Dreamroq is a RoQ playback library specifically designed for the Sega Dreamcast video game console. RoQ is a relatively simple video file format developed for video-heavy CD-ROM games. Learn more about the RoQ format HERE.
The Dreamroq library consists of two parts: the decoder (dreamroqlib.h/c) and the player (roq-player.h/c). The decoder was initially written by Mike Melanson and later updated by Josh "PH3NOM" Pearson to include audio decoding. The dreamcast-player.c was replaced with two files, roq-player.h/c, to simplify the integration of the library into Dreamcast applications. The player component is designed to run under the KallistiOS (KOS) open-source operating system. Learn more about KOS.
The library also features a sample testing utility that can be built and executed on Unix systems, which is useful for debugging and validation.
Find more RoQ sample files HERE.
RoQ files can be created using the FFMEG encoder:
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -r 30 -ar 22050 -vf "scale=512:512:force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease,pad=512:512:(ow-iw)/2:(oh-ih)/2" output.roq -threads 2
This command will convert your input video into a 512x512 (keeping video aspect ratio with letterboxing), 30 fps RoQ video with 22050 Hz audio.
To build for the Sega Dreamcast, simply run:
make
This command will generate a file named dreamroq-player.elf, which can be loaded onto a Dreamcast console using standard methods (outside the scope of this document).
The main.c file contains a hardcoded RoQ romdisk file path (/rd/) in its main function. Ideally, this should point to a file burned onto an optical disc.
Dreamroq includes two Makefiles. The first, invoked by running a bare make command as described in the "Building for Dreamcast" section, builds the Dreamcast application. The second Makefile, Makefile.PC, can be invoked with:
make -f Makefile.PC
in the source directory. This command will build the test-dreamroq executable utility with the following usage:
./test-dreamroq <file.roq>
This utility decodes the RoQ file from the command line into a series of PNM files and a .wav file in the extract directory (note: this process could consume a significant amount of disk space).
Dreamroq is designed to be license-compatible with the rest of the KallistiOS operating system, which uses a BSD-style open-source license. You can read the specific license text in LICENSE.KOS.
- Library originally written by Mike Melanson (mike -at- multimedia.cx)
- Audio support added by Josh "PH3NOM" Pearson ([email protected])
- Inspired by Ian Michael