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General discussionHow do I configure Ultima Underworld to utilise VirtualMIDISynth?(25 posts)(25 posts)
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Posted June 17, 2021
Hi, I've bought Ultima Underworld 1 and 2 and I have been trying to play it however it will not work with VirtualMIDISynth and just ends up playing what sounds like AdLib music. Is there a way to change this?
Posted June 17, 2021
you have to change the "midiconfig=" to the coressponding number of virtualmidisynth in the .conf-file. If you need to to find out the right number starting from 0 (but you could just try, you probably won't have more then 0-2) you can start a clean dosbox and use the "/LISTMIDI" command.

Good luck and don't hesitate to ask if you need further help!
Posted June 17, 2021
"MIXER /listmidi" To be more exact.

It should show a list of the different devices your computer supports. The numbers will be different depending the devices/emulators you have installed at once, including the default "Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth" that use to be the number 0

EDIT: Anyway in theory the soundcard should be configured/selected via the game config/setup and select General Midi as the device if available, VirtualMidiSynth is intended for General Midi emulation.
Post edited June 17, 2021 by Gudadantza
Posted June 17, 2021
Well, I did as suggested but it's just playing what sounds like the generic SoundBlaster or Wavetable Synth music :\. I have no issues with using VirtualMIDISynth in games like System Shock or what have you, only these GOG versions of Ultima. There's no sort of setup menu for this afaik, so I went into the UW.cfg file and found this:

"3 7 220 1 sound

1 7 220 1 speech

0 cuts"

I did a bit of searching and found a thread about changing it, when I did change the sound option it was playing the same music except only in the left side of my headphone so I reverted it.
Posted June 17, 2021
Thank you for adding the "mixer" command.
Posted June 17, 2021
Install (Coolsoft) MIDIMapper; to change the default Windows midi device.
Posted June 17, 2021
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teceem: Install (Coolsoft) MIDIMapper; to change the default Windows midi device.
Thanks, but this did nothing :(. I am sure I have to somehow change the settings of the game itself, but I can't figure out how to without some options menu or setup.

EDIT: I found a few options when pressing 2 to go to the settings, however there is no precense of a General MIDI sound option only PC Speaker, AdLib, SB, Pro and Roland.
Post edited June 17, 2021 by Inosiphot
Posted June 17, 2021
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Inosiphot: Well, I did as suggested but it's just playing what sounds like the generic SoundBlaster or Wavetable Synth music :\. I have no issues with using VirtualMIDISynth in games like System Shock or what have you, only these GOG versions of Ultima. There's no sort of setup menu for this afaik, so I went into the UW.cfg file and found this:

"3 7 220 1 sound

1 7 220 1 speech

0 cuts"

I did a bit of searching and found a thread about changing it, when I did change the sound option it was playing the same music except only in the left side of my headphone so I reverted it.
One possibility is that the game do not support General MIDI. The game originally had support for adlib and MT32 at least.
I ignore if the GOG CD version has support for GM, but you could try to install the external General MIDI patch. I do not know if it was official or unnoficial but it can be worthy

https://wiki.ultimacodex.com/wiki/General_MIDI_Patches

EDIT: I am pretty sure they are later unnoficial patches, so probably Ulima Underworld didn't support GM by default.

Greetings
Post edited June 17, 2021 by Gudadantza
Posted June 17, 2021
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Gudadantza: I ignore if the GOG CD version has support for GM, but you could try to install the external General MIDI patch. I do not know if it was official or unnoficial but it can be worthy

https://wiki.ultimacodex.com/wiki/General_MIDI_Patches

EDIT: I am pretty sure they are later unnoficial patches, so probably Ulima Underworld didn't support GM by default.

Greetings
Still, where would those GM/Adlib sounds come from? Doesn't DOSbox use the Windows default Midi device? (see my post for changing it)

Anyway, For Roland MT32 supporting games in Dosbox, I'd use Munt (+ROM) to get the best possible sound output.
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Inosiphot: EDIT: I found a few options when pressing 2 to go to the settings, however there is no precense of a General MIDI sound option only PC Speaker, AdLib, SB, Pro and Roland.
AFAIK, most GOG Dosbox games are set up to use SB(Pro)... those sounds aren't built-in in Dosbox, they use the Windows default midi device.

My advice: look up tutorials on how to set up Munt.
Post edited June 17, 2021 by teceem
Posted June 17, 2021
OK I have checked it.

First I installed VirtualMidiSynth and a soundfont (Timbres of Heaven).
Then I right-clicked on the VMS icon -> Properties.

Under Soundfonts -> + I added Timbres of Heaven.

Now I opened DosBox & typed
mixer/listmidi

In my case VirtualMidiSynth #1 was device 0.

I opened DoxBoxUltima2.conf & edited the midiconfig line to
midiconfig=0

If you install Coolsoft's midimapper , you can choose
VMS as your global output device & you don't need to edit the conf file.
Post edited June 17, 2021 by surfer1260
Posted June 17, 2021
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Gudadantza: I ignore if the GOG CD version has support for GM, but you could try to install the external General MIDI patch. I do not know if it was official or unnoficial but it can be worthy

https://wiki.ultimacodex.com/wiki/General_MIDI_Patches

EDIT: I am pretty sure they are later unnoficial patches, so probably Ulima Underworld didn't support GM by default.

Greetings
avatar
teceem: Still, where would those GM/Adlib sounds come from? Doesn't DOSbox use the Windows default Midi device? (see my post for changing it)

Anyway, For Roland MT32 supporting games in Dosbox, I'd use Mint (+ROM) to get the best possible sound output.
avatar
Inosiphot: EDIT: I found a few options when pressing 2 to go to the settings, however there is no precense of a General MIDI sound option only PC Speaker, AdLib, SB, Pro and Roland.
avatar
teceem: AFAIK, most GOG Dosbox games are set up to use SB(Pro)... those sounds aren't built-in in Dosbox, they use the Windows default midi device.

My advice: look up tutorials on how to set up Mint.
Those sounds would come from his apparently well configured VirtualMIDISynth, because he says it works well in other games.

Really, are you reading the previous topics from the OP or others?
Posted June 17, 2021
avatar
Inosiphot: Well, I did as suggested but it's just playing what sounds like the generic SoundBlaster or Wavetable Synth music :\. I have no issues with using VirtualMIDISynth in games like System Shock or what have you, only these GOG versions of Ultima. There's no sort of setup menu for this afaik, so I went into the UW.cfg file and found this:

"3 7 220 1 sound

1 7 220 1 speech

0 cuts"

I did a bit of searching and found a thread about changing it, when I did change the sound option it was playing the same music except only in the left side of my headphone so I reverted it.
Read this:

https://www.gog.com/forum/general/music_and_sound_effects/post2

So you need Munt (Roland MT-32/CM-32L emulator), which you can either use in tandem with VirtualMIDISynth, or without it by selecting the right (=Munt) MIDI device with the DOSBox config file. Read that whole thread.
Post edited June 17, 2021 by timppu
Posted June 17, 2021
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surfer1260: OK I have checked it.

First I installed VirtualMidiSynth and a soundfont (Timbres of Heaven).
Then I right-clicked on the VMS icon -> Properties.

Under Soundfonts -> + I added Timbres of Heaven.

Now I opened DosBox & typed
mixer/listmidi

In my case VirtualMidiSynth #1 was device 0.

I opened DoxBoxUltima2.conf & edited the midiconfig line to
midiconfig=0

If you install Coolsoft's midimapper , you can choose
VMS as your global output device & you don't need to edit the conf file.
All correct, those should be the steps. Anyway The coolsoft midimapper installation is only useful for having the VirtualMIDISynth as the default device over the default windows Synth, so, the only difference in a dosbox game would be the number id it shows. If it is the main device it should be 0 or empty, as is in your case, if not, it could be a different number id.
Post edited June 17, 2021 by Gudadantza
Posted June 17, 2021
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Gudadantza: Those sounds would come from his apparently well configured VirtualMIDISynth, because he says it works well in other games.

Really, are you reading the previous topics from the OP or others?
I'm replying to what the OP says:
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Inosiphot: but it's just playing what sounds like the generic SoundBlaster or Wavetable Synth music
Posted June 17, 2021
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Inosiphot: EDIT: I found a few options when pressing 2 to go to the settings, however there is no precense of a General MIDI sound option only PC Speaker, AdLib, SB, Pro and Roland.
Ultima Underworld 1-2 don't support General MIDI, they were released before GM became commonplace in PC games.

To get fully correct sounds, you want to use Munt (a Roland MT-32 emulator) with CM-32L ROMs. MT-32 ROMs work too, but some sound effects are incorrect with them, like the swimming sound.
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General discussionHow do I configure Ultima Underworld to utilise VirtualMIDISynth?(25 posts)(25 posts)
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