Sound Blaster sample-based OST list?

[kode54]

Final Fantasy VII for Windows, the original release, could use the newer SoundFont Bank Manager for AWE32/64, or for Live!/Audigy/X-Fi to upload its custom sample banks to the card, but it still only commanded it through the MIDI driver, not raw chip access.

A handful of DOS game engines could also access the AWE32/64 directly for sound mixing, incurring the extra delay of uploading the samples to the card. I don't recall the exact sound engines that supported this. At least one of them supported various module formats. I could barely use this, though, since I only had an AWE64 Value, which had the 512KB of RAM included, but was still upgradable with a proprietary add-on card that was out of my price range.

[gdjacobs]

Not first party information, just what I've gathered through research. I'm not a big Creative Labs aficionado.

Dungeon Keeper has a set of soundfonts for AWE users. Eradicator might have also used features in the EMU chip for an additional 3d effect besides playing back stored samples.

[ommadawnyawn]

Final Fantasy VII for Windows, the original release, could use the newer SoundFont Bank Manager for AWE32/64, or for Live!/Audigy/X-Fi to upload its custom sample banks to the card, but it still only commanded it through the MIDI driver, not raw chip access.

A handful of DOS game engines could also access the AWE32/64 directly for sound mixing, incurring the extra delay of uploading the samples to the card. I don't recall the exact sound engines that supported this. At least one of them supported various module formats. I could barely use this, though, since I only had an AWE64 Value, which had the 512KB of RAM included, but was still upgradable with a proprietary add-on card that was out of my price range.

Does this list help your memory any?
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... edit#gid=0

[ommadawnyawn]

Some updates:
-Made a (WIP) page for sample-based sound blaster music (mod music, streaming pcm, sample-based midi) in DOS games. Have 1994-1996 left to check on mobygames and will then compare the list to their AWE32 supported games list.
-Added these OSTs to the mixed yearly lists made so far and a page for 1993

http://minirevver.weebly.com/sound-blas ... music.html
http://minirevver.weebly.com/impressive ... -year.html

Checking 1994 now.

[ommadawnyawn]

Please help identify these.

Basically done with 1994 but was wondering if anyone knows exactly the setup used in these two, Ecstatica and Dreamweb (there's another upload by the same guy dubbed CD audio for this one):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOV-LgV2VBg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xhhe5mo0Gw0

http://minirevver.weebly.com/sound-blas ... music.html

[Ozzuneoj]

The way I see it, there's three tiers of support for the AWE32 and AWE64:

1) Operates as a SB16, optionally with the TSR providing access to the EMU synthesizer.
2) Directly addresses the EMU chip but uses the default soundfont off the ROM.
3) Directly addresses the EMU chip and uploads custom sound effects, hardware audio processing, or both.

I would think the place to begin is testing different game settings and different sound devices (SB16 vs AWE32) to find what changes cause a difference in sound.

Could you name an example of a game that does number 3? Just curious

I could be mistaken, but I think Descent does this. For a while I was using a Goldfinch card with a CT2940 (with Yamaha OPL3) in my time machine, giving me, basically an AWE32 (minus effects on the FM). I could load a new soundfont into the cards memory at startup in Windows 98. When I loaded Descent's sound setup and chose "General MIDI" and pointed it to the emulated address of the Goldfinch card I would hear the soundfont that I loaded in Windows. If I changed the music device to AWE32 it would load its own soundfont (instantly apparently... I have no idea how it does this) and the music would always sound this way, no matter what sound font I used, and it only sounds like this with a Goldfinch, AWE32 or AWE64. So, the "neat" thing about this setup was that I could hear music in this game with five different options without having to physically change anything, just the music device in the sound setup: OPL3 FM, Soundfont loaded in Windows, SC55 via gameport, MT32 via gameport or baked in AWE32\64 sound font.

[David_OSU]

I don't know if this helps, but here's a partial list of DOS games that use tracker (mod) music on the soundblaster (and other soundcards capable of digital audio playback):

Abuse
Alien Carnage
Crusader No Remorse
Epic Pinball
Extreme Pinball
Heartlight
Jazz Jackrabbit
Lemmings 3
Mystic Towers
Pinball Dreams
Pinball Fantasies
Pinball Illusions
Pinball World
Psycho Pinball
Radix
Raptor
Seek and Destroy
Silverball
Stardust
Stargunner
Terminal Velocity

Note that when Gravis Ultrasound support is also available, the tracker music typically sounds better on the GUS than the soundblaster (although you might not care about that). For example, Zone 66 sounds better on a GUS than any other soundcard, IMHO. On the GUS, the Zone 66 music is sample-based tracker music, not FM.

[ommadawnyawn]

Thanks, can you point me to mod music examples from Abuse, Stardust, Pinball Illusions, Raptor, and Lemmings Chronicles/Lemmings 3? The others I knew about and have listed on my site.

Yes, I will tackle GUS later. At least the games with Native GUS Hardware Mixing support.

[ommadawnyawn]

I've updated the SB page and finished a first draft for the next multi-platform yearly list, 1995. Will be editing it a bit over the next few days.
http://minirevver.weebly.com/vgm-1995.html

[ommadawnyawn]

Another yearly list done, three more to go.

http://minirevver.weebly.com/vgm-1996.html
http://minirevver.weebly.com/sound-blas ... music.html

Thanks for re-enabling editing. Doesn't let me change the OP though.

[gdjacobs]

Raptor (from Apogee) uses GM or OPL3. It's not sample based MOD music.

[David_OSU]

Raptor (from Apogee) uses GM or OPL3. It's not sample based MOD music.

Raptor has tracker music when setup with Gravis Ultrasound as the music sound card. This is the best sounding configuration, IMHO.

[ommadawnyawn]

So it has native GUS hardware mixing then?

[gdjacobs]

Raptor (from Apogee) uses GM or OPL3. It's not sample based MOD music.

Raptor has tracker music when setup with Gravis Ultrasound as the music sound card. This is the best sounding configuration, IMHO.

Interesting. Likely to be the MIDI composition with custom samples. I wonder what they use for instruments.

[David_OSU]

I went back and checked, and with the Ultrasound card setup as the music card, it just plays the MIDI soundtrack (probably with the default GUS instruments). Actually sounds better with MIDI output and a good soundfont. Somewhere along the way I got confused about this one. Definitely not MOD/tracker music with GUS.

[ommadawnyawn]

Added a first draft for 1997 and updated the SB page accordingly:
http://minirevver.weebly.com/vgm-1997.html
http://minirevver.weebly.com/sound-blas ... music.html

[Rawit]

I would replace "sample-based midi music" by "MIDI music played back on a sample-based synthesizer"

[Scali]

So it has native GUS hardware mixing then?

The only way to get sound from a GUS is to use its hardware mixer.
It doesn't have a conventional DAC, only the GF1 wavetable chip with up to 32 hardware-mixed channels.
So for a GUS, playing MIDI and playing MODs is basically the same: upload samples, and use the hardware mixer to play the notes.
The difference between the formats is only on the CPU-side, which translates either MIDI or MOD (or whatever other music format) to native commands for the GUS' GF1 chip.

[ommadawnyawn]

So it has native GUS hardware mixing then?

The only way to get sound from a GUS is to use its hardware mixer.
It doesn't have a conventional DAC, only the GF1 wavetable chip with up to 32 hardware-mixed channels.
So for a GUS, playing MIDI and playing MODs is basically the same: upload samples, and use the hardware mixer to play the notes.
The difference between the formats is only on the CPU-side, which translates either MIDI or MOD (or whatever other music format) to native commands for the GUS' GF1 chip.

I was referring to this:
http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.se/2016 ... sound.html

[derSammler]

I don't know if this helps, but here's a partial list of DOS games that use tracker (mod) music on the soundblaster (and other soundcards capable of digital audio playback):

Add "One Must Fall 2097" to that list.