In this post, I will present data obtained by burning custom CDs which were tested in the Shrine in Monster Rancher 2 in search of a correlation between track lengths and the monsters and statistics read from the CDs.

Prologue:

This is purely an informational post. While some relevant discoveries were made and hypotheses formed, there is an integral flaw in the original method that prevents the data from being used based on their subcode. But rather than throw the data out altogether, I decided it may still be useful to other Shrine researchers.

Background:

This data originates from my earliest attempts to crack the shrine program to be able to create a CD containing a specific breed of monster. (The project in its original form has been reduced to an exercise in curiosity and research for research's sake due to the discovery and popularity of CloneCD, but I am still looking into it.)

There is an inherent problem with the CDs I burned in this research. When read in CloneCD, the subcode data does not correspond to what was expected. All the CDs had two audio tracks, which would indicate there would be five entries (Entry 0 = number of sessions; Entry 1 = number of tracks; Entry 2 = total burn time; Entry 3 = data for track 1; Entry 4 = data for track 2).

Unfortunately, the CDs have seven entries. The last two entries do not correspond to audio tracks. Entry 5 on one of the CDs, for example, contains this data: AMin=5 ASec=17 AFrame=42 ALBA=23667 Zero=2 PMin=79 PSec=59 PFrame=74 PLBA=359849. I don't understand the relevance of the first four entries, but the 79'59"74 could easily represent the 80-minute length of the CD (it is an 80-minute CD-R). And 359849 = 79*60*75 + 59*75 + 74 - 150, so it matches up with the frame count.

Entry 6 on the same CD contains this data: AMin=160 ASec=0 AFrame=0 ALBA=269850 Zero=0 PMin=97 PSec=26 PFrame=66 PLBA=-11634. No clue how this is relevant. Maybe it is proprietary data indicating the CD was burned with X program, or on X CD-R drive, or is some kind of serial number.

But I digress. Since I don't understand these subcode entries (or even how they got there), I am forced to stick with my original method of analysis. I only looked at the subcode data because so much of the current research being done at the present time is on subcode data.

Method:

I began this experiment by burning a reference CD to use as a control. I ripped two audio tracks (tracks 5 and 6 from the Orb CD "Cydonia") into .wav files. I then burned an audio CD on my Backpack CD-Rewriter-4E 2.6C using Adaptec's Easy CD Creator onto a Memorex 80-minute CD-R containing these two audio tracks.

For each of the other 18 CDs burned, one or more (or, in the case of the second CD burned, none) of the properties of the CD were changed. Properties changed included contents of the audio tracks, their order and their lengths.

Data and Analysis:

I have combined these two parts of the post so that I can explain my method and analyze the results as they are shown. Since there is a large amount of data, I feel this will be more useful then posting all the data, then analyzing it afterward. Plus, it's less likely to leave you scratching your head wondering, "Why did he burn that CD?"

Note: CDs have been assigned a label according to the order they were burned in, from CD-01 (the initial control CD) to CD-19 (the last CD burned). The filenames of the .wav files indicate the name of the track from the source CD, "Egnable" and "Firestar"; numbers have been appended to the end of filenames to indicate modified versions of the original files.

First, the control CD, designed for quick burn time.

CD-01	1) Egnable	1'59.47"
	2) Firestar	0'46.03"
	Total time	2'45.50"

Shrining results:
Frozen Gaboo [Gaboo/Tiger]
Stats: 150/154/90/100/175/40
Form: Normal Nature: Best
Likes: Potato Dislikes: Cup Jelly
Attacks: Chop, Slap

Thought process: What happens if I burn an identical CD? Is my CD-R drive reliable enough to burn an identical CD?

CD-02	1) Egnable	1'59.47"
	2) Firestar	0'46.03"
	Total time	2'45.50"

Shrining results:
Frozen Gaboo [Gaboo/Tiger]
Stats: 150/154/90/100/175/40
Form: Normal Nature: Best
Likes: Tablet Dislikes: Meat
Attacks: Chop, Slap

Analysis: Everything is identical except likes and dislikes.

Thought process: What happens if I run this same CD through the Shrine again? Are likes and dislikes not based on the CD?

Shrining results:
Frozen Gaboo [Gaboo/Tiger]
Stats: 150/154/90/100/175/40
Form: Normal Nature: Best
Likes: Meat Dislikes: Cup Jelly
Attacks: Chop, Slap

Analysis: The Shrine generates random likes and dislikes.

Thought process: What happens if I reverse the order of the tracks? The total burn time will not change, but the time for each track will.

CD-03	1) Firestar	0'46.03"
	2) Egnable	1'59.47"
	Total time	2'45.50"

Shrining results:
Obelisk [Monol/Golem]
Stats: 84/146/148/97/32/195
Form: Normal Nature: Good
Likes: Nuts Oil Dislikes: Milk
Attacks: Flattening, Charge

Analysis: Total burn time is not the only relevant factor. Length of at least one individual track is also relevant.

Thought process: Does the Shrine read actual data from the tracks themselves? What happens if I change the contents of one of the .wav files, but preserve the length?

New reference file: Egnable2.wav (1'59.47")
Created by scaling the volume of Egnable.wav from 100% to 75%.

CD-04	1) Egnable2	1'59.47"
	2) Firestar	0'46.03"
	Total time	2'45.50"

Shrining results:
Frozen Gaboo [Gaboo/Tiger]
Stats: 150/154/90/100/175/40
Form: Normal Nature: Best
Likes: Fish Dislikes: Battle
Attacks: Chop, Slap

Analysis: Other than likes/dislikes, this is identical to CD-01. It appears that the data contained in the tracks themselves doesn't matter.

Thought process: What happens if I blank the content of the tracks entirely, but preserve the lengths?

New reference file: Egnable3.wav (1'59.47")
Created by scaling the volume of Egnable.wav from 100% to 0%.

New reference file: Firesta2.wav (0'46.03")
Created by scaling the volume of Firestar.wav from 100% to 0%.

CD-05	1) Egnable3	1'59.47"
	2) Firesta2	0'46.03"
	Total time	2'45.50"

Shrining results:
Frozen Gaboo [Gaboo/Tiger]
Stats: 150/154/90/100/175/40
Form: Normal Nature: Best
Likes: Milk Dislikes: Tablet
Attacks: Chop, Slap

Analysis: Other than likes/dislikes, this is also identical to CD-01. The data contained in the tracks themselves doesn't matter.

Fun fact for those who have read this far and are still awake: The words "battle" and "tablet" are anagrams; that is, they contain the same letters in a different order.

Thought process: What happens if I change the length of one of the tracks?

New reference file: Egnable4.wav (2'00.47")
Created by adding one second of silence to the end of Egnable.wav.

CD-06	1) Egnable4	2'00.47"
	2) Firestar	0'46.03"
	Total time	2'46.50"

Shrining results:
Dokoo [Gaboo/Joker]
Stats: 163/134/149/109/113/54
Form: Normal Nature: Worst
Likes: Meat Dislikes: Fish
Attacks: Chop, Slap

Analysis: One second apparently makes a difference. The main breed is the same, but the sub breed changed.

Thought process: Adding one second pushed the track length to a different number of whole minutes. Let's go in the other direction and preserve the number of whole minutes.

New reference file: Egnable5.wav (1'58.47")
Created by deleting one second from the end of Egnable.wav.

CD-07	1) Egnable3	1'58.47"
	2) Firesta2	0'46.03"
	Total time	2'44.50"

Shrining results:
Gaboo [Gaboo/Gaboo]
Stats: 215/140/13/35/164/104
Form: Normal Nature: Good
Likes: Flower Dislikes: Battle
Attacks: Chop, Slap

Analysis: Another new Gaboo, but yet another sub breed.

Thought process: Changes as small as a second make a difference. How about changes smaller than a second?

New reference file: Egnable6.wav (1'58.97")
Created by deleting 0.50 seconds from the end of Egnable.wav.

CD-08	1) Egnable6	1'58.97"
	2) Firesta2	0'46.03"
	Total time	2'45.00"

Shrining results:
Frozen Gaboo [Gaboo/Tiger]
Stats: 150/154/90/100/175/40
Form: Normal Nature: Best
Likes: Potato Dislikes: Cup Jelly
Attacks: Chop, Slap

Analysis: Identical to CD-01. Even the likes and dislikes are the same, though that's probably a coincidence.

Thought process: If subtracting 0.50 seconds from the first track of CD-01 makes an identical monster, will subtracting 0.50 seconds from the first track of CD-06 (the Dokoo) make an identical Dokoo to CD-06?

New reference file: Egnable7.wav (1'59.97")
Created by adding 0.50 seconds of silence to the end of Egnable.wav.

CD-09	1) Egnable7	1'59.97"
	2) Firesta2	0'46.03"
	Total time	2'46.00"

Shrining results:
Dokoo [Gaboo/Joker]
Stats: 163/134/149/109/113/54
Form: Normal Nature: Worst
Likes: Meat Dislikes: Potato
Attacks: Chop, Slap

Analysis: Identical to CD-06 except for likes/dislikes. It seems that a difference of one second is the dividing factor between different monsters.

Fun fact for those who have read this far and are still awake: "Northern scream" is an anagram for "Monster Rancher."

Thought process: Let's split the difference between CD-01 and CD-09.

New reference file: Egnable8.wav (1'59.72")
Created by adding 0.25 seconds of silence to the end of Egnable.wav.

CD-10	1) Egnable8	1'59.72"
	2) Firesta2	0'46.03"
	Total time	2'45.75"

Shrining results:
Frozen Gaboo [Gaboo/Tiger]
Stats: 150/154/90/100/175/40
Form: Normal Nature: Best
Likes: Meat Dislikes: Fish
Attacks: Chop, Slap

Analysis: Identical to CD-01 except for likes/dislikes.

Thought process: OK... if adding 0.25 seconds to the first track of CD-01 makes an identical monster, will adding 0.25 seconds to the first track of CD-07 (the pure Gaboo) make an identical Gaboo to CD-07?

New reference file: Egnable9.wav (1'58.72")
Created by deleting 0.75 seconds from the end of Egnable.wav.

CD-11	1) Egnable8	1'58.72"
	2) Firesta2	0'46.03"
	Total time	2'44.75"

Shrining results:
Gaboo [Gaboo/Gaboo]
Stats: 215/140/13/35/164/104
Form: Normal Nature: Good
Likes: Milk Dislikes: Fish
Attacks: Chop, Slap

Analysis: Identical to CD-07 except for likes/dislikes.

Let's look at a summary of CD-01 and CD-06 through CD-11.

Disc	CD-07	CD-10	CD-08	CD-01	CD-11	CD-09	CD-06
Length of track 1	1'58.47"	1'58.72"	1'58.97"	1'59.47"	1'59.72"	1'59.97"	2'00.47"
Modification to track 1	-1.00"	-0.75"	-0.50"	none	+0.25"	+0.50"	+1.00"
Result	Gaboo	Gaboo	Frozen Gaboo	Frozen Gaboo	Frozen Gaboo	Dokoo	Dokoo

Thought process: Looks like the sub of the monster is changing every second. It isn't lining up exactly with the whole number of seconds. What happens if we move in steps of one second?

New reference file: Egnabl10.wav (1'57.47")
Created by deleting 2.00 seconds from the end of Egnable.wav.

CD-12	1) Egnabl10	1'57.47"
	2) Firesta2	0'46.03"
	Total time	2'43.50"

Shrining results:
Jelly Gaboo [Gaboo/Jell]
Stats: 152/131/88/99/120/90
Form: Normal Nature: Neutral
Likes: Rest Dislikes: Potato
Attacks: Chop, Slap

Analysis: Same main breed, new sub breed.

Fun fact for those who have read this far and are still awake: "Stern cream horn" is an anagram for "Monster Rancher."

Thought process: Let's take it one more step in that direction.

New reference file: Egnabl11.wav (1'56.47")
Created by deleting 3.00 seconds from the end of Egnable.wav.

CD-13	1) Egnabl10	1'56.47"
	2) Firesta2	0'46.03"
	Total time	2'42.50"

Shrining results:
Jelly Gaboo [Gaboo/Jell]
Stats: 146/135/81/85/149/110
Form: Normal Nature: Neutral
Likes: Potato Dislikes: Cup Jelly
Attacks: Chop, Slap

Analysis: Same main and sub breeds as CD-12, but different stats.

Thought process: I was expecting a new sub breed. Odd. OK, for a change of pace, let's change the length of the second track.

New reference file: Firesta3.wav (0'45.03")
Created by deleting 1.00 second from the end of Firestar.wav.

CD-14	1) Egnable	1'59.47"
	2) Firesta2	0'45.03"
	Total time	2'44.50"

Shrining results:
Frozen Gaboo [Gaboo/Tiger]
Stats: 169/135/61/108/170/67
Form: Normal Nature: Best
Likes: Meat Dislikes: Fish
Attacks: Chop, Slap

Analysis: Same main and sub breeds as CD-01, but different stats.

Thought process: Changing only the length of the second track (and consequently, the total burn time) made the same breed of monster with different stats in this case. Let's try it again.

New reference file: Firesta4.wav (0'44.03")
Created by deleting 2.00 seconds from the end of Firestar.wav.

CD-15	1) Egnable	1'59.47"
	2) Firesta2	0'44.03"
	Total time	2'43.50"

Shrining results:
Frozen Gaboo [Gaboo/Tiger]
Stats: 177/127/79/120/159/46
Form: Normal Nature: Best
Likes: Potato Dislikes: Milk
Attacks: Chop, Slap

Analysis: A third Frozen Gaboo with yet another set of stats.

Fun fact for those who have read this far and are still awake: "Rare morn stench" is an anagram for "Monster Rancher."

Thought process: My previous thought process holds true again. Let's try it yet again.

New reference file: Firesta5.wav (0'43.03")
Created by deleting 3.00 seconds from the end of Firestar.wav.

CD-16	1) Egnable	1'59.47"
	2) Firesta2	0'43.03"
	Total time	2'42.50"

Shrining results:
Frozen Gaboo [Gaboo/Tiger]
Stats: 160/131/62/109/185/65
Form: Normal Nature: Best
Likes: Play Dislikes: Potato
Attacks: Chop, Slap

Analysis: A fourth Frozen Gaboo with a fourth set of stats.

Thought process: My previous thought process still holds true. Let's keep it up.

New reference file: Firesta6.wav (0'42.03")
Created by deleting 4.00 seconds from the end of Firestar.wav.

CD-17	1) Egnable	1'59.47"
	2) Firesta2	0'42.03"
	Total time	2'41.50"

Shrining results:
Frozen Gaboo [Gaboo/Tiger]
Stats: 167/153/66/119/186/40
Form: Normal Nature: Best
Likes: Fish Dislikes: Battle
Attacks: Chop, Slap

Analysis: A fifth Frozen Gaboo with a fifth set of stats.

Thought process: My previous thought process still holds true. And I'm burning through a lot of CDs. Let's take a big step.

New reference file: Firesta7.wav (0'36.03")
Created by deleting 10.00 seconds from the end of Firestar.wav.

CD-18	1) Egnable	1'59.47"
	2) Firesta2	0'36.03"
	Total time	2'35.50"

Shrining results:
Frozen Gaboo [Gaboo/Tiger]
Stats: 156/148/75/97/168/57
Form: Normal Nature: Best
Likes: Potato Dislikes: Battle
Attacks: Chop, Slap

Analysis: A sixth Frozen Gaboo, a sixth set of stats.

Thought process: My previous thought process still holds true. Let's take a massive step.

New reference file: Firesta8.wav (1'46.03")
Created by adding one minute of silence to the end of Firestar.wav.

CD-19	1) Egnable	1'59.47"
	2) Firesta2	1'46.03"
	Total time	3'45.50"

Shrining results:
Hare Hound [Tiger/Hare]
Stats: 70/134/150/150/165/60
Form: Normal Nature: Good
Likes: Play Dislikes: Milk
Attacks: Scratch, Bite

Analysis: A new main breed? How did that happen?

Thought process: I took a second look at the CD that created the Hare Hound. There were major changes from the original CD-01, including the total number of whole minutes of burn time, the number of whole minutes in the second track.

This is where I stopped the experiment. I had fully planned to continue it further, but I realized I needed time to regroup and collect my thoughts. I then made my other major research post, How the MR2 Shrine Program Generates Stats for Monsters from CDs: Initial Research.

Now that I understand a bit more about CloneCD and realize the 19 CDs I burned for this experiment are "malformed" in their subcode with the extra entries in the TOC, I decided to post the original data as is, because continuing with this malformed data won't help with research in CloneCD, which is where I plan to move my research to. I will take the knowledge from this research with me.

Conclusion:

I have drawn the following hypotheses from this research:

• The attacks, form and nature, likes and dislikes are not determined from the CD subcode data (other than that which determines the actual breed), but the statistics (Power, Life, etc.) are.

• The unit of time that appears to make changes in the monster is one second, since smaller tweaks produced identical monsters.

• Tweaking the length of the first track (and thus, the total burn time) within a narrow range changed the sub breed, but kept the main breed constant

• Tweaking the length of the second track (and thus, the total burn time) within a narrow range left the main and sub breeds the same, but produced new stats.

• Tweaking the length of the second track (and thus, the total burn time) on a larger scale changed the main and sub breeds.

Epilogue:

Once again, this is all sheer hypothesis. My sample sizes were quite small for scientific research. I need to look at and tweak the subcode data itself to see where the numbers might come from, since my regular audio CD burning program is giving me malformed subcode.

I welcome all comments, criticism, praise and questions, either through this message board or through e-mail. I especially would be interested in data which contradicts my findings. And kudos for reading the entire post. =]

- Quincunx

bravo! bravissimo! well written - very lucid.

btw, an anagram of torey luvullo is "to lull voyeur". there is no known sensible anagram for quincunx - more research needs to be done in that area!