Not sure if I'm on the right track here, but the Terra Nova music when configured for a GUS requires the old GUS utility "LOADPATS.EXE" (included with the game). AFAIK/IIRC DOSbox doesn't support loading GUS patches using the LOADPATS.EXE utility, which TN requires as it includes several custom GUS PAT patch files for it's GUS music playback.

Dunno, but maybe this is causing the problem?

Why don't you use MIDI music? Even the Windows MIDI synth should sound better than a GUS ever could. For the ultimate MIDI music experience install Timidity and use a decent soundfont. I'm sure rfnagel has something to say about soundfonts (; .

@rfnagel: Maybe? I don't really understand how the GUS works internally. The music works fine at the main menu, in base, wandering around in the world, etc, but perhaps the combat music uses custom instruments that it expects to have been loaded earlier or something?

@ADDiCT: Because the GUS actually sounds a lot better than either the windows MIDI synth or the synth built into my card (an Audigy 2), at least when playing Terra Nova. This does not surprise me, as both synths kind of suck.

I'll look in to using Timidity. Any suggested literature on getting it working with dosbox, or should I just google it up and go from there?

ADDiCT wrote:

I'm sure rfnagel has something to say about soundfonts (; .

Hehe, U know me -> Weeds General MIDI SoundFont v3.0 <grin> 😀

Mrirt wrote:

but perhaps the combat music uses custom instruments that it expects to have been loaded earlier or something?

That's what I'm thinking that it does. BTW, I just gave it a whirl with GUS MIDI and had the same problem. So's I'm thinking that's it... apparently some of the combat music requires the custom GUS patches loaded (via LOADPATS.EXE) in order to function.

Mrirt wrote:

or the synth built into my card (an Audigy 2)

I'm prolly mistaken, but doesn't the Audigy 2 support soundfonts? If so (shameless plug follows, ADDiCT knows me quite well 🤣!), see my link above.

Mrirt wrote:

I'll look in to using Timidity. Any suggested literature on getting it working with dosbox, or should I just google it up and go from there?

I think there's a few message threads here refering to how to set up Timidity as a global Windows driver. I've never set up Timidity like this using soundfonts (I've only used the standalone version of Timitidty). But IIRC, Timidity has issues with some soundfonts, particularly the newer largish ones. I remember in the standalone version of Timidity that the old 8MBGM.SF2 sounded fine, but any of the newer larger ones (including an older version of my soundfont that I linked to above) sounded horrid with it (incorrect instruments played, out of tune instruments, etc...).

Here was a message thread over at the ZDOOM forums where I was discussing this problem -> http://forum.zdoom.org/viewtopic.php?t=9781&h … hlight=timidity , Note though that the updated fix for Timidity mentioned in that thread is only for ZDOOM (the ZDOOM authors have a special build of Timidity for ZDOOM).

Anyhoo, if your Audigy 2 supports soundfonts, that (along with my custom soundfont) would be the way to go 😀

P.S. Almost forgot:

The Terra Nova main menu theme, re-arranged (cleaned up a bit) and recorded using my SBLive and my custom soundfont -> www.cmoo.com/snor/weeds/Terra_Nova/Terr ... Weeds).mp3 .

Also, some Terra Nova stuff that you might like or find handy -> http://www.cmoo.com/snor/weeds/Terra_Nova/ 😀

As it happens, the Audigy 2 does support soundfonts. I generally don't think of that because Creative's soundfont management software (and their everything else) is such a screaming abomination of user-hostility, but for TN I'm willing to get my hands dirty.

Well I'm using Timidity with a rather large soundfont (around 300 MB) regularly, and never had a problem with either performance or sound. TN's GUS MIDI may support some special musical effects (though I don't think so, why would software houses spend expensive dev time on a feature that only a small fraction of users would be able to appreciate or even notice? Besides AFAIK the GUS doesn't do anything "special" in terms of MIDI), but you're still only getting very low-quality samples compared to modern soundfonts. "Good sound" or "good music" are quite subjective, but sample quality isn't. (;

No problems here using GUS sound and music with Terra Nova. Using a disc image, I tried default settings in official DOSBox 0.74 (except gus=true), and custom settings with ems=false, xms=false, umb=false, sbtype=none (because the game uses the DOS4GW extender and SB can sometimes get in the way when configured for GUS); had no problem with either config after several missions in a row. The version of the game on disc is v1.08, but the v1.09 patch from Patches Scrolls works just as well for GUS sound and music. BTW, quite a few games use the loadpats.exe program to load instrument patches, and there are no specific problems with it that I'm aware of.

I have an Audigy 2 ZS, and I think its soundfont synth is quite good for most uses. Tried quite a few custom soundfonts, but always come back to the standard 4MB bank for gaming, because I'm used to a certain instrument balance (maybe comes from using a WaveBlaster back in the DOS days). By "balance" I mean how far forward or back in the mix the instruments are. Don't get me wrong, custom banks may be nice in some situations, particularly for just listening to music; but with custom fonts you sometimes get an electric guitar or brass suddenly in your face, and it's not so great for background music in a game.

Mrirt wrote:

As it happens, the Audigy 2 does support soundfonts. I generally don't think of that because Creative's soundfont management software (and their everything else) is such a screaming abomination of user-hostility, but for TN I'm willing to get my hands dirty.

For your Audigy 2, then soundfonts (along with EMU soundfont hardware, which your A2 supports) would definitely be the way to go... well, that along with my custom soundfont <grin> 😀

ADDiCT wrote:

TN's GUS MIDI may support some special musical effects (though I don't think so, why would software houses spend expensive dev time on a feature that only a small fraction of users would be able to appreciate or even notice?

Terra Nova shipped with a few custom GUS patches, as well as a custom (older version SBK format) soundfont for the AWE32/AWE64/SBLive that was supposedly taylored specifically for the TN tunes. For the SBK, on a standard AWE32 running in DOS it made the music sound a bit better. But, with DOSBox and a nice sounding modern soundfont, the music sounds much better than the old SBK/PAT files.

BTW, sort of OT: Ya know why I initally bought TN back in the day? Heh, I had a Computer Gaming World magazine CD that had a demo of TN on it. That demo was the first, (and quite honestly) about the only app/game that I've seen that natively supported the SB16's ASP/CSP chip. With the chip installed on your SB16, the TN demo supported "QSound", which really sounded neat in the demo.

Heh, bought the full version of TN on EBay, only to find out that the full version did NOT require an ASP/CSP chip for the QSound feature, unlike the demo version of the game <grin>.

ripsaw8080 wrote:

Tried quite a few custom soundfonts, but always come back to the standard 4MB bank for gaming, because I'm used to a certain instrument balance (maybe comes from using a WaveBlaster back in the DOS days). By "balance" I mean how far forward or back in the mix the instruments are. Don't get me wrong, custom banks may be nice in some situations, particularly for just listening to music; but with custom fonts you sometimes get an electric guitar or brass suddenly in your face, and it's not so great for background music in a game.

Sorry again for the plug, but have you tried my custom soundfont? I've had a lot of folks raving about how balanced that it sounds; realistic sounding instruments that are fairly well balanced with each other.

P.S. Before the first incarnation of my custom SF2 I had used the old EMU 8MBGM.SF2 for years. I always thought that one sounded quite balanced, and used it for quite some time for all of my MIDI compostions.

BTW, I didn't know that you used to have a WaveBlaster as well, cool 😀

@Mrirt,

BTW, dunno if this will help with your TN, but here is the (older DB v0.73, haven't updated the CONF yet for v0.74, but it works OK for that newer version of DB) DOSBox.conf that I use to run Terra Nova with. note that I'm running TN strictly from my hard drive, and have modified the various BAT files to do so (and so that the SETUP utility works as well like this):

1# This is the configurationfile for DOSBox 0.73.
2# Lines starting with a # are commentlines.
3# They are used to (briefly) document the effect of each option.
4
5[sdl]
6#       fullscreen: Start dosbox directly in fullscreen.
7#       fulldouble: Use double buffering in fullscreen.
8#   fullresolution: What resolution to use for fullscreen: original or fixed size (e.g. 1024x768).
9# windowresolution: Scale the window to this size IF the output device supports hardware scaling.
10#           output: What video system to use for output.
11#                   Possible values: surface, overlay, opengl, openglnb, ddraw.
12#         autolock: Mouse will automatically lock, if you click on the screen.
13#      sensitivity: Mouse sensitivity.
14#      waitonerror: Wait before closing the console if dosbox has an error.
15#         priority: Priority levels for dosbox. Second entry behind the comma is for when dosbox is not focused/minimized. (pause is only valid for the second entry)
16#                   Possible values: lowest, lower, normal, higher, highest, pause.
17#       mapperfile: File used to load/save the key/event mappings from.
18#     usescancodes: Avoid usage of symkeys, might not work on all operating systems.
19
20fullscreen=true
21fulldouble=false
22fullresolution=original
23windowresolution=original
24output=surface
25autolock=true
26sensitivity=250
27waitonerror=true
28priority=highest,highest
29# The key mapper file below remaps the "`" key to the "Esc" key (press "Ctrl+`"
30# instead of "Ctrl+Esc" to abort a mission, which prevents the Windows start
31# menu from being displayed and subsequently task switching back to Windows),
32# and the fourth joystick button ("stick_0 button 3") to the F4 key to send
33# communications to the entire squad.
34mapperfile=Terra Nova Key Mapper.txt
35usescancodes=true
36
37[dosbox]
38# language: Select another language file.
39#  machine: The type of machine tries to emulate.
40#           Possible values: hercules, cga, tandy, pcjr, ega, vgaonly, svga_s3, svga_et3000, svga_et4000, svga_paradise, vesa_nolfb, vesa_oldvbe.
41# captures: Directory where things like wave, midi, screenshot get captured.
42#  memsize: Amount of memory DOSBox has in megabytes.
43#             This value is best left at its default to avoid problems with some games,
44#             though few games might require a higher value.
45#             There is generally no speed advantage when raising this value.
46
47language=
48machine=svga_s3
49captures=capture
50memsize=31
51
52[render]
53# frameskip: How many frames DOSBox skips before drawing one.
54#    aspect: Do aspect correction, if your output method doesn't support scaling this can slow things down!.
55#    scaler: Scaler used to enlarge/enhance low resolution modes. If 'forced' is appended,the scaler will be used even if the result might not be desired.
56#            Possible values: none, normal2x, normal3x, advmame2x, advmame3x, advinterp2x, advinterp3x, hq2x, hq3x, 2xsai, super2xsai, supereagle, tv2x, tv3x, rgb2x, rgb3x, scan2x, scan3x.
57
58frameskip=0
59aspect=false
60scaler=normal2x

61
62[cpu]
63#      core: CPU Core used in emulation. auto will switch to dynamic if available and appropriate.
64#            Possible values: auto, dynamic, normal, simple.
65#   cputype: CPU Type used in emulation. auto is the fastest choice.
66#            Possible values: auto, 386, 386_slow, 486_slow, pentium_slow, 386_prefetch.
67#    cycles: Amount of instructions DOSBox tries to emulate each millisecond. Setting this value too high results in sound dropouts and lags. Cycles can be set in 3 ways:
68#              'auto'          tries to guess what a game needs.
69#                              It usually works, but can fail for certain games.
70#              'fixed #number' will set a fixed amount of cycles. This is what you usually need if 'auto' fails.
71#                              (Example: fixed 4000)
72#              'max'           will allocate as much cycles as your computer is able to handle
73#            
74#            Possible values: auto, fixed, max.
75#   cycleup: Amount of cycles to increase/decrease with keycombo.
76# cycledown: Setting it lower than 100 will be a percentage.
77
78core=auto
79cputype=auto
80cycles=max
81cycleup=500
82cycledown=20
83
84[mixer]
85#   nosound: Enable silent mode, sound is still emulated though.
86#      rate: Mixer sample rate, setting any device's rate higher than this will probably lower their sound quality.
87#            Possible values: 22050, 44100, 48000, 32000, 16000, 11025, 8000, 49716.
88# blocksize: Mixer block size, larger blocks might help sound stuttering but sound will also be more lagged.
89#            Possible values: 2048, 4096, 8192, 1024, 512, 256.
90# prebuffer: How many milliseconds of data to keep on top of the blocksize.
91
92nosound=false
93rate=22050
94blocksize=2048
95prebuffer=10
96
97[midi]
98#     mpu401: Type of MPU-401 to emulate.
99#             Possible values: intelligent, uart, none.
100# mididevice: Device that will receive the MIDI data from MPU-401.
101#             Possible values: default, win32, alsa, oss, coreaudio, coremidi, none.
102# midiconfig: Special configuration options for the device driver. This is usually the id of the device you want to use. See README for details.
103
104mpu401=intelligent
105mididevice=default
106midiconfig=
107
108[sblaster]
109#  sbtype: Type of sblaster to emulate.
110#          Possible values: sb1, sb2, sbpro1, sbpro2, sb16, none.
111#  sbbase: The IO address of the soundblaster.
112#          Possible values: 220, 240, 260, 280, 2a0, 2c0, 2e0, 300.
113#     irq: The IRQ number of the soundblaster.
114#          Possible values: 7, 5, 3, 9, 10, 11, 12.
115#     dma: The DMA number of the soundblaster.
116#          Possible values: 1, 5, 0, 3, 6, 7.
117#    hdma: The High DMA number of the soundblaster.
118#          Possible values: 1, 5, 0, 3, 6, 7.
119# sbmixer: Allow the soundblaster mixer to modify the DOSBox mixer.
120# oplmode: Type of OPL emulation. On 'auto' the mode is determined by sblaster type. All OPL modes are Adlib-compatible, except for 'cms'.
121#          Possible values: auto, cms, opl2, dualopl2, opl3, none.
122#  oplemu: Provider for the OPL emulation. compat or old might provide better quality (see oplrate as well).
123#          Possible values: default, compat, fast, old.
124# oplrate: Sample rate of OPL music emulation. Use 49716 for highest quality (set the mixer rate accordingly).
125#          Possible values: 22050, 49716, 44100, 48000, 32000, 16000, 11025, 8000.
126
127sbtype=sb16
128sbbase=220
129irq=5
130dma=1
131hdma=5
132sbmixer=true
133oplmode=auto
134oplemu=default
135oplrate=22050
136
137[gus]
138#      gus: Enable the Gravis Ultrasound emulation.
139#  gusrate: Sample rate of Ultrasound emulation.
140#           Possible values: 22050, 44100, 48000, 32000, 16000, 11025, 8000, 49716.
141#  gusbase: The IO base address of the Gravis Ultrasound.
142#           Possible values: 240, 220, 260, 280, 2a0, 2c0, 2e0, 300.
143#   gusirq: The IRQ number of the Gravis Ultrasound.
144#           Possible values: 5, 3, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12.
145#   gusdma: The DMA channel of the Gravis Ultrasound.
146#           Possible values: 3, 0, 1, 5, 6, 7.
147# ultradir: Path to Ultrasound directory. In this directory
148#           there should be a MIDI directory that contains
149#           the patch files for GUS playback. Patch sets used
150#           with Timidity should work fine.
151
152gus=false
153gusrate=22050
154gusbase=240
155gusirq=7
156gusdma=3
157ultradir=C:\ULTRASND
158
159[speaker]
160# pcspeaker: Enable PC-Speaker emulation.
161#    pcrate: Sample rate of the PC-Speaker sound generation.
162#            Possible values: 22050, 44100, 48000, 32000, 16000, 11025, 8000, 49716.
163#     tandy: Enable Tandy Sound System emulation. For 'auto', emulation is present only if machine is set to 'tandy'.
164#            Possible values: auto, on, off.
165# tandyrate: Sample rate of the Tandy 3-Voice generation.
166#            Possible values: 22050, 44100, 48000, 32000, 16000, 11025, 8000, 49716.
167#    disney: Enable Disney Sound Source emulation. (Covox Voice Master and Speech Thing compatible).
168
169pcspeaker=false
170pcrate=22050
171tandy=off
172tandyrate=22050
173disney=false
174
175[joystick]
176# joysticktype: Type of joystick to emulate: auto (default), none,
177#               2axis (supports two joysticks),
178#               4axis (supports one joystick, first joystick used),
179#               4axis_2 (supports one joystick, second joystick used),
180#               fcs (Thrustmaster), ch (CH Flightstick).
181#               none disables joystick emulation.
182#               auto chooses emulation depending on real joystick(s).
183#               Possible values: auto, 2axis, 4axis, 4axis_2, fcs, ch, none.
184#        timed: enable timed intervals for axis. (false is old style behaviour).
185#     autofire: continuously fires as long as you keep the button pressed.
186#       swap34: swap the 3rd and the 4th axis. can be useful for certain joysticks.
187#   buttonwrap: enable button wrapping at the number of emulated buttons.
188
189joysticktype=ch
190timed=true
191autofire=false
192swap34=true
193buttonwrap=true
194
195[serial]
196# serial1: set type of device connected to com port.
197#          Can be disabled, dummy, modem, nullmodem, directserial.
198#          Additional parameters must be in the same line in the form of
199#          parameter:value. Parameter for all types is irq.
200#          for directserial: realport (required), rxdelay (optional).
201#                           (realport:COM1 realport:ttyS0).
202#          for modem: listenport (optional).
203#          for nullmodem: server, rxdelay, txdelay, telnet, usedtr,
204#                         transparent, port, inhsocket (all optional).
205#          Example: serial1=modem listenport:5000
206#          Possible values: dummy, disabled, modem, nullmodem, directserial.
207# serial2: see serial1
208#          Possible values: dummy, disabled, modem, nullmodem, directserial.
209# serial3: see serial1
210#          Possible values: dummy, disabled, modem, nullmodem, directserial.
211# serial4: see serial1
212#          Possible values: dummy, disabled, modem, nullmodem, directserial.
213
214serial1=dummy
215serial2=dummy
216serial3=disabled
217serial4=disabled
218
219[dos]
220#            xms: Enable XMS support.
221#            ems: Enable EMS support.
222#            umb: Enable UMB support.
223# keyboardlayout: Language code of the keyboard layout (or none).
224
225xms=true
226ems=true
227umb=true
228keyboardlayout=auto
229
230[ipx]
231# ipx: Enable ipx over UDP/IP emulation.
232
233ipx=false
234
235[autoexec]
236# Lines in this section will be run at startup.
237@ECHO OFF
238MIXER MASTER 75:75
239MOUNT C C:\GAMES
240# VER SET 5 0
241VER SET 7 10
242SET PATH=C:\;C:\DOS;C:\FED;GM_RESET;C:\NC;C:\NE;C:\NU;C:\PATH;C:\PKZIP;C:\TEMP;Z:\
243SET TEMP=C:\TEMP
244SET TMP=C:\TEMP
245C:
246CD\TNOVA
247CALL TN.BAT
248EXIT

(edit) Oh, guess I should copy 'n' paste that custom key mapper (mentioned in the CONF above) as well:

1hand_shutdown "key 290 mod1"
2hand_capmouse "key 291 mod1"
3hand_fullscr "key 13 mod2"
4hand_pause "key 19 mod2"
5hand_mapper "key 282 mod1"
6hand_speedlock "key 293 mod2"
7hand_recwave "key 287 mod1"
8hand_caprawmidi "key 289 mod1 mod2"
9hand_scrshot "key 286 mod1"
10hand_video "key 286 mod1 mod2"
11hand_decfskip "key 288 mod1"
12hand_incfskip "key 289 mod1"
13hand_cycledown "key 292 mod1"
14hand_cycleup "key 293 mod1"
15hand_caprawopl "key 288 mod1 mod2"
16hand_swapimg "key 285 mod1"
17key_esc "key 96" "key 27"
18key_f1 "key 282"
19key_f2 "key 283"
20key_f3 "key 284"
21key_f4 "stick_0 button 3" "key 285"
22key_f5 "key 286"
23key_f6 "key 287"
24key_f7 "key 288"
25key_f8 "key 289"
26key_f9 "key 290"
27key_f10 "key 291"
28key_f11 "key 292"
29key_f12 "key 293"
30key_grave "key 96"
31key_1 "key 49"
32key_2 "key 50"
33key_3 "key 51"
34key_4 "key 52"
35key_5 "key 53"
36key_6 "key 54"
37key_7 "key 55"
38key_8 "key 56"
39key_9 "key 57"
40key_0 "key 48"
41key_minus "key 45"
42key_equals "key 61"
43key_bspace "key 8"
44key_tab "key 9"
45key_q "key 113"
46key_w "key 119"
47key_e "key 101"
48key_r "key 114"
49key_t "key 116"
50key_y "key 121"
51key_u "key 117"
52key_i "key 105"
53key_o "key 111"
54key_p "key 112"
55key_lbracket "key 91"
56key_rbracket "key 93"
57key_enter "key 13"
58key_capslock "key 301"
59key_a "key 97"
60key_s "key 115"

61key_d "key 100"
62key_f "key 102"
63key_g "key 103"
64key_h "key 104"
65key_j "key 106"
66key_k "key 107"
67key_l "key 108"
68key_semicolon "key 59"
69key_quote "key 39"
70key_backslash "key 92"
71key_lshift "key 304"
72key_lessthan "key 60"
73key_z "key 122"
74key_x "key 120"
75key_c "key 99"
76key_v "key 118"
77key_b "key 98"
78key_n "key 110"
79key_m "key 109"
80key_comma "key 44"
81key_period "key 46"
82key_slash "key 47"
83key_rshift "key 303"
84key_lctrl "key 306"
85key_lalt "key 308"
86key_space "key 32"
87key_ralt "key 307"
88key_rctrl "key 305"
89key_printscreen "key 316"
90key_scrolllock "key 302"
91key_pause "key 19"
92key_insert "key 277"
93key_home "key 278"
94key_pageup "key 280"
95key_delete "key 127"
96key_end "key 279"
97key_pagedown "key 281"
98key_up "key 273"
99key_left "key 276"
100key_down "key 274"
101key_right "key 275"
102key_numlock "key 300"
103key_kp_divide "key 267"
104key_kp_multiply "key 268"
105key_kp_minus "key 269"
106key_kp_7 "key 263"
107key_kp_8 "key 264"
108key_kp_9 "key 265"
109key_kp_plus "key 270"
110key_kp_4 "key 260"
111key_kp_5 "key 261"
112key_kp_6 "key 262"
113key_kp_1 "key 257"
114key_kp_2 "key 258"
115key_kp_3 "key 259"
116key_kp_enter "key 271"
117key_kp_0 "key 256"
118key_kp_period "key 266"
119jbutton_0_0 "stick_0 button 0"
120jbutton_0_1 "stick_0 button 1"
121jaxis_0_1- "stick_0 axis 1 0"
122jaxis_0_1+ "stick_0 axis 1 1"
123jaxis_0_0- "stick_0 axis 0 0"
124jaxis_0_0+ "stick_0 axis 0 1"
125jbutton_0_2 "stick_0 button 2"
126jbutton_0_3 "stick_0 button 3"
127jbutton_1_0
128jbutton_1_1
129jaxis_0_2- "stick_0 axis 2 0"
130jaxis_0_2+ "stick_0 axis 2 1"
131jaxis_0_3- "stick_0 axis 3 0"
132jaxis_0_3+ "stick_0 axis 3 1"
133jaxis_1_0-
134jaxis_1_0+
135jaxis_1_1-
136jaxis_1_1+
137jbutton_0_4
138jbutton_0_5
139jhat_0_0_0 "stick_0 hat 0 1"
140jhat_0_0_3 "stick_0 hat 0 8"
141jhat_0_0_2 "stick_0 hat 0 4"
142jhat_0_0_1 "stick_0 hat 0 2"
143mod_1 "key 305" "key 306"
144mod_2 "key 307" "key 308"
145mod_3

Lastly, this might help someone running TN, my various batch and config files for the game (running Terra Nova V1.09 strictly from my hard drive under DOSBox):

SETUP.BAT

1@ECHO OFF
2C:\TNOVA\INSTDATA\SETUP.BAT C:\TNOVA +_SETUP TARG_DIR:C:\TNOVA %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9

VIDEO.BAT (prolly unnecessary under DOSBox)

1@ECHO OFF
2CLS
3IF EXIST UNIVBE.DRV GOTO Remove_Driver
4
5:Create_Driver
6@ECHO Building new UniVBE driver file...
7C:\TNOVA\INSTDATA\UVCONFIG.EXE -gen -p .
8@ECHO Driver file successfully built, Terra Nova will now run with UniVBE.
9GOTO Finished
10
11:Remove_Driver
12@ECHO Removing existing UniVBE driver file...
13DEL UNIVBE.DRV
14@ECHO Driver file successfully removed, Terra Nova will now run without UniVBE.
15GOTO Finished
16
17:Finished
18@ECHO.
19@ECHO Press any key to exit...
20PAUSE>NUL

INSTALL.CFG

1_inst_sizes 21 31 101
2_swap_sizes 20 15 1
3_data_path .\instdata
4_default_targ_dir c:\tnova
5_default_install_level 1
6_check_dir c:\games

TN.CFG

1DIGI_NUM 13
2DIGI_IO 544
3DIGI_IRQ 5
4DIGI_DMA8 1
5DIGI_DMA16 5
6MIDI_NUM 12
7MIDI_IO 816
8JOYSTICK 1
9INSTALL_LEVEL 2
10CD_DIR C:\TNOVA
11DATA_PATH C:\TNOVA\CUSTOM+C:\TNOVA\DATA
12MAPS_PATH C:\TNOVA\CUSTOM+C:\TNOVA\MAPS
13MOVIE_PATH C:\TNOVA\CUSTOM+C:\TNOVA\MOVIE
14SOUND_PATH C:\TNOVA\CUSTOM+C:\TNOVA\SOUND
15SPEECH_PATH C:\TNOVA\CUSTOM+C:\TNOVA\SPEECH
16TARG_DIR C:\TNOVA

@ADDiCT: just because the samples are higher quality doesn't always mean the music as a whole sounds better, especially if it was tuned for a specific sample set and instrument balance.

@ripsaw8080: I'll give that a try, thanks.

@rfnagel: that looks pretty similar to my setup, except for the data paths (I copied the disc to hard drive and then mounted it as D:, no need for to adjust the batch or config files).

Anyways, when I get home today I'll try disabling EMS/XMS/UMB/SB16 and see if that fixes it, and if not it's time to bite the bullet and install the Creative soundfont bank manager.

If I can find the bloody thing.

Mrirt wrote:

Anyways, when I get home today I'll try disabling EMS/XMS/UMB/SB16 and see if that fixes it, and if not it's time to bite the bullet and install the Creative soundfont bank manager. If I can find the bloody thing.

Note that Creative Labs support web site has ALWAYS been a nightmare to navigate (even back when the Internet was a "new thang"), but your best bet might be to locate the latest drivers for your card over at their site.

When I first got my SBLive a while back I prolly spent several days digging up what I needed from there for Windows XP. But, after trudging through their mess of a web site (on my lowly miserable dialup connection) and finding exactly what I needed, installation was fairly easy 😀

Not sure about the Audigy 2 and the SF2 Bank Manager, but the CLI SBLive drivers for XP came with a utilty "AudioHQ", which included a "SoundFont" control panel-ish applet (among other things). Fairly easy to load and change the active soundfont, as well as "stacking" them too.

(edit) P.S. The SBLive's soundfont control panel applet was a bit similar to the old AWE32 soundfont control panel, so's it didn't take long for me to adapt to the SBLive's version. I had a several AWE32s, and used the AWE32 SF2 control panel (under W311) for years.

The most difficult thing (for me, at least) was trying to figure out what happened to all of my reverb and NRPN reverb effects when I started using the SBLive. Seems that one has to create a custom Environmental Audio config/preset using the "EAX Control Panel" in order to have the standard MIDI controller #91 reverb, as well as for using/applying the EMU10K's MIDI NRPN reverb effects.