[game_preservation] Older versions of Programs

[Jim Leonard]

Devin Monnens wrote:

> So if that's the case, we should be making .cue files to go with the VGM 

> albums we archive? The way I see it, if WAV and FLAC are both lossless, 

> then shouldn't you be able to just back up the audio as FLAC instead of 

> WAV and not lose any information? Hmm... Maybe I'm not sure how they 

> work, but wouldn't m3u's and other playlists also have that same kind of 

> support for track gaps like on a CD? (so you'd have an m3u with the same 

> track gap information, but also a .cue so you could create the disc 

> exactly the same way again).


It's more than track gaps; subcode info holds stuff like the graphics in 
CD+G discs, and also exact positioning/timing information.  For games 
that rely on the audio data being in a very specific place for timing 
issues (Sega CD, Sega Saturn, early DOS and Mac games with redbook 
audio, TurboGrafix CD, others), without this information the data isn't 
put back in exactly the right place and you could lose sync with 
onscreen graphics.  Also, some basic copy-protection schemes might rely 
on it.

So yes, .iso or .wav is not good enough if you really want to archive a 
program disc.
-- 
Jim Leonard (trixter at oldskool.org)            http://www.oldskool.org/
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