Music Help

[YeOldeSierraFan]

I've been playing the KQ games since I was 5, in 1995. Now, I've played them on multiple computers throughout the years, first on a Windows 3.1 Packard Bell PC; then, on a Windows 95 HP PC, then on a Windows 98 HP Pc, and finally now, a Win XP Dell.

All the way up to the Windows 98 comp, the music in the games--especially I SCI, IV, and VI always sounded very rich and full-but on the Windows XP computer it sounds a lot, idk, sparser, more computerized, beepy; also much higher pitched, whereas on the older computers the music had a fuller, deeper sound. Al

Same with the sound effects. I can't explain it but short of buying an old PC is there any way to get the music and sound effects to sound as they did on my older computers?

[the_doctor]

how are you playing them, through Windows?

You could try DOSBox and running the games in that DOS environment instead of windows. The DOSBox program will let you emulate PC, Tandy, Adlib (i think) and Soundblaster. It might also attempt a pass at MT32 but it wont sound like the real thing.

[MusicallyInspired]

Edit the RESOURCE.CFG file for each game and make sure "SNDBLAST.DRV" is next to the spot that says sound driver, music driver, or something similar. If SNDBLAST.DRV doesn't work then try "ADL.DRV." For King's Quest VI you'll have two options (sound and music). Make sure the sound one is AUDBLAST.DRV and the music one is ADL.DRV.

And DOSBox won't attempt to emulate the MT-32 unless it's a special version with MUNT (the MT-32 emulation project) included and you have the MT-32 ROMs (illegal to distribute) in the same directory.

[Collector]

To add what MusicallyInspired mentioned, select general MIDI for the games that have support for GM.

The older machines that you played the games on were DOS or Win9x based PCs. These allowed direct access to the hardware. On XP, a Windows NT OS, direct access is not allowed. This access has to be emulated. While XP has a built-in emulator for this, it is very poor and does not work at all with some hardware. This is why VDMSound was developed. You can get great sound from VDMS, but it is a dead project. The worst thing about either the built-in emulator and VDMS is that you also have to rely on the hugely imperfect Windows DOS emulator, NTVDM, with its incompatibility problems and vulnerability to speed bugs.

The good news is that we no longer have to worry about such problems. DOSBox provides us with the perfect solution. It not only delivers fantastic sound, it solves most of the compatibility problems and makes timer bugs a moot issue. You can get more DOS games to run in DOSBox that you could ever get to run on a single real PC. It is highly configurable and can emulate a very wide range of hardware. It give you everything from an old trash 80 to a speedy 486 with different graphics cards and audio hardware. It is a classic DOS gamer's best friend.

If you are new to DOSBox, you may want to check out my new Sierra games DOSBox installers that will automatically install, configure and setup supported games to run in DOSBox from a Windows shortcut on your desktop, just like a Windows game. They also set the games up to run without need of the CD for play.

[YeOldeSierraFan]

To add what MusicallyInspired mentioned, select general MIDI for the games that have support for GM.

The older machines that you played the games on were DOS or Win9x based PCs. These allowed direct access to the hardware. On XP, a Windows NT OS, direct access is not allowed. This access has to be emulated. While XP has a built-in emulator for this, it is very poor and does not work at all with some hardware. This is why VDMSound was developed. You can get great sound from VDMS, but it is a dead project. The worst thing about either the built-in emulator and VDMS is that you also have to rely on the hugely imperfect Windows DOS emulator, NTVDM, with its incompatibility problems and vulnerability to speed bugs.

The good news is that we no longer have to worry about such problems. DOSBox provides us with the perfect solution. It not only delivers fantastic sound, it solves most of the compatibility problems and makes timer bugs a moot issue. You can get more DOS games to run in DOSBox that you could ever get to run on a single real PC. It is highly configurable and can emulate a very wide range of hardware. It give you everything from an old trash 80 to a speedy 486 with different graphics cards and audio hardware. It is a classic DOS gamer's best friend.

If you are new to DOSBox, you may want to check out my new Sierra games DOSBox installers that will automatically install, configure and setup supported games to run in DOSBox from a Windows shortcut on your desktop, just like a Windows game. They also set the games up to run without need of the CD for play.

I'm playing them off the 2006 KQ Collection, which already use DOSBox. I'm thinking maybe the sound drives of the old computers were different.

[Collector]

Did you run the DOSBox update? That collection is missing some files, including some audio drivers. The update restores missing files.

[YeOldeSierraFan]

Where could I find this DOSBox update?

[Collector]

Look at the top of this forum. "New KQ Collection DOSBox update"