Might and Magic IV: Clouds of Xeen

[Myrkul]

Again, i don't think the release date is 1992.
That's another matter with GOG releases, we should use the date the game was available at their website.

Also, is not the publisher GOG ?

[Friedrich der Grosse]

The release date situation is indeed difficult - I was first planning to use the date the game was made available on the GOG website. However, as far as I can tell, GOG.com doesn't provide that information (example for the Might and Magic 6-Pack: http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/might...imited_edition) If somebody finds that information, I'd be happy to amend my submissions.

Good point about GOG being the publisher, I'll change that for my previous submissions.

[Friedrich der Grosse]

Actually, turns out there is a solution: googling a game's page on GOG, and Google displays the date that page was built - in other words, presumably when the game was made available for the first time.

[Chris]

GOG has agreed for SEMO to download and review their releases. We'll try to publish the album info on VGMdb too. So over the next year, we'll be publishing lots of coverage of these for those curious about what to check out. We're sticking to big releases and series for now, for example Alone in the Dark, Might and Magic, Rayman, and The Dark Eye. But we're open to requests for coverage.

[Secret Squirrel]

That's great news, Chris. I'm looking forward to hearing just how they are creating soundtracks for old midi games.

Originally Posted by Friedrich der Grosse

Actually, turns out there is a solution: googling a game's page on GOG, and Google displays the date that page was built - in other words, presumably when the game was made available for the first time.

This method should give as close to an accurate release date as we can get, so I think it's fine.

[Secret Squirrel]

The GOG page says it comes with the Might and Magic VI soundtrack, instead of the Might and Magic IV soundtrack. Is that a typo?

[Friedrich der Grosse]

Actually, the page mentions both soundtracks (Might and Magic IV and VI). This is the bonus content mentioned on the GOG website:

Bonus content included for FREE with the game:
M&M VI reference card
6 M&M I-VI manuals (308 pages)
5 M&M I-V cluebooks
M&M VI soundtrack
M&M IV soundtrack
2 avatars
6 M&M I-VI maps

[avatar]

Interesting! Clouds was the first part of the "World of Xeen" game. The second part was "Dark Side of Xeen". If you completed both games, you got a "special" ending. The bonus content mentioned above sounds like it's the bonus to the Collector's Edition of MM VI. The CE included MM I-VI including manuals and cluebooks I believe. Perhaps they got it wrong? Anyway, this might be a worthwhile purchase just to hear the Xeen soundtrack.

[Chris]

Originally Posted by Secret Squirrel

That's great news, Chris. I'm looking forward to hearing just how they are creating soundtracks for old midi games.

A large proportion of them seem to have been CD audio in the first place. For example, the Alone in the Dark soundtracks that I tackled were the redbook audio versions (3DO for AitD1/2 and PC for AitD3), rather than the MIDI versions (PC for AitD1/2). But Simon knows more about the Might and Magic releases, with a review compendium just posted for those interested.

[Friedrich der Grosse]

I think what Chris has said applies to the Might and Magic releases as well. Might and Magic IV is the oldest Might and Magic release on GOG and according to Wikipedia, the game came on a CD and included voice acting. Considering this, it's probably safe to assume that the music on this album is redbook audio rather than midi.

From the next GOG Might and Magic release - Heroes of Might and Magic: A Strategic Quest - onwards, the music is clearly performed live or sampled, as opposed to MIDI. I earlier thought that GOG would get the score pieces simply by extracting them out of the game's folder structure. But the tags of the Alone in the Dark soundtracks say "Ripped by Rimo... Enjoy!" in the notes section, so it seems to be a bit more complicated than that.

[Secret Squirrel]

I don't know. The wiki page says that the audio tracks had character voices.

Wait, "Ripped by Rimo"? GOG is distributing game rips from the net? This makes things more complicated, and really blurs the line of what we consider "official".

[Myrkul]

Wow they'r distributing game rips as part of free bonuses ?
That would explain why most of the tracks they have are not numbered/named/tagged properly.
Also i got some users that asked me to talk about the general bad quality of their soundtracks. Some of them are just old 128 CBR mp3s, they definitely not have any quality control on these bonuses.

[Chris]

This is bizarre, but the problem is specific to the Alone in the Dark releases. These are not game rips, but MP3s of the redbook audio already included on the game disc. But I'm very surprised that a fan conversion was used rather than an official version. I suspect they post soundtracks how they are received by the original developer and, in this case, the developer was sloppy/lazy. This problem is not shared with the Might and Magic releases, but I'd agree that quality control is lacking.

[avatar]

Originally Posted by Friedrich der Grosse

I think what Chris has said applies to the Might and Magic releases as well. Might and Magic IV is the oldest Might and Magic release on GOG and according to Wikipedia, the game came on a CD and included voice acting. Considering this, it's probably safe to assume that the music on this album is redbook audio rather than midi.

Not true. I know for a fact that it was released (at least initially) on disk. The music was most certainly midi. The game may have later been released on CD as part of a compilation, however I doubt they redid the music. It is true that the game had limited voice acting. Again, if they re-released it later on CD they may have added in more voice acting, however I am not familiar with this, and I've been a fan of M&M since MM III. So basically, I think the Wikipedia article is wrong. However, I have been known to be wrong as well, from time to time

[dancey]

Originally Posted by Secret Squirrel

I don't know. The wiki page says that the audio tracks had character voices.

Wait, "Ripped by Rimo"? GOG is distributing game rips from the net? This makes things more complicated, and really blurs the line of what we consider "official".

I agree. I don't think we should be adding these at all. There's a complete lack of quality control on their releases and their entire company reeks of unprofessionalism.

[razakin]

Dancey, GOG.com is war from being an unprofessionalist company. Probably one of the better digital distribution sites there is.

Sure the bonuses, especially soundtrack ones, are time to time bit lacking, but then not knowing if GOG.com itself gets them or does the license owner/developers (as Chris said few posts back) provide them. If it's the latter, then it ain't such of a surprise that gamerips actually are being provided as bonuses. Some companies actually even use no cd-keys made by rip groups in their patches to remove the need for CDs.

[niki]

Originally Posted by Razakin

Dancey, GOG.com is war from being an unprofessionalist company. Probably one of the better digital distribution sites there is.

Sure the bonuses, especially soundtrack ones, are time to time bit lacking, but then not knowing if GOG.com itself gets them or does the license owner/developers (as Chris said few posts back) provide them. If it's the latter, then it ain't such of a surprise that gamerips actually are being provided as bonuses. Some companies actually even use no cd-keys made by rip groups in their patches to remove the need for CDs.

Then again even their "proper" releases consist of 128 kbps mp3s they ripped from the CDDA tracks of the game CDs ...

I mean, I know we don't list redbook audios, but listing lossy rips of those just because a company "officially" released them sounds weird to me ...

BTW I'd be very curious to know what's on this M&MIV release, 'cause just like others I never heard it had CDDA music tracks ...

[Foxhack]

Originally Posted by Friedrich der Grosse

Actually, turns out there is a solution: googling a game's page on GOG, and Google displays the date that page was built - in other words, presumably when the game was made available for the first time.

http://www.gogwiki.com/

The GOG forum users built this Wiki to serve as a sort of unofficial release and support database. I spent weeks hunting down the actual release dates for every release on the site that didn't have it, so.

http://www.gogwiki.com/wiki/Might_an...imited_Edition

The release date was September 03, 2009. Which I see is already on the site, but it's best to have an official source.

Also, you can only get this soundtrack album if you buy the Might and Magic 6-pack, so you get this and the M&M VI soundtrack in one package. Shouldn't they be stuck together in one release?