Old shareware compilation CDs - is anybody besides me interested in this?

Posted on 2016-05-15, 15:05

by

by commodorejohn

in DOS

in DOS

It is as the title says. For some time now I've been collecting those old shareware compilation discs from thrift stores. I'm doing this partly because it takes me back to the days of getting our first PC-compatible and my penny-pinching dad getting us some of these so that we'd have some games to …

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Re: MIDI host for OPL2/3 sound cards?

Posted on 2013-09-22, 21:39

by

by commodorejohn

in DOS

in DOS

That does look nice for me; and while it doesn't fit the 8086 requirement for the other guy, SBTimbre on that page fortunately does, and supports his SB gameport MIDI directly 😀

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Re: MIDI host for OPL2/3 sound cards?

Posted on 2013-09-21, 21:07

by

by commodorejohn

in DOS

in DOS

Sequencers would probably work, as long as they have a MIDI echo function to route incoming information directly "out" to the FM chip. (I know WinJammer has this functionality, but of course that's for Windows.) If Instrument Maker can do this, it might be the ticket...

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MIDI host for OPL2/3 sound cards?

Posted on 2013-09-21, 19:42

by

by commodorejohn

in DOS

in DOS

One of the members over on the Vintage Computer Forum had this question, and I was kind of wondering about it as well: does anybody know of a good program for using an external MIDI controller to drive the OPL2/3 chip on Adlib/SB-compatible sound cards? There's a program like this that comes on the …

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Re: What did OPL2 cards use before General MIDI?

Posted on 2013-05-30, 19:59

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by commodorejohn

in PC Emulation

in PC Emulation

OPL2 chips weren't MIDI and didn't have an internal instrument list. The instruments will always be provided through means of software. Yes, that would be why I asked about the software. General MIDI was not an entirely new beast. It defined the standard bank of instruments and percussion, as well …

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What did OPL2 cards use before General MIDI?

Posted on 2013-05-30, 15:36

by

by commodorejohn

in PC Emulation

in PC Emulation

I've been wondering about this. The Adlib and several Sound Blasters (I think up to the first Pro) all predate the General MIDI standard, but they all had MIDI capability. What, then, did they have in the way of an instrument list? Obviously a lot of games used CMF or similar formats with custom …

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Re: Ensoniq OPUS - a question

Posted on 2013-02-20, 22:11

by

by commodorejohn

in PC Emulation

in PC Emulation

I can't seem to find any information on the OPUS base address, and SSINIT won't detect it. Any idea what it's supposed to be set to?

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Re: Ensoniq OPUS - a question

Posted on 2013-02-20, 06:08

by

by commodorejohn

in PC Emulation

in PC Emulation

And I just saw the information on the address somewhere, too... ...well, I'll give it a shot and see if I can't figure it out. Thanks.

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Re: Ensoniq OPUS - a question

Posted on 2013-02-19, 21:50

by

by commodorejohn

in PC Emulation

in PC Emulation

Yargh, it refuses to install in a system without the card installed, and I can't find an extractor that can handle that version of InstallShield archives...guess I'll have to stick it in my Win95 box first.

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Ensoniq OPUS - a question

Posted on 2013-02-18, 18:42

by

by commodorejohn

in PC Emulation

in PC Emulation

I found one of these at the recycle center. I know it's not the best Ensoniq board, but I'm curious to hear it. Does anyone know if it will work in an 8-bit ISA slot, and (more importantly) on an 8086? I'd rather not muck around with my 386 system too much, but I have a Tandy it'd be nice to get a …

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Re: VLB choices

Posted on 2012-11-06, 18:39

by

by commodorejohn

in PC Emulation

in PC Emulation

Hmm. Gaming is the primary purpose, but I will be running Windows as well. Guess I'll have to experiment.

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VLB choices

Posted on 2012-11-05, 22:48

by

by commodorejohn

in PC Emulation

in PC Emulation

So I nabbed two VLB VGA cards from the recycle center today, for use with the 486 system I'm putting together. One is this ATI Mach32 card - the sockets labeled "BIOS" and the PLCC socket that I gather is for a faster RAMDAC are unpopulated. The other is a no-name board based on the Cirrus Logic CL- …

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Re: Just in the off chance anyone knows where to find this... (old Windows game disk)

Posted on 2012-10-07, 20:14

by

by commodorejohn

in Windows

in Windows

Unforunately, none of the copies for sale online seem to have the disk, as I said.

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Just in the off chance anyone knows where to find this... (old Windows game disk)

Posted on 2012-10-06, 19:56

by

by commodorejohn

in Windows

in Windows

I used to have a book titled "Programming Games for Beginners" that detailed how to make games in Visual Basic on Windows 3.1. It came with a pack-in disk with the source and resource files as well as compiled binaries (since this was back when VB was shareware and unregistered users weren't allowed …

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Re: Looking for a DOS adventure game starring a monkey...

Posted on 2012-06-03, 21:27

by

by commodorejohn

in Milliways

in Milliways

Yes! That's the one. Thanks!

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Looking for a DOS adventure game starring a monkey...

Posted on 2012-06-03, 19:24

by

by commodorejohn

in Milliways

in Milliways

This is something I can't for the life of me remember the title of, but it was a little shareware adventure game starring a monkey whom you have to help escape from a zoo. It was on the Sierra SCI1 point-and-click model, in 256 colors. One thing that does stick out in my memory is that I don't think …

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Re: Trying to find an arcade helicopter game

Posted on 2012-05-13, 01:18

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by commodorejohn

in Milliways

in Milliways

Oh man, I think Cyber Chopper is it. I'm 80% sure that's the one I'm thinking of, I remember the carrier takeoff. Thanks!

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Re: Trying to find an arcade helicopter game

Posted on 2012-05-13, 01:15

by

by commodorejohn

in Milliways

in Milliways

I don't know that it was '97, that's just what I'd guess the latest it could've been was. From what I remember I'd put it at anywhere from '93-'96. It's a good point about MobyGames, though. I don't think it was Jetstrike, though.

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Re: Trying to find an arcade helicopter game

Posted on 2012-05-13, 01:00

by

by commodorejohn

in Milliways

in Milliways

You mean this Cobra Command? Doesn't seem there even was a PC version. Doesn't seem to have been a DOS Airwolf game either. It's not Seek & Destroy. It's also not this Thunder Strike; is there another game by that title?

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Re: Trying to find an arcade helicopter game

Posted on 2012-05-13, 00:37

by

by commodorejohn

in Milliways

in Milliways

Neither of those; it was a 2D action game, and it wasn't a Choplifter clone. It was more like Defender with a helicopter or a side-scrolling Desert Strike.

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