SCI
| Sierra On-Line Interpreter | |||||
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| Developer: | Sierra On-Line | ||||
| Header: | Unknown | ||||
| Content: | Notational | ||||
| Instruments: | External | ||||
Target Output
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| Released: | 1988-??-?? | ||||
| First Game: | King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella (DOS) | ||||
| Extensions |
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The Sierra On-Line Interpreter audio format was created by Sierra On-Line for their games that used their SCI engine. It was programmed by Stuart Goldstein. The format is very similar to MIDI, however, it houses specific instructions allowing it to be played on various devices. Depending on the device, instrument PATCH files must be sent as system exclusive data.
SCI files have 16 tracks, but no more than 4 are ever used for a particular device. Also, multiple devices can use the same tracks. For example, the PC Speaker usually uses track 0, and 3 Voice Chipset devices use tracks 0, 10, and 11. Devices using the LA32 and the Yamaha Chipset often used the same rhythm tracks, but had different percussion tracks. The SCI format has the ability to support the LA32, Yamaha Chipset, Casio Chipset, OPL2, General MIDI, 3 Voice Chipset, PC Speaker, and PCM audio, though not every game supports each protocol.
The SCI file extension was never used by Sierra. Instead, they gave their audio files numbered extensions like *.000, *.001, *.002, and so on.
Players
- AdPlug - DOS, foobar2000, UNIX, Winamp, XMMS
- Audio Overload - Linux, Macintosh, Windows
- Soundbox - Windows
- SV - Windows
Converters
SCI to ?
- Audio Overload - Linux, Macintosh, Windows - WAV
- SND to MIDI - Windows - MIDI
? to SCI
Games
All of Sierra's SCI games use the SCI music format.
| Released | Title | Sample |
|---|---|---|
| 1988-09-23 | King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella (DOS) | |
| 1989-??-?? | Code-Name: Iceman (DOS) | |
| 1991-??-?? | Castle of Dr. Brain (DOS) | |
| 1993-03-01 | Space Quest V: The Next Mutation (DOS) |
Hot to Obtain
SCI files must be extracted from compressed Sierra resource files. There are various programs in the links section below that can accomplish this.
Links
- sciwiki.sierrahelp.com/index.php?title=SCI_Resource_Utilities#Sierra_Resource_Viewer - SCI Resource Utilities.
- sierrahelp.com/SCI/Tools/SCISoundTools.html - SCI Sound Tools.
