I would like a definive answer of whether this particular card supports capital tone fallback. For those of you who have no idea what that is, here is a concise summary of the feature and which modules support it and which do not :
Roland GS devices, which are also functionally General MIDI compatibile, support 128 capital tones (or instruments) and 128 variation tones for each capital tone. In theory, a GS module could support 16,256 variation tones but early modules only define a very small portion of the maximum. Thus in the early Roland GS modules, if a midi file requested a variation tone where none was present, the module would playback the capital tone. This feature is present on all Roland MIDI modules and devices based on the Roland SC-55, including the CM-300, CM-500, JV-30 (Keyboard), SCC-1, and SC-155.
Roland removed this feature in modules based on the Roland SC-55mkII synthesizer, including the SCB-55, SCP-55, SC-55ST, SC-33, SC-50, JV-35 & 50 (Keyboards), and did not restore it in their SC-88 or later devices. For these devices, an attempt by a game above to access an undefined variation tone will result in no instrument playing, leading to a loss of sound and a NO INSTRUMENT error message on those devices with a LCD.
Since the SCC-1A board was an update of the SCC-1 with the 354 sounds of an SC-55mkII, I am not sure whether it has the capital tone fallback feature and I would like to know whether it does or not.
Games affected include :
Lands of Lore
Might and Magic IV: Clouds of Xeen
Might and Magic V: Darkside of Xeen (combined with IV to form Worlds of Xeen)
Space Quest V: The Next Mutation
How to cause the issue :
Using one of the Xeen games or both in Worlds, in the install program select "Roland Canvas/GS" for Music/FX and None for Speech. Run the game, start new a game and immediately fire an arrow without moving. You should hear an arrow sound effect. Then move your characters forward a step or two, then fire a few more arrows.
If the SCC-1A supports capital tone fallback, you should hear the arrow sound effect every time, no matter how much you move.
If the SCC-1A does not support capital tone fallback, you should hear either the wrong sound effect or no sound effect after you move and every time thereafter.
Let us know your results.
I repeat that this test must be run on a board marked SCC-1A. The board marked SCC-1 does support capital tone fallback.
