Oh, I'm launching a LOOM.BAT which runs this command:
loom v mo a

(VGA, mouse, and Adlib sound)

I used the default settings for Launchpad plus enabled MSCDEX support.

Cush

Use ScummVM, it's awesome.

I did read through the ScummVM forums and it looks like they've got a couple problems with Loom that are completely different. Might be worth a shot, but I'm curious. The entire game is CD Audio, so if it plays one note, it should play the rest. It plays all the other sounds in the game as well without incident. I've tried using Nero's Drivespeed to slow down the drive (I've heard spin-up may be part of the problem) and I've tried disabling digital audio on the CD (only makes it take longer to load any sounds). I'm guessing this isn't even a VDMSound issue since the entire game IS CD Audio; all I really use VDMSound for is the MSCDEX capability. Has anyone else encountered this problem? Should I try some other CD support and skip VDMSound entirely?

Cush

Originally posted by Cush The entire game is CD Audio, so if it plays one note, it should play the rest.

Correct.

It plays all the other sounds in the game as well without incident.

Odd.

I've tried using Nero's Drivespeed to slow down the drive (I've heard spin-up may be part of the problem) and I've tried disabling digital audio on the CD (only makes it take longer to load any sounds).

Too bad. Good idea to try, though. You might also try using an "image" of the CD with DaemonTools.

I'm guessing this isn't even a VDMSound issue since the entire game IS CD Audio;

It's not.

...all I really use VDMSound for is the MSCDEX capability.

Actually, you don't need to VDMSound for this, it should enabled in your AUTOEXEC.NT file.

Should I try some other CD support and skip VDMSound entirely?

Try just running it natively.

You may also need to enable (or disable) "Digital CD-Audio" for your CD-ROM. This can done through your "Device Manager".

Also, you might consider SAPUCDEX.

Mounting in Daemon Tools works better with LoomCd, especially when you disable digital audio. When you disable da though dont do it from daemon tools (by ticking analog audio) do it on the drive properties in device manager.

OK, took all the suggestions into account. Here's what I've come up with:

Running natively: Runs same as in VDMSound. Great audio, but can't hear anything past the first note of the draft I'm weaving.

Running with SAPUCDEX: Game doesn't even detect the CD-ROM. It goes back to the desktop with a "You must have MSCDEX and a CD-ROM drive to play this game."

Running with Daemon Tools: I made an image of the CD using Alcohol 120%. I used Daemon Tools to mount it to the next available drive (J:). If I go to a command prompt and look through J:, the CD is there. When I run Loom, it just tells me I need to have the Loom CD to play the game, as if it's not in the drive. I switched around drive letters and it didn't change anything. Is there something I'm doing wrong?

Cush

Make sure you aren't trying to run both MSCDEXNT and SAPUCDEX at the same time, that will break it. Also it sounds like LOOM wants the CD to be in the lowest drive letter, so make it D:.

Originally posted by bgbennyboy ...especially when you disable digital audio. When you disable da though dont do it from daemon tools (by ticking analog audio) do it on the drive properties in device manager.

Any particular reason?

Originally posted by Snover Also it sounds like LOOM wants the CD to be in the lowest drive letter, so make it D:.

True. A lot of the old CD games presume the usage of the first CD drive. Hopefully, it's not like some that won't work properly if they see more than one drive.

Seek times are a lot higher with the digital audio playing, not very useful for a game playing single second notes fast after eachother 😀

I did swap the drive letter of the Virtual Drive with the drive letter of my lowest-numbered CD-ROM drive which happens to be G: but no dice there. I don't think it complains about multiple CD-ROM drives since just about every CD burning software out there seems to make a virtual drive. Clone CD, Nero, Alcohol 120%, and Daemon Tools. In addition, I have two physical CD ROM drives and it works fine when I use the actual disc.

How would I change AUTOEXEC.NT settings for one particular program? I know that's probably an easy question; I think you just stick the file in the directory with the executable, but I don't know for sure.

That's interesting that you say the spin-up time is lessened by disabling digital audio. I came up with opposite results; the game noticeably hangs while loading dialogue with digital audio disabled.

Has anyone else with the Loom CD encountered this problem with casting drafts? Pretty odd that it *should* work without any real tweaking, yet it doesn't and the error is awfully particular.

Cush

Originally posted by Harekiet Seek times are a lot higher with the digital audio playing, not very useful for a game playing single second notes fast after eachother

Yes, but what's the difference between disabling Digital audio in the Device Manager and disabling it in Daemon Tools?

Also, what happens when one of them is set to Digital, and the other is set to Analog?

BTW, Cush, have you tried running LOOM with DosBox? I'd try mine, but it's apparently hiding behind a piece of furniture somewhere at a friend of my sister's home.

When I was first getting LoomCd to work with VdmSound a friend said that he'd had some success with disabling digital audio. When I tried this in daemon tools it did nothing, but when I did it manually in device manager it worked great. I've no idea why this was the case, it may have been fixed in the latest version, I havent checked.

Loom in dosbox 0.58 won't do much good anyway since there was bug in the calculation of the sector that needed be played for a certain time index.

I double-checked and the game dialogue loads much more slowly with digital audio disabled. It also still has the problem where it won't play more than one note of a draft I'm weaving. Not a big deal; I managed to finish the game on Expert mode. I just got out a guitar and played along when listening to drafts to make sure I played them back right.

Still, I'm curious as to whether or not anyone else has similar problems. I'm just running the CD version without any supporting software.

Cush

Originally posted by Cush I just got out a guitar and played along when listening to drafts to make sure I played them back right.

*heh* That's one way of doing it. Don't think that it will make it's way into many troubleshooting guides...

Still, I'm curious as to whether or not anyone else has similar problems.

If I ever get mine back, I'll be sure and test it.

I have the same problem. I can only hear the first note of a weave. Anyone else? Maybe a problem with the version downloaded from Home of the Underdogs?

Have you tried SCUMMVM?

Just gave it a try. I couldn't get scummvm to play any cd-audio. 🙁
I mounted the iso with deamon tools and added cdrom=some numbers to scummvn.ini.
In scummvm I didn't see any options for cd-audio.

I think it's an in-game option (hit F5 when the game is running) called "Enable Speech". I have almost all of the LucasArts games supported by SCUMMVM, icluding the 256 color version of LOOM with working speech. I'm using a daily snapshot build from a couple months ago, as I haven't been using SCUMMVM lately.