Everything here is built from this repository, so you do not need TASM, a C compiler or a DOS toolchain to use the driver.
| file | what | built with |
|---|---|---|
SC15.DRV |
the driver itself | TASM 32 and wlink, format dos com |
SCSKIDMS.VCE |
instruments for the four songs | sc15 mkvce, from voices/scskidms.txt |
SCENG1.VCE |
instruments for the sound effects | sc15 mkvce, from voices/sceng1.txt |
SC15.EXE |
builds the voice banks, edits the driver's configuration block, reads a song, and checks the skidset block | Microsoft C 5.10, large model |
SCCHECK.EXE |
self-check for the tooling, needs no game data | Microsoft C 5.10, large model |
Both .EXE files are 16-bit DOS programs. They run on DOS, in DOSBox, and
under anything else that runs real mode. They will not run on 64-bit Windows,
which dropped NTVDM.
The banks are not new music and carry none. They are the game's instrument
settings, adapted so the same songs and effects play on a synthesiser the game
never supported: mkvce starts from the MT-32 instrument records and rewrites
the fields this driver reads, which is what SETUP.EXE era drivers did with
their own .VCE pairs. The adjustments are what make it sound right on a
Sound Canvas. They ship here so that installing the driver takes a copy and
nothing else.
If you would rather build them yourself from your own game copy, that still works, one command each:
SC15 MKVCE VOICES\SCSKIDMS.TXT SCSKIDMS.VCE
SC15 MKVCE VOICES\SCENG1.TXT SCENG1.VCE
The source line at the top of each file in voices/ has to name a path that
reaches your game directory; mkvce resolves it relative to the specification
file. On DOS that cannot climb above the mount root, so give it an absolute
path there, for example source G:MTSKIDMS.VCE. make release-check proves
the shipped pair is byte for byte what the build produces.
Copy SC15.DRV, SCSKIDMS.VCE and SCENG1.VCE into your game directory,
beside LOAD.EXE. Then:
LOAD.EXE /u MCGA /ssc
/u is your video mode: EGA, CGA, TDY or MCGA.
SETUP.EXE cannot select the Sound Canvas, because its menus list six sound
drivers and were fixed in 1991. Calling LOAD.EXE yourself sidesteps that. See
the README for the SETUP.DAT route and its caveat.
These are checked in, so check them. SC15.DRV should be 1744 bytes, and the
driver test in test/ will load and exercise this exact image:
make test
SCCHECK.EXE needs nothing but itself and reports 103 checks on the tooling.