MIDI for Browser-Based Game

Wyndo · 2002-09-16T00:55:19

We''re getting close to the StarLock launch (January 1st - http://www.prowler-pro.com/starlock) and wouldn''t you know it, I''ve hit a snag. The cool MIDI I''ve done for the game sounds wonderful on some computers, adequate on others, and downright loud and obnoxious on others. I can play-back through my sound card (which plays perfectly for the intended effect) and end up with MP3 duplicates, but I hate to do this for several reasons. One, a MIDI is perfect for a browser-based game -- they''re 15k to 32k or so, will download fast, and browsers (at last MSIE) are preconfigured to play MIDI without a plug-in. The MP3 equivalents are 1 to 2 MEG in size (horrible for the web - would become an option only for people who buy the game Starter Kit on CD), and you need a plug-in for most browsers. Is there truly no way to get consistent (or near-consistent) sound outside of restricting composition to a base few instruments from the GM master set, and then testing on a dozen different systems for tweaking to the best effect? I''m not overlooking something with SoundFonts am I? As far as I can tell, MIDI sacrifices consistency in favor of portability, and that''s not really going to work too well. Having 2-meg music files won''t work too well either (this is probably why browser games shy away from music). Is there something I''m overlooking that might be ideal in this situation? Mike Snyder Prowler Productions