Ultrasound Daily Digest Thu, 25 Mar 93 Volume 2 : Issue 80 Today's Topics: dynamically loading patches.. General MIDI emulator (GMOS) GM driver/interesting question. Hidden files More on Windows drivers problems Muzic in Zone 66 NetNews??? NEW PLAYER FOR GUS, SB, SBPRO, SB16 AND COMPATIBLES New windows drivers Origin's reply POINTS OF INTEREST SBPro / GUS comments The Wave Utilities 2.1 are here! Tsr to redirect speaker peeps to GUS ot SB? Ultrasound FTP Sites - New files validated - March 23, 93 Xwing, World Curcuit with SBOS Xwing slowdown - Lucasarts' problem? Information about the UltraSound Daily Digest (such as mail addresses, request servers, ftp sites, etc., etc.) can be found at the end of the Digest. *** HEY!!! *** Before you ask a question, *** READ THE FAQ ***. It's available on the request server and the ftp sites, or check the newsgroup archives. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 24 Mar 1993 11:26 MST From: Dustin Caldwell Message-Id: <9303241830.AA01674@u.cc.utah.edu> Subject: dynamically loading patches.. To: Ultrasound Daily Digest I have been reading with some interest the idea of emulating general MIDI for SB and others. I would like something that will let me select General Midi in XWing, and get _quality_ sounds from the card. A GUS emulating a SB is like a 486 DX50 running DOS. WHAT A WASTE!!!! I realize that right now we have little alternative, but it is still frustrating. :-( Anyway, back to midi, Why not make a sort of midi file compiler or interpreter that reads the file ahead a bit, and has the computer load the patch before it will actually need it? I realize that if the patches are all big, that 1Meg may be insufficient, but this would seem to work in general. Of course, this would only be valid where the midi is stored as a file-no good for video games or things that cannot tell the GUS ahead of time what they will need, but maybe this could become a standard thing for games to do. The other alternative would be (not especially practical) to have a RamDisk set up (since few games even use all the computer's memory) with the patches. Ram to Ram transfers would at least be better than HD to ram transfers. My half nibble (2 bits, get it?) :-) Dustin ------------------------------ Date: 24 Mar 1993 23:12:15 +0800 From: TC Message-Id: <01GW7CJ3OQO2A9LGFW@NTUVAX.NTU.AC.SG> Subject: General MIDI emulator (GMOS) To: Ultrasound Daily Digest Hi everyone, Seems that my earlier posts sounding out the possibility of writing a GM TSR ourselves for the GUS is getting some support. Would anyone like to combine efforts on this? I had attempted to obtain some information on this, and it is getting exciting :) Some suggestions/answers: > that matter), calls an interrupt or I/O port. There are already FM MIDI > emulators, and there is absolutely NO reason why a MIDI emulator can't be > made for the 32-voice WTS GUS. Whether the GUS intercepts the output destined Yes, this is my thoughts exactly. While I was researching on this topic of whether it is indeed possible with a purely software program (rather than the hardware/software combo I suggested with the serial port) I read about FM MIDI MPU401 emulators for some cheapo soundcards. Now, what I would like to know is, will games which program the MIDI port *TRAP* the MIDI interrupt themselves. Because if that is so, our MIDI TSR will not work. > IF you'd like to route the MIDI output of the GUS, you might as well route > it to another computer, which has a GUS on it and is running Windows with This is kinda expensive :) > THIS is a method a MIDI emulator could use, notably preloading the patches > required for the specific application, ideally 1 MB of various patches. Along this line, I have thought about several methods. The GMOS ideally should have three modes of operation. 1) Dynamic patch loading (with the slowdown when reading patches), 2) loading of extra patches into XMS/EMS for faster switching, 3) a special mode in which GMOS will *COLLECT* all the patch changes that occurs during a game for example and record this to a .CFG file at the user's request. On the next run, it can be asked preload the patches with these CFG file, based on frequency of usage for example. In order to do it, we can't work with 256K GUS, a 1MB GUS will be required. A suggestion is to reserve 64K of RAM for the emulation of SB's DAC ports for GM/SB combo, and the rest for GM patches. We would then have the best of both worlds by being able to select GM + SB in games. > Yes we are talking of writing one. Gravis has no plans to make a GM > driver or TSR for GUS. I read that Forte is making a Miles driver (just about time), but that only makes compatibility with the 50%-70% of games using the Miles driver. It certainly is great news, but we could do with the GMOS for the remaining 30%-50% :) > What I need now is info on IRQ and DMA usage. Also, any info on the > MPU401 DUMB mode emulation would be great! I have obtained a bunch of example MIDI programming files off the net. For those who are interested, look at MMADP36.ARC (or e-mail me to get the files), at louie.udel.edu under /pub/midi/software/misc. > (Is there any possibility of releasing specs without development tools > for free? I'll code stuff myself, but I can't afford the SDK.) I would get the SDK if only Gravis would respond to me :( .tc -- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Lee Teck Chee Internet: sh7126146@ntuvax.ntu.ac.sg (155.69.1.1) NTU, Singapore Lee.Teck.Chee@f408.n600.z6.fidonet.org -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Mar 93 13:37:08 PST From: Anthony K. Tang Message-Id: <199303242137.AA04164@headcrash.berkeley.edu> Subject: GM driver/interesting question. To: Ultrasound Daily Digest Now that there's talk about someone (if not Gravis, then someone) writing a GM driver (possibly), here's a potential (?) problem. I ALREADY have an MPU-401 type MIDI card in my system. You'd think if there was a driver making the GUS emulate another MPU-401, games (or whatever is trying to utilize the MIDI) would become confused as to which port to dump to, unless IRQs and what nots are explicitly defined. Most software just tries to figure out where th MIDI port is on their own. I _know_ that no such driver exists yet for the GUS, and it might not even be a problem, but I'm bored, and thought I'd bring it up. -Anthony Tang aktang@sdcc13.ucsd.edu ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Mar 93 13:36:46 EST From: timkwan@Athena.MIT.EDU Message-Id: <9303241836.AA29676@m11-116-8> Subject: Hidden files To: Ultrasound Daily Digest Can someone who knows exactly what those hidden files are please provide a list of those files so we don't have to cd into the suspicious directories to hunt for them? Personally I think the new disks and the setup sucks. I don't think the new patches are great at all...in fact, I find the added vibrato makes most of the sounds somewhat 'manufactured' and unrealistic. Also, the media player in Windows doesn't work anymore (complaining that the MIDI device is not found or some such thing) after I ran the new install program. I haven't had time to read the "fine print" in the GUS digests about how to fix the problem but I think there is still too much 'hacking' that needs to be done to make things work. How long will this go on? I feel that many of us are 'thriving' on the quirks and the software deficiencies. I'd rather have something that works the first time! But yes, for the price, the GUS does sound good, but the technical support and the software it puts out sure leaves much to be desired. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Mar 1993 09:52:49 -0600 From: ken@austin.ibm.com (Ken Goach IBM) Message-Id: <9303241552.AA27236@daedalus.austin.ibm.com> Subject: More on Windows drivers problems To: Ultrasound Daily Digest Well, I'm still getting EMM386 exception error #06 with the Windows drivers. The old software works fine, BTW. I think the driver file may be damaged. The reason is because wingus.exe also doesn't work! I get 8 successive errors about the first 8 lines of the program, and then it doesn't seem to do anything. (I've also installed everything "by hand" with no success). I ran Norton Disk Doctor on the install disks of the files I ftp'd over, and they didn't have any bad sectors. So I guess I will run the old code until I get official disks from Gravis, then start this hellish process again. Ken ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Mar 93 7:10:41 EST From: "The Wombat" Message-Id: <9303241204.AA08559@scott.skidmore.edu> Subject: Muzic in Zone 66 To: Ultrasound Daily Digest Sorry if this bothers y'all but I thought it might be of general interest. I'm looking for a way to turn off the muzik in Zone 66. It's cool and all, but I'm a wee bit tired of it now. There is an option to turn of sound effects, but not music (Muzik). Soo.... To the guys at Renaissance, is there a way this can be done? If you don't think this is worth having on the digest then reply directly to me. Thanks, esp for making such a neat game, it reminds me of a game I used to play a long time ago in the arcades. Like when I was 12 or so (Thats 8 years ago) Anyone remember the name, I'm drawing a blank, You flew around in a little ship, with a site just like that shot at other ships and bombed bases, man I used to love that gae, now I've got something with better music right here in my own box. -- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-This message was brought to you by Matthew Frazer-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- "With the pinched eyes of a gourmet sampling perfection, he chewed. He chewed a bit more. Then he swallowed the dogfood. He sat for a while. Well, he thought, now I know why dogs lick their testicles. It's to get rid of the taste of the food. -Dave Lister, Last Human Alive Finger mfrazer@scott.skidmore.edu for more --------------------------------=Be Seeing You=-------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Mar 93 10:24:44 -0500 From: "It's your hand, Buckaroo" Message-Id: <9303241524.AA17701@magick.tay2.dec.com> Subject: NetNews??? To: Ultrasound Daily Digest > A while ago I heard someone mentioning the possibility of having > A GUS conference on the NetNews (whatever its called). > Has anyone heard anything more abnout this. Not to say I don't like > having this Daily digest thing. But The SIZE of the emails are getting > rather HUGE and if I let them stack up a few days, my QUOTA starts > becomming overdrawn... It takes a while to get a new newsgroup passed and I certainly hope that someone will post the CFD and CFV notices here as well. I think we'll all know if a GUS-specific newsgroup gets created. > One more thing. I havent downloaded the new disk set and I plan > on waiting till everything seems ok with them (after hearing of all > the problems others are having).. but I would like the new patches and > the new SBOS 2.04? anyone know what disk those are on (so I dont have to > download them alll??????) The new SBOS (2.04) is at epas in: pub/pc/ultrasound/gravis/patch/gus0022.zip And while I'm at it, I want to say "good job" to Thomas Wong for the epas re-org... DDA ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Mar 1993 15:05:29 GMT From: waardenb@cs.utwente.nl (Jerry van Waardenberg) Message-Id: <1993Mar24.160529@cs.utwente.nl> Subject: NEW PLAYER FOR GUS, SB, SBPRO, SB16 AND COMPATIBLES To: Ultrasound Daily Digest NEW PLAYER FOR GUS, SB, SBPRO, SB16 AND COMPATIBLES JMPROTR is a module and oktalyzer player written by Josha Munnik of Ultraforce. The player's main features are: * Support for Gravis UltraSound, Soundblaster 1.5 and 2.0, SoundBlaster Pro, SoundBlaster 16, and compatibles. * Plays 4, 6 or 8 channel mod and 2-8 channel oktalyzer files. * TSR option (also works under Windows). * Plays a batch of files. Read the documentation that comes with the archive if you want to know more. The archive is compressed with ARJ version 2.30. I've uploaded it to archive.epas.utoronto.ca /pub/pc/ultrasound/submit ftp.uwp.edu /pub/incoming/modplayers garbo.uwasa.fi /pc/incoming (I could not connect to wuarchive. Will try that later) You can send info, remarks, bug reports, etc. to UltraForce or to the email address below. WHEN EMAILING, PLEASE START THE SUBJECT LINE WITH "JM:". Greetz, Jerry *------------------------------------------------------------------------------* Jerry van Waardenberg _/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ Tele Informatics and Open Systems _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ Department of Computer Science _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ E-mail: waardenb@cs.utwente.nl _/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Mar 1993 12:50:13 -0500 From: akwong@uuisis.isis.org (Adrian Kwong) Message-Id: Subject: New windows drivers To: Ultrasound Daily Digest On 22 Mar 93 7:15:07 Lee Bollard writes: [Some text replaced by colon for brevity] > All seem to go away when I switch from using DASHBOARD as the Windows > shell, and go back to Program Manager. This problem was nonexistant > until I installed the new disk set. : > a. "MidiOutCachePatches: This function is not supported. : > b. "MidiOutCacheDrumPatches: This function is not supported. : > c. "The Ultrasound MIDI Synth is being used by another application." : > The PatchManager then minimizes itself. : > 2. WinJammer doesn't load patches anymore. The only Windows app that > works is Media Player. I am also using Dashboard for Windows, and I have also installed the new Patch disks set. The exact same problem occurs. However, albeit a pain in , heres what I do to solve the problem: 1. Unmimimize the Patch Manager. 2. Load in a patch (use the 0 Acoustic Piano) Any patch will do. 3. Unload the patch you just loaded. 4. Go try playing your music again under WinJammer. It should work again. /---------------------------------------------------------------------------/ Adrian Kwong CIS:70702,2357 Internet: akwong@uuisis.isis.org Bald Mountain Enterprises (613) 230-1439 Fido-1:163/272 SBCNet-18:813/101 /---------------------------------------------------------------------------/ --- akwong@uuisis.isis.org (Adrian Kwong) UUISIS - Nepean, Ontario (613) 823-6539 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Mar 93 8:33:25 CST From: ckalin@kelvin.cae.uwm.edu (Christopher Allen Kalin) Message-Id: <9303241433.AA02899@kelvin.cae.uwm.edu> Subject: Origin's reply To: Ultrasound Daily Digest > > I just got this from Origin customer service: > > >The reason the the GUS is not supported is do to the fact that it is NOT > >an industry standard sound card (SOUND BLASTER is an industry standard). If > >it were, there would be more software companies that would support it. The > >GUS does not even come with a silicon FM chipset, which is required to host > >most of the digitized sound/speech fx. The GUS is a bargain basement sound > >card. It is less expensive, and show it with its incompatibility with the > >industry standard. > > I suggest we flood origincs@aol.com with mail, this guy (Rik Packham) is > way off base about the GUS being a bargain basement sound card. Yeah, but don't immediately assume that this is the "official" position of Origin. Remember, a few months ago, the Compuserve rep for LucasArts said that the GUS "sucks" and got himself fired as a LucasArts rep for his troubles. This could just be another guy at AOL who doesn't know squat about ANY soundcard, and is just trying to cover his butt. I'm going to Summer CES this year, and I'll be able to talk to whoever is manning the Origin booth. I'll get this straightened out once and for all. (Warren Spector, Richard Garriot, and/or Chris Roberts should be there.) Chris Kalin ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Mar 93 13:44:31 From: john.smith@gravis.com Message-Id: <9303231344.A1981wk@gravis.com> Subject: POINTS OF INTEREST To: Ultrasound Daily Digest Points of Interest ------------------ I've been reading some of your reviews in the last few digests... 1) Why 188 patches instead of 192? According to Forte 4 of the patches where so close they simply remapped them. 2) The Windows setup defaults to 8bit mode for patches simply because most users run the UltraSound with the standard 256K. If 16bit was enabled by default then they may run into problems loading too many patches. The new addendum which will go out with the mail out talks about this. 3) There is now an SBOS 2.04 (GUS0022.ZIP). This version of SBOS will fix the problem of XWing not working on some computers. It also properly supports multiple digital channels which will help with digitized sounds being cut off. Some of the others problem you may have experienced with SBOS 2.02 is no digital sound capability if EMM386 is installed. This has also been fixed. 4) Keith Smith asked about a GUS 3D demo (Digest #72). There is no publicly available 3D demo as of yet. Let us get the software out first . 5) The problem with the temporary directory not getting deleted after the new windows install has been fixed in V2.04. V2.04 looks like it'll be our shipping version (we hope). The main differences between V2.02 (which is available on Internet) and V2.04 is the Install and SBOS. 6) New MIDI Demo. I'll be putting a file on our BBS tomorrow which will contain some tweaked MIDI files for the new patches. I'll probably call it GUSMID1M.ZIP, or something like that. Most of these MIDI files REQUIRE more than 512K of GUS memory or more to work properly. In it will be a new HIDNSEEK.MID (Digest #72) ==== I tried to post these points last week and have just realized that they never made it into any of last weeks digests. 7) (#76) I didn't say that we "Don't know how to support SBOS in a DOS box in Windows" but that we can't do this due to the limitations Windows imposes on us in their DOS box. 8) (#76) You should leave both your DMA settings in your SET ULTRASND the same. Different DMA's won't be usefull until the 16 bit recording card is available. 9) (#77) The easiest way to handle volume is via an external source. The GUS volume control is all handled by the software. 10) XWING: I'm going to do some more work on this but here are some things to try: - Disable the background music if you are having slowdowns during the digitized sequences - Make sure you have PLENTY of EMS available - Read the XWING README! There are some very usefull pieces of information in there. 11) FPS: Football - Because of the way Dynamix handled digital speech you will always get a constant echo effect. For example: "First, down, down, down". There is currently no way for us to fix this. 12) Our Windows install program does not like Windows program manager shells, such as NDW. We are looking into this but for the time being you'll simply have to disable your shell. Enjoy. That's all folks... John --- ~ QMPro 1.01 05-8925 ~ It's not hard to meet expenses, they're everywhere. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Mar 93 10:28:23 -0500 From: "It's your hand, Buckaroo" Message-Id: <9303241528.AA17718@magick.tay2.dec.com> Subject: SBPro / GUS comments To: Ultrasound Daily Digest > Bingo. NO problems. The ONLY game I have mild problems with now is X-Wing that > is very slightly jerky when I fire lasers or a TIE goes by. The MIDI demo ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Mar 1993 09:57:43 GMT From: ittschir@techfak.uni-bielefeld.de (Tim Tschirner) Message-Id: Subject: The Wave Utilities 2.1 are here! To: Ultrasound Daily Digest Hi, The Wave Utilities 2.1 are out! You can get them at the following FTP sites: - WSMR-SIMTEL20.Army.Mil, OAK.Oakland.Edu and their mirrors in the msdos.windows3 directory as WAVUTL21.ZIP - FTP.UWP.EDU and it's mirrors in the pub/msdos/proaudio directory as WAVUTL21.ARJ (might be found in the pub/incoming/proaudio directory first) - FTP.CICA.INDIANA.EDU and it's mirrors in the pub/pc/win3/sounds directory as WAVUTL21.ZIP (might be found in the pub/pc/win3/uploads directory first) Enjoy, Tim ittschir@techfak.uni-bielefeld.de Here's a description of it: The Wave Utilities 2.1 ---------------------- Copyright (C) 1993 by TASsoft Written by Tim Tschirner and Christoph Sundergeld The Wave Utilities 2.1 consist of Looper and Player, two Windows sound applications. Looper is a Windows application that plays digitized audio files in wave format (files with the .wav extension) continuously in the background. It can handle all the types and formats of Wave files that your sound card is capable playing of. With Looper, you can have a lot of fun. It can almost turn your computer into a Sampler, a Beat Box or a drum machine. Player is a sound player for Microsoft Windows 3.1 or higher, which can handle all the types and formats of Wave files that your sound card is capable playing of. There are no limitations to the length of the Wave file to be played. You are now able to play Wave files by simply doubleclicking them in the File Manager. Normally, this isn't the case - launching a Wave file calls up the Sound Recorder with the Wave file loaded in memory. If you have a Pro AudioSpectrum 16 sound card, you can use it's feature to play back two Wave files simultaneously together with Looper and Player. Player can also play Wave files while you're playing .mod files and much more. Once you installed Player, launching a .WAV document from the File Manager will play the sound. This allows greater flexibility for organizing and playing sounds. For example, you can now install all of your sounds in a Program Manager group. Doubleclicking their icons will then play them. By installing a Wave file in your Autostart Group you are now able to play a sound of unlimited length when Windows starts up. When you use Norton Desktop For Windows 2.0 or later as your Windows Shell, you can make easy use of Player's feature to play back several Wave files after another. To let the Wave Utilities run on your system, you must have either Windows with Multimedia Extensions or Windows 3.1 or above installed on your system. You will also need at least 1 Megabyte of RAM and a sound card that is capable of playing back digitized sounds (such as a Sound Blaster card). If you find some bugs or have any comments, questions or problems, you can contact us at the following Internet E-Mail addresses: 1) Tim Tschirner ittschir@techfak.uni-bielefeld.de 2) Christoph Sundergeld icsunder@techfak.uni-bielefeld.de A special note for Pro AudioSpectrum 16 owners: ----------------------------------------------- If you have a Pro AudioSpectrum 16 sound card installed in your system, you can use it's special feature of playing back two Wave files at the same time together with the Wave Utilities. ------------------------------ Date: 25 Mar 93 00:31:36 GMT From: ddebry@itchy (Dave DeBry) Message-Id: Subject: Tsr to redirect speaker peeps to GUS ot SB? To: Ultrasound Daily Digest In article <7084@pdxgate.UUCP>, abdu@rigel.cs.pdx.edu (abdel-hadi h bukres) writes: > I am looking for a TSR that redirects the speaker's beeps to the GUS > or SB. Anyone knows of any site that might carry it? > Please reply thru email. Thanks. I don't think that such a thing *can* exist as a TSR, with how the BIOS is setup to do the beeps. However... The GUS has several input lines on the card. You might be able to run the wires to the internal speaker to the GUS instead. Then write a TSR for the GUS so that when it gets a signal from those lines, it could play a sample or whatever. -- Dave ddebry@ debry@ \ DeBry dsd. peruvian. | "Now let's measure our swan candleholder." es. cs.utah. | com edu / ------------------------------ Date: 24 Mar 1993 08:46:29 GMT From: twong@civil.ubc.ca (Thomas Wong) Message-Id: <1op755INNsmr@iskut.ucs.ubc.ca> Subject: Ultrasound FTP Sites - New files validated - March 23, 93 To: Ultrasound Daily Digest GRAVIS ULTRASOUND FTP SITES NEWS ========================================================================== Ftp Site: archive.epas.utoronto.ca Directory: pub/pc/ultrasound wuarchive.wustl.edu systems/msdos/ultrasound -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hello all. Now that we are back to normal running order, my volume of files to validate is small enough to be quite manageable. Therefore, I will now actually post a brief posting each time (note the word brief) telling you all what I validated. Much like the "new files uploaded to yay and yay site" you see in the other newsgroups. So that you know what files are new. New files validated on March 23, 1992: (for both ftp sites) =========================================================== Directory: ..../sound/669/files aminor.arj, ascream.arj, awakngn.arj, centref.arj, corehop.arj, corpse2.arj, element.arj, hardp.arj, out-run.arj Directory: ..../sound/midi/files marcii.zip, nicemids.zip Directory: ..../sound/voc/util gvoc10.zip - VOC player for the Ultrasound Directory: ..../demo diftro2.arj - 2nd Digitial Infinity demo with GUS support in3demo.zip - In Cube demo for voice recognition execution of Windows apps Directory: ..../game booter15.zip - allows to choose between 2 configuration for DOS boot (useful for Zone 66) Directory: ..../util 2s.c - C code to convert unsigned to 2's complement GUS .snd file combine.c - C code to convert 2 mono to 1 stereo GUS .snd file split.c - C code to convert 1 stereo to 2 mono GUS .snd file NOTE: Can someone test these codes out? And let me know if it works. If not, then it better be fixed or I'm taking them off. For obvious reasons. Thanks in advance. Directory: ..../util/dos gustest.exe - Latest version of GUSTEST (version 1.1) NOTICES: ======== QUESTION FOR UPLOADERS: Who keeps uploading every version of the Digest up into the submit directory? If you don't have a reason, I'm going to start deleting them as soon as I see them. We don't want to see them submitted especially since Dave (owner of GUS Digest) has his own format for the ftp site hence he does all the uploading himself. So please stop uploading them. And if you have a reason, let us know. Otherwise I'm going to start deleting them. I'll wait for a couple of days for replies before I start to delete them. Well, that's it for now. Happy GUSing! Thomas. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Mar 93 10:19:58 MET From: fischer@tmpmbx.netmbx.de (Axel Fischer) Message-Id: Subject: Xwing, World Curcuit with SBOS To: Ultrasound Daily Digest Axel Fisher writes: >> However XWing is still unplayable due to the slowdown when you shoot >> your lasers or fly very nearby a ship. I would like to see that slowdown >> (also noticeable with Tristan) bug fixed. Maybe Gravis gets it sometimes >> to a playable level. From: waardenb@cs.utwente.nl (Jerry van Waardenberg): >The readme file of X-Wing says that it is a SB related problem. It has to >do with some chip on certain SB's, that cause the slowdown. SO it is not >really a GUS problem (although there may be a way to fix it). Just don't >use digitized laser sounds. Well, with a real Soundblaster there is no slowdown at all! Absolutly fast and ok. Also Tristan (pin-ball flipper that also uses a lot of digitized effects) slows down too, when lots of sounds can be heard and it slows down noticable. Others games also have that problem. It is defenitly a SBOS problem. The softwareemulation is not fast enough. (I have a DX-2/66 and a DX-33 and both have the same problem.) >Has anyone tried SBOS 2.04 (or 2.02) with Formula One Grand Prix (or World >Circuit)? The engine sounds are *very* noisy on my system. I've tried other >IRQ/DMA combinations, but that did not help. Yes, and it sounds superb! Its louder than with the SB, but the engine sound sounds MUCH better. Much more realistic. -Axel ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Mar 1993 09:38:51 -0600 From: ken@austin.ibm.com (Ken Goach IBM) Message-Id: <9303241538.AA28174@daedalus.austin.ibm.com> Subject: Xwing slowdown - Lucasarts' problem? To: Ultrasound Daily Digest DEATH BEFORE DISCO writes: >2) The X-Wing slowdown is a pain...but after lengthy discussion with >the tireless wizards at Forte, I consider the problem to be caused by Lucasarts >and not Forte. I believe this to be the case because some people posted to the Internet soundcard newsgroup that they were getting delays with other soundscards (Soundblaster Pro?) as well. So now what - contact Lucasarts? Ken ------------------------------ End of Ultrasound Daily Digest V2 #80 ****************************** Digest Address: ultrasound@dsd.es.com To post to tomorrow's digest Request Server Address: ultrasound-request@dsd.es.com To subscribe, unsubscribe, and request files Owner Address: ultrasound-owner@dsd.es.com To contact a human if the server has troubles FTP Sites: archive.epas.utoronto.ca pub/pc/ultrasound wuarchive.wustl.edu systems/msdos/ultrasound