VOGONS


First post, by Dimitris1980

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Hi everyone,

Has anyone here tried Sierra On-Line games on an Atari ST with a Roland MT-32 2nd Generation or MT-100?

Most of the information I find about Sierra + MT-32 concerns the PC/DOS versions. I'm curious whether the Atari ST versions send the MIDI data correctly and sound as intended with the MT-32 2nd Gen or MT-100.

I have an Atari 1040 STF with a Roland MT-32 1st Gen, which works well, but I'm specifically interested in the 2nd Gen and MT-100.

Has anyone actually tested this combination?

Thanks!

- Macintosh LC475, Powerbook 540c, Macintosh Performa 6116CD, Power Macintosh G3 Minitower, Imac G3, Powermac G4 MDD, Powermac G5, Imac Mid 2007
- Cyrix 120
- Amiga 500, Amiga 1200
- Atari 1040 STF
- Roland MT32, CM64, CM500, SC55, SC88, Yamaha MU50

Reply 1 of 5, by SScorpio

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Have you tried the CM64 or CM500 you have in your signature? The CM32L isn't the same hardware as an MT32 "new", but they have the same issues with MT32 "old" bugs.

There are a very small number of games newer than what's available on the ST that work on the MT32 "new", but do remapping into the 33 new sounds on the CM32L. Supposedly Willie Bleamish, and Police Quest 3 & 4 have this issue. The games themselves work, but the wrong sounds are played.

Reply 2 of 5, by Dimitris1980

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Yes, I have tried the Atari ST with my CM-500.

I first tested the CM-500 with the Atari ST back in 2022. At the time, King's Quest IV sounded correct, so I assumed the other Sierra games would also work properly.

Later, I moved all my retro equipment to my old house and connected the Atari and PC to my Roland MT-32 1st Gen through a MIDI switch.

Recently, I brought the Atari ST and CM-500 back to my current home and started testing the games again. I found that some of them actually do not sound correct at all.

The intro and beginning of King's Quest IV, Space Quest III, Police Quest II and Cruise for a Corpse by Delphine Software sound correct.

However, The Colonel's Bequest, Conquests of Camelot, Codename: Iceman and Hoyle Book of Games 2 do not sound correct.

That's what made me wonder about the MT-32 New / 2nd Gen and MT-100. I'm curious whether these games have the same problems with those modules, or whether this is something specific to the Atari ST versions.

I have actually ordered an MT-100, so I should be able to test this myself soon. 😄 I guess I'll have some testing to do when it arrives!

- Macintosh LC475, Powerbook 540c, Macintosh Performa 6116CD, Power Macintosh G3 Minitower, Imac G3, Powermac G4 MDD, Powermac G5, Imac Mid 2007
- Cyrix 120
- Amiga 500, Amiga 1200
- Atari 1040 STF
- Roland MT32, CM64, CM500, SC55, SC88, Yamaha MU50

Reply 3 of 5, by SScorpio

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The games that play fine on an MT32 new, but have issues on the CM32L have the CM32L's sound effects play rather than the expected instrument it attempted to program. Otherwise they should be fairly close.

Having a MIDI interface into a modern PC via a USB MIDI cable or some other way to utilize MUNT and its ability to quickly swap between being a old, new or CM32L can greatly speed up testing. But having an excuse to acquire more hardware isn't a bad thing either.

Reply 4 of 5, by Dimitris1980

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That makes sense. So if I understand correctly, the games that have problems on the CM-32L may still work correctly on the MT-32 New, with the CM-32L simply triggering the wrong sound effects instead of the intended instruments.

I could certainly use MUNT with a USB MIDI interface for testing, but I actually don't use modern equipment for my retro setup. I prefer to use the original hardware from the era, so I like to do my testing with the actual machines and modules. 😄

And since I have already ordered an MT-100, I guess I'll have a good excuse to add another Roland to the collection!

Once it arrives, I'll definitely test these Sierra games on the Atari ST and see what happens.

- Macintosh LC475, Powerbook 540c, Macintosh Performa 6116CD, Power Macintosh G3 Minitower, Imac G3, Powermac G4 MDD, Powermac G5, Imac Mid 2007
- Cyrix 120
- Amiga 500, Amiga 1200
- Atari 1040 STF
- Roland MT32, CM64, CM500, SC55, SC88, Yamaha MU50

Reply 5 of 5, by SScorpio

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In general early games that have issues on anything besides the MT32 old, will have the same problem on the MT32 new and CM32L.

There are a very small edge case of games that function fine on the MT32 new, but have that instrument mapping issue that play wrong on a CM32L.