General Midi in Xcom games.

[ADDiCT]

Emulated memory =! host OS memory

[wd]

Erm yes, though i miss the point

[h-a-l-9000]

What about all the page faults, TLB clears, disk access emulations and whatnot that paging brings with it opposed to direct memory access

[wd]

They only occur if the game likes to sweep-read the whole memory

[MiniMax]

the first xcom seems to produce music fine at my place. when configured for general midi as music board.

Code: Select all

core=auto
cycles=auto limit 8000
cycleup=500
cycledown=20

and
memsize=32


About that memsize=32... DOSBox 0.73 is a bit wary about the wisdom in that. Gives me an "Memory sizes above 31 MB are NOT recommended." warning.

[ripsaw8080]

XCom is one of the few games I play with DOSBox, and I've never had a problem using GM music with the default memsize. The GM music was added in the patch to version 1.4 (which was really just copying some new files from a .zip). I have the US version (aka UFO Defense), but maybe the memsize thing applies to the UK version (aka Enemy Unknown).

[wd]

Gives me an "Memory sizes above 31 MB are NOT recommended." warning.

Actually what's wrong with that?

[MiniMax]

Gives me an "Memory sizes above 31 MB are NOT recommended." warning.

Actually what's wrong with that?

Nothing wrong per se, but I want to understand what the correct memory configuration for the game is.

Out of the blue comes Qbix and says 32 MB.
Then robertmo quotes Mobygames and says 4 MB.
And finally I look in my copy of the Technical Supplement guide, and see "Required: 8 MB RAM (16 MB RAM if running under Windowsâ„¢ 95)".

So I want to know what prompted Qbix to say 32 MB when other sources, including DOSBox, seems to go against it.

[Qbix]

I merely listed the settings I run the game with, as I had not the problems the OP had.
I didn't look up the technical supplement guide to find the ideal spot of memory.

There is no specific reason why I choose 32mb for that game. 31 might have been better or not. but the game can handle the memory fine. Does 32 mb fix the midi problem ? I don't know , didn't check.

[robertmo]

XCom is one of the few games I play with DOSBox, and I've never had a problem using GM music with the default memsize. The GM music was added in the patch to version 1.4 (which was really just copying some new files from a .zip). I have the US version (aka UFO Defense), but maybe the memsize thing applies to the UK version (aka Enemy Unknown).

Enemy Unknown also needs patching to version 1.4 to have GM music. I don't have any problems with GM neither with Enemy Unknown nor with UFO Defense. Both 1.4 versions doesn't start with Roland but as far as I remember also on a real computer.

[ripsaw8080]

Yep, the .CAT file format changed in 1.4, and Mythos/Microprose forgot to include a new ROLAND.CAT in the update .zip file, or they didn't make a new one, and the old format causes the game to choke. I painstakingly converted the file to the new format (seriously, it was quite a process) so I could use my MT-32 with the 1.4 version.

[robertmo]

if you still have the file it will be nice if you enclose it here so it doesn't get lost. Someone could upload it to http://www.patches-scrolls.de/ later.

[ripsaw8080]

The music data in ADLIB.CAT changed a bit between versions, not just the format; so an official update of the Roland music (if it existed) might have also seen similar tweaks. I separated the music data chunks from the 1.2 format and "re-wrapped" them in the 1.4 format, therefore the music itself should be unchanged. The format was changed significantly, which made a project out of figuring out both formats: how the data chunks are organized, header format, etc.

Being a modification of a freely available file (in the update .zip), it seems OK to post. However, even though it works well, I don't know if patches-scrolls will host an unofficial patch...

[robertmo]

they do host unofficial setup.exe for dune 2 that allows separate configuration for sound and music, so i guess it shouldn't be a problem

[ripsaw8080]

There was a similar update for Lands of Lore that allowed split music/sfx config. They were described as "beta", or "optional", but still came from Westwood, so "official" in that sense.

[robertmo]

Just checked and indeed it was official beta for Dune 2.

[DBob]

I have an interesting problem with X-Com 1 and 2.

Enemy Unknown doesn't have sound at all. Nothing. No effect, and no music either. I've tried different settings of course from the setup.

TFTD has sound effects and FM music as well, but cannot initialize my external Roland SC-8820 module. All I can see, that the unit receives the midi message (blinking USB signal), and that's all. No sound played at all.

Other games which I've tried, worked.

Also tried the memsize=32 option, without success. Different mpu401 settings also didn't helped. Playing with mididevice option had no effect.

What else should I try? I'm out of options

[HunterZ]

The music data in ADLIB.CAT changed a bit between versions, not just the format; so an official update of the Roland music (if it existed) might have also seen similar tweaks. I separated the music data chunks from the 1.2 format and "re-wrapped" them in the 1.4 format, therefore the music itself should be unchanged. The format was changed significantly, which made a project out of figuring out both formats: how the data chunks are organized, header format, etc.

Being a modification of a freely available file (in the update .zip), it seems OK to post. However, even though it works well, I don't know if patches-scrolls will host an unofficial patch...

Thanks for this. It's needed to get Roland support in the Steam release of the original X-COM and I think also for OpenXcom.

Terror from the Deep works fine as-is, but I think it sounds better using General MIDI than an LA-series synth.

I think the original X-COM was composed for CM-32L/LAPC-I, as a siren sound can be heard in the very beginning of the intro that is not present with OPL or General MIDI.

[HunterZ]

I have an interesting problem with X-Com 1 and 2.

Enemy Unknown doesn't have sound at all. Nothing. No effect, and no music either. I've tried different settings of course from the setup.

TFTD has sound effects and FM music as well, but cannot initialize my external Roland SC-8820 module. All I can see, that the unit receives the midi message (blinking USB signal), and that's all. No sound played at all.

Other games which I've tried, worked.

Also tried the memsize=32 option, without success. Different mpu401 settings also didn't helped. Playing with mididevice option had no effect.

What else should I try? I'm out of options

I know your post is 5 years old, but I thought I'd mention that TFTD now runs fine with the OpenXcom nightly build.

I'm not enjoying TFTD as much as the original X-COM, however, because it's mostly just a re-skin of the original game and because the research tree sucks.

[Osprey]

I know your post is 5 years old, but I thought I'd mention that TFTD now runs fine with the OpenXcom nightly build.

I'm not enjoying TFTD as much as the original X-COM, however, because it's mostly just a re-skin of the original game and because the research tree sucks.

Thanks for the tip about OpenXcom. I tried it for the first time last night and am impressed. It looks and feels like the original game, but with tweaks for usability, like clicking-and-dragging on the geoscape and using the mouse wheel to zoom in/out on the geoscape and change floors in missions. I tend to prefer playing the original games, but this is a recreation that I might play.