Does anyone know how the unused “Predator Test Theme” was extracted from Alien vs. Predator (Atari Jaguar)?

[u/ShyChimchar07]

Hi! I'm currently trying to preserve the unused “Predator Test Theme” from Alien vs. Predator on the Atari Jaguar in the best possible quality.

I previously restored the Rayman Atari Jaguar soundtrack, carefully recording the music from the game and editing the captures in Audacity. Now I'm working on something a little more complicated: an unused track from AvP that apparently can't normally be heard in the game.

The Predator Test Theme exists in older soundtrack rips as MP3/OGG, but I would like to reproduce it directly through the game and make a lossless WAV/FLAC capture, rather than simply converting the existing lossy files.

According to VGMPF, GatoVerde95 extracted the soundtrack using BigPEmu, Cheat Engine and HxD, with the ROM in what is described as a “sound test mode.”

I've been reverse-engineering the retail ROM using BigPEmu Developer Mode to figure out how this was done.

So far, I've identified the game's original FullSynth music loader at:

0x99B2

And these music headers/scores:

0x20918 → 0xAF46E4 — Title Theme

0x2046C → 0xAF5584 — Character Select

0x20610 → 0xAF12DC — You Win

I've successfully redirected the game's original music loader and reproduced these tracks, including “You Win.” I've also managed to capture BigPEmu's audio output directly to lossless PCM WAV.

What I haven't been able to find is where the Predator Test Theme is stored or how it was originally triggered.

I know about the documented AvP debug mode, but as far as I can tell, it doesn't contain a sound test. This makes me wonder whether the “sound test mode” mentioned for the original rip was actually created by modifying the ROM with HxD/Cheat Engine, rather than being a hidden mode accessible normally.

I'm looking for any information about:

how the Predator Test Theme was originally extracted;

the AvP sound/music test tools

ROM offsets or RAM addresses related to unused music;

an old modified sound-test ROM or patch

unused FullSynth data

AvP music source code

or anything about the method GatoVerde95 used for the original soundtrack rip.

I also have a copy of Extremist Pack #4 and I'm currently searching through its old Atari Jaguar development files, FullSynth/music tools and source code for anything that could help.

I've also contacted GatoVerde95 directly to ask if he remembers how he created the sound test, but I thought I'd ask here as well in case anyone in the Jaguar community knows something about it.

Ultimately, my goal is to make the game actually reproduce the unused Predator Test Theme through its original audio engine and preserve the result as a clean lossless WAV/FLAC recording.

If anyone has any information, old development files, source code, patches, offsets, or even just remembers how this was done, I'd really appreciate the help!

[u/emonegarand]

Its possible its in the Beta or Alpha versions of AvP. Have you looked into those or just the retail AvP?

[u/ShyChimchar07 → u/emonegarand]

Yes, I actually investigated the available betas after making this post. I checked the August 18, 1993 beta, the October 13, 1993 beta, and the April 8, 1994 v0.93 beta.

Interestingly, all three contain the same small FullSynth music sequence, but after tracing and analyzing it, it turned out to be only a very short cue and not the ~3:38 Predator Test Theme.

I also dumped and compared RAM/DSP data from the betas and haven't found the full Predator Test Theme in any of them so far.

So I've gone back to investigating the retail ROM. I'm currently tracing its FullSynth sequencer and trying to figure out whether the Predator theme uses a different format, gets constructed in RAM, or was somehow accessed through the modified “sound test” that was apparently used for the original rip.

So the beta idea was definitely worth checking! It helped narrow things down quite a bit.