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Here are all the sound files from the CD version of FOA ripped with SCUMM Revisited's potential successor... They all play back fine in iMUSE Sequencer sending to an MT-32, so the instruments are correct, and so are the tempo changes (those that aren't actually implemented in script through iMUSE commands, rather than MIDI). The MT-32 versions are obviously the ones named "ROL.MID". The ones without ".MID" are raw rips of the block, which include iMUSE's headers, and hence won't be read by any standard MIDI reader. The content of those headers can be found in the .txt files. https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/jn128u4vvb5v3ug109y4h/foa.zip?rlkey=z16uhvdzbr62ieflw73lqc49l&dl=0 (note: this file will likely be gone in a week) Note that iMUSE simply stores its "bits" as separate tracks in a single file - Standard MIDI format 2 (0 = single track, 1 = the typical multiple simultaneous tracks, 2 = multiple independent tracks). That may be the ones VGMRips has, verbatim. That's also how these MIDs are stored - they're just raw rips from the files. But then, I'm pretty sure the SCUMMRev ones were too - as far as I recall, it simply changed the format 2 bit to format 1, in order to allow it to be read by more applications. The only difference in any MIDI compliant app would be that it would interpret it as multiple tracks to be played at the same time. ETA: As for the HighLand MIDIs, their main problem in terms of orchestrating isn't that we sequenced them based on taste - it's that they're remapped to General MIDI instruments, which does not cover all the instruments available on the MT-32 - and even MT-32 timbres with the same name (say, "Clarinet") may sound very different from the typical GM instrument with the same name - or the soundfont we used as target. Of course, can't go back, since the MT-32 has three acoustic pianos, four electric pianos, three string sections, etc. - which would have been mapped to fewer GM instruments. Also, the MT-32 allowed custom timbres through sysex - which had to be mapped to some mostly fitting GM instrument. Hence, the original MT-32 MIDIs should always be the reference. The HighLand MIDIs were for easy listening on a GM/GS device. ETA2: The files that contain actual music, as opposed to sound effects, should mostly be named "-theme" (the names are from the names they get in decompiled scripts) - but I cannot guarantee that I've been 100% consistent when naming them, so some of them may be "-sound" - or "sound-xxx" (used for sounds I haven't named yet).

Yeah, that continued to be the case in later games. For example, as far as I recall, there's an organ part in the Adlib version of the DOTT opening or end credits, which isn't in the GM version (which is particularly strange, because it's not a matter of a channel missing or something - since the GM version does have the organ, just not all the notes that the organ plays). Also worth noting that iMUSE limited the number of channels that could actually be used at a time - which means even if a part is in the MIDI, it may not actually play in the game. The MT-32 iMUSE driver only allowed 8 channels (+ percussion), and the GM driver only allowed 9, even though both MT-32 and GM allowed 15 channels + percussion. Since, of course, multiple MIDIs may be playing at a time during transitions, the choice of which channels to include in the game are based on priority - each part specifies its priority at the beginning. But it also does happen that the number of channels in a single file exceeds those limits - meaning there are parts that will never play in the game. ETA: Should you need the original sound numbers (e.g. because the titles I gave them are short - for script output purposes - so you might need to compare to some other lists of FOA sounds, which are likely to be in numeric order - you can find them in the symbols file I posted in another thread - https://gist.github.com/Jither/7ed7b65fb77acc0f3cd2bd28ec4c5a9f - look for the section starting with sounds {. 😉

Wow, thanks a lot! I'll check it out in the next few days. As for MT-32 instruments, luckily they are properly documented, so figuring out the right one is just a matter of looking up the patch number. I don't need to exactly match GM instruments anyway, as I am working with my virtual instruments. And I usually pick whatever makes most sense in each case. There are some weird cases, though, where the AdLib tracks actually offer more content. At least with a quick comparison between the Roland and AdLib End Credits (ripped via ScummRev), I noticed that the short string marcatos during the Raider's March are only present in the AdLib version. So, I guess to get the most out of the files, I'll have to compare both versions to see if anything can be added from the AdLib tracks.

Monkey Island Heardle #422 🔈🟥🟥🟥🟩⬜️⬜️ #MonkeyIslandHeardle

Not yet worthy of its own thread, I toyed with the idea of remastering (some tracks of) the Fate of Atlantis soundtrack (yay, more projects before finishing others!). I know, there are several re-arrangements already out there, and no offense to the people involved, but they are all not really good (not the relatively straightforward MIDI-to-audio conversions, those are perfectly fine for what they are). Sure, some of them use nice (and probably expensive) sample libraries, but to me, it sounds like they don't really care how to use them properly. I am not a professional musician or composer, but even I notice when there's not much care put into stuff like instrument articulations. And with especially the brass being THE crucial instrument in John Williams' compositions for Indy (hell, ESPECIALLY the main theme!!), you would think that they'd put extra care into AT LEAST the lead trumpets playing the Raider's March. That, plus drowning everything in reverb that sounds like the whole thing was recorded in a church, I'd say there are at least some reasons to give it another go. For now, I've only started on the opening theme, to at least get that sound down: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xLcCnrbfF_LYMCZKSEcTcRuyEkLBDzF2/view?usp=sharing Speaking of which, does anybody here have a REALLY complete rip of the FoA MIDIs? The Highland-ones are pre-arranged, and not ideal in some situations (at least, I think the transitions between the different parts of the opening could be synced up better). VGMRips has a complete rip of the Adlib soundtrack, with all the different iMUSE bits as separate tracks, and that's exactly what I'm looking for, only with the MT-32 tracks. Then again, ripping the MT-32 tracks with ScummRevisited gives me tracks with completely wrong instrument mappings, and no tempo markers at all. Stan's Previously Used Soundtracks seems to use different MIDIs, which would be interesting to look at. @Rum Rogers @s-island

Here is what I think, based on recent interviews… Ron had this theme park twist idea early on, but it didn't make it into the game, and we ended up with a more 'normal' pirate story, though some remnants of the twist stuck around. While finishing up MI2, Ron didn’t know how to end it. He remembered the weird theme park idea and used it in while leaving it ambiguous, not entirely sure himself what it meant. After leaving Lucasarts, Ron thought of ways to resolve the cliffhanger, with one option being "Guybrush is actually in hell," as he mentioned on his blog. So, the whole lost child in a theme park thing wasn't true anymore; it became more about "Guybrush is in hell." When Ron (and Dave!) finally got back to Monkey Island, they were older and realized the hell idea might not be the best. They decided to circle back to the original theme park idea, keeping what fans loved over the years – the normal pirate story, humor, and ambiguity. Now, players get to choose what it all means. That's what makes the most sense to me.