Have you tried changing the frequency of the AdLib sound emulation? I mean, you haven't followed the POSTING GUIDELINES very well -- you told us nothing of what you've tried.

Sorry. I followed the posting guidelines in my earlier post(s), and I shorthanded things by referring to that post(s). You can search for my name, or the subject. I know I should do more, but like everybody else here, my time is limited. I've tried the CAP frequency timer change, changing the frequency for Adlib, changing IRQ and DMA timing, etc. to no avail. Not sure I tried those AFTER I updated creative's drivers for my Audigy. Shouldn't matter, but its worth a shot.

DOS Cap timer make no difference. Nor does changing frequency of the Adlib, ror selecting a different output device (under the Soundblaster tab of the VDMS Launcher, nor does changing the buffer size, nor does changing the DSP version. The game does not run from CD, so selecting low level CD support should not matter.

Well, uh, maybe you should install two versions of VDMS -- the new and the old?

Hmm! I don't have time to think it through right now, but that might even be doable. Is it?

It should be. There's no reason why there wouldn't be. Aside from the installer. But that's easily enough fixed. Reinstall, delete registry keys, install again to a different location, apply patch to 1 of 2.

edelbeb wrote:

Sorry. I followed the posting guidelines in my earlier post(s), and I shorthanded things by referring to that post(s). You can search for my name, or the subject. I know I should do more, but like everybody else here, my time is limited. I've tried the CAP frequency timer change, changing the frequency for Adlib, changing IRQ and DMA timing, etc. to no avail. Not sure I tried those AFTER I updated creative's drivers for my Audigy. Shouldn't matter, but its worth a shot.

AdLib emulation changed from 2.0.4 "plain" to 2.0.4 "Update 1". It theoretically changed for the better (best). Can you positively identify the change as caused by AdLib? Then tell me so that I can pass the info back to the OPL2/AdLib emulation people. In any case, you can always reinstall VDMSound and unzip everything from the "Update 1" zip except for the EmuAdlib module as a workaround.

V.

I can try to reinstall and then updating everything but the Adlib emu as a verification. That will probably need to wait until at least the weekend. My reason for suspecting the Adlib module is that with the MIDI disabled, I have the same symptoms, i.e., the same "farting" sounds. With the Adlib module disabled, I simply have no music whatsoever. I think I have the non-updated VDMS files on a cd. I may try copying only the adlib files from that back to my VDMS folder this weekend.

The problem is definitely with the EmuAdlib.dll file, as replacing that file made the sounds normal. Recently, some change in my system has caused the sound and the game to slow down (with or without the 5/02 update). I'm not aware of any system changes that might have caused this. Other games I run with VDMSound work normally. Cap DOS Timer is off. At some point down the road, I'll see if speedset helps. Thanks for all the help.

Yeah, sounds like something SPEEDSET will take care of.

How big is MKII? If it's big can it be cannibalized into a smaller version that can still play the music? I'd like to get some debug info and send it to Jarek (*the* OPL2 emulation guy).

V.

MK2 is about 20 MB. I can bring it to about 7 MB without problems, and I think I can bring it down to about 5 MB and still get sound.

> Jarek the OPL2 emulation guy

And soon to be OPL3 emulation guy, as rumors persist...

But I digress...

edelbeb, why don't you use MAME to emulate MK2? Or is your main reason for running MK2 for troubleshooting VDMS?

I suppose, one reason would be if your computer is too slow to emulate MK2 within MAME (requires 800 MHz Pentium III or thereabouts for full-framerate emulation AFAIK).

Another reason would be that having the ROMs for MK2 without actually having a legal license to use the ROMs (owning the board, purchasing a license from Midway if possible, etc.) is illegal by US copyright law, if you are in the US. Owning the computer-game "port" is not the same thing, legally.

You could always just play the SNES version. It probably sounds better, in any case, and with ZSNES and the Super Eagle or Super 2xSAI engines, it probably looks better, too.

I have no problems with running MAME provided that it substituting for a legally owned copy that I can't run properly. Last time I checked, a few months ago, I did have a problem finding the MK2 ROM at a site I felt I could trust connecting with. I'll see if the SNES version shows up at a site I believe is safe. Finally, I'll probably keep exploring to see if I can get MK2 to work. I'm persistent when I think something should work and it just doesn't. May the next version of VDMSound (whenever that happens) will do the trick. Thanks for the help and suggestions.

Wait a moment there. The current ("Update 1") OPL emulation is supposed (according to its author) to be "as good as it gets". So if you believe that there is a problem then you (I) should definitely confirm this with Jarek. If it's not confirmed then rest assured, it won't change in the next version of VDMSound. 😀 (unless it is replaced with OPL3 emulation, that is).

V.

Why aren't you using OPL3 emulation, Vlad?

MAME.DK used to have all MAME ROMs available for download. However, due to legal pressure, they had to remove them. (Too bad, since I even donated.)
EDGEEMU.COM has ROMs for older consoles and computers (C64, Sinclair, Genesis, Nintendo and Super Nintendo, Jaguar (console only), Neo Geo).

Snover wrote:

Why aren't you using OPL3 emulation, Vlad?
...

Cuz' it ain't been implemented yet, yer majesty Q.B. ! 😉

V.

I'm convinced there's a problem, since MK2 worked ok (save for the joystick emulation) before the update. I'm not sure that its worth much of your time, unless other games have similar problems. If there's any way I can help, let me know, and I'll see what I can do. I can't program, unfortunately.