Well, I have 2 different 5.25" floppies and the DOS CD (the one with just Lemmings) on the way.
They were cheap on eBay AND I used the 15% off coupon.
I did check on the betaarchive ftp site but they didn't have anything besides the regular 3.5" version and a mismarked alt 3.5" that was actually Lemmings Chronicles, which by the way has choices for Sound Blaster and GUS.
Good timing. I can also report on the Lemmings + Oh No! More Lemmings CD.
The disk looks like the image on Mobygames, except it says "Psygnosis 1995" and "Exclusively distributed by Slash corporation" instead of "SONY". Mine came with no cover (CD only) in a generic box.
In addition to the data track, there are 23 audio tracks on the disk.
Playing the games
Each of the two games can be run either from the root directory, or by calling VGALEMMI.EXE in the respective directories. The games can be run directly from the CD or "installed" on the hard drive, but the installation program only copies over LEMMINGS.EXE and OHNO.EXE from the root of the CD, so all the data files are always loaded from the CD.
It is possible to manually copy the entire contents onto the hard drive, but as the executables are hard-coded to play CD audio, you will still need the CD (any CD) in the drive.
The first time you run LEMMINGS.EXE or OHNO.EXE after installing them onto the hard drive, the setup program asks you to configure the audio and system parameters and saves them in CDLEMM.CFG for future use. The only audio options, as expected are: PC Speaker, Adlib, and Tandy - which confirms the knowledge gathered so far - no DOS version of Lemmings has Sound Blaster digital audio effects. If you run the games directly from the CD, it will ask you every time, because the configuration file cannot be saved, obviously.
For whatever reason, running the games through LEMMINGS.EXE or OHNO.EXE is not sensitive to the audio detection bug on fast CPUs, while running VGALEMMI.EXE directly still is, so if the CPU is too fast (or CYCLES are too high in DOSBox), it will default to PC speaker effects only, although the CD tracks still play fine.
Thoughts about the CD music
The CD music is basically a digitally synthesized version of the original MIDI tracks. It sounds nice, but there are downsides - the tracks are not long, and there is a fade-out at the end of each, so for most levels you will have a few seconds of silence before it starts over, unlike the seamless looping of the FM audio. Also, there is 1-2 seconds pause at the beginning of each level for the CD to spin up. Finally, there are a few clicks (audio glitches) in some of the tracks (my CD is not scratched; the clicks were introduced during recording and are part of the audio tracks). More on it here: https://www.lemmingsforums.net/index.php?topic=1485.0
It's not quite what's being discussed here, but I have an old copy of Lemmings 2, copyright 1993 by Psygnosis. Somewhat surprisingly, the two high-density 3.5" floppy disks still seem to be readable. Its installation process includes sound selections, and supports PC speaker, Ad Lib, Sound Blaster, Roland and Roland + Sound Blaster EDIT and Tandy. Presumably "Roland" means MT-32.
I can't comment on how it works or what sounds are included, as I haven't convinced it to run yet. Either it really doesn't like IWSBOS, and I need to try a different card, or there is a problem with the system being too fast or having too much memory. I will have another look soon, to see if it's easy enough to actually get running on such a machine.
Last edited by 640K!enough on 2018-09-01, 18:24. Edited 2 times in total.
The original question, as stated in the title, is - does there exist a DOS version of the original Lemmings (not Lemmings 2), which supports digital sound effects, like the Amiga and Windows 95 variants. So far, no such version has been discovered.
640K!enough wrote:
I have an old copy of Lemmings 2, copyright 1993 by Psygnosis. Somewhat surprisingly, the two high-density 3.5" floppy disks still seem to be readable. Its installation process includes sound selections, and supports PC speaker, Ad Lib, Sound Blaster, Roland and Roland + Sound Blaster. Presumably "Roland" means MT-32.
Both are just the standard Lemmings with Adlib sound/music.
Edit:
It sounds like there is a DOS version of Lemmings 1 or at least a double pack that includes Oh No More Lemmings that supports more than just Adlib sound/music.
Supported Graphics and Sound Boards:
Lemmings supports CGA, Tandy, EGA, and VGA
graphics. Lemmings also supports AdLib, […] Show full quote
Supported Graphics and Sound Boards:
Lemmings supports CGA, Tandy, EGA, and VGA
graphics. Lemmings also supports AdLib, SoundBlaster, Tandy,
Covox, and Thunderboard enhanced sound capabilities.
Lemmings automatically attempts to configure itself for optimum
performance on your computer.
@Alltinker... did it have Adlib music or midi music in DOS?
Definitely AdLib - the DOS versions I've found myself sound essentially identical music-wise to what I remember. I've since tried the Windows MIDI music (on vintage Windows) and I can safely say I've never heard it like that before.
And yeah, I'm hoping someone has either the Sound Blaster Pro (1.0?) or 16/CD bundled version (or to find them myself) - if neither of those have digital sound, well, I'm stumped!
Ok, so I have another copy of Lemmings 1 on the way. This time in 3x 5.25" disks. This one is different than then more expensive one I am contemplating getting but is disks only and each disk has a different color label.
Now the normal version of lemmings 1 can easily fit on a 720k 3.5" floppy with a couple hundred KB to spare, if I remember right, so why would you need 3x 5.25" floppies if it is the same exact version?
And yeah, I'm hoping someone has either the Sound Blaster Pro (1.0?) or 16/CD bundled version (or to find them myself) - if neither of those have digital sound, well, I'm stumped!
Don't know if it's helpful, but I have the version bundled with the SB Pro v2.0 and it's the same as the retail version, ie no digital effects.
Received the 5.25" different colored disks today and it just has Adlib sound and music.
It is the original May release of it as well so that is nice.
So yeah.. not sure what to say about the PCM sound in DOS with Adlib music.
The only version I am aware of that I haven't tried is the 3x 5.25" disks with the black label with white writing. I'm guessing that is just the later release of the game.
cyclone3d wrote:It sounds like there is a DOS version of Lemmings 1 or at least a double pack that includes Oh No More Lemmings that supports mo […] Show full quote
It sounds like there is a DOS version of Lemmings 1 or at least a double pack that includes Oh No More Lemmings that supports more than just Adlib sound/music.
Supported Graphics and Sound Boards:
Lemmings supports CGA, Tandy, EGA, and VGA
graphics. Lemmings also supports AdLib, […] Show full quote
Supported Graphics and Sound Boards:
Lemmings supports CGA, Tandy, EGA, and VGA
graphics. Lemmings also supports AdLib, SoundBlaster, Tandy,
Covox, and Thunderboard enhanced sound capabilities.
Lemmings automatically attempts to configure itself for optimum
performance on your computer.
I own the Lemmings / Oh No More Lemmings CD bundle, that includes that specific documentation. The CD has a green/yellow cover art of a lemming.
Maybe it just refers to sound compatibility? there are no sound options, and running without the CD errors out.
Are the sound effects digital or are they still FM only?
Sound effects still seem FM only, and no sound options are offered for the command line.
The installer only offers a choice of 'PC Internal Speaker, Adlib, and Tandy' for sound, which are stored in 'CDLEMM.CFG'.
It seems like the same CD version you described above, only with the documentation added to the disc.
Wouldn't a version with digital sound effects require an extra sound file too? like ADLIB.DAT and TANDYSND.DAT