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Higher quality audio from the PSX version?

 
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waxonator
Ree-Yees

Joined: 19 Sep 2009

PostPosted: Oct 27, 2010 22:59    Post subject: Higher quality audio from the PSX version? View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote

Do you think there is any way to get the higher quality audio from the Playstation version into DarkXL? That would be awesome!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP-9StQ0G28&feature=related

lucius
DarkXL Developer
DarkXL Developer

Joined: 17 Feb 2008

PostPosted: Oct 27, 2010 23:45    Post subject: View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Reply with quote

I'm not sure, I haven't really looked into it. Maybe something to think about in the future. Smile

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swaaye
Dianoga

Joined: 14 Sep 2008

PostPosted: Oct 28, 2010 01:46    Post subject: View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote

The music is definitely still the MIDI soundtrack but it has been recorded playing off of a quality MIDI module. I'd guess a Roland module of some sort. The game composers tended to use Roland equipment back then, as their gold MIDI standard.

This is what the theme sounds like on a Roland Sound Canvas SCB-55 (aka SCD-15).
http://www.mediafire.com/?hkwtdqic2kj5qon

It would be easy enough to make quality MIDI recordings like that. The DF Mod for Jedi Academy did just that. They went a step further by choosing instruments that sounded good specifically for the soundtrack. Lundquist's soundtrack is quite interesting.
http://darkforces.jediknight.net/downloads.shtml

Lucius would need to add the ability to switch to a recorded soundtrack instead of the MIDI. There is one catch to that though because the game's soundtrack is interactive and that would be difficult to recreate with a recorded soundtrack.

Burning Gundam
Kell Dragon

Joined: 28 Sep 2003

PostPosted: Oct 28, 2010 02:28    Post subject: View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Reply with quote

Agreed. I don't see the quality of the soundtrack being an issue, but maybe have the option for different MIDI playback settings? I don't know if it's possible or not though, seems more dependent on the soundcard than anything else.

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klasodeth
Trandoshan

Joined: 03 Mar 2008

PostPosted: Oct 28, 2010 04:13    Post subject: View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote

swaaye wrote:
Lucius would need to add the ability to switch to a recorded soundtrack instead of the MIDI. There is one catch to that though because the game's soundtrack is interactive and that would be difficult to recreate with a recorded soundtrack.


That's only true when dealing with preexisting soundtracks or soundtracks created by playing live instruments. If the original MIDI tracks are redone with wavetable instrumentation, the existing music transitions could be recreated from the original MIDI files. Admittedly, actually making the recorded music work that way would be a pretty big technical challenge, but it is possible to record music that would work in an iMuse-style system.

Gez
Gamorrean

Joined: 05 May 2008

PostPosted: Oct 28, 2010 06:50    Post subject: View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote

Burning Gundam wrote:
Agreed. I don't see the quality of the soundtrack being an issue, but maybe have the option for different MIDI playback settings? I don't know if it's possible or not though, seems more dependent on the soundcard than anything else.


Nah. With the CPUs we have nowadays, running a software synthesizer with a game is no big deal. ScummVM or ZDoom, for example, even have a large choice of softsynths. Plus if you provide a soundfont-based softsynth like good old TiMidity++ or the more recent FluidSynth, then the sky's the limit. Some audiophiles have soundfonts weighing one or more gigabytes...

Magic_Al
Gamorrean

Joined: 22 Mar 2005

PostPosted: Oct 28, 2010 15:46    Post subject: View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote

I like the idea of there being music audio files, including all the interactive bits, that can be substituted by the user, because this would allow users to create custom interactive soundtracks without using MIDI. (I think there was earlier discussion about this?)

If there is a pre-rendered soundtrack instead of MIDI then it should be rendered with a Roland or whatever makes it sound like a better-sampled recreation of the PSX soundtracks. The Mac soundtrack sounds similar to the PSX because it's MIDI with included instrument samples that are probably from the same synths that recorded the PSX soundtrack. Which leads to another idea, using MIDI with instrument samples and trying to find better samples of the same instruments.

If there's a prize in the PSX soundtrack it's the cutscene audio, which is the best recording of the actors and sound effects, although the music is mixed in too. One might want to combine the best assets from each DF version, such as the high-res HUD in the Mac version.

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Gez
Gamorrean

Joined: 05 May 2008

PostPosted: Oct 28, 2010 17:02    Post subject: View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote

Magic_Al wrote:
Which leads to another idea, using MIDI with instrument samples and trying to find better samples of the same instruments.


Kinda what I was talking about above with software synthesizers and sound fonts.

lucius
DarkXL Developer
DarkXL Developer

Joined: 17 Feb 2008

PostPosted: Oct 28, 2010 18:03    Post subject: View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Reply with quote

FluidSynth is currently being considered for the future. Beta will still use the standard Windows midi playback but in the future (once the source code is released) I plan on supporting at least one good software synthesizer.

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Burning Gundam
Kell Dragon

Joined: 28 Sep 2003

PostPosted: Oct 28, 2010 23:12    Post subject: View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Reply with quote

Gez wrote:
Burning Gundam wrote:
Agreed. I don't see the quality of the soundtrack being an issue, but maybe have the option for different MIDI playback settings? I don't know if it's possible or not though, seems more dependent on the soundcard than anything else.


Nah. With the CPUs we have nowadays, running a software synthesizer with a game is no big deal. ScummVM or ZDoom, for example, even have a large choice of softsynths. Plus if you provide a soundfont-based softsynth like good old TiMidity++ or the more recent FluidSynth, then the sky's the limit. Some audiophiles have soundfonts weighing one or more gigabytes...


I figured as much. I'm just not that tech-savvy when it comes to stuff like that so i wasn't sure.

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