First post, by Great Hierophant
- Rank
- l33t
In Sierra's SCI0 games, in all the sound install options, there is an option to use an IBM Music Feature Card. DOSBox does not support that particular device of course. However, if the user has a Yamaha FB-01 Module, he can hear the same sound by selecting that option. Even the games that do not include the driver can still support it by using a driver from another game (except in two known instances that do not apply in my case.) The Yamaha FB-01 option requires the module to be connected through a Roland MPU-401 midi interface.
Now I don't have a Yamaha FB-01, but I do have an IBM Music Feature Card and its external midi box. I also have a Roland MPU-401AT connected in the same computer (the Win98 box.) If I play a Sierra SCI0 game like King's Quest IV or Quest for Glory I, I can get the right sound with the Yamaha FB-01 driver or the IBM Music Feature Driver. With the Yamaha FB-01 option, the game finds my MPU-401 interface and sends the data through that device. I have the midi output of the MPU-401AT connected to the midi in of the IBM Music Feature's midi box.
In DOSBox, which must emulate intelligent midi for Sierra's games to work (and not just Sierra's), I connect my USB Midi interface to my Music Feature's Midi box. However, the resulting sound is noticeably off and frequently unpleasant. I had thought my USB Midi interface to be the culprit, so I tested it in my Win 98 box, which was my Sound Blaster 16's midi interface in Windows. Same result, so I can only conclude that it is a bug in DOSBox's midi emulation.