TFMX (The Final Musicsystem eXtended) player and converter for Chris Huelsbeck's Amiga music format. Converts TFMX modules (mdat + smpl) into high-quality, editable XM (FastTracker II) files — playable in Schism Tracker, MilkyTracker, OpenMPT and others.
The XM converter is the main focus of this project and produces remarkably accurate results, especially for Turrican 2 — volume envelopes, vibrato, sweep effects, multi-phase macros and stereo panning are carefully translated to XM equivalents. Other TFMX modules (Turrican 1, Turrican 3, etc.) also work but may need further tuning.
The built-in player is functional but still work in progress — for the best listening experience, convert to XM and use a dedicated tracker like Schism Tracker or OpenMPT.
Unlike other TFMX converters, tfmxplay produces clean, human-readable XM files where macros are mapped to dedicated tracks using XM note parameters. The result is easy to edit and remix.
This MP3 was rendered directly from the XM file that tfmxplay's converter produced — TFMX mdat → XM → WAV → MP3, fully automated, no manual editing.
Turrican 2 — Title (Subsong 00) — click to play in browser
Turrican 2 — Title (Subsong 02) — click to play in browser
Turrican 2 — World 1 (Subsong 00) — click to play in browser
Turrican 2 — World 2 (Subsong 02) — click to play in browser
Pre-built static binaries (no dependencies required):
| Platform | Binary |
|---|---|
| macOS (Apple Silicon + Intel) | Universal Binary |
| Linux x86_64 | Static Binary |
| Linux ARM64 (Raspberry Pi) | Static Binary |
| Windows x64 | Static .exe |
# Basic conversion (default panning: Soft)
tfmxplay mdat.T2_World1 -convert2xm=t2world1.xm
# With subsong selection
tfmxplay mdat.T2_World1 -subsong 3 -convert2xm=t2w1_sub03.xm
# With panning preset
tfmxplay mdat.T2_Title -subsong 0 -convert2xm=t2title.xm -pan=ExperimentalBass| Preset | Description |
|---|---|
| Soft (default) | Gentle stereo separation, good for headphones and speakers |
| Amiga | Original hard left/right Amiga panning |
| Headphone | Narrow stereo image, comfortable for long listening |
| NearMono | Almost mono, minimal stereo separation |
| ExperimentalBass | Bass and drums centered, rest with narrowed stereo — best for modern mixes |
Each conversion appends diagnostics to conversion.log in the output directory — instrument mapping, volume scaling, panning decisions, and sweep baking details. Useful for debugging and tuning. Logs auto-rotate at ~1 MB (keeps 9 old files).
# Play a TFMX module
tfmxplay mdat.T2_World1
# Play specific subsong
tfmxplay mdat.T2_World1 -subsong 4
# Dump to WAV
tfmxplay mdat.T2_Title -dumpKeys are read from the terminal while the player is running.
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| Tab | Next subsong |
| Shift+Tab | Previous subsong |
| Enter | Toggle frame trace |
| \ | Set tempo to 6x, show CIA value |
| ~ | Toggle register trace |
| Backspace | Reset tempo to default (PAL/NTSC) |
| [ / ] | Increase / decrease tempo (~9%) |
| { / } | Double / halve tempo |
| ` | Toggle NTSC/PAL |
| 1-4 | Show channel 0-3 mute status |
| 5-8 | Toggle channel 0-3 macro trace |
| A-Z | Lock channel 3, play macro 0-25 |
| Ctrl+C | Quit |
General:
-h, --help Display help
-v, --version Show version
-i, --info Show TFMX module info (header, subsongs, format)
Playback:
-s, --subsong (num) Select subsong
-n, --ntsc Use NTSC rate
-l, --hle High-level emulation (lower quality, faster)
-d, --dump Dump 16-bit stereo output to tfmx.wav
-S, --speed Set speed in clock/2 cycles
-M, --mute (channels) Mute channels (e.g. -M 123 mutes ch 1,2,3)
XM Conversion:
-c, --convert2xm[=file] Convert TFMX to XM file
-p, --pan (preset) Panning: Amiga, Soft, Headphone, NearMono, ExperimentalBass
Requires CMake and SDL2.
# macOS / Linux
cmake -B build
cmake --build build
# Static build (no external dependencies)
cmake -B build -DSTATIC_BUILD=ON
cmake --build build- Load the mdat (music data) and smpl (sample data) files
- Simulate TFMX playback tick-by-tick, writing note/volume events into a linear XM row grid
- Post-process: apply effective volumes, vibrato, sustain/release envelopes, stereo panning, and song-specific patches
- Write the XM file with delta-encoded 8-bit samples, packed pattern data, and instrument headers
TFMX macros (mSetBegin, mOn, mAddVol, mVibrato, mEnv, mWaitUp, etc.) are translated into XM equivalents — volume column effects, effect column commands, and instrument parameters. Multi-phase macros (attack + sustain), sweep baking (mAddBegin), and DMA retrigger loops are handled automatically.
- Turrican 1 (mdat.title)
- Turrican 2 (T2_Title, T2_World1, T2_World2, T2_World5, and others)
- Various other TFMX modules
- Chris Huelsbeck — TFMX music system and Turrican soundtracks
- ray77 — tfmxplay XM converter
- tildearrow — tfmxplay core engine
