![]() Well, System Shock 1's soundtrack (and many other games' soundtracks) is encoded in MIDI, and if you use a better soundfont bank than the awful one that comes with Windows, you'll get the same music played with better sounding instruments.Īnd you don't have to worry about losing your saves or anything. So what does this have to do with system shock 1? So many electronic music instruments and software understand MIDI. You can also install virtual synthesizers on your computer and have them play the MIDI instructions if you want. You can also connect a physical music instrument to your computer and have it play the MIDI instructions instead of using a soundfont bank on your computer. Windows comes with a default soundfont bank, and so does Mac OS, most desktop GNU/Linux distros, and lots of other operating systems. You can think of soundfont banks as the instrument that is going to play these MIDI instructions. Soundfont banks are a collection of samples from sounds and music instruments. Now, this is where my knowledge becomes even murkier, so I would be happy if someone corrects me, but I'll try to stay accurate: So, it's like playing exactly the same song, but with different instruments. This is VERY useful and cool because you can basically play the MIDI on different instruments and get different sounds, yet the melody, drum sequence, length of the notes, velocity of the notes and other elements of a song stay the same. Now, it's important to keep in mind that, unlike an MP3 file, MIDI instructions only describe how the notes of a song are they don't describe which instruments to use. These instructions can be used to trigger a synthesizer, keyboard, or other electronic music instrument to play them. These instructions are stored in MIDI files. You can think of it as instructions that describe the notes of a song, like which key they are, the length of a note, etc (BTW, my knowledge of music theory is really bad, so I am probably using the terminology incorrectly). It is a standard language used to express music as data. MIDI is a standard protocol that allows different electronic music instruments to interface and communicate with each other. To be able to understand what soundfont banks are, you need to know what MIDI is. Well, I have to preface this by saying that I am no expert, so please take everything I say with a grain of salt. And System Shock 2 is more of a horror game than System Shock 1. ![]() Bioshock and Deus Ex are very similar to System Shock 2. (I played bioshock first and heard it was based off this so I assumed that it would be similar in tone, but I am still enjoying it.) In fact, the music is one of the things I really love about system shock. So don't judge the entire soundtrack based on the first level. If you are a newcomer to system shock, I really recommend playing system shock 2 before playing 1, but that's just my opinion.Īnother opinion of mine I never enjoyed the music on the first level very much, but I absolutely love the tracks that play on every other level and in cyberspace. ![]() Granted, there are some really creepy moments in the game. Just get the expectation out of your head that this is a horror game, and you'll enjoy it much more. ![]() If you've never had any prior experience with changing the soundfont on Windows 10 or 8.1 (M$ likes to make things really complicated for some reason), or if you've never had experience with soundfonts in general, this guide will help you a lot: I REALLY REALLY recommend using ChoriumRevA I personally found it to be the best soundfont, after trying several different soundfonts. Regarding the music, make sure to use a soundfont that isn't the default one on Windows. I never considered system shock a horror game, personally, but it is one of the best games I played in my entire life, regardless of the genre.
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