Re: Ultima V doesn't like my Phasor

[spector@vax2.concordia.ca (Mitchell Spector)]

In article mcafee@umich.edu (Sean McAfee) writes...
>
>A short time ago, I picked up a used AE Phasor sound card.  After a bit of
>hassle finding the right adaptors to connect the card's RCA outputs to a
>standard stereo input, I had it up and running on my ][+.  Worked fine.
> 
>Then, I tried using it for the REAL reason I bought it: to finally listen
>to the music on Ultima V.  The closest thing I have to a 128K ][e is my
>GS, so I installed it there.  Two problems arose.  1) With the stereo
>wires attached, the card doesn't fit inside a GS case.  2) There's no
>opening in the GS case large enough to accomodate any of the connectors
>from the card to the speaker.

	Although Applied Engineering claimed the Phasor card was "IIgs
compatible" this wasn't quite so. As you mention above, it doesn't fit
well (if at all) inside an Apple IIgs, and secondly, a number of old
Phasor/Mockingboard/ALF titles aren't recognized or crash when the card
is plugged inside a IIgs. Ultima V is one such title. My AE Phasor card
now has a home inside my flagship Apple //e where Ultima V runs just fine
with music active! :) 

>[snip] 
>If worst comes to worst, and I just plain can't listen to the Ultima music
>on my GS, might there be a way to extract the music information from the
>Ultima disk, to play using the Phasor system software?

	I've heard rumours of a IIgs patch for Ultima V, but have not yet
come across it. Extracting the music data is a not a bad idea, afterall,
there's a software Phasor emulator for the GS's Ensoniq chip! (MDIdeas
released it as a Christmas Jubebox player -- though it plays ALF and
Phasor music files you toss at it). A handful of the Ultima V music
sequences were converted to synthLAB format long ago, you may be able
to find a couple of them floating around still. 

>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Sean McAfee       |  "Mayday!  Mayday!  Kumbayah!  We're going under!"
>mcafee@umich.edu  |                                  -- Eek the Cat
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mitchell Spector
m_spect@pavo.concordia.ca / spector@vax2.concordia.ca