Is there a QFG collection installer for Steam/GOG releases?

[lukeman3000]

I noticed that there are collection installers for QFG but they seem to only be for the CD collection releases which were put out around 96/98.

I own the collection on Steam (which seems to include all of the QFG games including the EGA/VGA versions of the first game) and it would be really nice if there was an installer that worked with this version similar to the KQ and SQ steam/gog collection installers. Does this exist?

[Tawmis]

I already own the QFG games (and on top of that, got them on GoG for ease of access) - so I've not got the Steam ones, so, I myself, am not familiar with them.

[lukeman3000]

Well, the thing is that I would like to use Collector's installers so that I'm sure they are properly patched and whatnot (for example, the Steam release doesn't include setup.exe). However, they do not seem to work correctly with the Steam release. I tried using the collection installer but quickly found that didn't work because it requires a CD. I then tried the individual installers. While the installer did complete, I noticed during installation that a few files failed to copy and the game wouldn't launch once the installer was finished.

That said, if I am able to provide proof of purchase would it be possible to obtain access to the original media so that I could use Collector's installers?

Edit: I've preemptively attempted to provide proof of purchase with this screenshot.

If more proof is required I would be glad to oblige. Not too long ago I purchased the Sierra classic bundle on Steam which includes all Space Quest, King's Quest, and Quest for Glory games as well as Police Quest and others that I can't remember.

[Collector]

Can't say about the Steam release, but I designed the GOG QfG release, so it is nearly the same.

[lukeman3000]

Before I go and buy the GOG release, are you saying that the GOG release of QFG is fully patched and I would have no need to run your installers on them? And they all include setup.exe and all that good stuff?

Does the same hold true for the KQ and SQ series on GOG as well?

[Collector]

The only differences are the GOG specific items. In other words it has the GOG configuration tool instead of the SHP tool. It has the GOG GDF file, etc., but the game setups are the same.

[lukeman3000]

Forgive me for being dense - just so I'm clear; with the GOG version of QFG 1 - 5 I would have no need to run your installers on them as they already include all relevant patches, right?

Edit: I tried using the single-game installers of QFG 1-4 with the Steam version and here are the results:

QFG1 EGA: Got "couldn't find soundblast.drv". I saw that this file was included in the Steam folder but for whatever reason it wasn't copied over when the installer was ran. Manually copied this to the folder generated by the installer and it launched.

QFG1 VGA: Works

QFG2: Works, but I saw "Copy Failed" pop up at least 4 consecutive times during the install. Even though the game launches, does this mean I'm potentially missing some critical files?

QFG3: Originally didn't work, but I noticed many files were missing that were present in the Steam folder. I copied only the files that were missing of which there were several, and the game launched.

I may be unnecessarily running these installers on already-patched versions of these games, thus why I'm getting these issues? It seems to me that your QFG installers were designed for the original media - not like the KQ/SQ VU collection installers which replace missing files. So either the Steam QFG games are already patched and there's no reason whatsoever to run the installers, or I just need to buy the QFG collection disc off of Amazon in addition to a QFG V disc so I can use your QFG installers and have appropriately-patched games.

Is there any way I could verify whether or not the Steam QFG games are fully patched or not?

[Collector]

Just use the GOG installer. No need for anything more.

[lukeman3000]

Does the Quest for Glory III installer from the collection installer include a version of DOSBox with integrated general midi emulation?

If so, what is the emulator, and what soundfont is being used?

[Collector]

I am not sure what you mean by GM emulation. It would not be needed with DOSBox. If you are not happy with the GM sound on your system you can try something like Fluidsynth to be able to use SoundFonts.

http://www.fluidsynth.org/

The ECE build of DOSBox does have it patched in, but is not required just for Fluidsynth if you already have Fluidsynth installed.

Note that a soundcard with a E-MU chip (like many of the SoundBlaster cards) will allow you to directly use SoundFonts without Fluidsynth.

[lukeman3000]

I guess I'm just ignorant as to how general midi works with DOSBox. I assumed that you needed an external program (such as virtualMIDIsynth or bassmidi) as well as a soundfont for general midi to work properly, so I was surprised when using your QFG 3 installer seemed to work without either of those things, as it's automatically pre-configured in resource.cfg to use midi.

However, when I try other games with general midi, (without using VMS or BM), they don't sound nearly as good, which lead me to think that there might be something different about your QFG 3 installer, since it seems to have working midi music without me having to take any additional steps.

[Collector]

Nope. Just the Sierra GM driver.

[lukeman3000]

Interesting. So does your installer just use the default Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth?

[Collector]

Whatever is the system default. It does not change the system.

[HunterZ]

I'm playing the GOG version of QfG3 right now, but I'm doing it via the following means:

Installed via GOG Galaxy, then dragged the game folder into D-Fend Reloaded, which made a copy of it. Configured DOSBox with the settings I wanted (mostly I looked at the GOG .conf's and replicated the settings), including choosing my USB-MIDI interface as the MIDI device to use. Ran the original game setup in DOSBox and configured for General MIDI music + Sound Blaster sound.

If you don't want to use a DOSBox front-end, a good option is to use Coolsoft MIDIMapper, which displaces the Microsoft GS synth as device #0 in newer Windows releases (I'm on Windows 10) and acts as a router to the selected device (Microsoft GS, USB-MIDI interface, Coolsoft VirtualMIDISynth, BASSMIDI, Falcosoft VST host, etc.).