Stunts Forum

Stunts - the Game => Stunts Questions => Topic started by: viniciusferrao on June 25, 2012, 04:10:20 AM

Title: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: viniciusferrao on June 25, 2012, 04:10:20 AM
Hello fellas,

I'm doing a little revival of Stunts.

So I've got my binaries from the old days and fire up Stunts 1.1 with brand new Roland MT-32 emulation from DOSBox. But... the sound behavior is strange. There are minor glitches and some freezes and sound lags when starting a new race or changing tracks in track selection screen.

Just for the sake of wasting time I tried running Stunts 1.0 and for my surprise it was not a waste of time. The MT-32 worked correctly.

Here comes the dafuq moment: I got the MD5 hashes from MT-32 files and as expected, they are different.

Vinicius-Ferraos-MacBook-Pro:~ viniciusferrao$ cd ~/DOS\ Games/Stunts\ 1.1.boxer/C.harddisk/
Vinicius-Ferraos-MacBook-Pro:C.harddisk viniciusferrao$ md5 MT*
MD5 (MT15.DRV) = acc5d03d038f1ef0afa0cf4dcad72ef9
MD5 (MT32.PLB) = a7a3e9efa284123036e73ab8477d5dca
MD5 (MTENG1.VCE) = 2325daaecd2d87d2a3a0dda35b8f06f9
MD5 (MTSKIDMS.VCE) = b7ffdefa6f0e4bc0fc83030c2b777d39

Vinicius-Ferraos-MacBook-Pro:C.harddisk viniciusferrao$ cd ~/DOS\ Games/Stunts\ 1.0.boxer/C.harddisk/
Vinicius-Ferraos-MacBook-Pro:C.harddisk viniciusferrao$ md5 MT*
MD5 (MT15.DRV) = 7048d28f2a0fe8c8c09141d5c89706db
MD5 (MT32.PLB) = a7a3e9efa284123036e73ab8477d5dca
MD5 (MTENG1.VCE) = 2325daaecd2d87d2a3a0dda35b8f06f9
MD5 (MTSKIDMS.VCE) = b7ffdefa6f0e4bc0fc83030c2b777d39


I immediatelly bring the MT15.DRV from Stunts 1.0 and put in Stunts 1.1 folder replacing (after a backup) the MD15.DRV file. And now the sound is fine :)

Doing a little more research I queried the files with strings command and the only difference is the text message that is displayed in Roland MT-32 Module LCD. As you can see here:

Vinicius-Ferraos-MacBook-Pro:C.harddisk viniciusferrao$ strings ~/DOS\ Games/Stunts\ 1.0.boxer/C.harddisk/MT15.DRV
    (C) 1990 DSI   
.;6r
Vinicius-Ferraos-MacBook-Pro:C.harddisk viniciusferrao$ strings ~/DOS\ Games/Stunts\ 1.1.boxer/C.harddisk/MT15.DRV.OLD
  (C)1990,1991 DSI 
.;6r


The main question now is: I really don't believe that the sound driver files are different, except for the copyright string. I really don't know why this could broke the sound system, if this is the only behavior. In a modern game we could blame the hash checks, but in a 1990 game, I don't think this is viable. So any thoughts on this?

PS: This thread is more for a curiosity than other thing... but its here.
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: zaqrack on June 26, 2012, 04:15:18 AM
strange. Could be a new bug introduced in version 1.1?
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: Duplode on June 26, 2012, 06:11:34 PM
Welcome Vinícius! That is an interesting observation, even though there are other differences between the files beyond the copyright string (as you can see by opening both side by side an an hex editor). It might be a bug in the drivers revealed by DOSBox, or some added functionality that DOSBox and the associated paraphernalia can't cope too well with.

In any case, is there any non-obvious DOSBox setting needed to run under MT-32 (other than setting mididevice to mt32)? I couldn't get it to work out of the box here - most likely due to the weirdness of MIDI under Linux, but I'd better eliminate all possible sources of trouble...
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: zaqrack on June 27, 2012, 03:24:50 AM
Duplode - you are right, I think, it must be DosBox.

I recall I played Stunts 1.1 a couple of times back in the heydays with MT-32 emulation on my Gravis Ultrasound.

Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: viniciusferrao on June 28, 2012, 10:50:41 PM
Hello Duplode. I'm using the standard DOSBox configuration. Actually I'm running Boxer in OS X Lion. Boxer is a pretty cool DOSBox frontend that does everything that I need to work. Even MT-32 emulation is done with a single drag and drop of ROM files.

In the old windows days I was able to run MT-32 emulation in Stunts with something like DOSBox 0.65, can't remember now, was something in 2005 to 2007 and I was only able to listen to motor sounds in BB1.0. At least I can hear everything fine now. The only thing that bothers me is the slowdown loading anything due MT-32 in actual DOSBox versions.

I'll do some tests today and post the results here.
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: viniciusferrao on June 29, 2012, 01:19:03 AM
I've made a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMmSeW80BfQ

In the 1.0 version (the first one) you can hear the car crash sound and there's no delays in pre-loading screens.
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: Duplode on September 10, 2016, 07:21:00 PM
I have finally managed set up MT-32 emulation in my system to see what Vinícius was talking about four years ago, and indeed I could reproduce the bugs he described (music slowdowns in some screens, no crash sounds). Fortunately, the solution implied in his post works: overwriting the Stunts 1.1 MT* files with the 1.0 ones seems to solve the problem.

In any case, however, what led me to revisit this issue was noticing another bug: with the Sound Blaster driver, the lower-pitched skidding sound on surfaces other than tarmac (grass, ice, etc.) is completely missing! This bug seems to affect both 1.0 and 1.1, at least in DOSBox -- by the way, does anybody know, or is able to test, whether it happens in an actual MS-DOS/FreeDOS/Win 98 as well?

(As for other drivers, PC Speaker and MT-32 are unaffected by this skidding issue, while Tandy unfortunately has the same problem. I find it hard to believe that it took me at least nine years to notice that! On the bright side, though, at least now I have the option of switching to MT-32 permanently :)) 
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: Cas on September 17, 2016, 09:37:49 PM
I've just discovered this thread and must admit I haven't made any tests yet, but reading it, I remember something that might be useful, so I'll post that now and then I'll see if I can test anything.

When I first got Stunts back in 1993, I did not have a sound card, so I was using the PC Speaker and for some time, I didn't realise there was a problem with the sound driver. When I finally had a sound card, I found that  Stunts' Sound Blaster/AdLib sound was very buggy. I don't know if other people had the same problem and how it was possible nobody had noticed it. After a year or so of still using the PC Speaker for Stunts because the SB sound was unacceptably bad, I noticed that the DRV files for Stunts were similar to those of the game Fight (box game by DSI), so I tried copying the SB/AdLib driver from Fight to Stunts and the problem was permanently solved!

In other words... if none the 1.0 or 1.1 drivers would work properly, try with the Fight drivers. If you don't have them, let me know. I have that game somewhere.
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: Duplode on September 19, 2016, 04:09:41 AM
Quote from: Cas on September 17, 2016, 09:37:49 PM
In other words... if none the 1.0 or 1.1 drivers would work properly, try with the Fight drivers. If you don't have them, let me know. I have that game somewhere.

I'm not 100% sure if we are thinking of the same game (or the same version of the game), but I tried this trick with the 4D Boxing AD15.DRV and SB15.DRV (Stunts can use the latter if it is renamed to AD15.DRV). Unfortunately, it didn't solve this particular issue with skidding, though it may be well worth it testing it for a little longer to see if there will be any other improvements under DOSBox (for one, there is that other very annoying issue of skidding and/or engine sounds disappearing completely every now and then that I would love to get rid of).

(By the way, one fact I don't think I have mentioned here yet is that Stressed can open many of the .P3S, .PVS, etc. files from DSI games. It would be amusing to try and bring a car from one of their other 3D racing games to Stunts  :))
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: Cas on September 25, 2016, 09:23:34 AM
Yep. I think it's the same game. Just like Stunts was renamed "4D Sports Driving", Fight was renamed "4D Sports Boxing".
It would be interesting, yeah. Of course, probably the car functioning would have to be recreated, I guess.
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: Duplode on May 17, 2020, 02:52:28 AM
I have just created a Wiki article about the sound devices (http://wiki.stunts.hu/index.php?title=Sound), which provides guidance on setting up MT-32 and documents some of the information in this and other related threads. As ever, further additions are welcome!
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: llm on May 27, 2020, 08:41:34 AM
Interesting topic

long time ago i've started to analyse the drv-code based on my drvcombine-tool (http://forum.stunts.hu/index.php?topic=3019.0)
to help IDA analysing the dependencies to the DRV code - after the first Analyse run IDA reveals a jump-table in the beginning of the DRVs (the stunts main-code
is calling this jump-table so IDA was able to see the path through after statical integration of the code)

MT15.DRV comparison

MT15.DRV loaded in IDA as Binary with code starting at offset 0, manualy changed labels to functions

1.1
MD5: ACC5D03D038F1EF0AFA0CF4DCAD72EF9
IDA: https://paste.ubuntu.com/p/JdKNNFPBVy/

1.0
MD5: 7048D28F2A0FE8C8C09141D5C89706DB
IDA: https://paste.ubuntu.com/p/qSdR5bhRwB/

Quote from: viniciusferrao on June 25, 2012, 04:10:20 AM
I really don't believe that the sound driver files are different, except for the copyright string. I really don't know why this could broke the sound system, if this is the only behavior. In a modern game we could blame the hash checks, but in a 1990 game, I don't think this is viable. So any thoughts on this?

some minor differences: http://www.mergely.com/CZB13xu7/ (left is 1.1)

btw: easy to re-assemble the source to a indentical(enough, 3 different opcodes of same size/feature a used by todays assemblers) DRV binary

easily assembled with current ML (VS2019) or UASM (http://www.terraspace.co.uk/uasm.html)

ml.exe /c /omf MT15.DRV.asm
or
uasm64.exe MT15.DRV.asm

and UniLinker: ftp://ftp.styx.cabel.net/pub/UniLink/ulnb1155.zip

ulink.exe -T16 -Tbi MT15.DRV.obj, MT15.DRV

Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: Duplode on May 28, 2020, 05:11:39 PM
There it is ;) (Hello, llm! Just the other day I was reading some of the old threads and thinking of restunts  :))
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: llm on May 29, 2020, 09:47:19 AM
restunts is in cryogenic sleep but there is still much to reverse that isn't that demanding - the sound drivers seems to be very simple :)

btw: "Stunts 1.0" and "4D Sports Driving 1.1" MT15.DRV is equal
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: GTAManRCR on October 25, 2020, 12:01:51 PM
Quote from: llm on May 29, 2020, 09:47:19 AM
restunts is in cryogenic sleep but there is still much to reverse that isn't that demanding - the sound drivers seems to be very simple :)

btw: "Stunts 1.0" and "4D Sports Driving 1.1" MT15.DRV is equal
For 4D Sports Driving 1.1 Dec-13-1990 it's true, but since 4D Sports Driving 1.1 Feb-25-1991 is compatible with Stunts 1.1 it has the Stunts 1.1 MT15.DRV
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: Ryoma on March 09, 2021, 03:28:41 AM
Yesterday I tried to enable the mt32.

I download the rom of the mt32 here :
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1j_XrcKR3GIeRY0F8Z7Uy6Nt0dLN1L6Nb/view

Replace dosbox by dosbox-x
https://dosbox-x.com/

Rename the rom as is
MT32_CONTROL.ROM + MT32_PCM.ROM and CM32L_CONTROL.ROM + CM32L_PCM.ROM.

And put it on a folder called rom. This folder is ea the same location than dosbox-x

In the dosbox.conf :
[midi]
mpu401 = intelligent
mpubase = 330
mididevice = mt32
midiconfig = 2 delaysysex
samplerate = 44100
mpuirq = 9
mt32.romdir = ./rom
mt32.reverse.stereo = off
mt32.verbose = off
mt32.thread = off
mt32.dac = 3
mt32.reverb.mode = auto
mt32.reverb.time = 5
mt32.reverb.level = 3
mt32.partials = 32

Change the setup of stunts.
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: GTAManRCR on March 09, 2021, 05:17:58 AM
I'm using DOSBox-ECE
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: Duplode on March 10, 2021, 07:41:23 AM
DOSBox-X makes it easier to use MT-32 by having Munt built in. One issue I have noticed is that, compared to vanilla DOSBox + external Munt (which is how I usually play Stunts), MT-32 sound is lower pitched on DOSBox-X (about one semitone lower, if the guitar tuner app I'm using is to be trusted). Taking this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFaGsF-cJk8), which is claimed to have been recorded with a real MT-32, as a reference, the vanilla DOSBox + external Munt pitch is the most accurate one. (Note that, while I use Vinicius' trick of replacing the 1.1 MT-32 files with the 1.0 ones, this change doesn't significantly affect the pitch.)

(I haven't tried DOSBox-ECE yet; I'll give it a spin later.)
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: GTAManRCR on March 10, 2021, 09:44:44 AM
The main menu song will still be borked, but not so much. So it's not enough to replace MT15.DRV, but also need the MTENG1.VCE and MTSKIDMS.VCE
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: GTAManRCR on March 10, 2021, 09:45:45 AM
Quote from: Duplode on March 10, 2021, 07:41:23 AM
MT-32 sound is lower pitched on DOSBox-X

This is why external MUNT is better in terms of emulation
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: Ryoma on March 13, 2021, 05:52:22 PM
When I launch the game for a duel Diablo vs Countach (a car0 transform in car1), I have the message "out of memory...". I used mt32 sound.

With game_ad from llm, I have not theses problems...but it's difficult to come back to admin version.

I used dosbox-x, any idea ?
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: GTAManRCR on March 13, 2021, 05:55:45 PM
DOSBox-ECE? Vanilla DOSBox?
Using 4-D Sports Driving (Doesn't equal actually to 4D Sports Driving)
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: Daniel3D on March 13, 2021, 06:20:55 PM
Try with the original crack. Stunts_k.com
I believe it is something in restunts..
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: Duplode on March 13, 2021, 07:16:12 PM
Quote from: Ryoma on March 13, 2021, 05:52:22 PM
When I launch the game for a duel Diablo vs Countach (a car0 transform in car1), I have the message "out of memory...". I used mt32 sound.

With game_ad from llm, I have not theses problems...but it's difficult to come back to admin version.

I used dosbox-x, any idea ?

I tried to reproduce this problem with the most recent Diablo in your Mega versus the F40 (whose car1 has a similarly high polygon count), but it worked fine. The restunts executable I'm using is game.exe from the 7z archive in this post (http://forum.stunts.hu/index.php?topic=2976.msg75940#msg75940), invoked with the /smt switch for MT-32 sound. For further testing, I suggest posting your modified Countach 3SH, as well as your DOSBox-X configuration file.
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: Ryoma on March 13, 2021, 07:51:03 PM
Here the 2 files.
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: Duplode on March 13, 2021, 08:31:42 PM
Okay, I think I have figured it out. The problem is neither with the restunts executable, nor with MT-32. What is happening is that:
Everything works fine with DOSBox-X and restunts' game.exe (even with game.exe /smt for MT-32 sound), and with vanilla DOSBox and either game.exe or stunts_k.exe.
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: Ryoma on March 13, 2021, 08:48:45 PM
Thanks a lot, it works now.
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: GTAManRCR on March 13, 2021, 08:56:42 PM
Quote from: Duplode on March 13, 2021, 08:31:42 PM
  • The stunts_k.exe NeverLock crack doesn't work with DOSBox-X unless loadfix is used;

The reason I don't use DOSBox-X
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: Ryoma on March 13, 2021, 09:36:05 PM
Did you like my Countach ?
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: Duplode on March 13, 2021, 10:30:23 PM
Quote from: Ryoma on March 13, 2021, 09:36:05 PM
Did you like my Countach ?

It looks nice. In the past, I sometimes felt that, at least for some cars, the extra detail in a downscaled car0 doesn't translate too well to lower resolutions. I guess that's mostly in the eye of the beholder, though.
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: Duplode on March 20, 2021, 08:59:22 PM
A different MT-32 issue: under my default setup of vanilla DOSBox + external Munt, MT-32 sound in the 1990 4D version stops working very often (for instance, upon entering the evaluation screen). The MT15.DRV replacement trick is of no use in this case, as 1990 4D and 1990 Stunts use the same MT15.DRV, as llm had pointed out several messages ago.
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: llm on March 25, 2021, 05:56:18 PM
im currently working on a basis to port the DRVs to Watcom C/C++ while keeping the result Stunts compatible

maybe someone is interested in helping to port the few lines of asm to C/C++
that way it would be much easier to find bugs and fix them - these drivers are not touched by the re-stunts project so far



Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: Cas on March 25, 2021, 11:10:02 PM
I might try to help, although I've never used Watcom C... I had Borland C (C++) 3.1. I don't know how different they could be. Anyway, I remember having taken a look at the contents of one of these DRV files and it looked like it had originally been written in pure assembly. If I remember well, they begin with a set of pointers to jump to the different functions. Not sure how to write that as pure C, since the compiler will put the code wherever it pleases, but the contents of the functions themselves might be translatable. There surely are lots of OUT instructions there, so even the C code would require some commenting to be understood (i.e.: what each OPL2 register is for, for example). How have you been working on it so far?
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: llm on March 26, 2021, 06:46:01 AM
Quote from: Cas on March 25, 2021, 11:10:02 PM
I might try to help, although I've never used Watcom C... I had Borland C (C++) 3.1. I don't know how different they could be.

1. Watcom runs on 64 bit Windows/Linux :)
2. Watcom can place Variables in Code-Segment (needed for replicating the original behavior of the drivers)
3. no real differences in C/C++ style - or better said: the drives are not that Language power demanding

Quote from: Cas on March 25, 2021, 11:10:02 PM
Anyway, I remember having taken a look at the contents of one of these DRV files and it looked like it had originally been written in pure assembly. If I remember well, they begin with a set of pointers to jump to the different functions.

i also think it was build using asm
as you can see on the first page of this Thread i've already reversed (not perfect, but working) the MT15.DRV completely + assembling back to original
there are some quirks like registers based function parameter etc. but overall very much readable/doable

Quote from: Cas on March 25, 2021, 11:10:02 PM
Not sure how to write that as pure C, since the compiler will put the code wherever it pleases

not 100% true - there is still a linker or special features of the compilers that can do magical things
but i want the magic on a bare minimum level so i've made a small assembler stub for the jump table that gets linked with C code - so its possible to replace every function step by step - while doing tests

what i like to do:
1. cleanly (re-)reverse the MT15.DRV driver versions (stunts 1.0, 1.1, other versions(4D Boxing?)...) - would be nice if someone collect all versions available
2. combine the version differences with IFDEF in one single MT15.drv.asm (only some lines of code)
3. put up a github repo with full build able original asm + new asm_stub+C code (repo name: restunts_drv)
4. port the asm mostly/completely to C
5. port the other DRVs - AD15, PC15, SDB15, TD15... the same way

Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: Cas on March 26, 2021, 10:35:29 PM
I normally use Stunts version from BB 1.1, the one most people have here, but I do have a copy of BB 1.0, the first one I got. However, the SB driver in that version, I overwrote long ago with that from Fight, because it was acting up, so I no longer have the original. I do have the original drivers for other sound devices, though and I can share them with you. I don't have any other version.

I didn't know that Watcom C was still being used for modern systems. In the GNU platform, having GCC incorporated as part of the system itself, there isn't much point in installing another C, but it's nice to see that Watcom is still moving forward.

When I looked at the DRV files years ago, I noticed that they were pretty straightforward, but I didn't keep on trying to disassemble them because I figured that anyway, modern systems were going to use an emulator for DOS. Maybe for Windows users, it could make some sense so they can run Stunts natively (I don't know if that's still possible), but in GNU, emulation will still be required. It is, however, very interesting to be able to see the original code there. I was most interested back then in analysing the structure of these drivers so as to be able to produce new drivers that could output sound via other systems (such as a simple DAC on LPT1). This may or may not allow, I don't know, to have Stunts actually save the sound output to a file and have another process read the file on the fly and produce sound natively while Stunts runs in DOSBox. I don't know if DOSBox has any other interface that would allow to push the data out of the emulator... Perhaps, we could use IPX emulation for that purpose.
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: llm on March 27, 2021, 09:08:25 AM
Quote from: Cas on March 26, 2021, 10:35:29 PM
I normally use Stunts version from BB 1.1, the one most people have here, but I do have a copy of BB 1.0, the first one I got. However, the SB driver in that version, I overwrote long ago with that from Fight, because it was acting up, so I no longer have the original. I do have the original drivers for other sound devices, though and I can share them with you. I don't have any other version.

it seems that there are only 2 versions - it've got them - and they are also already reversed and re-assembled to binary equal versions
will push my git-repo soon

Quote from: Cas on March 26, 2021, 10:35:29 PM
I didn't know that Watcom C was still being used for modern systems. In the GNU platform, having GCC incorporated as part of the system itself, there isn't much point in installing another C, but it's nice to see that Watcom is still moving forward.

its still the good old Watcom which was used for DOOM - still able to produce code down to 8086 but ported to Windows/Linux (and DOS) very active community working on the compiler (and with the compiler)
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: Cas on March 27, 2021, 09:31:42 PM
I have just read it now has a free software license, apparently. That's good! :)
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: llm on March 29, 2021, 02:28:01 PM
Quote from: Duplode on March 20, 2021, 08:59:22 PM
A different MT-32 issue: under my default setup of vanilla DOSBox + external Munt, MT-32 sound in the 1990 4D version stops working very often (for instance, upon entering the evaluation screen). The MT15.DRV replacement trick is of no use in this case, as 1990 4D and 1990 Stunts use the same MT15.DRV, as llm had pointed out several messages ago.

did you try dosbox-staging: https://github.com/dosbox-staging/dosbox-staging, they integrated the libmt32emu directly and fixed some bugs/problems
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: llm on March 29, 2021, 02:32:51 PM
can someone explain what is needed to the MT32 emulation in dosbox running
(i've got an source build of vanilla-dosbox and dosbox-staging ready)

i need to debug into the driver loading to understand the meaning of 4 bytes (search for "unknown 4 bytes" in the attached asm) could be that these byte are just unused



Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: GTAManRCR on March 29, 2021, 02:41:18 PM
The vanilla DOSBox doesn't have the MT32 drivers integrated, but DOSBox-ECE does
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: Duplode on March 29, 2021, 03:09:19 PM
Quote from: llm on March 29, 2021, 02:32:51 PM
can someone explain what is needed to the MT32 emulation in dosbox running

For vanilla DOSBox, add this midi section in dosbox.conf:


[midi]
mpu401=intelligent
midiconfig=128:0


Then install Munt (https://sourceforge.net/projects/munt/), configure it with the MT-32 roms (see e.g. Ryoma's earlier post (http://forum.stunts.hu/index.php?topic=2757.msg78621#msg78621)) and have it running before starting DOSBox.
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: Cas on March 29, 2021, 10:32:49 PM
Vanilla DOSBox can't turn MIDI data into sound, but it can redirect MIDI output data from games to an actual MIDI input in your system. What you need to produce MIDI-based music is, as Duplode described for the configuration, set up a MIDI route, somewhere for DOSBox to put the data in, and then make sure you have something there. It can be a MIDI mapper program, such as TiMIDIty++. I'm not familiar with Munt, but I guess it must be something similar. But it can also be an actual MIDI interface. For example, if you have a General MIDI compatible keyboard, you could plug it in your computer and use that. In other words, for what concerns DOSBox, this isn't anything related to music. It's just data routing.
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: llm on March 30, 2021, 09:11:44 AM
btw: attached is a zip with all driver integrated game exes (game_(ad|pc|mt|td).exe) - based on the MCGA exe - seem to work without flaws - maybe someone wants to test them more in depth
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: llm on March 30, 2021, 09:14:07 AM
Quote from: Cas on March 29, 2021, 10:32:49 PM
Vanilla DOSBox can't turn MIDI data into sound

but using the MT15.drv with vanilla dosbox sounds different than Adlib, Tandy or PC-Sound - so it seems that there is some sort of emulation going (im not using the offical releases of dosbox only self source builds of svn)
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: GTAManRCR on March 30, 2021, 09:33:15 AM
Quote from: llm on March 30, 2021, 09:14:07 AM
Quote from: Cas on March 29, 2021, 10:32:49 PM
Vanilla DOSBox can't turn MIDI data into sound
but using the MT15.drv with vanilla dosbox sounds different than Adlib, Tandy or PC-Sound
OFF:
You don't say :D
ON:
Always will sound different, because MT15.DRV (The driver of Roland MT-32) makes the game sounds/music play on Roland MT-32, even with MUNT emulation. Without MUNT, different also than with it. Without using MUNT, car sounds will be gone after a few seconds, and skidding will sound like hitting a key on a piano
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: llm on March 30, 2021, 09:48:32 AM
I just refered to @Cas "Vanilla DOSBox can't turn MIDI data into sound" - what seems to be not 100% correct - because i heard sound (without a real midi-device, mt32 or Munt installed)

Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: Cas on March 30, 2021, 10:52:18 PM
Uhm... It's been long since I tried to use that. I do remember that it could redirected. Maybe, if you're using Windows, you do get sound because you already have a MIDI mapper coming with your OS that's receiving the MIDI output from DOS. I'm not sure. I should go back to testing that.
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: llm on April 20, 2021, 09:05:28 AM
Quote from: Duplode on March 20, 2021, 08:59:22 PM
A different MT-32 issue: under my default setup of vanilla DOSBox + external Munt, MT-32 sound in the 1990 4D version stops working very often (for instance, upon entering the evaluation screen). The MT15.DRV replacement trick is of no use in this case, as 1990 4D and 1990 Stunts use the same MT15.DRV, as llm had pointed out several messages ago.

did you tried latest dosbox-staging or post an issue - even if its possible a game bug - the developer kcgen is always very interested in sound problems/latency/hickups stuff in games, he integrated the very latest munt 2.5 a few weeks ago into dosbox-staging
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: Duplode on April 21, 2021, 01:40:40 AM
Quote from: llm on April 20, 2021, 09:05:28 AM
did you tried latest dosbox-staging or post an issue - even if its possible a game bug - the developer kcgen is always very interested in sound problems/latency/hickups stuff in games, he integrated the very latest munt 2.5 a few weeks ago into dosbox-staging

Good idea, later I'll try it with dosbox-staging.
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: llm on June 04, 2021, 05:16:09 PM
Quote from: Duplode on April 21, 2021, 01:40:40 AM
Quote from: llm on April 20, 2021, 09:05:28 AM
did you tried latest dosbox-staging or post an issue - even if its possible a game bug - the developer kcgen is always very interested in sound problems/latency/hickups stuff in games, he integrated the very latest munt 2.5 a few weeks ago into dosbox-staging

Good idea, later I'll try it with dosbox-staging.

interested in testing :)
http://forum.stunts.hu/index.php?topic=3767.msg80304
Title: Re: Roland MT-32 problems with BB 1.1
Post by: llm on June 13, 2021, 09:43:23 AM
new ported driver release: http://forum.stunts.hu/index.php?topic=3767.msg80512#msg80512