QFG1 Remake CM-32 or SCC1-A?

[2Mourty]

I know that QFG 3 and QFG 4 were composed on the SC-55 and sound great on my SCC1-A card.  I just purchase a CM-32L and I'm quite excited.  Some of my older sierra games are going to sound great on the CM-32:  Conquests of Camelot, Conquests of the Longbow, Space Quest 4, etc.  I am curious as to what the GFQ1 VGA Remake was composed on.  Was it composed on the MT-32 or the sc-55?  Which midi device will it sound better on?

[Ari]

Since it came out around the same time as LSL1VGA and SQ1VGA, which were both composed on the MT-32, I think it's safe to assume QFG1VGA was composed on the MT-32 as well.

So the CM-32L is the way to go.

[MusicallyInspired]

It pretty much uses the same soundtrack from QFG1EGA but with a few extra themes in there so I'd say it's safe to assume that it's MT-32-based. There is support for General MIDI (SC-55) and when you put it on that some of the instruments are different (like a taiko drum instead of a snare....Mark Seibert seemed to like to do that as it also happens on the CD version of SQ4).

[NewRisingSUn]

(like a taiko drum instead of a snare....Mark Seibert seemed to like to do that as it also happens on the CD version of SQ4)

It's not that he likes it, it's that the GENMIDI.DRV is unable to remap a "melodic" instrument like "Deep Snare" to a drum note.

[MusicallyInspired]

Ahhhh.

[2Mourty]

Thank you for the information.  I am quite familiar with the GM track of the game.  I will play through with the cm-32l and listen for the differences.

[Alistair]

Major differences in the GM score (where the MT-32 tracks are obviously better) are tracks like the Kobold's Cave, the intro music (actually a different piece of music, or a really shoddy GM conversion, I forget), Baba Yaga's place (both in and out), and probably more.

The GM score is quite acceptable in most places, neither version really excels- mainly because like with KQ5, the MT-32 simply isn't suited to playing "big band" or "big orchestral" type pieces. Although QFG2 pulls it off pretty well

- Alistair

[Marten]

The ending theme in the EGA version was quite nice though, and is missing in the VGA version.

[Boogeyman]

Think I need to point something out:

http://www.mediafire.com/?6sdnsmbnjz9

[2Mourty]

Alistair, thank you very much for the comparison information.  My CM-32L should be here today.  My wife wants me to play through Conquests of the Longbow first because it is one of her favorites, but when she falls asleep on my shoulder I will start up QFG1 and listen to those areas in the game.  It is really kind of fun to know that there are other people in the world that like this stuff as much as I do....

[Marten]

Boogeyman,

Every time I got to the end of QG1VGA, it seemed to skip the ending scene that I expected (what you seem to be showing with that screenshot) where the group flies away on the carpet.  And I know that Tom had the same issue with his copy of the game; he ended up patching the Hero's Quest version of the ending onto his GM score for QG1 because he could not get the ending to play on his copy either.

So, where'd the picture and MIDI file you just posted come from?  Someone found that they are hidden in the game and just not used maybe?

PS: Listening to the MIDI file on a General MIDI device, it's also very... broken.  The Erana's Peace recap is not playing many of the instruments correctly.  I'm guessing that's an MT-32 midi file?

[Alistair]

The ending is in QFG1VGA, under XP I believe it will crash and hang on the End Ceremony screen. I think DOSBox might have solved it, most people I know have got it to work (but only in the last couple years).

The music is in QFG1VGA's resources, too, but I can't remember if it was actually used for the ending sequence.


Also, something you might not know- there isn't actually a "GM Soundtrack" for QFG1VGA- it's an 'auto convert' thing where the game plays the MT-32 files through some convertor (where every patch on a MT-32 is converted to a GM one, depending on patch map). This is why some GM tracks sound weird in MT-32 games, like the Slime one in SQ4 (the non-pizzicato instruments simply don't convert), or Marie's theme in PQ1. There isn't a GM score for any of those games, just a remapped one done 'on-the-fly'.

NOTE: That's my non-techie understanding of it. But it is (sort of) correct. It explains why none of those GM scores are so good (although you'd be hard pressed to realise with PQ1VGA)
I believe the following games are the same:
- PQ1VGA
- QFG1VGA
- SQ4
- LB2 (Dagger)

Mourty: No probs. I recommend checking out games like Iceman, Willy Beamish, SQ1VGA, SQ3, SQ4, LSL5 etc if you want to really test your MT-32

And I definitely love this stuff, I recorded all the QFG1 music not so long ago

- Alistair

[Boogeyman]

Boogeyman,

Every time I got to the end of QG1VGA, it seemed to skip the ending scene that I expected (what you seem to be showing with that screenshot) where the group flies away on the carpet.  And I know that Tom had the same issue with his copy of the game; he ended up patching the Hero's Quest version of the ending onto his GM score for QG1 because he could not get the ending to play on his copy either.

So, where'd the picture and MIDI file you just posted come from?  Someone found that they are hidden in the game and just not used maybe?

PS: Listening to the MIDI file on a General MIDI device, it's also very... broken.  The Erana's Peace recap is not playing many of the instruments correctly.  I'm guessing that's an MT-32 midi file?

Yes, I found and extracted them myself.

[Marten]

That's very cool and interesting!  Thank you for sharing that.  So the obvious question, I suppose, is if it's possible to patch the game to play the ending scene.

Though I suspect the ending is only partially coded and was cut to get the game shipped by some deadline.

It would be nice to know.