Warcraft II

[MrFlibble]

Battle.net still worked 2 years ago.

The game itself still works on Windows 7. No need for dosbox, mhuhahaha.

The Battle.net edition doesn't have the cool CD Audio soundtrack, but the truncated (with the exception of a few tracks) 22050 kHz mono WAV files instead.

[X3M]

I heard they had a real orchestra playing the tune's back then.

 

But how to tell the difference on youtube? Is there a difference? If so, please tell me :)

[MrFlibble]

I heard they had a real orchestra playing the tune's back then.

I think the CD Audio version of the soundtrack was synthesized, not recorded with a real orchestra. The DOS version credits make no mention of any orchestra, unlike the credits of Total Annihilation for example, which has a soundtrack that was recorded with a real orchestra.

However, the music from Warcraft II has been performed with a live orchestra several times, such as this concert or this one.

The WAV tracks in Battle.net Edition are identical to the MIDI version of the soundtrack that was included with the DOS version (except for four tracks, two for each side, which were present in the CD Audio format but did not have MIDI counterparts). The MIDI tracks were designed to loop indefinitely during a level, whereas the CD tracks played one after another. The CD Audio versions of MIDI tracks are longer because they repeat their theme once and then fade out.

Here's a comparison of the same track in both versions:

Orc Theme 2 - MIDI (2:18)

Orc Theme 2 - CD Audio (3:32)

The tracks in Battle.net Edition use the shorter MIDI versions (except they're recorded as WAV files either on authentic hardware or using soundfonts), however they play as if they were CD Audio tracks (i.e. they don't loop).

The official MP3 pack Blizzard released some time ago (no longer available from FilePlanet, unfortunately) also uses the shorter versions of the tracks, and does not include the CD Audio-exclusive tracks that have no MIDI versions in the DOS release of the game.

[Nyerguds]

The officially released soundtrack of Warcraft 2 is also missing the Beyond the Dark Portal tracks. BtDP adds 4 more tracks; 2 for orcs and 2 for humans.

[X3M]

Here's a comparison of the same track in both versions:

Orc Theme 2 - MIDI (2:18)

Orc Theme 2 - CD Audio (3:32)

The tracks in Battle.net Edition use the shorter MIDI versions (except they're recorded as WAV files either on authentic hardware or using soundfonts), however they play as if they were CD Audio tracks (i.e. they don't loop).

 

Ok, I compared these with what I have. I have a choice, in the game. cd or just midi. I listened to both, cd sounds just like the link you have given. And once the box for cd is ticked, so do the menu soundtracks. If the box is not ticked. The game loads from the hard disk instead; midi.

 

I have the BestSeller-Series Battle.net edition. That version is once again newer than just Battle.net edition. And you couldn't get it through Blizzard since they simply sold the normal Battle.net edition.

 

I guess I am lucky. Should have bought the Starcraft BestSeller-Series when they had it. :(

[MrFlibble]

The officially released soundtrack of Warcraft 2 is also missing the Beyond the Dark Portal tracks. BtDP adds 4 more tracks; 2 for orcs and 2 for humans.

Actually, the expansion pack only added three tracks: one for the Alliance, another for the Horde, and a secret bonus track.

This track and this track however are present on the Tides of Darkness CD as well, although they have no MIDI counterparts and apparently have been added late in the game development. The DOS version of the game (both vanilla and expansion) actually only plays through four CD Audio tracks during missions, so they had to cram two themes into one actual track on the CD to compensate for this. Thus Tides of Darkness accommodates ten in-game themes in eight actual CD tracks, and Beyond the Dark Portal adds two more themes to the same number of actual tracks.

The official MP3 pack is essentially a high-quality version of the original MIDI soundtrack, and it also includes the unused "extended" version of the intro theme that was probably a leftover from the development stage when the intro was a slideshow, as in Orcs & Humans.

 

Ok, I compared these with what I have. I have a choice, in the game. cd or just midi. I listened to both, cd sounds just like the link you have given. And once the box for cd is ticked, so do the menu soundtracks. If the box is not ticked. The game loads from the hard disk instead; midi.

 

I have the BestSeller-Series Battle.net edition.

You mean you have a version of the Battle.net Edition that has CD Audio and MIDI music, just like the DOS version?

[Nyerguds]

MrFlibble... the soundtrack has 4 tracks per side.

The expansion has six. However, they put one of those at the start and one of those at the end of the list, probably so the game would start with one of the expansion tracks.

Comparing the extracted WAVs and the soundtrack, the tracks 1-2-3-4 of the soundtrack match tracks 2-3-4-5 in the game. The tracks 1 and 6 are the Beyond the Dark Portal ones. So the expansion adds four tracks and a bonus track.

Fun fact: the music of the "Disco" track is actually the "Human1" track from the first Warcraft game :)

 

The official MP3 pack is essentially a high-quality version of the original MIDI soundtrack, and it also includes the unused "extended" version of the intro theme that was probably a leftover from the development stage when the intro was a slideshow, as in Orcs & Humans.

Warcraft 1 already had a full motion video intro, actually. I think the full intro was only on the CD version, though.

This is the full animation:

http://youtu.be/watch?v=Qcn70R_UEZs#t=16

[X3M]

 

You mean you have a version of the Battle.net Edition that has CD Audio and MIDI music, just like the DOS version?

Yes.

But I do not have the bonus disco track.

 

Another fun fact is: If I use CD audio. Then I load an After the dark portal saved game. And a track starts playing which belongs to the after the dark portal. It continuous this one when I immediately load a normal saved single player game.

 

More explorations:

Unit sounds too can be used from the CD or as midi.

The laptop from my parents has to search them on the CD. So every new sound causes a 0,5 second pause :D.

My computer however loads all the sounds on before hand. Must be a configuration thing.

 

Would that voice actor from WC1 and WC2 also made voice for WC3? Or other Blizzard games?

And who did all the voice for the orcs between the missions?

[Nyerguds]

You don't have the disco track?

It's a cheat code, you know. You type "disco" in the console ingame to get it.

Sadly, even if it's just that, it still gives you the "Cheater" rank when you finish the mission :P

[X3M]

k, I do have it then :D.

[MrFlibble]

MrFlibble... the soundtrack has 4 tracks per side.

The CD version of the Tides of Darkness soundtrack has five in-game themes per side, not four (but only four tracks). I have posted links to the exclusive CD Audio tracks in my post above.

Blizzard used the same strategy of putting two themes into a single music track/file in StarCraft: Brood War too, in order to keep the music playback code unmodified. An extra theme for each side is recorded within the same WAV file as one of the original vanilla themes.

 

Would that voice actor from WC1 and WC2 also made voice for WC3? Or other Blizzard games?

And who did all the voice for the orcs between the missions?

The person behind all voice-overs in the first two games is Bill Roper. He also did voice acting for other Blizzard titles, including promotional videos and game presentations (such as this non-interactive demo of Warcraft II). A rather detailed article about him can be found at WoWWiki.

Here's an interview with Bill Roper from 1995:

http://youtu.be/wGubpJxMr3s

Another from 2003:

http://youtu.be/YDY1NQq3KrE

[X3M]

Hey, I have MP3 format version of the Zerg. One of them is indeed a double track. But one of the 2 is from Brood War. The original had only 3 in total?

 

Thanks for the links.

 

PS. Any room for sharing old edited maps?

 

46:41. Lol:

I wonder if that guy ever had everything free from Blizzard giving them that idea.

[MrFlibble]

Hey, I have MP3 format version of the Zerg. One of them is indeed a double track. But one of the 2 is from Brood War. The original had only 3 in total?

Yes, that's exactly the case. The themes cycle in a pre-set order during the game so there was no problem in adding an extra theme to an existing track, rather than to modify the code so that it plays three tracks in vanilla and four tracks in the expansion. The only thing is that the vanilla theme that shares a single track with the new theme from the expansion may no longer play at the start of a mission, but that's something anyone would hardly notice.

PS. Any room for sharing old edited maps?

Sure, post 'em here.

I'm still curious about the Battle.net Edition edition of yours that has CD Audio/MIDI tracks. Are you able to play the music in a CD player them?

46:41. Lol:

I wonder if that guy ever had everything free from Blizzard giving them that idea.

I wonder if that guy was referring to Ultima Online?

In fact, the idea of (massively) multiplayer online games (especially of the adventure/role-playing variety) wasn't all that novel in the mid-nineties, it's just that the advent of the Internet allowed to get such a mutiplayer experience to a much, much wider audience. Multi-User Dungeons (MUDs), which may be considered direct predecessors of modern MMORPGs, date back to the late seventies. Graphical MUDs first appeared somewhere in the eighties.

I also doubt that the Blizzard people would never consider an online game in their Warcraft setting before the interview. After all, game development companies have to constantly monitor the market to make sure they stay afloat. Pretty certain they were aware of other series taking it to the massively multiplayer experience.

But anyway, that was a good question on the part of that guy :)

[X3M]

MMO

Yeah, but the same could be said about Dune. Right?

Besides, Renegade is Westwood's/EA games first attempt.

 

About the CD tracks........

...

ok, long post about this, here.

 

These cannot be played.

Which is a shame.

But all the battle net images are visible. -.- whoopthefkingdoo.

The music (CD tracks) however are packed? As if they are a program to be activated in the game. It doesn't tell me if it is midi or not.

 

I have start digging into this CD. I doubt now if it is an original. The CD-rom itself is original. But then again, the one who I got this one from is good in changing hardware. He claims its an original. So it is an original.

 

I remember how my previous version, without the battle.net addition and without after the dark portal. Had all these wave files. Which could be played on CD and more importantly be replaced by sounds from Worms.

Further, back in those days, I had 2 CD-rom players. One for the game, and one for another CD. That way I could play music from another CD. But also from the game itself. My best-seller version is based on that one if it comes to playing the CD music.

 

But those options are not valid any more. The only way to play other music is to disable music in the game. And play winamp in the background. I only have one CD player on the pc that I use now.

 

So I wonder:

Is it possible to let midi sound as if it is CD quality?

 

Digging, digging digging...

http://forums.newdoom.com/archive/index.php/t-20713.html

 

Damnit, I got a yamaha sound card too :D.

Even though, a newer version. One for Windows 7.

 

 

Ok, so the conclusion that I could conduct out of this info is:

The files are midi.

When I select the CD box, it is supposed to play music from a CD.

But my WC2 rom is in, since there is no room for another CD player plus CD.

The sound card is activated (differently?) when playing from a CD.

Thus playing the sound from the CD sounds better then just having midi activated.

Which is from the data from my hard disk.

 

Further more, my CD music is at default settings. Sharper sounds, sharper drums. While I normally have a bit more of base when playing games and listening to youtube.

 

Maybe they thought, no one would notice? :D

[X3M]

You know, after 7 years, I had a private message about my Warcraft 2 battlenet edition...

Unfortunately, a couple of years ago my previous pc suddenly started acting weird.
Some cd's got executed. First it happened with Frozen Throne. Since that cd had a 1 mm thick paintjob, I thought, "well, that was to be expected"
But shortly after.... I lost my battlenet edition as well.

So, if anyone reads this topic. Hope they read this last post as well.

"Things die. Better to accept it in order to move on"

[X3M]

Then again...

https://www.gog.com/forum/warcraft_ii_battlenet_edition/original_redbook_audio_restored_junk_removed/page1

Who can verify?? And why have these not been put on Youtube or other platforms just yet?