Hi, Im implementing sound support for the Amiga-Versions of Monkey Island and Kyrandia during Googles "Summer of Code".
I already more or less finished the work on Monkey Island, and this means I could need feedback for the game. So if you own the game then get yourself playing
Note about the provided binaries
The binaries posted are only intended for the Amiga-Versions of "Monkey Island", use the regular ScummVM for everything else.
To report bugs, first make sure they are bugs - means check if the Amiga Version behaves differently by running it on an emulator or on the real hardware. Differences to MSDOS or other versions dont count.
A special note to music-quality: The Amiga had a lowpassfilter which is emulated by UAE/WinUAE (you can disable it in the options), but not within ScummVM. Also those Emulators have several expensive interpolation-methods which again ScummVM is lacking. Especially the missing lowpass filter is noticeable, but apart from that the output should be very close.
Linux-Versions are compiled on Ubuntu 9.04 and require libsdl (which you should already have if you installed the regular ScummVM)
Binaries (Win32,Linux32,Linux64) - compiled on 20.June Binaries PSP - compiled on 23.June
Red_Breast wrote:
The general consensus seems to be that Amiga has the best sound.
I don't know about that... I haven't been particularly impressed by the recordings I've heard of LucasArts's Amiga music. My favorite version of the Secret of Monkey Island music is the DOS CD-ROM version, but I don't know if that means it's actually the best, or if it simply means it's the one I heard first.
The ultimate test would be a sample of people who have never played any Monkey Islands and let them listen to music from the DOS (Floppy, CD), Amiga and Mac versions.
I'm sure for MI1, most people would find the CD version of MI1 to be the best. But for, say, MI2, I'd be very interested in knowing if people prefer the MT-32 sound quality over the Mac version's custom synth with its rich set of instruments.
Red_Breast wrote:Thanks.
The general consensus seems to be that Amiga has the best sound. http://www.scummbar.com/amiga/
I didn't put it too well did I?
I was thinking only about the PC CD version and Amiga.
I hear quite often that people prefer the Amiga audio over CD although that's not the same as 'the general consensus' thinking about it.
Of course it's just a case of preference but from the mp3s I've heard I like the Amiga audio more.
It sounds a bit...rougher (for want of a better word)
and I'm the type that prefers vinyl to CD, which might explain things.
Red_Breast wrote:
The general consensus seems to be that Amiga has the best sound.
I don't know about that... I haven't been particularly impressed by the recordings I've heard of LucasArts's Amiga music. My favorite version of the Secret of Monkey Island music is the DOS CD-ROM version, but I don't know if that means it's actually the best, or if it simply means it's the one I heard first.
Technically the CD-Version is hard to beat, but I like the sound of the Amiga Version alot more. The CD-Version is way to "soft" and generally just sounds like a better mixed midi without any characteristic samples. But I`m probably biased
Btw, MI`s music wasnt done by LA, but they hired one of the best known amiga-musicians for it.
I don't know what all the fuss is about the Amiga soundtrack. To me even the Adlib soundtrack is better than Amiga. I haven't heard the Mac soundtrack, but I imagine it's only slightly better than the Amiga. I don't know whether I prefer the CD soundtrack of the MT-32 the most, though. They each have their ups and downs. The MT-32 is the best out of the MIDI soundtracks, though, definitely. With Adlib second. The Amiga version sounds way worse than a MOD (I actually really like MODs). The stereo spread is 100% left and right which is very jarring and doesn't make the whole mix flow together nicely. It's alright, though. I wouldn't call it the best just because the sound samples are better than Adlib, though. The Adlib soundtrack itself is much more balanced in terms of mixing and overall atmosphere. The instruments may be FM synth buzzes, beeps, and boops but they're a lot easier on the ears and overall a much better experience than the Amiga soundtrack.
it's great you're doing this, glad it's going well
i'd be tempted to give it a test, but i'm on a mac. i see you have a branch on the svn - i've never used branches before, do i just download the branch and that will be everything i need, or do i need to do something to combine it with the trunk?
MusicallyInspired wrote:The Amiga version sounds way worse than a MOD (I actually really like MODs).
Actually, it was a rather advanced kind of mod for the time. Chris Hülsbeck has developed this one. The same sound engine was used in the Turrican games. Eventhough, I think it does sound better than Adlib, it could be probably even better if he had more diskspace to work with. As we know, they were forced to make the game fit on 4 disks.
The stereo spread is 100% left and right which is very jarring and doesn't make the whole mix flow together nicely.
Well, that is a hardware limitation. The only way to overcome that is implementing a software mixer which would have slowed down the game a lot.
hippy dave wrote:it's great you're doing this, glad it's going well
i'd be tempted to give it a test, but i'm on a mac. i see you have a branch on the svn - i've never used branches before, do i just download the branch and that will be everything i need, or do i need to do something to combine it with the trunk?
Now played the entire game with that special ScummVM version and compared it on my Amiga 1200. Here are the things I noticed:
- Some musics annoyingly restart at certain points despite they are playing already. Most noticeable on Monkey Island when exploring the island where this happens on almost every screen.
- A very minor difference is there in the sound effects which is the opposite problem. Already playing samples can be retriggered on the Amiga. In ScummVM, it seems any sample is forced to be played to the end before it can be played again. This makes a subtle difference in the Scumm Bar kitchen, for instance. This would be a fix for perfectionists. I personally wouldn't mind much.
However, there are two things where ScummVM is actually an improvement over the native executable:
- The lights on the "Hook Isle"-sign are actually blinking like in PC versions. This effect is missing with the native executable for some reason.
- Sound effects are audible while music is playing, which isn't the case in the Amiga version. Those are several doors and the fireworks in the end sequence. (Same difference as in the PC floppy version when played on Adlib, which was left that way on purpose.)
Overall, the music and sound effects quality comes very close to a real Amiga with filter turned off. Almost any game actually turns the filter off, since it is rather useless. Except on an Amiga 1000, where you can't turn it off. If you intend to implement filters, then I would prefer a high quality resampling algorithm over that excessive lowpass filtering. And let the option to turn it off for the purists.
Just played a bit of the beginning, and the music seemed to work wonderfully.
