VOGONS


First post, by Vegan

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Hi there, first post. I hope someone here knows what might be causing this issue.

I've set the game up according to this page: http://home.earthlink.net/~infernofilecabinet … T/rtz_setup.htm

However, I am having one minor, but rather unenjoyable, issue that I wonder if you have any ideas on.

The speech of the actors is choppy (stutters), but ONLY during dialogue with the facial expression icons on the sides (if you've played the game you know what I mean). This does not occur during the full-motion video. I'm not familiar with what difference that might make.

Here are my specs if they're any help to you:

Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 (build 2600)
2.20 Ghz AMD Athlon 64 (64 kilobyte primary memory cache, 512 kilobyte secondary memory cache)
1 GB DDR RAM (512x2)
128MB NVIDIA GeForce 6600 PCI-E
Creative SB Audigy 2 ZS (WDM)
SONY DVD RW DRU-720A
NEC FP1350 [Monitor] (20.0"vis, s/n 9200837NY, February 1999)
DirectX 9.0c
Visual Effects: Next to none
Processor Scheduling and Memory Usage: Best Performance for Programs
Virtual Memory and Paging File: Minimum 1500MB / Maximum 1500MB
Config.nt = 100 files

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks so much!

Reply 2 of 7, by DosFreak

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Try adjusting

"Cap DOS Timer frequency"
"Try to reduce CPU Usage"

DMA Servicing

and the buffer sizes in the VDMSound shortcut.

If none of those works then get with the program and use DosBox like everyone else.

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Reply 4 of 7, by DosFreak

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Okaay....

Please sir,

Could you try adjusting "Cap DOS Timer frequency" "Try to reduce CPU Usage" "DMA Servicing" and the buffer sizes in the VDMSound shortcut.

If you could try these and report back it would be greatly appreciated.

If the above doesn't work then it's recommended to use DosBox since development for VDMSound stopped long and and NTVDM is a terrible emulation to run DOS games in.

Your friend,

DosFreak

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Reply 5 of 7, by Vegan

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Sorry, maybe I shouldn't have replied so harshly. Your suggestion re: Dosbox was fine, it just could've been phrased a bit better.

To be frank, I tried both Dosbox and D-fend. First time using both, and I have to admit I found the Dosbox a bit confusing/overwhelming. The game wasn't playing any FMVs and was only using my PC speaker, and I couldn't figure out how to fix that. That's why I tried D-fend, to make the process a bit more user-friendly. I got a profile for the game off a website, but that had issues as well.

Honestly, the current method has had the best results of the three.

I have other Dos games that I'll eventually be throwing onto the computer, so I should probably study Dosbox a bit more.

Reply 6 of 7, by DosFreak

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Hmm, I haven't tested Return to Zork that thoroughly but I do remember that the FMV's have worked fine in DosBox for some time.

Could you try downloading a CVS build of DosBox from my signature? "DosBox CVS Builds"

Just read that thread and then download either gulikoza's or ykhwong's build of DosBox. Both are pretty much the same except for a few differences you don't really need to worry about for Return to Zork.

If you plan on playing alot of DOS games then your going to find out quick that the audio for DOS games in Windows XP is going to be pretty bad. Your best options are DosBox or playing the games on real MS-DOS with a real soundblaster. Obviously the last option may not be the most convenient so DosBox is really your only choice.

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Reply 7 of 7, by Vegan

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I'll be damned, it works perfectly with no adjustments with ykhwong's latest build. I don't know what the problem was with my previous Dosbox setup, but it's perfect now. Thanks for the tips, I sure feel pretty stupid now, hehe.