SCI0 Importing a MIDI

[WD-40]

I'm trying to import some new music into a game. I have never done this before and could use a little help.

I downloaded a midi file, made a new sound resource and imported the midi into it. The music plays in SCI companion no problem, but when I go to use it in my game I get no sound at all. I'm guessing it has something to do with the Sound Patches again.

What are the steps to make a midi sound compatible in my game?

[Kawa]

Since no SCI0 game has a clue what General MIDI is... I just imported a random midi into a new game, set up a room's script to play it, and it plays fine sounds like perfectly audible shit because I forgot to switch to a better driver. I didn't even touch any patches.

[troflip]

In SCI, each MIDI track in a sound resource is enabled or disabled based on what driver is used. You can change the sound driver in the combobox on the left and see what tracks are enabled. But I think by default when you import a MIDI, it just enables all tracks for every driver? I forget.

Anyway, use an existing game to find a driver that works on your setup (whether that's DOSBox or ScummVM?)... you can set a sound driver in the resource.cfg, or run the tool that lets you choose from a menu. If you get a sound working in an existing game, it should work in your custom game too - as long as you make sure that sound resource has tracks enabled for that sound driver (or just enable all tracks for all sound drivers?).

[WD-40]

I switched from ADL to MT32 driver and it plays. I kinda wanted to keep my ADL driver though, because it sounds more retro

[Kawa]

You'll probably need to change the instruments in the MIDI then. Perhaps clone the tracks you want in the AdLib version, set those to instruments that do work/sound well instead of the GM/MT32 tracks, and maybe consider having a track with a single voice for PC Speaker if you're doing that anyway?

But I think by default when you import a MIDI, it just enables all tracks for every driver? I forget.

It does.

[MusicallyInspired]

If you want Adlib, you need a GM-compatible Adlib patch bank. With MT-32 it's easier because SCI doesn't care what the device you send it to is. It'll just send it. So importing a GM MIDI file and playing it with the MT-32 driver on a GM MIDI device should come out sounding fine....in theory. There are GM and MPU401 drivers out there though aren't there?

But yeah, no GM-mapped Adlib. BTW, not to hijack, but regarding that GM-mapped MT-32 patch bank I was working on....despite my rather extensive library of MT-32 custom timbres (hundreds) I don't have all the instruments necessary to accurately represent all the GM instruments. Which is why I've never completed it. They'd need to be made from scratch and I just haven't got a clue what I'm doing in that area, sadly.

[WD-40]

Creating new Adlib sound effects is proving to be tricky, I might have more luck doing sounds with SCI1.1 because it supports a lot more formats.

I was looking at troflip's website with his SnailTrek games and It looks like he has recreated SCI0 text parser functionality but with the SCI1.1 engine. Is there a template available for this? I want the feel of SCI0, but with the enhanced features of SCI1.1 at my disposal.
 

[Kawa]

Nah man, he wrote his own SCI0-with-bits-added for Unity. There's no SCI11 here.

If you want the feel of SCI0 in SCI11, just make a 999.pal that's entirely the CGA palette, maybe with the rest of it black, maybe repeated 16 times, and basically don't use the palette fade transition. You won't have the parser though.

[troflip]

What about the Sierra VGA Christmas Card demo that still had the parser working? Did anyone ever get a template made based off that?

Kawa's right, Snail Trek is a custom C# interpreter in Unity that at this point has significantly diverged from SCI.

[Kawa]

I don't think anyone did. But WD-40 did specify SCI11, which the christmas card isn't, so... yeah.