I think all of this stuff is slowly starting to make sense! I've been tinkering with the EMM386 RAM I=[values] and discovered that on my system, B000-B7FF are safe. C000 and D000 are not, and when I attempt to use them, the game won't run, or show graphical glitches. Although the upper memory generated by letting EMM386 use B000-B7FF isn't enough to load everything that I'd want into high, I've been experimenting and starting to understand why the order of things like config.sys and autoexec.bat matter. First, CTMOUSE.EXE (3K) was loaded before SHSUCDX.SYS (6K) and this resulted in CTMOUSE.SYS being loaded into the upper memory, and SHSUCDX.SYS being loaded in the conventional memory. I decided to load SHSUCDX BEFORE CTMOUSE, and now SHSUCDX is loaded in to the upper memory, leaving CTMOUSE in the conventional memory. There simply isn't enough free space for both of them, but CTMOUSE has a lighter footprint, so that's another 3K saved!

That's a grand total of 612K free conventional memory, EMS enabled, soundcard working, mouse working, CD-ROM working, the game working... This is awesome! And best of all, I feel like I'm understanding how this works! Thanks guys 😁

that is how it should be. congrats!