The Way and MIDI files. (Solved! Woohoo!)

[KeeperofGlyphs]

EDIT: Solved! Here is a link to the fixed files.
EDIT: Not actually solved, but solved enough.
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Alright, so, it's long since been known that vista+ windows operating systems don't properly support a few of The Way's midis.

I've been trying to follow their method to re-encode the MIDIs so they'll play on modern computers, but I've hit a serious problem. No matter what, they're always re-encoded in a different soundfont. Even the windows native soundfont is different.

What is so different about The Way's MIDIs that makes them sound that way? I just can't figure out how to replicate it - I've been trying to manually fix the MIDIS so they're perfect recreations, but I've been failing. Mr. LunCasari, would you be able to provide any insight into this, if you know?

Ultimately, I'm hoping to make a .rar of The Way episodes, the appropriate RTP, the font fix, and other appropriate files for redistribution so people can experience the game more easily in the future - and I'd like to include fixed midis so that, at the very least, the boss fights sound appropriate.

[EmperorJeramyu]

Curiously I'd never heard of this before. I was able to follow the steps in the other thread more or less and got the midis to work, I didn't even need to do the weird port changing thing they mentioned. All I did was
1. Open FL Studio
2. File -> Import -> MIDI File
3. Select Midi to Import
4. Change "Channel Type" to "MIDI Out", Accept
(At this point the tracks will all say they're on Acoustic Grand Piano, Port 0, and playing the track back within FL Studio will just be complete silence, but continue on)
5. File -> Export -> Midi File
6. Save
7. Default Options seem to be fine, Start
The resulting file should work fine in RPG Maker.

I'm not entirely what you mean by "re-encode in a different soundfont". MIDI files don't have the soundfont within them, so unless you're exporting it as a wav/mp3 using a soundfont you've selected within whatever program, then the soundfont being used to play it back should just be whatever the program you're using to play it back is selecting. Unless otherwise configurable and you haven't been messing with your PC at all, this is usually the Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth which I thiiiiink is still included in modern windows versions? At least I don't see how RPG Maker could play any midis otherwise.

[KeeperofGlyphs]

I'm not entirely what you mean by "re-encode in a different soundfont". MIDI files don't have the soundfont within them, so unless you're exporting it as a wav/mp3 using a soundfont you've selected within whatever program, then the soundfont being used to play it back should just be whatever the program you're using to play it back is selecting. Unless otherwise configurable and you haven't been messing with your PC at all, this is usually the Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth which I thiiiiink is still included in modern windows versions? At least I don't see how RPG Maker could play any midis otherwise.

It could be that the instruments are being changed upon being saved then? Here, let me include a short clip of the midi playing correctly(?) in game (interestingly, it worked just this one time without re-saving it in FLstudio. Every other time, it only played the drums).

Here's a copy of the base MIDI, and here's a copy of how it sounds after being saved via FLstudio. Part of the reason I assumed the soundfont had somehow been specified in the MIDI was because of how different it sounded no matter which application I used to save/convert it. The reason I'm not too eager to insert these freshly saved midis is because of how different they sound from the rest of the sound track (The difference is more noticeable with some other tracks - I, ahem, ended up having to record my favourite tracks using audacity so I could listen to them on my mp3 player, ha ha...)

Edit: Hey-hey, while I was writing this post, I figured out how to guarantee that song plays correctly while playing the game... You have to lose to Cetsa and Kygar first (lose, don't flee). The rest of the instruments kick in when you fight them again - but only for the first loop. Here's a convenient episode 2 save file, if you want to see it for yourself. Quite the conundrum.

[Koren The Wanderer]

I realized this was an issue on my recent playthrough when I got to the Marna Stretch and couldn't hear the Bahamut Lagoon music at all (essentially a game-breaking issue for me because I loved that music during the Marna Stretch ). I managed to fix it by following some instructions I found on an RPG maker forum somewhere but it was quite the hassle and involved using other software to play around with midi ports as Jeramyu seems to have mentioned in his post. If you're still looking for a solution I could try to find it again.

[KeeperofGlyphs]

Honestly, I've already got a converted set, it's just that, strangely, they sound different from the rest of the midis, as if the new .mid files are somehow specifying a different soundfont (or the reverse - interestingly, the original .mid files are larger). There's a reverb that wasn't present as well.

If I play the base game's MIDIs on vlc player, FLstudio, or anything else that specifically uses Microsoft's GS wavetable synth (i.e. the default soundfont on windows computers), they sound completely different to how they do on windows media player or while playing The Way. Interestingly, after converting via FLstudio (that is to say, just opening the file and exporting it as a MIDI), the converted MIDIs sound as though they're using Microsoft GS wavetable synth's regardless of which application is being used to play them, unlike the original MIDIs.

That said, if your version didn't have that issue, I'd greatly appreciate any help! Worst case scenario, I'll just end up using the converted midis and hope they don't sound too jarring compared to the rest of the soundtrack.

[Koren The Wanderer]

Ok I found it, soooo this method doesn't involve converting or making any changes to the individual midi files themselves. I don't have the technical proficiency or understanding to explain it myself but if you are curious to check it out please see the resource(s) I've shared in the quote below. What I will say is that doing it this way gave me the ability to blanket-apply my soundfont of choice to all the in-game music at once, so it may solve your issue of the converted files sounding different to the rest (or it may not, lol). Hopefully you find this, if not useful, then at least interesting.

Use Falcosoft's MIDI Soundfont Player to load your soundfonts. There are plenty out there, and I have found SC-55.sf2 to work best, though AirFont 340 and 380 final work well too.

Use LoopMIDI to create a MIDI port that routes into the MIDI SoundFont Player.

Finally, use Coolsoft's MIDI Mapper configurator to make the created MIDI port the default MIDI device.

When all is set correctly, RM2k3 is going to feed all streaming MIDI data to the MIDI soundfont player and generate the sounds for you. The upside to this is that you have more control over the sound and can even load some VST2 plugins to do some EQ, Compression...etc to taste with.

I kinda recall having to do a little bit of extra tinkering in the MIDI Soundfont Player software to get everything working but I more or less followed the above instructions as is.

[KeeperofGlyphs]

That is definitely an interesting solution, thank you. Not my preferred method, though, since I'm obsessed with getting as close to an "authentic" experience as possible, ha ha.

That said, I HAVE FOUND THE ISSUE! Muahahaha! (who knew bug fixing was such a rush?)

It's a system locale issue. The midi files were originally encoded in Shift JIS - not an issue for the majority of the file data, but enough of an issue that it caused very few instruments to play in the affected files, and caused FLstudio to only save part of the data when exporting midis (which is why they sounded so weird). It took me so, so, so long to figure this out - I've spent days pondering this. Anyway, you just have to play The Way using Japanese system locale (here's a link to an emulator: https://xupefei.github.io/Locale-Emulator/).

But wait, there's more! I opened the midis up in FLstudio using the locale emulator, saved them again, and voila! Now I have a perfect batch of midis that work on any computer without the locale emulator, all while maintaining their original glory. Here is a copy of them for your listening pleasure - just dump them into your The Way music folders and you'll be able to play the games as before.

Edit: wait, no. This only fixed part of it, they still sound kind of weird after being saved by FL studio. Oh well!

[KeeperofGlyphs]

It occurs to me that I may have been chasing the wind this entire time. I was desperate to replicate a version of this song as I heard it "correctly" once in the game - even figuring out how to replicate this phenomenon (see above in the thread for a video of it). However, I was chasing after a broken version of a broken song.

If "WaySlade" comes out in a normal form after being saved by FL studio, then it stands to reason that the other songs would come out correctly as well. Perhaps the FL studio version was how it originally sounded in the first place? I had never heard the song outside of accidentally hearing it when I lost a boss fight, after all.

tl;dr: I had solved the issue before I even made the thread and didn't even realise it. Thank you both for all of your assistance, however.