Quote:
Originally Posted by Paddan1000
It sounds fine in DosBox with an MT-32 emulated. But not on my Pentium 75 with the real MT-32. I also tried MT-32 emulation in DOS with the AWE 64 Gold, but it sounds bad too. I guess the problem lies in the computer itself somehow. I've had problems with other games and Roland sound, like with Wing Commander and Simon the Sorcerer
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In response to Paddan1000's question:
Most of your early games that supports the Roland MT-32 also require and "intelligent mode" MIDI interface which complies with the Roland MPU-401 specification. The MPU-401 found on your Sound Blaster 16 (and compatible sound cards) utilises the "dumb" mode (a.k.a. as UART mode). Earlier games, that supported the MT-32, also required an "intelligent mode" MIDI interface in order to properly "communicate" with your Roland MT-32 (mostly because of System Exclusive messages that were sent to the MT-32).
You can either:
(i) try and obtain a true Roland (or compatible) "intelligent mode" MIDI interface (MPU-401 with MIF-IPC-A, MPU-IPC-T, MPU-401AT, etc.). Just be aware that earlier models had a PC interface card and a breakout box. You require both in order for it to operate (read more up on this at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPU-401)
(ii) download the software program called "SoftMPU" which is a DOS TSR that emulates an "intelligent mode" hardware MPU-401 interface. It's designed to work in tandem with the MIDI interfaces found on Sound Blaster and other common sound cards of that era (note: the original Sound Blaster 1.0, 2.0 and Sound Blaster Pro (Pro 2) does not have an MPU-401 compatible MIDI interface) but, SoftMPU also tries to emulate it via the Sound Blaster MIDI interface. Game compatibility will then be reduced.
(iii) play your game via DOSBox and hook up your Roland MT-32 via a USB MIDI connector.
Lastly, if you do NOT want to use DOSBox, then I wouldn't recommend trying to play your old DOS games (prior to 1994) on a Pentium or higher machine. Many of these older games were designed to run on slower PC's (like your 80386 and 80486 based CPU's). If you want a good trade off, try and obtain a fast 80486 PC (like a DX2 66 Mhz or DX2 80 Mhz) with a VESA Local Bus Graphics card.
I've done extensive testing on this and many of these older games either lock up or run too fast on newer PC's that does not have a turbo switch.