oneup40 / ALttPMSUShuffler

Script that generates a new shuffled MSU-1 pack for use in ALttP Randomizer

ALttPMSUShuffler

Creates a shuffled MSU-1 pack for ALttP Randomizer from one or more source MSU-1 packs.

Usage:

1. Copy this script to a new subdirectory in the directory containing all of your current MSU packs. For example, if your MSU pack is in "MSUs\alttp_undertale\alttp_msu-1.pcm", the script should be in "MSUs\ALttPMSUShuffler\Main.py".

2. DRAG AND DROP METHOD:

   1. Drag one or more ALttP Randomizer ROMs (with background music enabled) on top of Main.py to open the ROMs with the python script; for each ROM opened this way, a shuffled MSU pack matching that ROM's name will be generated next to the ROM in its original directory (with the tracklist in ROMNAME-msushuffleroutput.log).

3. MANUAL METHOD:

   1. Copy the ALttP Randomizer ROM (with background music enabled) to the same directory as this Main.py script. The script will rename the ROM to "shuffled.sfc". The original ROM name and tracklist is printed to "shuffled-msushuffleroutput.log" (handy for retrieving spoilers). If you don't copy the ROM before running the script, you need to rename the ROM to "shuffled.sfc" yourself. The script will warn before overwriting "shuffled.sfc" if it already exists.

   2. Run Main.py to execute the script to delete any old pack in this directory and generate a new one. Track names picked will be saved in "shuffled-msushuffleroutput.log" (cleared on reruns)

   3. LIVE RESHUFFLE METHOD: Instead of simply running Main.py, run LiveReshuffle.py or run in the command line as "python Main.py --live 10" (or any other positive integer) to generate a new shuffled MSU pack every few seconds. Will skip replacing any tracks currently being played. Best if used without the --realcopy option, and best if the shuffled MSU pack and source packs are all on the same hard drive, to avoid excessive disk usage. Edit LiveReshuffle.py to set a different reshuffle interval than the 10 second default.

   4. LIVE RESHUFFLE + NOW PLAYING VIEW (EXPERIMENTAL): Run the command line as "python Main.py --live 10 --nowplaying" to run in live reshuffle mode (as described above) while polling qusb2snes for the currently playing MSU pack, printed to console and nowplaying.txt for use as an OBS streaming text source.

4. Load the ROM in an MSU-compatible emulator (works well with Snes9x 1.60)

Additional options/usage notes:

• By default, the generated pack will pick each track from a matching track number in a random MSU pack in the parent directory of this script. For dungeon-specific or boss-specific tracks, if the random pack chosen isn't an extended MSU pack, the generic dungeon/boss music is chosen instead.

  Note that if you ONLY have non-extended packs, this default behavior will create an extended pack, which (like all extended packs) prevents you from using music cues to distinguish pendant from crystal dungeons. If you want this, use --basicshuffle instead.

• If run in the command line as "python Main.py --basicshuffle", each track is chosen from the same track from a random pack. If you have any extended packs, the dungeon/boss themes from non-extended packs will never be chosen.

• If run in the command line as "python Main.py --fullshuffle", behavior for non-looping tracks (short fanfares, portals, etc.) remains as default, but looping tracks will be in shuffled order, so each track in the generated pack is chosen from a random track number in a random MSU pack. Pick this if you like shop music in Ganon's Tower.

• If run in the command line as "python Main.py --singleshuffle ../your-msu-pack-name-here", behavior is the same as with --fullshuffle, but a single MSU pack of your choice is chosen as the shuffled source for all tracks in the generated pack.

• If run in the command line as "python Main.py --higan" (along with any other options), the shuffled MSU pack is generated in a higan-friendly subdirectory "./higan.sfc/"

• Searches the parent directory of the directory containing the script for all MSU packs to be included in the shuffler by default, but will skip any tracks with "disabled" (case-insensitive) in the directory name or file name; useful for keeping tracks hidden from the shuffler without needing to move them out of the collection entirely.

• Caches the track list in ./trackindex.pkl to avoid reindexing the entire collection every time the script is run. If run in the command line as "python Main.py --reindex", it will regenerate the track index. Use this to pick up any new MSU packs for the shuffler.

Debugging options (not necessary for normal use):

• This script uses hardlinks instead of copies by default to reduce disk usage and increase speed; the --realcopy option can be used to create real copies instead of hardlinks. Real copies are forced if the shuffled MSU pack and the source MSU packs are on different hard drives.

• The --dry-run option can be used to make this script print the filesystem commands (deleting, creating, renaming files) it would have executed instead of executing them.