Hoyle 4's missing sounds - Result of improper testing?

Fred_PJ · Post by **Fred_PJ** » Tue Feb 20, 2018 2:55 pm

As I reported in the bug tracker, The sound effects from Hoyle Classic Card Games are missing in ScummVM:

https://bugs.scummvm.org/ticket/10412

And as snover commented, the sound effects were disabled years ago because "hoyle4 has garbled audio data".
Now, I believe this was due to improper testing by using a corrupt pirated copy of the game that is around on the internet and not using an original copy. Most precisely the file RESOURCE.AUD from that copy is corrupt. When you load this pirated copy that is everywhere in ScummVM 2.x you'll notice 2 things:

- When starting the game the message "Missing or corrupt game resources have been detected (...)" from snover's corruption ckecking code appears.
- The voices from the classic characters (the ones with the sepia photos) are missing, as well as some lines from sierra characters such as Dr. Brain's "Outstanding!" line. The same also happens if you run that corrupt copy in DOSBox.

I think that's where the "hoyle4 has garbled audio data" report came from: testing with the corrupt copy that is everywhere on the internet.

In comparison, here's how my proper copy from the 4 original disks behaves in DOSBox, playing Crazy Eights:
https://youtu.be/vs_BteZ846g?t=11

In this video you'll notice 2 things:

-The sound effects (card draw, change suit) that are missing in ScummVM.
-The "classic characters" have voices.

You may notice that running the game in ScummVM has adlib/midi sound effects, and that is explained in the game's README file:

DAC Note: If you do not have a DAC you may (if you wish) delete the file "resource.aud". This file contains all of the speech for the game and is quite large (over 3 Meg). By deleting this file, you will free up over 3 Meg of your valuable hard drive space. If, after deleting this file, you acquire a DAC and wish to hear the audio, you will need to reinstall Hoyle Classic.

This means that when the file RESOURCE.AUD is missing (or corrupt like in that pirated version), the game will replace the audio sound effects with adlib/midi sound effects.

So I hope that the sound effects are re-enabled in ScummVM since the problems only occur when using dodgy copies of the game.

Fred_PJ · Post by **Fred_PJ** » Tue Feb 20, 2018 2:58 pm

By the way, in case you're interested you can buy the game on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Official-HOYLE-C ... 007QN3IR6/

Fred_PJ · Post by **Fred_PJ** » Sun Jun 17, 2018 10:25 am

The correct version of this game is now around.

The missing digital sound effects bug still remains in ScummVM though.

Fred_PJ · Post by **Fred_PJ** » Thu Aug 30, 2018 11:11 pm

Sadly, reporting this problem feels like talking to a wall, no one seems to be reading what I've been writing over and over again. The ticket that I opened months ago at the bug tracker was closed, once again very likely due to improper testing with the same pirate copy that has the corrupt audio file:

https://bugs.scummvm.org/ticket/10412#comment:10

I have no other way to say this, I'm not trying to be rude or something, I'm just hoping that maybe this way someone will read it and pay attention to what I've been trying to say:

Hello ScummVM devs, you have been testing the game's audio with a pirate copy that has a corrupt RESOURCE.AUD file, that's why it sounds garbled when you enable the sound effects, that's why the classic character voices are missing, and that is why someone disabled the digital sound effects in ScummVM's code.

I have a good copy, I can provide you with a proper, non corrupt RESOURCE.AUD file for proper testing, please PM me if needed. Thanks!

Post by **criezy** » Fri Aug 31, 2018 7:34 am

Did you read properly the last comment in the ticket on the bug tracker? It indicates it was closed because the issue has been fixed a few days ago (with this change). Did you test again that the issue still occurs with a recent daily build that contains the fix? If that is the case then I would advise to report in the bug tracker ticket that sadly the change made does not fix the issue.

And by the way the ticket and the change made seems to indicate that the issue was not because of a pirated copy with garbled sound (although I trust you when you say it exists) but with the game (and by that I understand the original non-pirated game) containing two versions of each sound, one garbled and one correct, and ScummVM trying to use the wrong one.

Fred_PJ · Post by **Fred_PJ** » Sat Sep 01, 2018 10:57 pm

Thank you very much for your reply. Apparently I misread it completely, I stand corrected and apologize for my incorrect assumptions.

I confirm that the sound effects are now playing, although I've noticed a minor issue. For example in a game of Crazy Eights when an 8 is drawn and the suit is changed, that sound effect is most of the times cut shorter than normal, like the game goes on instead of waiting for that sample to be played longer, I don't know if it makes sense.

Otherwise, great work guys, thanks a lot!