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dat/tables.pak holds a 5798-entry SOUNDS record (cue name -> sound id) and a 5135-entry FILES record (.slb bank paths). Cue names are the join key, so a script message id now resolves all the way to the bank that voices it: MSG_VOICE_D_257 -> VOICE_D_257 -> 6945 -> jpn\etc\VOICE_D_257.slb. The prefix rule is MSG_ -> VOICE_, not strip-MSG_. My first rule was the latter; it left 88 names unresolved and I was about to write those families up as text-only announcements, until VOICE_TCAF_592.slb turned up in FILES and refuted it. Corrected rule resolves 1326 of 1338, and SOUNDS and FILES agree on exactly the same 12 absentees. Separately, MSG_DEMO_* is driven by its own IDXD tables in the language packs, which carry speaker, portrait, on-screen seconds and audio cue per page. Field count is 9*PageCount+2 for all 7 distinct PageCounts; 1252/1252 caption-key slots match <ID>_<page>_<line>; the 78 multi-page records equal the 78 counted independently from the caption side; 138 ids close exactly against the caption table both ways. Does not settle the known VOICE_D_452 wrong-recording case -- every cue id is distinct, so bank sharing is not happening at this layer.
90 lines
4.0 KiB
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90 lines
4.0 KiB
Markdown
# The cutscene message table — speaker, portrait, timing and audio cue
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**✅ Settled 2026-08-26.** The `MSG_DEMO_*` family is not called from any stage
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script; it is driven by its own IDXD tables in the language packs. Those tables
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carry, per line of cutscene dialogue: **who says it, which portrait is shown,
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how long it stays on screen, and which audio cue plays**.
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This answers the question left open by
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[isl-message-dialogue-link.md](isl-message-dialogue-link.md) — what drives
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cutscene dialogue, given that built-in 64 never mentions it.
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## Where it lives
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32 IDXD objects per language pack (`dat/GP_MAIN_GAME_<lang>.pak`). Each holds a
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`Generic` record with a `Count`, plus some number of `Message_NNN` records —
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**149 in total** across the English pack, covering **138 distinct ids**.
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## Record layout
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A `Message_NNN` record has two named fields, `ID` and `PageCount`, and then
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**9 positional fields per page**:
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| slot | content | example |
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|---|---|---|
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| 0 | speaker | `CharacterNATALIE` |
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| 1 | portrait | `FaceNATALIE_01` |
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| 2 | constant `None` at all 149 records | `None` |
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| 3 | on-screen seconds, 1.00 – 5.00 (mean 2.48) | `1.9` |
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| 4 | audio cue, or empty | `DEMO_017` |
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| 5–8 | the four caption keys of that page | `MSG_DEMO_600_000_00` … `_03` |
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The field count is exactly **9 · PageCount + 2**, and that identity holds for
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every one of the 7 distinct PageCount values present (1→11, 2→20, 3→29, 4→38,
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5→47, 6→56, 8→74). That is what pins the per-page grouping.
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## Evidence
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* **1 252 of 1 252** caption-key slots equal `<ID>_<page>_<line>` exactly, with
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**zero** mismatches. The grouping is not a guess about which slot is which.
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* **78** records span more than one page — which independently equals the 78
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multi-page `MSG_DEMO` ids counted from the *caption* side, by a different
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method. Two measurements, same number.
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* In **68 of those 78** the speaker changes between pages, confirming from the
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data that successive pages are successive utterances rather than one long
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speech.
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* The id sets close exactly: **138 ids in the caption table, 138 in the message
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table, none on either side without the other.**
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* 28 distinct speakers, 98 distinct portraits.
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## The audio cue (slot 4)
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296 of 313 pages carry a cue, and there are **296 distinct values** — one per
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page, never reused. It joins to the `SOUNDS` table described in
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[sound-cue-table.md](sound-cue-table.md):
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DEMO_017 -> sound id 8017
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The numbering rule is `DEMO_nnn` → `8000 + nnn`, which holds for **286 of 286**
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plain-numeric cues. The 9 remaining cues carry a letter suffix
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(`DEMO_067A`, `DEMO_190A`–`C`, `DEMO_216A`–`C`, `DEMO_278A`–`B`) and are
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assigned 8400–8408 in order. There is no unexplained residue.
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Within a message, **77 of the 78** multi-page records number their cues
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consecutively; one does not.
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**A guess I had and dropped:** slot 4 looked at first like a movie reference,
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since the values resemble the `DEMO_nnn` naming of a clip. It is not — there
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are 97 `.wmv` files on the disc and their names look nothing like this
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(`ADV.wmv`, `RT01A.wmv`), and the values are unique *per page*, which no movie
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reference would be.
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## What this does not settle
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* **17 pages have no cue** (slot 4 empty). Silent, or voiced by another route,
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is unmeasured.
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* **Slot 2 is `None` at all 149 records**, so what it would hold otherwise is
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unknown — a constant with no observed variation carries no information.
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* **5 ids have more than one record** (`MSG_DEMO_600`–`604`), accounting for
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the 11 extra records over 138 ids. Whether these are context variants or
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duplicates was not investigated.
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* **Nothing here was run.** This is a static read of the tables; the playback
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order, and whether slot 3 is really the on-screen duration rather than an
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audio length or a delay, has not been checked against the running game.
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## Artifact
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[`../data/cutscene-message-table.txt`](../data/cutscene-message-table.txt) —
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all 313 pages with speaker, portrait, seconds, cue and text.
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Regenerate with `tools/re-capture/sound_cues.py demo`.
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