Double-Post time, because MIDI (I know some players do not care and leave the music off, but this caters to the ones that do):
We all know that the Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth is
way too loud to use with Comanche Gold, setting the in-game Music Volume to 1 is not going to cut it, and I couldn't find any settings that would cut down the default MIDI output volume anywhere on the OS.
Turns out as the game runs on MIDI, why not use an external MIDI driver or tool?
For Comanche Gold:1.
Download and Install CoolSoft's VirtualMIDISynth.2. Find some soundfonts on the Internet that you prefer or like (my preferred ones for this game tend to be the E-Mu/Creative 8MB BGM with SFX or the Gravis Ultrasound Classic Patch Set, you can find the former on some Soundblaster or Creative soundfont disc images).
3. Configure the soundfont in VirtualMIDISynth (I typically keep the MIDI volume around 25-40%, depending on the font.)
Pick only one you want to use. 4. Set the Default MIDI Out Device to the VirtualMIDISynth device. Click "apply" when finished. Leave the process open (you can close the window at this time).
5. Start Comanche Gold. Set the Music Volume to at least 1. Start any mission or play the in-game credits to test if the music works under your selected MIDI soundfont. If you need to adjust the MIDI settings, close the game, change them, then start playing again.
For Comanche 3 (this also works for F-22 Lightning II and Armored Fist 2, I am assuming you are playing any of these games through DOSBox):Follow Steps 1 through 4 above.
5. You will have to identify which MIDI device DOSBox has to use. Inside DOSBox, type "MIXER /LISTMIDI" and you should get a list of MIDI devices.
6. In your DOSBox Configuration file, go to the [midi] section. In the "midiconfig" line, type in the number corresponding to your MIDI device. Save the configuration file when done.
7. Launch "SETUP.EXE" in DOSBox.
8. Go to Audio Settings -> Music Device -> select "General MIDI." If you are asked to provide an I/O address, try 330h first.* If it works, then you should be able to play the music successfully.
9. Exit and Save Settings in Setup.
10. Launch the game, and play any mission to try it out. If you are switching Soundfonts in VirtualMIDISynth, you do not have to fidget any further in DOSBox.
*: If this address doesn't work and you don't want to blindly guess the number: if you have installed any DOS version of
MechWarrior 2, go into "SETSOUND.BAT" and configure the music device to "General MIDI." Open up the file "MDI.INI" in that game's SND folder and look for the number next to the line that says "IO_ADDR". That will be the I/O address to use in C3's Setup Utility.