GAMUS - Game Music Meets Memory - SoundBlaster AWE32 midi

📍 Warsaw, Poland (PL)

🏷️ Video Games

Hi folks! This is GAMUS debut at Kickstarter. Time for some retro game music.

GAMUS is built for fans who believe retro game music deserves a stage of its own. By backing this project, you’re not just funding a platform — you’re joining a community that celebrates the soundtracks that shaped our memories.

About GAMUS project

GAMUS is born from a simple idea: retro game music deserves to live forever. The soundtracks of the 80s and 90s shaped our imaginations, yet they’re often forgotten or scattered across obscure archives. GAMUS is here to preserve, celebrate, and re-imagine those sounds for a new generation.

gamus.space

The site https://gamus.space, online since 2021, offers a wide selection of Amiga and PC game music originating from various online sources. It currently plays 3357 Amiga songs and 2757 PC OPL2/OPL3 songs. It unifies multiple playback utilities into a single, appealing user experience. As an added value it can also present game screenshots. The site started as an aggregator only but now features own games and music formats support as well. It's free to use!

gamus PRO

In 2023 GAMUS PRO was launched at https://pro.gamus.space, which is a complementary site designed to host digitized music (like CD Audio). It has brand new flexible UI and cloud-based architecture. Unlike the former, it hosts own collections only, which is currently 91 games (PC DOS/Windows 95 so far), 74:30 hours of music in 1783 tracks accompanied by 15221 screenshots. It currently requires subscription starting from monthly $5 to cover cloud hosting of the huge collection. There is a demo option to try it before subscribing.

Our Vision

We believe game music is more than nostalgia - it’s culture and a celebration of the artistry behind the soundtracks we love.

Project goal

The SoundBlaster AWE32 marked the mainstream adoption of wavetable music to PC games universe. Compared to the earlier OPL2/OPL3 standard, it delivered far more realistic instrument sounds.

The project objective is to implement MIDI music playback of SoundBlaster AWE32 soundcard by using software emulation.

Games

The following games are already included in GAMUS PRO, so will be available to listen instantly when the project is finished:

• Battle Arena Toshinden
• Blood
• Carmageddon
• Descent II
• Fatal Racing aka Whiplash
• Hexen: Beyond Heretic
• Hexen II
• Hexen II: Portal of Praevus
• Screamer
• Shadow Warrior
• Super Street Fighter II Turbo
• Warcraft: Orc and Humans
• Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness

There are also other games available at gamus.space which are not included in GAMUS PRO because not having digitized music. Those could be potentially added later (stretch goal maybe? ;). See the site for details, some highlights follow:

• Blackthorne
• Descent
• Doom
• Doom II: Hell on Earth
• Duke Nukem 3D
• Jagged Alliance
• Heretic
• Raptor: Call of the Shadows
• Rise of the Triad: Dark War
• SimCity 2000
• Theme Hospital

The Ultimate Goal

GAMUS aims to preserve and support playback across all major sound cards.  
For this project, we’re starting with three legendary classics that defined an era:
- SoundBlaster AWE32
- Gravis UltraSound
- Roland SC-55

Technical details

Because of the architectural limitations of gamus space, the new sound card support will be added to gamus PRO. The process will involve designing a new modular architecture for MIDI playback of various formats on various device emulators. The player itself will be a separate open-source project that could be potentially used by 3rd parties.

More will come soon.

Rewards

• $10 – PC Speaker → 1‑month GAMUS PRO + name in credits + digital wallpaper
• $25 – Desktop Speakers → 3‑month GAMUS PRO + stickers + credits
• $50 – Hi‑Fi Set → 6‑month GAMUS PRO + eco tote bag + credits
• $100 – Audiophile Equipment → 12‑month GAMUS PRO + signed thank‑you + exclusive Founders USB drive + credits

This is how the tote bag and USB drive might look like:

After the final choice of raw materials the print design may be more polished. The sample USB drive in the photo has 16GB.

Transparency

Where your pledge goes:

• 10% Kickstarter fees
• 25% physical rewards
• 10% cloud hosting
• 30% estimated taxes (subject to optimization)
• 25% new feature development

We've been using other crowdfunding platforms, but Kickstarter is where we believe this community belongs.

Timeline

Development of new features begins February 2026, with delivery by September 2026 (may be completed earlier if development progresses smoothly).

Subscriptions activation will be completed by end of February 2026.

Sending gifts - if production goes smoothly, gifts will ship by March 2026 (final deadline is June 2026).

Call to Arms!

This is our first step - proof that a passionate community can rally around something niche yet meaningful. Kickstarter allows us to invite you into the process, reward your support, and make you part of GAMUS history.

By supporting this campaign, you’re not just funding a platform — you’re joining a movement to keep game music alive. Every pledge helps us build a space where fans can explore curated collections, discover hidden gems, and enjoy modern tools inspired by the classics.

Pledge today and help us bring more music to GAMUS!

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Risks and challenges

 Single game issue(s)

Out of the games mentioned above it might happen that a particular game would have some issues with the implemented sound card. Good example is Battle Arena Toshinden which uses older SBK sound bank specification, contrary to the mainstream SF2 format. As a workaround the game would be added with some limitation (in this example use the default sound bank) or the game would be skipped for this device. The decision will be taken individually for each case.

Timeline problems

Optimistic timelines may face obstacles, such as:
- the development might take longer than expected
- waiting for ordered custom gifts might take long
- random real-life incidents

To mitigate these risks, we’ve set conservative deadlines to account for unpredictable delays.

Subscription needed

We're evaluating whether MIDI wavetable playback will be subscription-based or free. Backer feedback will help guide this decision.

Bad timing

If subscriptions are required and yours expires before new content is ready, you'll be able to request the new music for the sound card you support converted to FLAC/MP3.