Music library

Whereas Game-Maker provided powerful, well-designed utilities for drawing, defining, and organizing graphical elements — tiles, sprites, maps — the sound side of things was always kind of shrug. It wasn’t until the last few versions that the software supported Sound Blaster audio, and formats it supported were… curious. Any digital samples had to be in .VOC format, and any music in the very peculiar .CMF. Whereas even now it is possible to find audio applications that support .VOC, there never really were any popular sequencers or conversion utilities for .CMF.

So what you’ll often find is Game-Maker games with original, brilliant visuals and subversive design that borrow most of their sounds and all of their music from the demo libraries, or even from other Game-Maker games. If the original author complained, the derivative author would issue an update and give him a credit. It was a different era.

Stock tracks

GMSONG1.CMF

Sort of the Super Mario Bros. overworld theme or Green Hill Zone theme of the Game-Maker world. Used in nearly every Game-Maker game in some form, often in the first level or primary area.

GMSONG2.CMF

A traipsing, bucolic theme often used for laid-back, period, or natural settings. After GMSONG1, probably the most common theme.

(There is no GMSONG3 and, at least for public use, there never was.)

GMSONG4.CMF

Otherwise known as the Jaws track. It's not literally the theme from the movie, but it evokes a similar feeling. Used for dark and sinister moments. The bit where it switches to a childlike melody is especially unnerving.

GMSONG5.CMF

A track suggesting wonder and adventure; a wide-eyed journey into the unknown. Sometimes there's danger. Sometimes there are concepts and technologies beyond your understanding. Sometimes it's thrilling. Sometimes a little overwhelming.

GMSONG6.CMF

An arrangement of "Beer Barrel Polka", often used sort of interchangeably with GMSONG2. Also used for droll, sardonic, or otherwise strange moments.

Links

• The .CMF file format