IMF (music)

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This article is about the music file format. For other uses, see IMF (disambiguation).

IMF is an audio file format created by id Software for the AdLib sound card for use in their video games. The default filename extension is also "imf". The abbreviation stands for "id music file" or "id's music format".

The format is similar to MIDI, in that it defines musical notes, and does not support any waveform sound effects. As opposed to MIDI, it uses FM synthesis of sounds. The format is close to the AdLib command syntax, with a few modifications. Once extracted from a game, IMF files can be played with AdPlug, for instance through its Winamp plugin. Due to the limited features and relatively low sound quality, modern games no longer use IMF music.

[edit] Games

A large number of songs in id Software's games were composed by Bobby Prince in IMF format. Besides id Software, some other game developers like Apogee Software also used this format to add music to their games. Games using IMF music include: later games in the Commander Keen series, Bio Menace, Wolfenstein 3D, Spear of Destiny, Blake Stone, and Corridor 7.