How to set up Vib-Ribbon (PSX)

How to set up Vib-Ribbon and play your own songs using PCSX ReARMed

Installing Vib-Ribbon

This guide assumes that you already have the emulator and BIOs set up properly, and your Vib-Ribbon ROM downloaded. I cannot tell you how to do that. If you do not have that done already, there are plenty of resources that can teach you how to do this.

The Emulator we will be using is PCSX ReARMed
I did not have much luck with Beetle, so this is my emulator of choice for this particular game.

This game never got a NA release, you will need a European BIOs for PSX.

First, you should get your Vib-Ribbon ROM and extract it into the folder of your choice. Just make sure that folder is easily accessible so you don't have to look all over for it each time you play.


I keep my extract in it's own folder, due to the fact that it comes with a lot of files. These files are .BIN files for each track that comes with the game. If you have everything (BIOs, ROM, Game, etc.) set up correctly, you should be able to play these tracks by choosing the "Play with the Vib-Ribbon CD" from the main menu, then choosing the course.


It should look something like this in your Vib-Ribbon folder. Lots of .BIN files. Note the .CUE file at the bottom. This is the file you want to launch from Retroarch.

Using Custom Music

Needed Software for custom soundtracks

Update: Some users have reported adware and antivirus positives with PowerISO. I have never had any issues with it myself. If you do not want to use it, any alternatives should work, and probably have a similar UI.
To use custom music, I will be using PowerISO. This software comes with a free version that can be found on the official website, poweriso. Google should yield the official website as the first result. It should look something like this:

Also, you will need audio files, MP3 recommended, of whatever music you want to use. Make sure you have them downloaded onto your computer. In my example, I will be using the album Pop Food by Jack Stauber, since I own digital versions of two of his albums on a website that let me download it. Remember that music piracy is illegal, and you should only use music you own ;)

Making your file

Select FILE --> NEW --> Audio CD My audio files are in this image already because i put them in before taking the screenshot. Your files will go in after.
Choosing Audio CD is important. This will create the proper format for you, and thus will read .mp3 files. This is important so that Vibri reads it as a Music Disc. (Also, it will save as a .bin and .cue file at the same time) Other types of projects will save as different formats that probably will not work.


Click on ADD and you will be greeted by a file selection window. Locate the audio files you want to add to your CD. You can select multiple files at once. After they are selected, press the ADD button at the bottom and the files will be put into POWERISO.

SAVING

To save your file as a .BIN, simply press the save button. This will create both a .BIN and .CUE file, which you can find in whichever folder you set as the destination. If you did not set a destination, it will be in the folder with your music. Copy and paste BOTH .bin and .cue files into the folder with the OST. It should look something like this after you are done.



You probably have different songs than I do, so obviously they will have different names. If you are using a lot of high quality music files then, as you can see, the file size has a chance of being exponentially larger than the entire game itself.

Playing the songs

Remember, you must choose the PCSX ReARMed emulator and have a European Bios. (Or Japanese if you are playing the Japanese version of the game.)


Choose PCSX ReARMed in the Load Core list. If you have any configurations you need to make, do so now.

Go to Load Content and find the folder where you installed Vib-Ribbon. I have mine in an external drive. It is called -PSX GAMES because the hyphen is listed first alphabetically by Retroarch. Select the file- make sure it is the .CUE file. (i.e. vibribbon.cue) Do not use the track.bin files or the game will crash.

To play with custom music, you must choose Play with my own choice of CD
Choose your desired gamemode.
You will then see Vibri groovin' in the corner of the screen, demanding that you insert a Music CD.

Bring up the Quick Menu by inputting whatever your key is. This should bring up the quick menu by default. If it does not, just navigate there.

From there, select Disc Control --> Load New Disc --> (diskname).cue
In my case i would choose popfood.bin
After a brief second, Vibri will say "checking" and make sure your disc is, in fact, a fake disc. Vibri isn't smart enough to know the difference between fake and real, but she can tell if your disc is bad.
If she asks you keep inserting the disk, either your BIOS is corrupted or something is wrong with your .cue file.
How this works is that VibRibbon is so small in file size it installs itself in the machine's RAM, and uses the song from there.
If it works, you will get a screen where she asks what track you want to play. For all of my files, Poweriso butchered the order. For example, track 1 is now track 9. I do not know what causes this or how to fix it, but it is a minor inconvenience

Select the track you think you want to play. If all has gone well, the game should load in 0-3 seconds or less, unless it is some massive file or long song. If you get a black screen, make sure you followed the instructions properly or do some external troubleshooting.


I hope you enjoyed the guide and found it easy to follow.
Have fun vibing the ribbon!

[MamaCinnamoon]

Bro I have everything downloaded correctly and I can't even get the games normal music to play. The game is just quiet as Vib runs along an empty line

[the overmind]

my goddamn files arent working no matter what i do

[StupadTheTrash]

bibu ribbon

[John helldiver]

It's time to rip and tear, in vib ribbon

[Dysentery Green]

@Suicitem I have not heard about that, or had any issues with it myself, but apparently a few people online have. I will edit the guide.

[mak3cak3]

You can use ultra iso instead power iso

[Suicitem]

Recently, PowerISO is not a good option for your computer because it contains trojans and more malware. Is there an alternative that does something similar?

[Furisuke]

できた！ありがとう

[Sandwich]

based music taste

[Mar]

also can add game isos and play theie soundtracks