Gold Rush! Classic

[Capn_Ascii]

Ugh, I had to live with PC Speaker sound for AGI games for far too long, it was really annoying. Especially when I recalled hearing more instruments as a kid (we used to own a Tandy 1000).

 

 

So did I.  :D  My very first SQ experience was on one, with SQ2 and SQ3. Mmm, I can hear that magnificent three-voice SQ2 intro theme in my head even now...

[Frede]

Okay, I've now tried using MUNT via the SVN Daum build of DOSBox to get MT-32 sound in GK1. That was... pretty easy, actually. Nowhere near as complex as I had feared.

 

Now to wade through all my DOS games that come with DOSBox bundled and repeat the procedure...  :)

[MusicallyInspired]

The stigma surrounding DOSBox's difficulty of use is largely born of fear of the unknown than actual experience. It's so easy to use. The custom builds even moreso as changes can be made in realtime via window menus rather than editing the conf file and relaunching. There may have been a couple people that got totally confused with it, but it's easier than people make it out to be for sure.

[Collector]

I have encountered people who formed attitudes about DOSBox from years ago with much slower machines and when DOSBox had much lower compatibility and never re-evaluated DOSBox. It is not unusual for people to have never touched it since. This includes pre-Intel Mac users and retro hardware freaks. PPC did not have access to the dynamic core and DOSBox was generally pretty slow on it. Many retro hardware freaks have not touched DOSBox since 0.58 and think the sound is crap. Sound accuracy is very important to Qbix and the quality of DOSBox's sound shows this. Even ScummVM uses audio code lifted from DOSBox. More often than not, there is nothing you have change with DOSBox's audio settings, but many don't realize that you have to use the game's setup to get optimal audio, just as you had to on a real DOS PC. Case in point. Many of the SCI0 to SCI1.1 games shipped with Roland MT-32 set as default. Play this through AdLib and it will sound like holy hell.

 

As MI notes, DOSBox is incredibly easy to use once you grasp the concepts of mounting. In fact, for many games it can be as simple as putting a shortcut to DOSBox on the desk top and dragging and dropping a game's EXE onto the shortcut.

[Frede]

I think part of my aversion towards it has stemmed from not being able to find a frontend I really liked, at least for PC. I was a pretty huge fan of D-Fend back when that project was still going (but have yet to try D-Fend Reloaded). Boxer covers what I expect on Mac. But really... if at any point during my rants it seemed like I don't admire the efforts of the people who've contributed to DOSBox, that's incorrect. I very much do.

 

Being unable to get MUNT working outside ScummVM on the PC (Boxer's approach is insanely easy) has probably also been a bit of a chip on my shoulder. I recall trying out the SVN Daum build once before, but I couldn't get that particular feature working. Installing the driver isn't an (easy) option since I'm on Windows 7 64-bit, and I've never been able to get the QT app working either. Obviously can't blame DOSBox for that, though.

[MusicallyInspired]

I'm using the WDM MUNT driver in Win7 and it works just fine. Just install and go.

[Collector]

You still have to install the driver on the QT app. It comes with an installer that works on x64. It has not been updated for some time now, but I added the QT app in my SCI Sound Utilities that made it easy to install and use. I also had made an installer for the Munt driver that works on x64, but again it is dated by now. I gave the script to King Guppy upon request when they were looking for a solution for installing the driver on x64. One thing to keep in mind is that there is a quirk with Vista and higher where the "wdmaud.drv" keeps duplicating it self and fills all of the available MIDI slots (there are only 10). This leaves no place for the required Munt entry. You only need one entry for the "wdmaud.drv" in the MIDI devices and you can safely remove one of the entries if there is more than one.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Drivers32

If the driver fails to properly install, this is probably the most likely cause.

[MusicallyInspired]

Ah I miat be using your installer then as I haven't interacted with any QT app.

[Collector]

Or from "Tools" > "Install Munt Driver" in the SCI Sound Utilities, but that just uses the QT app driver installer. My installer was a standalone.

[Fronzel Neekburm]

STUNNING FULL HD-GRAPHICS!

HIGH-QUALITY VOICE ACTORS!

The remake is out... Thoughts?

[suejak]

Parser 3D is a cool concept. I also like the art, though it seems more primitive than stylized. 

 

I have this weird soft spot for bad 3D lately. I used to hate it, but now I look back on the 1995-2002 era of 3D games with a fondness I never thought I would. Even Escape from Monkey Island suddenly seems pretty.

 

Anyway, the world needs more games set in the 19th century. Outside of the Victoria series, I can't even think of any games set in the 19th-century Africa, for example -- wtf?

[suejak]

I haven't played the remake yet, btw.  :D

[Fronzel Neekburm]

Took the plunge into the firery pits of hell. I expected to find pain and misery, instead I found this:

 

http://steamcommunity.com/app/319230/discussions/0/620696522120558904/

 

[Collector]

That was nothing more than Steam mislabeled DLC in a way that some entitled kids took as the stand alone game.

[tomimt]

It's not entitlement if you buy something thinking it  is a full game if it's not labeled as something else. It's the sellers fault, not the customers. (disclaimer, I have not bought it.)

[Fronzel Neekburm]

Yeah, don‘t deflect now, ya hear! Besides, regardless of who‘s responsible for the fuck up, this is some top-tier internet drama. And it might get even topper-tierer, check this shit out. I think I just made an entitlement in my pants.

I also have this crawling suspicion that the paying customers entitled kids that got suckered in by this little mix up will be the most business this this game will ever see. And now that they had their fancy new $5 toy taken away from them, I doubt they will be back to get the game proper at the obligatory christmas sale, even if the price should drop to a more reasonable amount. Customer trust can be a bitch sometimes.

Oh well, easy come, easy go.

[MusicallyInspired]

This is incredibly saddening to hear as Gold Rush is a great game that deserves attention. Sigh.

[Frede]

Something tells me these guys don't have a PR or community manager the way a studio like Phoenix does.

 

Regardless of who's trying to screw over who, you can't expect any customer to be satisfied with a "Well, you did something wrong". From what I understand, they labeled their DLC "Special Edition", which is honestly just as stupid as people not reading the description of just what they're buying. Then again, when was the last time you read the terms of service for something?

 

I must admit I also personally find their $30 price tag quite overblown. I've seen the trailer and a few screenshots, and this honestly doesn't look like it's worth the money. But I'm not likely to buy it either way, so it's not my place to complain. I might pick up the original version some day, though.

[tomimt]

I think the 30 dollar tag is a tad hefty as well. They do seem to defend it by being indie, but there's a lot of indie games out there with better production values, even adventures, with much more reasonable pricing. I think they might have miscalculated the pull of re-made retro titles a bit.