Space Quest Historian

The 7th Guest also messes with DOS's volume settings on some sort of internal level. I don't know enough about DOS to know what it's actually doing, but you can see a before and after here:

1) Before running the game. DOSBox's mixer settings show all volumes at 100%. I set FM to 0%.
2) After running the game. The game has now set FM back to 100% and set SB volume to 17%.

Wtf.

#adventuregames #The7thGuest

May 9, 2025 at 6:09pmWeb
Show threadAnatoly Shashkin💾May 9, 2025
@sqhistorian That isn't DOS. DOS doesn't have anything to do with sound. Mixer=off in DOSBox config if you don't want games messing with it.
Show threadSpace Quest HistorianMay 9, 2025
@dosnostalgic You're right, I shouldn't conflate DOS with DOSBox. What I was trying to do was disable FM music so I could sample some clean dialogue. Since there's no way to mute music in-game or set music card to "none" in the config, this is what I tried. T7G is (so far) the only game I've encountered that does this.
Show threadSpace Quest HistorianMay 9, 2025
@dosnostalgic Graeme Devine had a look at the source code and says he is indeed fudging with audio levels in the game's code, so it's not a DOSBox flaw.
Show threadAnatoly Shashkin💾May 9, 2025
@sqhistorian plenty of games do it, it's just the first time you've noticed.
Show threadSpace Quest HistorianMay 9, 2025
@dosnostalgic Most of them probably reset the volumes once they're done?
Show threadAnatoly Shashkin💾May 9, 2025
@sqhistorian I would actually say probably not, but it's just my feeling.