Loom sound/save bug \ VOGONS

Loom sound/save bug

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First post, by marooned_on_mars

Posted on 2014-08-08, 23:42

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I'm not sure if this is a bug in the game or if it's a DosBox issue but I've played the game with MT-32 selected and I've left a bunch of savegames. After finishing the game I though of changing the sound source and load from those save states to hear the music again with a different sound option. In the case of AdLib the game freezes whenever it needs to output any sound while nothing is heard, and once the game exited with a page fault (I can't remember what it was exactly, too bad I didn't take a screenshot at the time), and in the case with GameBlaster and Tandy the game slows down and just like with AdLib, no sound is heard. I've tried saving while playing with AdLib (started the game from scratch), and GameBlaster+Tandy work from the same saves, and MT-32 doesn't, but unlike the other cases the game doesn't freeze or slow down, it just goes along it's merry way without any sound.

Loom/SCUMM version: 3.5.37
DosBox version: CVS r3869 x86

Reply 1 of 10, by Mau1wurf1977

Posted on 2014-08-09, 00:44

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What happens on a real machine? Can you do a ZIP for testing this? I'd be happy to check it out on my DOS PC.

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Reply 2 of 10, by marooned_on_mars

Posted on 2014-08-09, 00:49

marooned_on_mars Offline

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No, unfortunately I haven't got a real DOS machine, so I couldn't test it out myself.
I'll send you a PM with the game files.

Reply 3 of 10, by Mau1wurf1977

Posted on 2014-08-09, 01:30

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Ok I tested it.

While I don't get any freezes or crashes, with MT-32 it plays the intro music fine but when loading 002 save game there are no sounds at all. The adlib option works fine.

Seeing this game is EGA is there a newer / updated version maybe?

Also, can the Steam version, which is based on the VGA CD-ROM version, be made to play on a DOS PC?

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Reply 4 of 10, by marooned_on_mars

Posted on 2014-08-09, 02:12

marooned_on_mars Offline

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Read my last PM.

I'm not aware of how the Steam version works, check to see what files you have there. If you have the LFL files, it technically should work, except that you would need the SCUMM executable.

Reply 5 of 10, by Mau1wurf1977

Posted on 2014-08-09, 03:23

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Yea it froze when walking into another area!

Do try out another version of this game just to rule out any file corruption or version differences.

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Reply 6 of 10, by marooned_on_mars

Posted on 2014-08-09, 03:27

marooned_on_mars Offline

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Thanks for testing it out for me. This confirms that it's a game bug not DosBox's fault. I'll try to look around for other versions, but most of them lack MT-32 support. If anyone has any versions of Loom, please try saving a game while playing with Roland sound before a known event that triggers music and/or sound and then load the save when using AdLib/GameBlaster/Tandy sound.

Reply 7 of 10, by collector

Posted on 2014-08-09, 03:36

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Could it be that some configuration info is stored in the saves?

The Sierra Help Pages -- New Sierra Game Installers -- Sierra Game Patches -- New Non-Sierra Game Installers

Reply 8 of 10, by marooned_on_mars

Posted on 2014-08-09, 03:39

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Savegames work interchangably when saving from AdLib session (or any other except Roland), but not when loading or saving from a Roland session.

Reply 9 of 10, by Great Hierophant

Posted on 2014-08-10, 06:21

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I know of two U.S. versions of the Loom floppy release, 1.0 and 1.1. Both required the Roland upgrade disk for MT-32 support. I read that the MT-32 version was being separately arranged for the MT-32 by George Alistair Sanger with Dave Warhol providing the sound driver. The arrangements for the Adlib track were done by Gary and Eric Hammond, and from them the Tandy, Gameblaster and PC speaker tracks must be derived. Therefore, it would seem that the music programming may not have treated triggers identically, causing crashes and the like. I believe I have seen something like this on real hardware.

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Reply 10 of 10, by marooned_on_mars

Posted on 2014-08-10, 13:48

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Do you know of any non-us copies suffered from the same problem?

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