[Scummvm-tracker] [ScummVM :: Bugs] #15159: SCI: Betrayed Alliance - Menu disrepancy: "Music" in Speed menu item (was: SCI: Betrayed Alliance v1.3.2: "Music" in last Speed menu line when MT32 is enabled)

[ScummVM :: Bugs]

#15159: SCI: Betrayed Alliance - Menu disrepancy: "Music" in Speed menu item
--------------------------+--------------------------
Reporter:  dfsgand        |       Owner:  (none)
    Type:  defect         |      Status:  new
Priority:  low            |   Component:  Engine: SCI
 Version:                 |  Resolution:
Keywords:  menu graphics  |        Game:  SCI Fanmade
--------------------------+--------------------------
Changes (by sluicebox):

 * priority:  normal => low
 * summary:
     SCI: Betrayed Alliance v1.3.2: "Music" in last Speed menu line when
     MT32 is enabled
     => SCI: Betrayed Alliance - Menu disrepancy: "Music" in Speed menu
     item


Old description:

> ScummVM version checked:
> ScummVM 2.9.0git5034-g8019d0eea13 (Jun 1 2024 20:18:24)
> Using SDL backend with SDL 2.0.14
> Features compiled in: Vorbis FLAC MP3 ALSA SEQ sndio TiMidity RGB zLib
> MikMod VPX A/52 FreeType2 FriBiDi JPEG PNG ENet SDL2 TinyGL OpenGL (with
> shaders)
> Platform: Debian 11.9 bullseye, x86-64
>
> Games: Betrayed Alliance v1.3.2:
> https://github.com/Slattstudio/BetrayedAllianceBook1/releases/tag/release-v1.3.2
>
> Upon being given control in ScummVM with MT-32 emulation enabled, the
> last entry in the "Speed" menu reads "Slower  -Music". This does not
> happen in native: the last line instead reads "Slower  -" with the dash
> properly aligned. See the screenshots for more details. (Native DOS/MT-32
> screenshot courtesy of PickledDog.)

New description:

 ScummVM version checked:
 ScummVM 2.9.0git5034-g8019d0eea13 (Jun 1 2024 20:18:24)
 Using SDL backend with SDL 2.0.14
 Features compiled in: Vorbis FLAC MP3 ALSA SEQ sndio TiMidity RGB zLib
 MikMod VPX A/52 FreeType2 FriBiDi JPEG PNG ENet SDL2 TinyGL OpenGL (with
 shaders)
 Platform: Debian 11.9 bullseye, x86-64

 Games: Betrayed Alliance v1.3.2:
 https://github.com/Slattstudio/BetrayedAllianceBook1/releases/tag/release-v1.3.2

 Upon being given control in ScummVM, the last entry in the "Speed" menu
 reads "Slower  -Music". This does not happen in native: the last line
 instead reads "Slower  -" with the dash properly aligned. See the
 screenshots for more details. (Native DOS screenshot courtesy of
 PickledDog.)

--
Comment:

 I'm now certain this has nothing to do with MT-32 or any music, so let's
 ignore all that. It also applies to all versions of this game.

 This game has a malformed menu string which has exposed a discrepancy in
 how we parse malformed menu strings. We display "-Music" because that's
 the text that this menu string ends in. By luck, Sierra's interpreter
 ignores the junk "Music" at the end, so the author didn't notice their
 mistake.

 It would be good to fix this, but it's also about as low priority as you
 can get: this doesn't happen in real games, and the easy solution is to
 email the author and let them know. I've done that, so presumably this
 will be fixed in the next game version.

 Our menu code is a 200 line function of classic C string parsing. It's
 also based on reverse engineering, so the names are guesses, meanwhile
 Here In The Future we know the real spec and the real names of menu string
 components. Our code also handles dual-language games too. It's risky to
 alter any of this, and the next game release will make it moot.

 It's still worth doing eventually, even if it just makes our menu code a
 better reference. We'll keep this open, and I'll lower priority and remove
 the MT-32 references.
-- 
Ticket URL: <https://bugs.scummvm.org/ticket/15159#comment:2>
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