Topic: MIDI in Games ...

[Crash]

Hi folks,
From lurking around, I picked up that lots of people are working on MIDI files for use in Descent levels etc.
I'm having a bit of a problem with a game that I'm writing. Windows 7 64 doesn't have the best midi controller and it is very difficult to find an alternative software controller. Even sound blasters don't allow you to run MIDIs on the sound card hardware on 64-bit Windows.

I was wondering whether any of you shared my slight disappointment with the situation and had found any ways around it.

[Kaiaatzl]

Actually, most of us don't use MIDI for Descent levels anymore.
Both DXX-Rebirth and D2X-XL support custom ogg soundtracks for missions now and streaming formats like that have advantages for the composer - like having the song always sound the way you meant it to .  There are some other things you can't do with midi, like lyrics - I'm doing a bunch of different kinds of songs (like pop songs, ballads, hip hop) as well as instrumentals for an upcoming D2X-XL mission by Sapphirewolf.  And for the level designers, the support on modern OS's is obviously better, which gets rid of a lot of headaches.  So I don't think there are many midis being written for Descent missions anymore.  If midis are used for Descent nowadays it's usually pre-existing music from other old games.

That said, there are a few people here with some midi expertise.  I'd recommend you talk to Pumo, he's done some midi converting for Darkflamewolf and written a few midi songs (though he mostly works with FL Studio, synths, and stuff, like me).  Right now he's probably the most experienced in the community when it comes to midi - or at least on this site.
I definitely don't have much expertise with midi (though people have made the mistake of assuming I do).  My knowledge is limited to live recording midi data (on a piano keyboard), since I use FL Studio for all the other parts.

[Crash]

I absolutely agree, the format is flawed but I am no musician. When it comes to X-Bomber, the only thing I shy away from is writing it a soundtrack.

The thing is, the Win 7 synth is actually pretty decent with the tracks it plays correctly. It's just that there are a couple where it will only process the drums or will get the timings wrong.
For the time being, I just rooted those tracks out of the game because the game has a pretty good little library of fan-sequenced midis based on other shootemups and a well-sequenced one can sound nearly as good as a MOD/tracker and I like to keep my installer size as light as possible while having as many tracks as possible.

[Alieo]

Or if you absolutely LOVE the originals, you can do what Wazzazzle recommended and get the MP3 format version of the MIDIs (I have a few in my gallery) and convert them to OGGs and run them in D2X-XL... I'm no expert in programming or what have you, but if you can read some simple instructions, you can get some good music running for Descent. Just go to the D2X-XL website to learn how.

[EDIT: I just noticed that my avitar seems invisible to me... is it visible to you guys or is it just me?]

[VANGUARD]

must be just you.

[Kaiaatzl]

I can see it fine.

What you said was kind of off-topic Alieo, this isn't about Descent music it's about midi programming for something else.

[Crash]

I see it too. Time to clear the browser cache, probably.
Thanks for the input guys!

[Crash]

After having a think about what you said, I think it would make sense to re-record the midis for my game to mp3/ogg using as large and realistic a soundfont as possible in order to get the very best result.

On my XP box, I have the Yamaha XG Softsynth soundfont installed and it sounds pretty good. Do you know of a better one, which would give me higher quality output?
I tried to install Timidity++ but it's written for Linux, comes only as sourcecode and the Windows ports seem to be in Japanese only.

[Alieo]

@Wazzazzle: Umm... I don't think I was off-topic. I recommended using OGG formatted MP3s of the MIDIs for Descent or whatever game he was working on, soooo.... yeah.

[Crash]

Ahh, I see how you mean! Right - as it happens I have the briefing music from Descents 1 and 2 for my game's briefings but because it's a 2D shooter the music came from all over the place. There's some Raiden, Rise of the Triad even, Raptor ... all sorts of things. Just anything that took my fancy at vgmusic.com.

If there are mp3/ogg versions of the briefing music that saves me some time! But I will probably have to convert the others. To this end I'm going to install the Titanic 250MB soundfont on my old box tomorrow and see if that gives me an improvement over Yamaha's XG. I even have an old soundblaster live kicking about in a cardboard box somewhere.

Anyway, I'm very new to this, and it looks like people here have some experience with MIDI, so if you have any tips, I'd be very grateful to hear them.

[Kaiaatzl]

Where did you get the XG soundfont?
I've been looking for that.

[Crash]

I got mine from isohunt. It was given away free with games then discontinued.
The name is Yamaha XG SoftSynthesizer S-YXG50 and it's compatible with XP only as far as I know.
It does sound very good though and it's an all-in-one package that you select as a device in Windows.

I noticed that the Descent MIDIs here were oggified using an OPL3, which sounded very good.
The Software XG was warmer and less creepy. I suppose it was doing its job well but still not striking the right effect.

I plugged in the SoundBlaster Live - it's a good bit of hardware but the Yamaha XG still beats its MIDI playback ... by quite a stretch, even with normal GM files.

[Kaiaatzl]

I have heard what it sounds like - my keyboard uses the XG sounds when it plays back midi files.  The D1 and D2 music sounds very nice... especially game08, game12, game13, and game16.

But I can't convert it to mp3 from my keyboard... and the keyboard is kind of big to carry with me like an mp3 player...

I'll google the soundfont, it should work with the soundfont player programs (and FL plugins!) that I have.

[Crash]

It should work. You just install it (you can also get it from the laptopvideo2go forum but I don't know if it's the same version). Then you just select it in Windows Sounds Control Panel, like you would with Microsoft GS or a physical card.
This keyboard sounds very interesting.

I'm going to see whether this soundblaster live makes an even better job once I feed it a really realistic soundfont. But I need to restart to begin faffing on with that.

[Kaiaatzl]

This is Sf2 format right?
Edit: Nevermind, I just googled and found it in SF2 format.  I'll download the soundfont when I get home.
The version you're talking about would not work on my laptop atm (sound settings for the midi device and such are locked so I can't see themn and I don't know how to unlock them).
The sf2 version has the other plus that it will work in FL Studio with the soundfont player.