Sierra Audio

• Company: Sierra Entertainment

This page describes audio format and codecs used in different games by Sierra.

File Format

 Byte Value
 ----------------
 0    Header size
 1    Version
 2-5  String "SOL"
 6-7  Sample rate
 8    Flags
 9-10 Size

Flags are used to determine audio format and compression:

 0x01 DPCM
 0x04 Stereo
 0x10 16-bit

Working scheme to determine what decompressor to use:

 if(Version == 0x8D) {
   if(Flags & USE_DPCM)
     use old DPCM variant;
   else
     use 8-bit unsigned mono PCM;
 }
 if(Flags == USE_DPCM | USE_16BIT)
   use 8->16 bit DPCM;
 else if(Flags == USE_DPCM)
   use new DPCM variant;
 else if(Flags & USE_16BIT)
   use 16-bit mono or stereo PCM;
 else
   use 8-bit mono PCM;

Games Using This Format

• The Dagger of Amon Ra (a.k.a. Laura Bow 2)
• The Island of Dr. Brain
• King's Quest V: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder
• King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow
• King's Quest VII: The Princeless Bride
• Leisure Suit Larry 5: Passionate Patti Does a Little Undercover Work!
• Leisure Suit Larry 6: Shape Up or Slip Out!
• Leisure Suit Larry 7: Love For Sail
• Mixed-Up Mother Goose
• Pepper's Adventures in Time
• Phantasmagoria
• Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers
• Space Quest V: The Next Mutation
• Space Quest 6: Roger Wilco in the Spinal Frontier
• Torin's Passage