King's Quest V and VI in Windows For Workgroups 3.11

[Sedryn]

I can't figure out how to get King's Quest V to send the music to my Roland MPU-IPC-T while running it in Windows For Workgroups 3.11.  I've added my Roland MPU-401 device in Windows For Workgroups, but whenever I run King's Quest V it uses my SoundBlaster AWE64 for MIDI.

This isn't a major issue since I can run the DOS version of King's Quest V and get music to play through my CM-64 without a problem.  I'd really like to know how to do it through Windows For Workgroups 3.11, though, in case I run into this issue with other games, like King's Quest VI for instance, where the intro plays a lot better for Win 3.11 than DOS.

[Cloudschatze]

I'm really not sure if this is going to help or not...

http://www.microsoft.com/library/media/1033/technet/images/archive/wfw/a37t_big.gif

If not, you might try this:

- Uninstall the AWE64 drivers.
- Re-install the MPU-401 driver.
- Test to make sure that the MPU is receiving MIDI output.
- Re-install the AWE64 drivers.

[Alistair]

For reference, KQ5 Windows is a shoddy General MIDI conversion, and since there's no benefits to the Windows version of almost any Sierra game, I wonder why you wouldn't run the DOS version.

- Alistair

[Sedryn]

I am running it in DOS.  I just want to see if I can get it to run in Windows 3.11.

Why?  For the hell of it, really.

I think I'll put more focus into King's Quest VI, though.  Again, because of the intro being so much smoother.  I don't think I've ever seen the King's Quest VI opening run properly in DOS, on any system.

[Alistair]

Windows 3.11 has a LOT of nostalgic memories for me, I'll admit.

File Manager, the hourglass icon you'd see all the time, playing Apogee games on my grandparent's Win 3.1 machine.. Ahh, the good ol' days.

- Alistair

[Sedryn]

Windows 3.11 has a LOT of nostalgic memories for me, I'll admit.

File Manager, the hourglass icon you'd see all the time, playing Apogee games on my grandparent's Win 3.1 machine.. Ahh, the good ol' days.

- Alistair

I know what you mean.

I guess I'm a nostalgia nerd these days.   

[Sedryn]

Alright, I managed to get King's Quest VI to correctly play using MT-32 and/or General MIDI through my MPU-IPC-T.  The key is the midimap.cfg located under "\system" of the Windows for Workgroups folder.  This file is replaced when you install Creatives AWE64 drivers.  I figured out that by using the default midimap.cfg file that installs with Windows for Workgroups you can more easily correctly map all the MT-32 or General MIDI sounds using their respective selections in the MIDI Mapper under the Control Panel.

The Windows version of King's Quest VI not only plays the opening sequence correctly (or smoothly I should say) it uses new character portraits throughout the game that are much more detailed than the DOS version.  So, every time you talk to somebody you're treated with an improved portrait, one with more colors, more detail and additional animations.  It's cool stuff.

I was never able to get King's Quest V to play the Roland MIDI correctly in Windows for Workgroups.  Oh well.  Can't win them all I guess.  I didn't see any benefit if playing King's Quest V through Windows anyway.

[MusicallyInspired]

Yeah, KQ6 has hi-res dialogue portraits, but DOS has coloured cursours .

I can understand you getting the Win versions to work for pure nostalgia, though. I'd want the same thing.

[Sedryn]

Yeah, KQ6 has hi-res dialogue portraits, but DOS has coloured cursours .

I can understand you getting the Win versions to work for pure nostalgia, though. I'd want the same thing.

Yeah, that's true about the cursors I guess.  But they're all orange aren't they?  Whereas the ones in the Windows version are white.  Hmmmm ... I think I can drop the orange cursors in exchange for the improved portraits.

Each to their own, though.  I love the game so much I'll probably play it through in both the DOS and Windows versions just to see if there are any other differences.

[MusicallyInspired]

Yeah, they're an ugly orange and purple combination. But still. I like colours more than I like small black and white Windows cursours. Yeah, to each his own.

[jbltecnicspro]

Yeah, KQ6 has hi-res dialogue portraits, but DOS has coloured cursours .

I can understand you getting the Win versions to work for pure nostalgia, though. I'd want the same thing.

Yeah, that's true about the cursors I guess.  But they're all orange aren't they?  Whereas the ones in the Windows version are white.  Hmmmm ... I think I can drop the orange cursors in exchange for the improved portraits.

Each to their own, though.  I love the game so much I'll probably play it through in both the DOS and Windows versions just to see if there are any other differences.

I know exactly what you mean.  When I had Windows 3.1, I played KQ6 on both DOS and Windows.  As for the intro in DOS - it doesn't play the AVI, in case you wondered why it wasn't that smooth.  The opening is just composed of screenshots and some animated sprites, while the Windows version plays a pre-rendered CGI avi file.  The DOS game plays more smoothly than the Windows one, as it was originally intended to be played on DOS PCs.  As for the portraits, it's of my personal opinion that the DOS ones look better - not that the Windows hi-res versions are bad, but the characters do tend to look a little weird.  Anyways, have fun. 

[Sedryn]

I'm playing the game through Windows For Workgroups 3.11 currently.

After watching both the DOS and Windows intros a number of times I've actually changed my opinion.  I like the DOS one better even though the Windows one plays smoother (due to the pre-rendered AVI as you pointed out).  The DOS intro is higher resolution.

I do like the character portraits in the Windows version but unfortunately I ran into a sound glitch while trying to use my MPU-IPC-T with my Sound Canvas for the background music.  There's some compatibility issue with my setup that I can't track down.  In both WFW 3.11 and Win95c the problem is evident.  If the Roland MPU-401 is used for MIDI then certain notes will hang if you click to skip through portrait speech.  This problem doesn't occur when playing the game through DOS or when using Wavetable synthesis through the AWE64 Gold for MIDI playback through Windows.

So, I decided that I really wanted the hi-res portraits and settle on the AWE MIDI using the GM35REVC.SF2 soundfont bank that comes with the AWE64 install CD-ROM.  It's not nearly as good as the Roland Sound Canvas, but one has to make compromises.  I'll probably play the game through in DOS after I've finished playing it in Windows just to hear the musical scores through the Sound Canvas.

[jbltecnicspro]

Well, at least you have the option to hear it with a Sound Canvas.  Me?  I don't really care about the resolution of the portraits because the music has always taken priority when it comes to Sierra games.