Castle Paradox

[msw188]

We used to have Windows 98, and I did all of my composing there. On that machine, only a few of the voices worked for BAM, and they sounded kind of odd, but I used them according to how they sounded (not according to their names) and came up with the music for my game.

However, we just got a Windows XP machine, and I downloaded and installed VDMS. Now the music sounds different. A lot different. All of the tones are different, especially their volumes, so the music sounds little to nothing like how I wrote it. Has anyone else experienced this, or know if this is indeed VDMS, or if I just have something wrong with my sound system here? Furthermore, what systems are most people here writing their music on? This could mean that when someone reviews your game, they are not hearing your music in the same fashion you are.

[LeRoy_Leo]

VDMS only does anything with your computer when you run it. Correct me if I am wrong.

Also; VDMS doesn't change sound quality, BAM does.

To answer your other question, I am one who uses Anvil Studio. It's alright. It can create pretty decent midi files (I would like to upgrade to Mp3s, but right now I don't want to spend the money).

Anyway, this is where you can find Anvil studio -> http://www.anvilstudio.com
Simple enough, and fairly user friendly. And don't worry, it's free. One tip before you start. Once inside the program, go to the view tab and select composer. That's the easiest thing to compose with (obviously).

And here is an example of something made in Anvil studio. Probably not the best example, but take a listen. -> http://www.geocities.com/taru_taurus/Music/LegendsOfNatrah/TutanrahTheme.mid
And here is a better example -> http://www.geocities.com/taru_taurus/Music/DarkEmblem/Lost_ChildhoodMod.mid
Frankly, if you can get those to sound terrible, then your computer is fine.
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Planning Project Blood Summons, an MMORPG which will incinerate all of the others with it's sheer brilliance...

---msw188 ---
"Seriously James, you keep rolling out the awesome like gingerbread men on a horror-movie assembly line. "

[TMC]

(Leroy, I have no idea what you are on about)

Yes, the sound of your BAM music depends on your FM chip. When using VDMS, this chip is emulated. Presumably, this should make it create higher quality sound than the real thing, because these days, no body uses FM chips anymore, so sound card manufacturers put in cheap chips or even leave them out.

Basically, your music will sound different on different computers. I'm not sure about computers running VDMS, but since you can change some options, I suppose it might be possible to make it sound different with VDMS as well.
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"It is so great it is insanely great."

[msw188]

I'm surprised that this has not been brought up before. Anyway, are there any utilities available to retrieve Notate (.not) files back from BAM (.bam) files? I saw a way to get BAM's from an RPG file, but not this.

The reason I ask is that I think I would like to retrieve my Notate files and fix them, giving them new voices that match what I would want players with VDMS to hear. I'm seriously considering having two versions of my game, one with BAM's made for people on Windows 98, one for people with VDMS. Or does no one use 98 anymore, so that the one version would be useless?

I'd also appreciate feedback on this idea. Is it worth it? I think it could be. Some people have remarked on how effective the music can be to set the mood in a game, especially games like some of Shadowiii's horror type games. But if people with different sound systems are hearing totally different voices and dynamics, this could be a problem.

[LeRoy_Leo]

What I was trying to say was that running your music through BAM files will always effects their sound. It's a duh answer, I know.

Also, is it true that running music in the game will slow the music down?
_________________
Planning Project Blood Summons, an MMORPG which will incinerate all of the others with it's sheer brilliance...

---msw188 ---
"Seriously James, you keep rolling out the awesome like gingerbread men on a horror-movie assembly line. "

[TMC]

No, there is no way to convert BAMs to NOTs : ( I think you can convert them to midi though.

[msw188]

I'm not sure about what it will sound like on other 98 machines, I guess. I originally thought it would be the same because we did not use any special sound system like VDMS, but hearing you guys talk I now guess the sound chip is independant of the operating system. Is this true?

However, I'm still interested in VDMS. Does it override whatever the sound chip would do with the music to emulate the old FM chip? If so, then the music with VDMS should sound the same for any VDMS user, it seems to me, so I think that I might still try to convert the music to VDMS 'format'. The Mad Cacti mentioned the ability to change BAM to midi. If I have a midi composing tool, would I then be able to see all of my arrangements laid out before me, so that I could write them down and redo the notate? And if so, where is this BAM to MIDI tool?

Thanks a bunch guys. I really appreciate this.

[TMC]

I believe so. I mean, I don't know much about BAMs as I'm not a composer expect what I've read from hamsterrepublic.com

As for converting BAM's to MIDI's, goto http://www.hamsterrepublic.com/ohrrpgce/download.php and download "Stephanie's PC Piano". This can load and save BAM files, and has an unsupported MIDI saving feature. I actually tested it out now for the first time, and it works well. Also, this utility can do some other stuff like use an alternative instrument bank, and set the exact volume of each instrument, so maybe it is useful by itself, or to fine-tune BAM's that were converted from midi. (again, I don't know if notate can do that)
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"It is so great it is insanely great."

[TwinHamster]