yep, i'm trying to do a midi-only export. the soundfont i use isn't the one generated by your program (since specific instruments are almost impossible to find lol), it is by this guy on reddit who compiled a GM/GS friendly soundfont using samples ripped from the game. i dont use that soundfont to listen to the playback leisurely, i use it to check how close it sounds to the actual soundtrack on the instruments that were exported from the xml.
for example, say i exported treasure town (bgm0009) just as a plain old midi, no editing to the xml. i import the midi into FL studio and see the instrument bank that the original xml gave me. i actually did it just now, here are the instrument presets that were exported into the midi:
i then drag the GM/GS friendly PMD2 soundfont onto one of the channels and set it to the instrument that was exported into the midi to hear if it's right. in this case, the piccolo doesn't even exist in the PMD2 games. for the small woodwinds in PMD2, theres a flute, recorder, and pan flute. the piccolo is PC#73 in the GM/GS patch, but the game simply doesn't have one. but even if it did, it wouldn't be right because after using my memory and listening to the official soundtrack, i know it's really supposed to be the flute. i test it out on the PMD flute and it sounds perfect, exactly like in the game. this means i need to go back and change the preset in the XML file from piccolo (PC#73) to flute (PC#74). i believe this to be a computer mistake since some programs start the patches off at #00 and some start it at #01, in which case patches starting with #00 would have flute at #73.
another one that is wrong is the english horn, but its actual instrument isn't the next patch over -- it's actually the bagpipe, so i think this one is a human mistake. i always thought treasure town sounded like a scottish tune, and when i plugged in the PMD2 bagpipes it fit perfectly, so i went into the XML and changed the english horn to the bagpipes. thats the kinda stuff im here for to review and fix if needed.
i typically always have to go for -gm since the GS midi exports' drum channels use up more than one channel (and there's only 16 available in total), and theyre not assigned to a percussive patch, so the drum sequences are given the default piano. strangely, that wasn't the case for waterfall cave and it gave channel #10 a percussive patch despite it being a GS export, not a GM export. in this case is supposed to be a melodic patch, since waterfall cave should be taking advantage of using all 16 channels for its percussiveless ambience.
funnily enough, the orchestra kit is also PC#49 just like the strings
i just asked permission from the guy on reddit who created the GM/GS PMD2 soundfont if i could share it with you and i'm waiting for a reply. i edited the instruments a bit in polyphone and reduced the envelope release levels since it was too reverby initially. i also added an instrument that was lying around unused from the PMD2 samples which sounds like its from a D-50, but it's not fantasia or anything. it's like a piano layered with strings and a chorus and the closest i could approximate it to was echoes/echo drops but it's really more of a pad than a weird pad than anything else? like an alternate version of fantasia. i'll post my appended version when i'm sure i have permission lol