A list of MT-32 compatible games

[shad0wfax]

Does anybody know whether it is some kind of a quite comprehensive list of games (not only PC ones) supporting the MT-32? I've been doing some web-surfing but I haven't been able to find one. I'd want to know which games I'm missing to give them a try.

[Alkarion]

There is the Mobygames list, of course. But it has a number of errors. Some games listed there don't support the MT-32.

[NewRisingSUn]

It shouldn't be too hard to start one. Wikipedia would be a good place for this. Feel free to add to it.

It's also a good idea to differentiate whether a game score was composed for the MT-32 (i.e. Space Quest 3), or for something else and just converted for the MT-32 (i.e. Space Quest 5, Lemmings 2). Of course, in some case this isn't obvious, and I can already see well-meaning but misinformed people tell me that Day of the Tentacle was composed for General MIDI (it wasn't, as explained in some other thread).

[Great Hierophant]

Very nice list, very useful indeed.  I added Loom (Adlib) and tweaked some the title names to properly reflect the games' names.  

I wonder if The Secret of Monkey Island to Adlib should be changed because I believe the EGA version, (which may have come first) of that game did not have MT-32 support.  I will check on that this evening as I could be wrong.  

Some games may have used multiple sources for music composition.  For example, Loom's MT-32 patch added an overture that was composed for the MT-32, but the rest of the music is Adlib-based.  Finally, I believe I read somewhere that Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge's opening tune was composed for the Adlib while the ingame tunes were MT-32 originals.  This may be too in-depth for the Wiki.

[Juho Sippola]

I'm also working on that list. I added a section where people may add games that claim MT-32 compatibility in their setup programs but in reality playback the GM score, causing incorrect instruments to play.

[Zemus]

Q: Did you originally sequence the score for The Secret of Monkey Island and LeChuck's Revenge for the MT-32?
A: Yes, pretty much everything from both games was done first on MT-32, with one exception.� I did the rework of the main theme for LeChuck's Revenge using the Adlib driver on the PC.� I guess I just wanted to optimize that first tune of the game for FM, since FM was so predominant at the time.

- from http://web.archive.org/web/20030206105623/michael-land.mixnmojo.com/inter2.htm

I'd still say MI2 has an MT-32 based soundtrack though. It also seems like MI1 was composed for it.

[Great Hierophant]

No need to change either game then, even though it didn't use custom patches.

[NewRisingSUn]

What might be the best way for games that were originally composed for another platform, but were so completely reworked for PC so that on the PC, the MT-32 is the "native" sound device of the reworked score?

One example of this is Microprose Formula One Grand Prix. It's originally an Amiga game (with Amiga Paula music), and while the PC music uses the main melody, the score is basically a complete new derivative work, done on the MT-32, which is why it's listed as an MT-32-native game; but because of what was said above, denoting it in italics with "(Amiga)" would also not be wrong.

Ideas concerning this?

[Cloudschatze]

Ideas?

Would a table work better? A list is going to be somewhat limiting. The Mobygames format is nice - can something like it be duplicated on Wikipedia?

Also, what about games composed on (or supporting) the CM-32LN/64/LAPC-I? They ought to receive some sort of designator as well.

[Zemus]

It shouldn't be too difficult to make a table like mobygames has. This list is a pretty good example if you're looking for how the wiki code works when it comes to tables. As you can see, it also supports footnotes for the games that require extra comment.

[NewRisingSUn]

Yikes. I'm not going to waste my time doing all that table markup.

I don't see what we need a table for anyway --- what other relevant columns do you need? 'Relevant' of course automatically excludes useless trivia like publisher and year of release.

I agree though that footnotes might be useful to denote:
- games that make use of the CM-32L/LAPC-I sound effects, and thus miss something on an MT-32;
- games that do not run at all on the first-generation MT-32, because of buffer overflow issues (see the MT-32 article)

Another footnote could be used to separate the default-bank scores from the custom sounds-using scores, although I think that's rather redundant and useless.

[Great Hierophant]

Prince of Persia's soundtrack obviously was not composed for the MT-32.  It originally was released for the Apple II and used the Apple Speaker for its music and for the PC undoubtedly used the Adlib.  

Also, I looked at SOMI.  While the 16 color version does not support the MT-32, I believe that is a limitation of the executable and interpreter.  My disk VGA version (without the copy protection) uses version 5 of the SCUMM interpreter while the EGA version uses version 4.  (Maybe the copy protected VGA disk version also uses SCUMM version 4?)  A patch exists from LucasArts to add MT-32 support to both versions just like Loom.  I assume that LucasArts underestimated the numbers of MT-32 owners and didn't want to have to ship another disk with the patch on it.

[Maxime]

This list is a nice idea.

I've translated the article into French: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_de_jeux_vid%C3%A9o_compatibles_avec_le_Roland_MT-32
I'll maybe also translate the MT-32 article when I'll have some time (the French Wikipedia does not have a Roland MT-32 article).

I have not checked if some non-Sierra MT-32-compatible games were listed as well (eg. Operation Stealth aka. James Bond: The Stealth Affair, Les Voyageurs du Temps aka. Future Wars: Time Travellers, The Legend of Kyrandia, T.F.X., SimCity 2000 IIRC, etc.), but I'll add them on the two lists if they are not present currently.

[NewRisingSUn]

Prince of Persia's soundtrack obviously was not composed for the MT-32. It originally was released for the Apple II and used the Apple Speaker for its music and for the PC undoubtedly used the Adlib.

Does the Apple version support the Mockingboard? Otherwise I would say that the multi-voice PC music is a derivative work, originally written for Adlib, of the single-voice Apple II music.

As for Monkey, yes, the music was composed for MT-32, but they were too cheap to ship another disk. Day of the Tentacle was the same case --- you'd have to order another disk if you wanted Roland or General MIDI sound.

[Alistair]

I thought POP did have a MT-32 soundtrack?
( http://blaze.spicelab.net/mt32 )

Only played it with Adlib years ago myself, but I always assumed that after seeing that page, it was MT-32.



ANd, I presume you know about which Sierra games were composed for which, SHadowfax.

- Alistair

[Great Hierophant]

Only played it with Adlib years ago myself, but I always assumed that after seeing that page, it was MT-32.

By the judgment of my ears, the MT-32 tracks do not sound like a great deal of care was taken with them.  I know the MT-32 could do better than that!

Does the Apple version support the Mockingboard? Otherwise I would say that the multi-voice PC music is a derivative work, originally written for Adlib, of the single-voice Apple II music.

It does not, but the Apple Speaker seems to be tweaked to produce more of a melody than it is otherwise capable of.  One of these days, I will try it on my real Apple IIe Platinum to see whether the volume is as low as the emulators make it out to be.  I agree that any port that uses the same music is a derivative work of the Apple II music.

[Zemus]

Some games may have used multiple sources for music composition. For example, Loom's MT-32 patch added an overture that was composed for the MT-32, but the rest of the music is Adlib-based.

How do you know it wasn't made for the MT-32 like Monkey Island 1 at the same time? I just find it weird that Fatman would do this on an AdLib while at the same time working on Wing Commander 1, which was an MT-32 game.

[shad0wfax]

Wow! I couldn't just imagine that this thread would generate so much interest    Great work in making the list!! Thanks a lot to all the contributors for their effort. I found it very strange that there wasn't already some kind of list of MT-32 compatible games, considering it was the standard for high-quality computer game music for many years (well, at least for 4-5 years).

[NewRisingSUn]

Loom's demo version (included in the "Passport to Adventure" sampler) sounds quite different on Adlib (better in my opinion) than the full version. I don't know what that means for either side of the argument...

[Zemus]

I guess you could go to the source and see if he remembers anything: http://fatman.com/contact.htm
Maybe he'll reply if someone sends him a mail and explains that it's for the Wikipedia article.