VOGONS


First post, by MusicallyInspired

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So I've been trying to get SQ5 to work with the Tandy 3-voice driver. This has proven difficult. I'm not even 100% sure if the Tandy driver was bundled with the game, but if it wasn't I got it from another SCI1.1 game that DID support Tandy 3V. My problem is that EGA640.DRV does not work when DOSBox is set to machine mode Tandy. I can start up the game but get no graphics, however I do hear the Sierra fanfare in 3-voice. After that, nothing. I don't know if this is because the game hangs after the opening screen and no longer responds or if the soundtrack is actually not compatible with Tandy 3V outside of the Sierra fanfare (which was probably the same resource file used for all the other SCI1.1 games, some of which did support Tandy 3v.

My other solution was to set machine mode to VGA or SVGA and just turn Tandy sound on. This works for AGI games and for SCI0 games, but strangely it does not work for SCI1.1 games. When running the install program it marks Tandy 3V as incompatible with the system (whereas it is compatible when running DOSBox in machine mode Tandy). The game launches but is completely silent if I use it anyway. And I know that means it's not functioning properly because I can hear the Sierra fanfare (at least) when running under machine mode Tandy.

I'm frustratingly curious as to whether SQ5's soundtrack is actually Tandy compatible or not. I suppose I could just check it out with SCI Resource Viewer, but that still leaves this issue of why Tandy 3V doesn't always work when setting Tandy=on in dosbox.conf. Or why EGA640 doesn't work in machine mode Tandy. I guess the latter is just because it was made for EGA cards and not the Tandy as I had previously thought. Was there ever a Tandy-compatible EGA driver for SCI1.1 games does anybody know? It seems odd that they'd supply Tandy 3V drivers with SCI1.1 games if they didn't have a compatible graphics driver to go with it.

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Reply 1 of 3, by NewRisingSun

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MusicallyInspired wrote:

I'm not even 100% sure if the Tandy driver was bundled with the game

In other words, you don't own an original copy 😜

MusicallyInspired wrote:

My problem is that EGA640.DRV does not work when DOSBox is set to machine mode Tandy.

Of course it does not, as a Tandy is not EGA compatible, and DosBox disables the VGA/EGA when machine is in Tandy mode.

MusicallyInspired wrote:

Was there ever a Tandy-compatible EGA driver for SCI1.1 games?

There never was, but you may try my TANDY640 driver.

MusicallyInspired wrote:

if the soundtrack is actually not compatible with Tandy 3V outside of the Sierra fanfare (which was probably the same resource file used for all the other SCI1.1 games, some of which did support Tandy 3v.

That is the case. No music outside the Sierra fanfare on Tandy3V, although there are sound effects, up to three simultaneously.

MusicallyInspired wrote:

My other solution was to set machine mode to VGA or SVGA and just turn Tandy sound on. This works for AGI games and for SCI0 games, but strangely it does not work for SCI1.1 games.

That is because SCI1.1 games are aware of the fact that the only Tandy 1000 computer that is an AT and has the Tandy sound chip (that would be the Tandy 1000 RLX and RSX) has it at input/output address 1E0 rather than C0. Dosbox emulates an XT with machine=cga/tandy/pcjr, and an AT with machine=ega/vga. Dosbox always puts the Tandy sound chip at C0 even on an AT, which is why SCI 1.1's TANDY3V.DRV produces nothing on DosBox with tandy=on in a non-Tandy machine mode.

MusicallyInspired wrote:

It seems odd that they'd supply Tandy 3V drivers with SCI1.1 games if they didn't have a compatible graphics driver to go with it.

That's because the Tandy 1000 RLX and RSX are VGA-compatible, and smaller Tandy 1000s are too slow to run the game anyway.

Reply 2 of 3, by ripsaw8080

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Musically Inspired wrote:

I'm not even 100% sure if the Tandy driver was bundled with the game

I've only looked at two versions of SQ5: the 1.03 floppy version, and the 1.04 version in the Space Quest Collection. Although both of them do include a TANDY3V.DRV file, if you look inside you will see it is actually a standard PC speaker driver... cheap trick.

Musically Inspired wrote:

My other solution was to set machine mode to VGA or SVGA and just turn Tandy sound on. This works for AGI games and for SCI0 games, but strangely it does not work for SCI1.1 games.

This should work in DOSBox for non-Tandy machine types, but for some versions of TANDY3V.DRV you may need sbtype=none in addition to tandy=on. Note that sbtype=none and tandy=on must be in the conf file when DOSBox starts up, it won't work if you try to change those settings while DOSBox is running. DOSBox installs the Tandy music chip at port 1E0 (and Tandy DAC at port 1E4) for non-Tandy machine types with tandy=on, but only if sbtype=none due to a conflict with the second DMA controller. However, the driver you are using does make a difference. For example, the driver from the floppy version of SQ4 uses port C0, so the sbtype setting is of no consequence; but the driver from KQ5 CD uses port 1E0, so sbtype=none is important.

Reply 3 of 3, by MusicallyInspired

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No, I do own a legit copy of the game. I own the real store bought Space Quest Collector's Series. "In other words" 😜 what I wasn't sure of is whether or not the original disk release(s) may have come with the driver because sometimes the collections don't always come with all the files (as they aren't necessary to run on newer computers). Like the Tandy and Sound Blaster sound drivers for SQ3. I figured I may have copied it over manually from another game to experiment with and just forgotten about (I did that a lot). I see now that it is just a PC Speaker driver disguised.

I also checked the game out with SCI Viewer (should have started with that) and it doesn't have any Tandy 3v patches available when viewing sound resources.

Thanks for the illuminating information, everyone! And for directingnme to your Tandy driver, NRS!

Yamaha FB-01/IMFC SCI tools thread
My Github
Roland SC-55 Music Packs - Duke Nukem 3D, Doom, and more.