Lost Files/Serrated Scalpel - Repeating Music Patch

Repeating Music Patch v1.1

for

The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Serrated Scalpel (1992, DOS)

Background:

The game ordinarily plays most pieces of music only once per location. After each one finishes, no more music plays until you leave the location. Because most of the pieces are about only a minute long, the gamer is liable to end up playing much of the game in silence. When Mythos Software ported the game to the 3DO a few years later, they made the music repeat, but never patched the DOS version.

Description:

This patch makes the music repeat after it finishes, like in the 3DO version. Four variations are provided:

* Repeat - Play the music again immediately after it finishes. This is like the 3DO version.

* Repeat after 20s - Play the music again after 20 seconds.

* Repeat after 40s - Play the music again after 40 seconds.

* Repeat after 60s - Play the music again after 60 seconds.

While the first option is probably what most users want, the last three are provided just in case some people get a little tired of hearing the same music again so soon. They'll give your ears a little break, if you find that preferable.

Instructions:

Copy MUSIC.LIB from one of the folders to your game folder, overwriting the one there. You'll probably want to try the one in the "Repeat" folder first. If you find the repetition a little tiring, try one of the other variations. If you want to turn repetition off, the unpatched MUSIC.LIB is in the "Original (no repeating)" folder.

Notes:

* 15 of the 49 music pieces have not been touched because they either belong to cutscenes or were designed to repeat immediately.

* The map music and a few others have been made to always repeat immediately. In the case of the map music, that's because the music loops seemlessly and gamers aren't liable to stay long enough on the map screen to get tired of it.

* This patch has not been tested through the entire game. It works very early in the game, so it's likely to work throughout, but there could be spots where music repeats when it shouldn't or other little issues like that. If you find any such spots and they're not tolerable, you can always revert to the unpatched MUSIC.LIB, at least temporarily.