Wait a second, you're comparing MIDIs between pc dos and mac, right? But do you know that the way MIDI sounds on PC is depended on soundcard and its midi wavetable. You would have to compare at least 6 different popular midi synths - Adlib, SB16/AWE64, SC55, DB50XG and MS General MIDI softsynth.
MIDI is still a professional standard, but people just tend to remember the puny SB audio. I always used external sound modules back in the day, like the Roland Sound Canvas series. Really made a huge difference. Today you can easily get similar quality with software MIDI synthesizers and soundfonts.
Of course. MIDI is still used by audio pros and musicians. And will be used for many years because it is a sort of industry standard for them and the easy way to exchange data with various digital synth devices. Game soundtracks are different story. In DOS days game creators used MIDI to save computer resources because this was a way to give the music playing to separate hardware which helped to freed a CPU for another tasks (to move sprites faster around screen for example) and conserve RAM and disk space. But today we have a very fast CPU's, plenty of RAM and disk space and graphic cards which de facto are separate computers.
The AWE32, the MUCH cheaper SB32 (an AWE32 without expandable RAM), the Gravis Ultrasound, and the Ensoniq were all contemporary with the game and all had superior Midi to this example.
Corey McGuire There is always a difference between what something sounds on a real mashine & how it sounds on emulated mashines. Even with good emulation, preserving the exact sound of old games seems hard cuz there will always be a "micromal" difference IMO.
@AndrosynthNuclear No, a chip-tune is the 'speaker' sound effects, consisting mainly of varying beeps, which the old Nintendo systems used to produce background music and would change in its rhythmic properties from one chip-set to another in the different systems. The old Soundblaster chip-set that we used to play with back on DOS comes somewhat close to that legacy. And the SysShock intro BGM comes close to the old melodies in spirit.
Ok, I'm dumb so I'm going to take a guess here. Does MIDI work kinda like sheet music, and what you use to play it changes the sound entirely? That's the indication I'm getting.
Yep. MIDI is a standard for certain music devices to communicate with one another. In essence, it provides a set of instructions, and another device plays them. Implementations of the sounds MIDI devices output differ between companies, but the instruction set is standardized.
@Acantophis3rd Yes, I knew that - but have never heard the intro in MIDI. So I assume the DOS CD version had this replaced. The floppy version came before that, which I never played.
@Acantophis3rd MIDI music sounds different depending on the manufacturer of sound card :-) This intro sounds much different on my PC (with Creative sound card) - and yes, playing the very same midi tracks that can be found in game files.
I too like the DOS version better because of the more involved first 10 seconds and so does the rest, for me that's what makes my day. and the Mac version isn't that bad, its really good too but for me it feels tuned down compared to the DOS one :)
the mac version was shipped with the CD version, which was released 1 year later. but Greg lopiccolo did make the soundtracks for system shock 2, so i could see why you would make that connection with it.
Why joking? Sadly, that's the truth. All those new gamers think that their beloved 'modern games' inspired all those we played back in time. Give them "System Shock 2" on Impossible Difficulty and see them cry. Or even better, give them the good old "X:COM Ufo Defense" on 'easy' and see them cry too. Anyways, nice collection of music. So much memories and long long nights followed by VERY HARD hours at work. Sleeeeeepy.
I assume the DOS music was from the floppy version? The Mac version and the DOS CD version are pretty much identical, so its obvious which one the developers preferred more.
Roland SCC-1 or SC-88 Pro also sounds good for PC DOS, even AWE64/32. Do the mac version tracks fade into each other and loop properly or are they redbook tracks?
It was this game (amount other like Half life, Deus ex and FTL with the never ending mod) that got me in to retro gaming . Anything before 2000 (excluding any valve game + the first Deus ex). I am now addicted to the 90s perfect difficultly, and wile i do play Doom however this apeal in retro has turned to indie because as short as they usialy are they make up for it by having a challenge, a perfect challenge. what caused this was recent indie games like recever, FTL and organ trail (kind of).
i would LOVE to come to this song for a wrestling match! yo my opponent would freak lol start looking all in the rafters n stands looking to see im coming from there. reminds me of mortal kombat... FIGHT!!
I gotta admit, I like the MAC OS better, even if half of the DOS is better there are certain things from the MAC OS version that, for me, are better than other certain parts from the DOS version :)
i downloaded this game from abandonia, it contained both the floppy (sshock.exe) and enhanced cd-version (cdshock.exe). i have only played the cd version though. the third version of this soundtrack isn't featured in the game though, it's a remix, made by chicajo. :P
Agreed, except about Doom being easy on Nightmare difficulty; None of the enemies' health changes with different difficulty levels - What actually changes with the monsters is in the amount of them per level and the type(s) of them - On higher difficulties there are more monsters, and more of the stronger ones.
Hmm.. I wonder if there is a midi soundfont that matches the instruments in the Mac CD version. I feel that the sound of the Mac version is what was intended for the game. After all, it is in CD format.
I don't understand why the dos version sounds so bad... is this from the floppy version? I played SS (the cd version) using Soundblaster16, and it sounds just like the "mac" version.
the music was recorded with the intro,(what I mean is that you had the cd rom version,where the music was recorded with the intro,you only hear the sb16 music if you had the floppy disc version)
Yes. DOS version here is from floppy version where soundtracks was played from MIDI files through OPL FM synthesizer on SB16 audio card. Playing same MIDI soundtrack on wavetable synthesizers (SB AWE32, Gravis UltraSound audio cards or external MIDI synthesizers) sounded even better than Mac soundtrack here.
Quick question but I played this recently on PC and used a midi soundfont to make the midi instruments sound an awful lot better, much closer to the Mac version in fact. Was that possible back when this game came out?
yeah new games are walk in park I know I've never been able to finish deuseEx or System shock in 1 day on easy but I was able to finish them on the hardest in few days tho I'm able to run through Quake 4 in 2 hours on the hardest mode and people say that's impossible :D and I'm not even that old only 24
I think you guys are thinking that it is possible to get better quality with a better sound card, but isn't this the floppy disk version that came out first? I may not be thinking this one straight, but the DOS version sounded like floppy disk quality.
MissourHanzai You indeed don't think this one straight. What does the medium where the files are delivered on to do with the data of said files? Nothing. ;)
Data size limitations, and midis are a greater sized file than a chiptune file. So maybe Origin told Looking Glass when they were making the floppy disk version to change the format of the audio to make it fit.
nah that's walk in the park you can kill an imp on nightmare just with 1 shotgun shot doom 1/2 are hard on nightmare and most of all I hate about modern games there's allways 500% of ammonition ah yes I can allways shoot with my favourite weapon
Apparently, even handling an inventory is too much for gamers these days- Hence, Bioshock. Not hating on Bioshock, mind you, but it's so dumbed down from SS2...
The Mac one is easier on the human ear I think, but the DOS one is better (my opinion). The human ear is rubbish! Whoever designed it clearly didn't have awesome music in mind!
This track is the reason, why the "guitar sliding" MIDI-sound exists.
I like the DOS version here the best, it has such a nice low-fi cyberpunkish sound.
Wait a second, you're comparing MIDIs between pc dos and mac, right? But do you know that the way MIDI sounds on PC is depended on soundcard and its midi wavetable. You would have to compare at least 6 different popular midi synths - Adlib, SB16/AWE64, SC55, DB50XG and MS General MIDI softsynth.
Just redo the music like I did and play it with the game,,,lol ruclips.net/video/8VTYbGAboNM/видео.html
MIDI is still a professional standard, but people just tend to remember the puny SB audio. I always used external sound modules back in the day, like the Roland Sound Canvas series. Really made a huge difference.
Today you can easily get similar quality with software MIDI synthesizers and soundfonts.
Of course. MIDI is still used by audio pros and musicians. And will be used for many years because it is a sort of industry standard for them and the easy way to exchange data with various digital synth devices. Game soundtracks are different story. In DOS days game creators used MIDI to save computer resources because this was a way to give the music playing to separate hardware which helped to freed a CPU for another tasks (to move sprites faster around screen for example) and conserve RAM and disk space. But today we have a very fast CPU's, plenty of RAM and disk space and graphic cards which de facto are separate computers.
@@KrotowX And when your hands are going bad when you get old like me..lol ruclips.net/video/8VTYbGAboNM/видео.html
The AWE32, the MUCH cheaper SB32 (an AWE32 without expandable RAM), the Gravis Ultrasound, and the Ensoniq were all contemporary with the game and all had superior Midi to this example.
Corey McGuire There is always a difference between what something sounds on a real mashine & how it sounds on emulated mashines. Even with good emulation, preserving the exact sound of old games seems hard cuz there will always be a "micromal" difference IMO.
Download the midi file and play them natively. www.systemshock.org/index.php?topic=2285.0
All of these versions are amazing. Long live Looking Glass Studios!
It's a shame that 1 and 2 didn't get the publicity it so deserved.
@AndrosynthNuclear No, a chip-tune is the 'speaker' sound effects, consisting mainly of varying beeps, which the old Nintendo systems used to produce background music and would change in its rhythmic properties from one chip-set to another in the different systems.
The old Soundblaster chip-set that we used to play with back on DOS comes somewhat close to that legacy.
And the SysShock intro BGM comes close to the old melodies in spirit.
The intro for the MS-DOS version sounds a whole lot better than the Mac version imo, but I much prefer the Mac versions' rendition of Level 1 Medical!
I like every single track on DOS, except for Medical.
@Acantophis3rd I know that, but have never heard the intro in MIDI. I guess this was only a feature of the floppy version.
Ok, I'm dumb so I'm going to take a guess here.
Does MIDI work kinda like sheet music, and what you use to play it changes the sound entirely? That's the indication I'm getting.
you could say that.
Yep. MIDI is a standard for certain music devices to communicate with one another. In essence, it provides a set of instructions, and another device plays them. Implementations of the sounds MIDI devices output differ between companies, but the instruction set is standardized.
@Acantophis3rd Yes, I knew that - but have never heard the intro in MIDI. So I assume the DOS CD version had this replaced. The floppy version came before that, which I never played.
@Acantophis3rd MIDI music sounds different depending on the manufacturer of sound card :-) This intro sounds much different on my PC (with Creative sound card) - and yes, playing the very same midi tracks that can be found in game files.
I too like the DOS version better because of the more involved first 10 seconds and so does the rest, for me that's what makes my day.
and the Mac version isn't that bad, its really good too but for me it feels tuned down compared to the DOS one :)
the mac version was shipped with the CD version, which was released 1 year later. but Greg lopiccolo did make the soundtracks for system shock 2, so i could see why you would make that connection with it.
SIGH
youtube is being slow again. Had to download the vid...
Awesome song, both on Mac and DOS
"Welcome to my death machine, interloper!!!"
Great game. Good times :)
Try this one in the game for fun..ruclips.net/video/8VTYbGAboNM/видео.html
Why joking? Sadly, that's the truth. All those new gamers think that their beloved 'modern games' inspired all those we played back in time.
Give them "System Shock 2" on Impossible Difficulty and see them cry. Or even better, give them the good old "X:COM Ufo Defense" on 'easy' and see them cry too.
Anyways, nice collection of music. So much memories and long long nights followed by VERY HARD hours at work. Sleeeeeepy.
Got to love a good chip tune.
I assume the DOS music was from the floppy version? The Mac version and the DOS CD version are pretty much identical, so its obvious which one the developers preferred more.
Roland SCC-1 or SC-88 Pro also sounds good for PC DOS, even AWE64/32. Do the mac version tracks fade into each other and loop properly or are they redbook tracks?
It was this game (amount other like Half life, Deus ex and FTL with the never ending mod) that got me in to retro gaming . Anything before 2000 (excluding any valve game + the first Deus ex). I am now addicted to the 90s perfect difficultly, and wile i do play Doom however this apeal in retro has turned to indie because as short as they usialy are they make up for it by having a challenge, a perfect challenge. what caused this was recent indie games like recever, FTL and organ trail (kind of).
i would LOVE to come to this song for a wrestling match! yo my opponent would freak lol start looking all in the rafters n stands looking to see im coming from there. reminds me of mortal kombat... FIGHT!!
I gotta admit, I like the MAC OS better, even if half of the DOS is better there are certain things from the MAC OS version that, for me, are better than other certain parts from the DOS version :)
i downloaded this game from abandonia, it contained both the floppy (sshock.exe) and enhanced cd-version (cdshock.exe). i have only played the cd version though. the third version of this soundtrack isn't featured in the game though, it's a remix, made by chicajo. :P
Agreed, except about Doom being easy on Nightmare difficulty;
None of the enemies' health changes with different difficulty levels - What actually changes with the monsters is in the amount of them per level and the type(s) of them - On higher difficulties there are more monsters, and more of the stronger ones.
@ShephardReborn: The sound blaster chip was a pretty powerful FM synthesizer with some unique features.
Until SB AWE32 and Gravis UltraSound appeared.
@@KrotowX Don’t forget that wavetable/sample based synthesis is quite different from FM synthesis, though.
The DOS version actually differs vastly between different soundcards and MIDI drivers.
I didn't know you had uploaded the soundtrack.
It got re-released TODAY. They fixed some bugs and made it compatible with modern PC's. It's 10 bucks on gog. com
FUCK YEAH!
it was updated in 2018 by nightdive studios. it runs on the Kex engine utilizing the game's original source code
SHODAN was HERE
Hmm.. I wonder if there is a midi soundfont that matches the instruments in the Mac CD version. I feel that the sound of the Mac version is what was intended for the game. After all, it is in CD format.
Are you sure the Mac version shipped with that second track? I thought it was just a demo recorded by Greg Lopiccolo's band (Tribe).
SS1, SS2, DX1 and JJ1/2 = best games ever.
What's the sound card for the dos version?? A cheese grater???
Ouch......Thats real chip tune...lol
I don't understand why the dos version sounds so bad... is this from the floppy version? I played SS (the cd version) using Soundblaster16, and it sounds just like the "mac" version.
the music was recorded with the intro,(what I mean is that you had the cd rom version,where the music was recorded with the intro,you only hear the sb16 music if you had the floppy disc version)
Yes. DOS version here is from floppy version where soundtracks was played from MIDI files through OPL FM synthesizer on SB16 audio card. Playing same MIDI soundtrack on wavetable synthesizers (SB AWE32, Gravis UltraSound audio cards or external MIDI synthesizers) sounded even better than Mac soundtrack here.
Uh...What about Final Doom in Nightmare difficulty?
Quick question but I played this recently on PC and used a midi soundfont to make the midi instruments sound an awful lot better, much closer to the Mac version in fact. Was that possible back when this game came out?
yeah new games are walk in park I know I've never been able to finish deuseEx or System shock in 1 day on easy but I was able to finish them on the hardest in few days
tho I'm able to run through Quake 4 in 2 hours on the hardest mode and people say that's impossible :D and I'm not even that old only 24
Wow, even in 1994 Macs had superior audio output!
I think you guys are thinking that it is possible to get better quality with a better sound card, but isn't this the floppy disk version that came out first? I may not be thinking this one straight, but the DOS version sounded like floppy disk quality.
MissourHanzai You indeed don't think this one straight. What does the medium where the files are delivered on to do with the data of said files? Nothing. ;)
Data size limitations, and midis are a greater sized file than a chiptune file. So maybe Origin told Looking Glass when they were making the floppy disk version to change the format of the audio to make it fit.
You can't compare anything like that when MIDI is involved.
I like this version the most : /watch?v=zV6EtVTPiZA
A bit off topic - Chaos Engine music - I like for that one this remix: /watch?v=7Xu7vwc2Mmw
Where download this version? just get version less 2:10 :(
Well as for these days people keep telling me they do :S
Jazz Jackrabbit 1/2
Floppy version, probably standard SB midi.
Das ist techno !
Knives Millions I'm Finnish ;) Just love the simplicity of this "tracker" stuff and German was the most efficient way of putting it.
Brain damage excellent
the second one is better
this is the DISK version?? CD sounds mutch better...
The dos may sound like garbage but to me it’s sounds very fitting for the horror that awaits you at Citadel Station
Whats JJ1/2?
no offense but the sound remind me of the ak in black ops with the silencer on, which sound like wet fart
34 hacker liked this, and Shodan disliked... :D
This is funner to play with the game...Ha Ha....ruclips.net/video/8VTYbGAboNM/видео.html
nah that's walk in the park
you can kill an imp on nightmare just with 1 shotgun shot
doom 1/2 are hard on nightmare
and most of all I hate about modern games there's allways 500% of ammonition
ah yes I can allways shoot with my favourite weapon
Apparently, even handling an inventory is too much for gamers these days- Hence, Bioshock.
Not hating on Bioshock, mind you, but it's so dumbed down from SS2...
MAC sounds better i think
and i am not a fan of call of duty either so don't go bash on it
The Mac one is easier on the human ear I think, but the DOS one is better (my opinion). The human ear is rubbish! Whoever designed it clearly didn't have awesome music in mind!
"mac" version? Sigh..
Yamaha DB50XG version better than these two.