Not a very good way to introduce new people to Point 'n Click adventures though is it.
Are you serious? Of course it's a game.
I realy do make me misserable...
To the FM-Towns version.
Ok, I´m stupid! :D I didn´t think of that. The FM system is not compatible with the Microsoft Dos or Windows system! So they couldn´t make this without ScummVm. And the Steam games are not ScummVm.
But the Tandy sound is AWFUL. It's definitely the worst I've ever heard the Last Crusade soundtrack. All the sound effects are reduced to PC Speaker style noises. Why did they do this??
Er... didn't you know? Everyone was completely in love with the sound coming from their Tandy computer speakers. The nostalgic ear splitting feeling.
...
Actually, I don't think I've ever known anyone to even own a Tandy computer in my life. Didn't the majority of people use adlib or have a sound blaster in the early 90s like me (or I should say my dad)? Silly LucasArts.
I guess bleep tones in Tandy are hell of a lot easier to emulate than fm synthesis in Adlib, but it doesn't explain why they didn't simply go with one of many open-source alternatives. It's not the licencing restrictions... so it must be a pride thing.
Surely they use Adlib in Loom and FOA though??
Well Loom only has the redbook audio tracks, which I'm guessing are all split into mp3s or something on steam, since there is no actual Audio CD.
I'd suppose FOA is Adlib because I doubt a Tandy PC could do voices without using that Access Software RealSound™ stuff.
They're selling CD-ROM version of Loom, so all music in it is probably in wave form (PCM audio is hell of a lot easier to code than Adlib emulator).
As for FOA, I'm not sure. It's possible they're just general midi playback via directmusic or something (also very easy to code).
What about the digital sound effects, though?
I guess what I'm getting at is that with general midi and CD music, and even recorded sound effects, nothing needs to be emulated and extremely easy to code - which explains how Loom and FoA could've been ported with minimal amount of budget. Adlib,however, is a different story, because it's a dead standard and you need to either build an emulation layer or convert Adlib music into general midi. Maybe that's why they went with Tandy for LC...
But as I said, LEC could've chosen an open-source Adlib emulator to do music for LC. I can't imagine why they didn't.
edit: bah converting adlib to gm... that's the stupidest thing I ever wrote. but you know what I mean
That's horrible. I love Tandy 3-voice sound. I do. But to ditch Adlib for it? That's madness. A perfectly good 3+ channel soundtrack and they ditch it in favour of the limited 3-channel soundtrack. That's awful.
Also, the IBM PCjr had basically the same thing as the Tandy 3-voice sound system. Did you know of anybody who had that? I know we had a Tandy 1000 when I was growing up. Loved it. Keyboard and computer/disk drives all in one case.
FOA had an MT-32 soundtrack, not General MIDI. It also introduced the engine where you could use one driver for samples and one for MIDI.
Incidentally, for anyone who's bought it, what does FOA on Steam use? Any recordings out there? :)
FOA had an MT-32 soundtrack, not General MIDI. It also introduced the engine where you could use one driver for samples and one for MIDI.
Incidentally, for anyone who's bought it, what does FOA on Steam use? Any recordings out there? :)
It uses MIDI. I don't have the original game but the Steam version sounds noticeably worse than the FOA demo playing in ScummVM with MIDI. The instruments sound like there isn't enough reverb, they're a bit flat, and I'm not using the default Microsoft Wavetable Synthesis either (I have a Yamaha XG Soft Synth). I don't know which rendition is more faithful to the original but I prefer ScummVM, it's a shame you can't run the Steam version in it.
You should probably edit your posts, this is the second one I've seen where you erroneously claim that Steam's general MIDI is worse than ScummVM's.