it to anything good has had no luck at all. I can make good soundtracks with things like Famitracker though so if I can replace the sound engine then that is the route I will take. But I need some advice on how to do it since I never even knew it was possible to do this.

[Jorpho]

The progress I made was so far being able to locate the music blocks in the rom with a hex editor. Changing it to anything good has had no luck at all.

So, what makes you think you've located the music blocks if you can't change any of it..?

[Cyneprepou4uk]

You'll need NES assembly knowledge and experience with assemblers. The program has docs with examples on the site.

[CaveOfMonsters]

So, what makes you think you've located the music blocks if you can't change any of it..?

Oh I've been able to change it. Sometime make it entirely silent. The hex glows blue with my NES debugging tools so that's how I found it. But it's not one block. The bassline is in a sperate block it seems to the main melody. Changing it into something that sounds good is the problem. Hex music making is a pretty horrendous task. Famitracker is good because it follows the same technique as cubase etc.

You'll need NES assembly knowledge and experience with assemblers. The program has docs with examples on the site.

Ah thank you I'll check this out.

[Jorpho]

I should add that if you can find an NSF for Bubble Bobble (and I'm sure there must be one out there somewhere), then that should contain the exact same code used in the ROM – just re-arranged. If you can figure out how to make changes to the NSF, then you can make corresponding changes to the complete ROM. But that will make it only marginally less of a pain in the neck.

While some programs like Famitracker can make NSF files, you can't use those in an arbitrary ROM without replacing the sound engine, as previously noted.

[CaveOfMonsters]

Ahh I see. I'll see if I can find that NSF though. It might at least help a bit. I'm honestly surprised that a game this iconic and classic hasnt been completely reverse engineered by now. Music editing in NES games is one if the most awkward things I've ever had to tackle.

[Cyneprepou4uk]

https://www.zophar.net/music/nintendo-nes-nsf/bubble-bobble

But that will make it only marginally less of a pain in the neck.

I agree, NSF by itself doesn't help much. At the very least you won't be distracted by other gameplay code stuff while debugging it.