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A Dreamcast-native port of the Singe / Hypseus-Singe FMV engine
by Troy Davis (GPF)

DCSinge is a ground-up Dreamcast reimplementation of the Singe/Hypseus FMVengine used in laserdisc-style games such as Dragon’s Lair, Space Ace, CrimePatrol, Mad Dog McCree, Hologram Time Traveler, and modern Singe 2 fan titles.

Unlike Hypseus (PC), DCSinge usesno SDL and no FFmpeg.
Everything is implemented directly on Dreamcast hardware:

• PVR for rendering
• AICA ADPCM for audio
• Lua 5.4 for game logic
• KallistiOS for filesystem, threading, and system services

DCSinge replaces MPEG-1 video decoding with a Dreamcast-optimized.dcmvcontainer format based on preprocessed VQ textures and ADPCM audio.

• Plays.dcmv files containing:
  • VQ-compressed PVR texture frames
  • Optional LZ4 or Zstandard compression
  • Frame offset table
  • AICA ADPCM (4-bit) audio stream
• Video synced to audio viapsTimer()
• Optional threaded preloading
• Zero runtime video decoding overhead

DCSinge implements the Singe Lua API used by Hypseus, including:

• start_clip(),stop_clip(), frame-range playback
• Overlay drawing (sep_draw_box,sep_draw_text,sep_draw_sprite)
• Timer and event callbacks
• Input handling
• Branching and scene transitions

Runs.singe scripts directly.

• PVR textured quad rendering (no SDL abstraction)
• Maple controller input
• AICA streaming audio
• Optional Jump Pack rumble
• Supports ROM disk, ISO/CDI, and GDEMU

DCSinge preservesSinge Lua behavior, not FFmpeg or SDL renderer behavior.

DCSinge includes a working test port of the Singe 2 fan gameSpaceRocks,
bundledwith permission from its creator, Widge™.

To support Dreamcast hardware,Widge™ provided:

• A custom640×480 MPEG-1.m2v file for.dcmv conversion
• An updatedspacerocks.singe script compatible with the DCSinge folder layout
• Additional refinements for Dreamcast playback

Delivered via DirtBagXon® on 11/13/25:

“Widge has made some resolution changes to SpaceRocks LUA and video for DC…”
https://app.filen.io/#/f/5c906266-0185-46d4-884f-9408d0d35e04%23756b3659626f46356472376552614c466e744959504152526831302d616c6b4d

This example demonstrates:

• FMV playback
• Lua logic
• Sprites and overlays
• Input mapping
• Audio playback

All creative rights remain withWidge™.

A typical game folder looks like:

data/├── singe.cfg├── spacerocks.dcmv└── spacerocks/└── singe/└── spacerocks/├── spacerocks.singe├── images/.png└── sounds/.mp3 or *.wav

game_dir=spacerocks/video_file=spacerocks.dcmvscript_file=singe/spacerocks/spacerocks.singechunk_name=@spacerocks.singegame_name=SpaceRocks

DCSinge loads textures using KOS’s:

png_to_texture()

Dreamcast PVR requirespower-of-two dimensions.

• 32 / 64 / 128 / 256 / 512 pixels (width & height)
• Standard PNG (RGB or RGBA)
• Not required to be converted to.pvr
• Simply resized to POT dimensions

All PNGs used in.singe scripts should be resized accordingly.

Textures are placed in:

data//singe//images/*.png

WAV files are kept as-is.
However:

• Many Singe WAVs exceed64 KB, which Dreamcast cannot load fully into AICA
• These mayfail to play or play only partially

Future versions will include WAV → ADPCM conversion and audio chunking.

DCSinge’s MP3 decoder requires files to begin with a valid MPEG frame (FF FB).
Most MP3s in Singe fan games containID3 tags, which break decoding.

Clean files using:

ffmpeg -i input.mp3 -codec copy -map 0:a:0 -write_xing 0 output_clean.mp3Verify:

xxd -l 8 file.mp3Expected output:

ff fb …Cleaned MP3s are already included for SpaceRocks.

🎥 DCMV Movie Format.dcmv files contain:

VQ-compressed Dreamcast-ready texture frames

Optional Zstd/LZ4 compression

AICA ADPCM audio stream

Frame offset table

FPS, resolution, and metadata

This format eliminates runtime video decoding, enabling smooth FMV playback on Dreamcast.

🛠 FMV Encoding Toolchain(Required for .dcmv Movies)DCSinge relies on the Dreamcast FMV Encoder Toolchain:

👉https://github.com/GPF/dreamcast-fmv

This toolchain includes:

pack_dcmv — Frame+audio packer using LZ4 HC or Zstd

dcaconv — ADPCM encoder

pvrtex — VQ/PVR texture conversion

ffmpeg — Frame extraction

Example playback app (fmv_play.elf)

What it does✔ Converts MP4/M2V into YUV → VQ frames✔ Converts audio to ADPCM✔ Packs into .dcmv with frame offsets & compression blocks✔ Produces Dreamcast-ready movies for DCSinge

See its README for details and usage examples.

📦 LuaFileSystem (lfs) SupportSome Singe scripts require filesystem access.DCSinge includes a Dreamcast port of LuaFileSystem (lfs), supporting:

🔧 Building DCSingeRequirements:

KallistiOS

kos-ports (png, freetype, lua, mp3, zlib, zstd, lz4)

kos-cmake

Build:

bashCopy codekos-cmake -S . -B buildcd buildmake -j16Produces:

singe_dreamcast.elf

🚧 Development StatusWorkingFMV playback via .dcmv

ADPCM audio

Lua 5.4 engine

Singe API coverage

PNG overlays & sprites via POT PNGs

MP3 playback (clean files only)

Input handling

Full SpaceRocks port (custom provided assets)

In ProgressWAV → ADPCM conversion toolchain

Improved MP3 error handling

VMU save support

Sprite atlas optimization

Compatibility expansion for additional Singe titles

🎯 Project GoalsBring Singe-style FMV games to Dreamcast hardware

Provide a full FMV + Lua scripting engine for homebrew

Maintain compatibility with existing Singe scripts

Support new FMV-driven Dreamcast games

🤝 CreditsWidge™ — SpaceRocks author; provided custom Dreamcast-ready assets

DirtBagXon® — Hypseus Singe developer; guidance and coordination

KallistiOS Team — SDK and system support

Dreamcast Homebrew Community

GPF — .dcmv format, FMV encoder, Dreamcast engine port, Lua integration

📣 Follow UpdatesTwitter/X: @GPFTroyGitHub:https://github.com/GPF