ripsaw8080 wrote on 2024-07-10, 15:58:

The attached loader program modifies the game in memory to have Roland music with SB speech/sfx. There are no Roland sfx when us […]
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The attached loader program modifies the game in memory to have Roland music with SB speech/sfx. There are no Roland sfx when using SB speech/sfx because it is one or the other with those drivers; however, I think it works well with the MT-32 because there is less need for the extra sounds of the CM-series.

The attachment skydrv.zip is no longer available

The program has a no-CD feature that allows the game to be run entirely from HDD, and it's probably easiest to just put it where the config and save files are stored.

AFAIK, all CD-ROM releases are supported -- version 0.0368 (Europe, UK, Germany) and version 0.0372 (US, Taiwan) -- the freeware release is version 0.0368

Note that speech + text can be selected from the in-game options (F5 key)

Example running from an HDD directory with all files from the CD copied to it:
SKYDRV CFG=.

Example running from the CD:
D:
C:\SKY\SKYDRV CFG=C:\SKY

Keep in mind that the loader program executes SKY.EXE in the current directory when trying other arrangements. The CFG= parameter specifies the directory where the config file and save files go -- \STEELSKY is the default if not specified.

Update: The loader program now uses the hardware configuration rather than always relying on the game's auto-detection. The "Port Addresses" in INSTALL.EXE all default to auto-detection, so if SB sound is not working on your system then select port, IRQ, DMA and "Save Setup".

Hello, I know this is an old post, but I want to run your patch on my 486. I have an AWE64 + MT-32. When I run the game normally, I get music and FX through the MT-32 without problems, or music + FX + voices through the AWE64. But with your patch I can get sound FX with SB, but no music with MT-32

One thing I notice is that when i load SKY with your patch, my MT32 get crazy, the screen show strange and random things, and i need to turn off/on to have sound again in another game. Funny thing i tested with a MT32-Pi and same thing happen! no sound in another game only when turn off PC, and the screen show random stuff too

Any ideas?

I get this error in the game, i dont know is relevant? maybe not

It’s in Spanish: the first screenshot says MISSING TEXT OR GRAPHICS, and in the second screenshot it says BUY A HARD DRIVE, NOW.

Thanks!

Hmm, could be a version of the game that is not supported by the patch. Make sure you're using a CD-ROM version of the game, not a floppy version, and if all else fails then use the freeware release which should work.

Dimitris1980 wrote on 2024-07-05, 09:57:

I would really like to play the cd version with speech and Roland for the music. This game has extra sound effects with Roland CM32L/CM64/LAPC-I . For instance there is a scene in this lady's apartment where the dog barks. The barking can be heard with Roland CM32L/CM64/LAPC-I but not with the Roland MT-32.

REMOVED. It has also a version of Beneath a Steel Sky with enhaced music and it is really great. I think it is written with Yamaha.

Personally I am lot more into real equipment than emulators.

Real hardware is the way to go. This thread makes me want to play this game. I will have to pull it out of storage and install it.

ripsaw8080 wrote on 2026-03-26, 01:05:

Hmm, could be a version of the game that is not supported by the patch. Make sure you're using a CD-ROM version of the game, not a floppy version, and if all else fails then use the freeware release which should work.

Hi! thabnks for reply, i realize of something, if I connect the MT-32 to the sound card, your patch work fine

The problem is not game or MT-32, the problem is the PicoGUS, because i use picogus to connect MT-32. This is the only icompatibility i found so far of picogus. SKY+Picogus+MT32 OK, your patch+SB16+MT32 OK, your patch+Picogus+MT32 FAIL

theelf wrote on 2026-03-27, 23:31:

The problem is not game or MT-32, the problem is the PicoGUS, because i use picogus to connect MT-32. This is the only icompatibility i found so far of picogus. SKY+Picogus+MT32 OK, your patch+SB16+MT32 OK, your patch+Picogus+MT32 FAIL

What port/address is the SB16 MPU401 and the PicoGUS MPU401? Are they both on port 330?

NeoG_ wrote on 2026-03-28, 00:32:

theelf wrote on 2026-03-27, 23:31:

The problem is not game or MT-32, the problem is the PicoGUS, because i use picogus to connect MT-32. This is the only icompatibility i found so far of picogus. SKY+Picogus+MT32 OK, your patch+SB16+MT32 OK, your patch+Picogus+MT32 FAIL

What port/address is the SB16 PU401 and the PicoGUS MPU401? Are they both on port 330?

No, SB16 300, Picogus 330

theelf wrote on 2026-03-28, 00:54:

No, SB16 300, Picogus 330

The other explaination is that the game is sticking to port 300, perhaps because P300 is in the blaster variable, or some detection routine starts at lower ports and goes upwards, detecting the MPU401 at 300 first

NeoG_ wrote on 2026-03-28, 00:58:

theelf wrote on 2026-03-28, 00:54:

No, SB16 300, Picogus 330

The other explaination is that the game is sticking to port 300, perhaps because P300 is in the blaster variable, or some detection routine starts at lower ports and goes upwards, detecting the MPU401 at 300 first

No, i do something like this when i have SB16+PicoGUS

Set blaster=a220 i5 d1 P300
Unisound
Set blaster=a220 i5 d1 P330

Set blaster is always 330, i dont care about SB16 midi port, i use picogus+wavetable only for mpu. To test real MT32 i just remove picogus card and set P330 before unisound

theelf wrote on 2026-03-28, 01:00:

Set blaster=a220 i5 d1 P300 Unisound Set blaster=a220 i5 d1 P330 […]
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Set blaster=a220 i5 d1 P300
Unisound
Set blaster=a220 i5 d1 P330

Set blaster is always 330, i dont care about SB16 midi port, i use picogus+wavetable only for mpu. To test real MT32 i just remove picogus card and set P330 before unisound

I would test by temporarily changing the picogus to 300 and SB16 to 330 to make sure the issue doesn't follow the port number before concluding a compatibility issue

NeoG_ wrote on 2026-03-28, 01:04:

theelf wrote on 2026-03-28, 01:00:

Set blaster=a220 i5 d1 P300 Unisound Set blaster=a220 i5 d1 P330 […]
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Set blaster=a220 i5 d1 P300
Unisound
Set blaster=a220 i5 d1 P330

Set blaster is always 330, i dont care about SB16 midi port, i use picogus+wavetable only for mpu. To test real MT32 i just remove picogus card and set P330 before unisound

I would test by temporarily changing the picogus to 300 and SB16 to 330 to make sure the issue doesn't follow the port number before concluding a compatibility issue

Yes, i already did this, use different sound cards just in case, AWE64, SB16, CMI8330, ESS, different picogus firmware, old version, new ones, change sound card IRQ 5-7, change wavetable to GM and MT-32 modes, set picogus as intelligent MPU, and i dont remember whats else test already

theelf wrote on 2026-03-25, 21:45:

I get this error in the game, i dont know is relevant? maybe not

It’s in Spanish: the first screenshot says MISSING TEXT OR GRAPHICS, and in the second screenshot it says BUY A HARD DRIVE, NOW.

Those error messages appear also with the Swedish command line option (in Swedish) in the CD version, regardless of using the patch. German has normal text for that part. I haven't tested them all, but the language is set, according to the source code (of which I have a downloaded zip lying around), with "le" for English or Spanish (the variable name and comment conflict on this), "lg" for German, "lf" for French, "lc" for American English, "ls" for Swedish, "li" for Italian and "lp" for Portuguese.

I have a simlar setup and also suffer from lacking any music with the SKYDRV.

SB AWE64 Gold at Port 300 with a PCMIDI+Wavetable at Port 330. I set up SKY with auto detection because when I set it manually I have no sound at all.
Sound effects and voice over works fine but I have no music.

Hello.

I followed these instructions from DOSBox Staging: https://www.dosbox-staging.org/0.83/getting-s … th-a-steel-sky/

In the installer, I selected German as the language. However, the game only displays English text.

Can anyone tell me what I’m doing wrong? Or is the patch only able to launch the game with English text?

Thank you very much.

In case it's helpful, here's what my dosbox.conf looks like:

dosbox.conf
---------------------
[cpu]
cpu_cycles_protected = 25000

[sdl]
fullscreen = on

[render]
aspect = square-pixels
viewport = 1280x800

# uncomment for arcade monitor emulation
shader = crt-auto-arcade

[sblaster]
sbmixer = off

[midi]
mididevice = mt32

[mixer]
reverb = large
chorus = strong

[autoexec]
# original game
#c:
#cd sky
#sky

# patched game (MT-32 music & SB speech/sfx)
d:
c:\sky\skydrv cfg=c:\sky

#exit
---------------------

Here's my custom .BAT file in the game's install directory ("C:\CD\STEELSKY\" in my case) for launching it in German with this patch inside DOSBox. It offers the option between MT-32 and SoundBlaster, but the relevant part for your question is to start the game with the "lg" argument - but IIRC entering this manually instead of through a batch file makes it impossible to use the install directory path or something. And my solution may be hackish with a "neater" one possibly available.

1@echo off
2:START
3CHOICE /C:MS "MT-32 oder SoundBlaster?"
4IF ERRORLEVEL == 2 GOTO :SB
5IF ERRORLEVEL == 1 GOTO :MT32
6echo Unbekannter Buchstabe!
7GOTO :START
8
9:SB
10D:
11SKY CFG=C:\CD\STEELSKY lg
12C:
13GOTO :END
14
15:MT32
16config -set mididevice=mt32
17config -set sbmixer=false
18mixer /noshow sb 50
19D:
20C:\CD\STEELSKY\SKYDRV CFG=C:\CD\STEELSKY lg
21mixer /noshow sb 100
22C:
23
24:END

I tried it out with your batch file, and it works great. Thank you very much.
It's a shame that I have to decide whether I want to play in German or whether I want sound via MT32 and voice output via Sound Blaster.

Thank you very much.