PCem now adds Innovation SSI-2001 emulation

While checking out the PCem source repository, I noticed this little addition:

Innovation SSI-2001 emulation. Using ReSID-FP.

Well, now that is pretty interesting!

from VOGONS

Innovation SSI-2001 board

The SSI-2001 card dates back from when people were starting to try to make the PC into a gaming platform.  While some people were adding chips not used in other platforms, Innovation went the direction of adding a Commodore SID onto an ISA card, giving the PC the sound capabilities of a Commodore 64.  Sadly the card failed to catch on (The Commodore curse?) and it only saw a hand full of games that supported it.

  • Airball
  • Bad Blood
  • Battle Chess II
  • BattleTech: The Crescent Hawks’ Revenge
  • F-19 Stealth Fighter
  • Falcon A.T.
  • Harpoon
  • Joe Montana Football
  • Lord of the Rings Volume 1
  • Red Storm Rising
  • Super Jeopardy
  • Ultima VI
  • Windwalker

From googling around this is the only games I’m aware of.

I recompiled PCem, and enabled the SS1-2001, and loaded up Ultima VI.  It works perfectly well.  And to be honest I like it more than the Adlib! emulation.

11 thoughts on “PCem now adds Innovation SSI-2001 emulation

  1. In a way I’m glad such hardware didn’t succeed. The SID was already quite old by 1989, and I think had it caught on things may have been held back unnecessarily.

    As a C64 fan, it’s sad it didn’t succeed – we might have had cheap, plentiful SID devices and clones everywhere!

    • the only thing better would have been a Paula on a card. But then we’d probably want the entire Amiga chipset on an ISA card. x86 Amiga now that would have been weird.

      • Indeed, an Amiga chipset board would have been quite a sight to see.

        That said its crazy to think how quickly things progressed on the hardware front from ’89. It feels like we went from VGA to Super VGA / VESA to 3D boards almost overnight. No one company could compete against an entire industry moving at that speed.

        • especially with the demise of SGi, and the rise of nVidia. It’s been amazing.

          It’s funny to look back at old magazines from 1990-1993, It’s such a short span in years, but things changed so much.

          And I must be getting old, my favorite programs just let me keep running old crap.

  2. Do you have any idea why the Innovation SSI-2001 card failed to catch on? And did the card even supported Windows 3.0/3.1?

    Also, do you have the compiled version of PCem with the Innovation SSI-2001 card emulation? If so, I would like to see it.

    • My guess is that the Ablib card was already out and had better software support (King Quest!). I remember there being lots of Ablib clones which I’m sure helped it’s availability in the market, which again likely spurred more developers to support it.

      • Then again look at the timeline, Commodore was in decline, and Yamaha was well.. ok. And there were YM3812 clones, I don’t think anyone cloned the SID in the 80’s or 90’s.

  3. It looks like Microprose supported this in F-19 in 1988, but dropped support for it in F-15 Strike Eagle II in ’89, even though they otherwise seem to share a lot of code!

    • I imagine the musicians / sound fx would have had to make / code separate versions for say the adlib and Sid versions. If the install base was much lower on the latter I guess it must have made Sense to drop it.

      F-15 Strike Eagle II I see did samples on the adlib card too which is pretty neat. I hadn’t seen that trick before…

      • I would imagine there would be separate scores, as the SID doesn’t have the instrument reach of the Yamaha chip.

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