Same problem, how do you get Adlib sound working in California Games 2 in Dosbox. Also tried 5"25 original disks on my 386 , still no Adlib sound (there are a few videos on youtube with it playing Adlib music).

In Dosbox you'll have to lower the cycles until it's able to start with adlib sound.

filipetolhuizen wrote on 2020-03-20, 23:13:

In Dosbox you'll have to lower the cycles until it's able to start with adlib sound.

Gone down from 3000 to 50 cycles before starting the game. No Adlib sound only PC speaker. I don't think speed is the issue. The game doesn't even play sound on my 386 DX 16mhz with a sound blaster 1.5 or sound blaster pro.
I have looked for switches etc to enable Adlib sound but can find nothing.

Looking for strings in CGII.EXE, you will find this segment:

.^PSQRVW
_^ZY[X
r1tC
PSQRVWU
]_^ZY[X
adlib.dat
!"$%&
!#%'(
!"#$%&(*
!"#%')+-
!$%&')+-/0
!#%&')+-/02

However, my version does't include the adlib.dat file; maybe there are some that did?

krcroft wrote on 2020-03-21, 23:19:

Looking for strings in CGII.EXE, you will find this segment: […]
Show full quote

Looking for strings in CGII.EXE, you will find this segment:

.^PSQRVW
_^ZY[X
r1tC
PSQRVWU
]_^ZY[X
adlib.dat
!"$%&
!#%'(
!"#$%&(*
!"#%')+-
!$%&')+-/0
!#%&')+-/02

However, my version does't include the adlib.dat file; maybe there are some that did?

Looking through CGII.EXE it doesn't even contain adlib.dat in my version. CGII.EXE file also contains the text 'Version 1.0 12/26/9o'. This is from the 5"25 inch disk and the box shows Adlib support. Wonder if a now long lost patch was released to add adlib support or a newer version later released on 3.5" disks.

Also the original poster mentions Golden Axe and MT32 support. A video on youtube shows it : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnt7JNBDQoE don't know if this is real or modified as the game specs don't list mt32 as supported.

Here's the version I'm working with:

1strings CGII.EXE | grep -i version
2 CALIFORNIA GAMES II    Version 1.2.1    4/3/91

If anyone has the original floppies, do they contain adlib.dat?

The Golden Axe video looks like it's from megadrive, which had a midi chip. People have ripped the midi content from ROMs and record playback on high quality external players, like the mt32:
https://www.sega-16.com/forum/showthread.php? … -the-MD-Genesis

Maybe this explains the mystery?

The AdLib music is working for me with default settings in DOSBox when using the second release of the game from 1991. The first release from 1990 had no AdLib support; at least that's my understanding. However, a box scan on MobyGames suggests a separate upgrade of some kind may have been available for AdLib: https://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/california … eCoverId,10292/

An article in June 1991 PC Mag mentions the AdLib upgrade cost $10: https://books.google.com/books?id=LNhQLiJ8TgQ … epage&q&f=false
That article is after the March/April 1991 timeframe of the second release, so perhaps not all versions of the second release included the upgrade, or it could have simply been referring to the first release.

The BEACH.DAT file is apparently an archive of files, and you can find a reference to ADLIB DAT in its header -- if you don't see that reference then your version probably does not have AdLib support. 😉

Thanks for digging up those references ripsaw8080! Indeed; turns out I have 1.2.1 but without AdLib support - c'est la vie 😀

My version says 1.2.1 and I don't have an ADLIB.DAT file, but Adlib sound works. I did NOT have to do anything special either such as loading the Adlib sound.com TSR.

Running

1$ strings CGII.EXE | grep Version
2 CALIFORNIA GAMES II    Version 1.2.1    4/3/91
3File: Wrong Version.
4$ fgrep -i adlib *
5Binary file BEACH.DAT matches
6Binary file BOOGIE.DAT matches
7Binary file CGII.EXE matches
8Binary file GLIDE.DAT matches
9Binary file JETSURF.DAT matches
10Binary file SKATE.DAT matches
11Binary file SNOW.DAT matches

krcroft wrote on 2020-03-22, 01:35:

Here's the version I'm working with: […]
Show full quote

Here's the version I'm working with:

Copy code to clipboard

1strings CGII.EXE | grep -i version
2 CALIFORNIA GAMES II    Version 1.2.1    4/3/91

If anyone has the original floppies, do they contain adlib.dat?

The Golden Axe video looks like it's from megadrive, which had a midi chip. People have ripped the midi content from ROMs and record playback on high quality external players, like the mt32:
https://www.sega-16.com/forum/showthread.php? … -the-MD-Genesis

Maybe this explains the mystery?

The comment below the GA video claims dosbox is used, so I guess I want it now 😁

krcroft wrote on 2020-03-22, 01:35:

Here's the version I'm working with: […]
Show full quote

Here's the version I'm working with:

Copy code to clipboard

1strings CGII.EXE | grep -i version
2 CALIFORNIA GAMES II    Version 1.2.1    4/3/91

If anyone has the original floppies, do they contain adlib.dat?

The Golden Axe video looks like it's from megadrive, which had a midi chip. People have ripped the midi content from ROMs and record playback on high quality external players, like the mt32:
https://www.sega-16.com/forum/showthread.php? … -the-MD-Genesis

Maybe this explains the mystery?

In this video the uploader gives this explanation in the comments:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBB4Y7pSyRo

It's a long story... 😀 There are two games, which has same music engine: Golden Axe and Prehistorik 1. Both games uses specific MDI format (like MIDI), and Prehistorik can play it with MT-32. So I just ripped MDI files from Golden Axe memory durning the gameplay, and then I wrote these files to Prehistorik game memory. And it works 😁