Combining Loom FM Music with LOOM PC Speech

[cocomonk22]

Would it be possible to modify the 'talkie' Loom to use additional audio tracks (the FM audio) at points in the game where the music would normally be played in the FM Towns version to replace the silence? The voice WAV to be played over the music WAV simultaneously as well, if possible.

[timofonic]

Apart from being difficult in the technical sense, there are other problem...

As you may know, the Loom CD version for PC was dubbed but the dialogues where a lot stripped. They thinked that there wasn't space left available on the CD so they reduced dialogues and eliminated content like the faces of the people when talking. You know, that's why the "Loom sucks!" phrase hidden into a character face.

So I ask you, what sense has to do that? The full dialogue isn't dubbed, so it has no sense to mix them (I think).

[cocomonk22]

Well, say that the game sends a command in the FM version that at a certain scene, switch to this audio track at this point. If you could put that same command into the CD version but change the track value to (original FM track #)+1 to compensate for the talkie track 1, then it wouldn't matter about the dialogues, since all it is using is the music tracks from the FM game at the appropriate time.

[sev]

And what are the odds of owning an ultra-rare FM-TOWNS Loom version and PC version?


Eugene

[cocomonk22]

If this was a LucasArts adventure game, my response to that would be "Never tell me the odds."

However, I wouldn't fall into that category. I have the talkie CD, but not the FM Towns version, so I wouldn't be able to try out modifying the game myself, which is why I made this topic to see if it was possible, as topics on this forum suggest that version to be superior in music and story. I remember having Loom floppies as well, but those wouldn't have audio on CD tracks.

Any version besides the talkie would have music throughout the game, though, wouldn't it? So, we could use the same process for such as well. The game would have a command to play music at a certain part in the game and loop the track. By modifying the CD version and adding in the files containing music in the floppy version, the CD version could be playing MIDI or whatever music-type while still using the audio on the CD track when the game asks for that as well.

However, if someone did have the FM Towns version, and could find the commands for music changes, it would still be beneficial to those who have the talkie CD, as they would be able to use the modification with the only change that instead of playing the FM tracks, any other music in the appropriate version could work as well, such as a Final Fantasy VII application that allowed the user to specify their own music to use in place of the default in-game music tracks.

I'm guessing finding out how to do this with any versions of the game is pretty complicated, though.

[eriktorbjorn]

And what are the odds of owning an ultra-rare FM-TOWNS Loom version and PC version?

Does the TurboGrafx-16 (a.k.a. PC Engine) version have the same audio tracks as the FM-TOWNS version? That one may be easier to find, or maybe I just got lucky. (If you can call it "lucky" to own an unsupported version of Loom, that is.) For the record, those audio track sounds pretty average to me.

Though if you just want the music, I've always said that the easiest (and, probably, cheapest) way is to get to the nearest music store with a classical section. If they have any self-respect at all, they should have at least one recording of Swan Lake in stock.

[noize]

TG16 version has same kind recordings of music as Towns version, but there are less songs, and TG16 has loop tracks, meaning short parts of the song with only a part of the instruments.

[Kaminari]

meaning short parts of the song with only a part of the instruments

Err, and what does that mean in plain English? :)

Musically speaking, the PC Engine version is almost identical to the FM-Towns one. However the latter has each track in two flavors: a studio arrange by Earwax (present on both versions) and a simpler MIDI arrange which is exclusive to the FMT and is used for the loops.

The audio editing (the way the music is used throughout the game) on the other hand is rather different between the two versions. The PCE version has a much better audio editing, especially during the cutscenes.

[Pseudo_Intellectual]

While we're at it, why not throw in computer play of the audiotape radio play included with the game as an introduction?

[Longcat]

because it lasts for 20 minuttes and is only avalable in select releases of LOOM? suppose it could be an extra, but for me it would just be incomprehensibly annoying.

[bobablob]

Man, I still remember unboxing Loom in my parent's car and finding a cassette tape. We almost got into an accident when I grabbed my dad's arm in excitement and said: WOW! We need to find a way to hook a tape-deck up to your IBM.

I was mildly disappointed to find out later that the tape didn't actually interface with the game.