You're a lifesaver!! Solved my problem with Larry 1 VGA as well!

Cheers,
Burak

Great program, Vlad. Every new thing that comes out of you is just better and better!! 😀

Nifty idea:
Detect processor speed, maintain database (somewhere) with approx. maximum processor speeds for each game (impossible IMHO), auto-divide/multiply, etc.

I doubt it would ever happen though...

Could stick a processor detection/MHZ rating in the VDMSound GUI.....

he he, that new util is fun 😀 Trying out which game runs and which games behaves badly is really funny.
Especially in the case of Ultima 7 (only runs with U7runs u7dpmi.com), at a certain speed setting the game loops the intro indefinitely, even if you get the chance to press "journey onward" it plays the intro again 😀

All my other games don't need it or won't start with it.
And Tyrian2k seems to ignore it completely...

Quite interesting, I only have one game at the moment which runs in ultra-fast mode - Magic Carpet Plus - so I tried it on that 😀

The results were mixed, running with the VDMS launchpad (but with in-game sound disabled, since it was going beserk, more on that in another thread) on a batch file I made up (all it does is change to E:\ and call speedset, which is in the VDMS directory and so is in the path) I found the following:

The startup and intro is slowed, but once it hits the main game screen it returns to 'normal' (breakneck) speed and runs like that within the game as well 😀

A while ago I did try some 'Turbo' program, suggested on the old forums. That actually worked, however it also slowed the music and sound effects to a crawl, so I could play the game but it sounded terrible, and it also caused issues with exiting the game (like it freezing, and since the *entire* system was slow, I couldn't switch out...).

Any suggestions on how to slow the gameplay down without slowing the sound, music and my entire system with it?

- Deathifier
(System specs here)

Actually speedset is not very good at slowing down right now because of the 10ms granularity it uses (which is fine for speed-up but not for slow-down, where a 1ms granularity would be better/smoother/more effective). I'll provide an improved SPEEDSET one of these days (this weekend if possible).

V.

Deathifier wrote:

Quite interesting, I only have one game at the moment which runs in ultra-fast mode - Magic Carpet Plus - so I tried it on that […]
Show full quote

Quite interesting, I only have one game at the moment which runs in ultra-fast mode - Magic Carpet Plus - so I tried it on that 😀

The results were mixed, running with the VDMS launchpad (but with in-game sound disabled, since it was going beserk, more on that in another thread) on a batch file I made up (all it does is change to E:\ and call speedset, which is in the VDMS directory and so is in the path) I found the following:

The startup and intro is slowed, but once it hits the main game screen it returns to 'normal' (breakneck) speed and runs like that within the game as well 😀

A while ago I did try some 'Turbo' program, suggested on the old forums. That actually worked, however it also slowed the music and sound effects to a crawl, so I could play the game but it sounded terrible, and it also caused issues with exiting the game (like it freezing, and since the *entire* system was slow, I couldn't switch out...).

Any suggestions on how to slow the gameplay down without slowing the sound, music and my entire system with it?

- Deathifier
(System specs here)

Very good, I've been looking for it for a long time!
But there's a little problem:
when I set "-2" so as to speed up the game, it doesn't work and when I set "-3" it is too fast!!!

My OS is XP, what should I do to have the correct speed?

Treepwood
Treepwood@voila.fr

Unregistered wrote:

Very good, I've been looking for it for a long time! But there's a little problem: when I set "-2" so as to speed up the game, i […]
Show full quote

Very good, I've been looking for it for a long time!
But there's a little problem:
when I set "-2" so as to speed up the game, it doesn't work and when I set "-3" it is too fast!!!

My OS is XP, what should I do to have the correct speed?

Treepwood
Treepwood@voila.fr

Hello,
The next version of SPEEDSET should have finer granularity at the low end of the scale (right now it more or less rounds off to 1x, 2x, 3x and so on the game's timer, but some fractional values should be achievable). Are you trying to run Monkey Island? -3 should be fine, though (at least according to my test, though I haven't played MI on a "real" DOS computer for quite a while to know what normal speed means). In any case, you can slo try DosBox which is impervious to Windows' timer limitations and runs MI relatively well (other than not having Roland support -- yet).

V.

vladr wrote:

Hello,
The next version of SPEEDSET should have finer granularity at the low end of the scale (right now it more or less rounds off to 1x, 2x, 3x and so on the game's timer, but some fractional values should be achievable). Are you trying to run Monkey Island? -3 should be fine, though (at least according to my test, though I haven't played MI on a "real" DOS computer for quite a while to know what normal speed means). In any case, you can slo try DosBox which is impervious to Windows' timer limitations and runs MI relatively well (other than not having Roland support -- yet).

V.

Not really. Monkey Island doesn't need to be accelerated, it runs at the right speed so I don't use Speedset for it.
But the problem is that, in fact, Speedset doesn't work (for ALL applications, not for one in particular) with the values

from +99 until -2.
So it only speeds up and only from -3 until -99. With -3, the game is too fast and with -2 Speedset doesn't change the

speed at all (it doesn't even speed up a little bit) !!!
There's another problem with Flight Of The Amazon Queen: Speedset doesn't change the speed from -99 to +99 !!!!!

Does someone else have the same problem?
Is it a bug of the program or is it the fact that I don't manage to use it?

Et Puis tiens tant que j'y suis...
I have another kind of problem that doesn't concern Speedset.
I would like to run Beneath A Steel Sky but I can't; a message appears:

INTERRUPT 0DH, GENERAL PROTECTION FAULT possible illegal address
error code = 0000
eax = 0000000C esi = 00000000 flags = 3206 ds = 01BF
ebx = 00000001 edi = 0005BDF0 eip = 0000B3D2 es = 01BF
ecx = 00000000 ebp = 00000004 cs = 01B7 fs = 0187
edx = 0005EE00 esp = 0005EDE4 ss = 01AF gs = 017F

...and the game doesn't run.

What can I do?

Thanks,
Treepwood.

Unregistered wrote:

Not really. Monkey Island doesn't need to be accelerated, it runs at the right speed so I don't use Speedset for it.
But the problem is that, in fact, Speedset doesn't work (for ALL applications, not for one in particular) with the values

from +99 until -2.

Very likely. The priority for this release was to get the speed-up, since slow-down can be achieved with existing apps like MOSLO and TURBO, but there is no other app that provides speed-up AFAIK so SPEEDSET was released as soon as it was tested with the games that needed speed-up. Slow-down was also included in the design, but is not optimally implemented (try +100 if you've got guts 😁 ).

So it only speeds up and only from -3 until -99. With -3, the game is too fast and with -2 Speedset doesn't change the
speed at all (it doesn't even speed up a little bit) !!!

Yes, that's because of the granularity. If you look in the source-code you'll see the logarithmic function SPEEDSET uses and that because of roundoff -2 and -1 and 0 are about the same.

There's another problem with Flight Of The Amazon Queen: Speedset doesn't change the speed from -99 to +99 !!!!!

That's interestimg; probably due to Amazon Queen removing the IRQ6 handler used by SPEEDSET to generate INT8's. Too bad Windows doesn't properly support the slave PIC (or I did something really stupid, but one thing is certain, I can't generate IRQs on the slave PIC from NTVDM.EXE). Harekiet may provide some insight since he's been spending quite a bit of time with PIC (among other things) emulation. 😀

Does someone else have the same problem?
Is it a bug of the program or is it the fact that I don't manage to use it?

More of a limitation.

I have another kind of problem that doesn't concern Speedset. I would like to run Beneath A Steel Sky but I can't; a message ap […]
Show full quote

I have another kind of problem that doesn't concern Speedset.
I would like to run Beneath A Steel Sky but I can't; a message appears:

INTERRUPT 0DH, GENERAL PROTECTION FAULT possible illegal address
error code = 0000
eax = 0000000C esi = 00000000 flags = 3206 ds = 01BF
ebx = 00000001 edi = 0005BDF0 eip = 0000B3D2 es = 01BF
ecx = 00000000 ebp = 00000004 cs = 01B7 fs = 0187
edx = 0005EE00 esp = 0005EDE4 ss = 01AF gs = 017F

...and the game doesn't run.

Do you need to use SPEEDSET with BSS? Does BSS run fine without SPEEDSET? I managed to play BSS under NT4, with occasional crashes, but nothing save/restore couldn't fix. How about you, does it always crash at startup or in the menu?

V.

I’m sorry but my English isn’t perfect, so excuse me if I you don’t understand what I say (I am French).

No!!! I told you it didn’t concern SPEEDSET! It crashes as soon as I want to run the game (without Speedset!), but the config menu works. This message appears even if I don’t run it with VDMSound. It was just a single question and I asked myself if there was a solution… Do you?? (NB: is it because of the NTFS?)

-------------------------------------------

I really hope that you are about to finish the new version of Speedset with LINEAR function or better: a REALLY finer granularity scale (for exemple 2.6 or 2.68 why not!!). I am waiting for it!!! I want to play my old games!!!!!
Remember: -2 is really too slow and –3 is really too fast! I don’t understand how I could play a game with –30 like you explained!! It is inhuman to play so fast!!

I’m able to program but how could I reach the source code so as to modify it like I want? (Speedset is a freeware, isn’t it?). Do I have to use a software?

-------------------------------------------

Treepwood.

OK, I dug up my copy of BSSKY, and I have some good and some bad news:

1) Good news: on Win2k it works just fine for me (starts up, I can get the bar from the wall to open the fire exit door, etc.) So if it crashes for you then your version of the game must be broken. Below are the checksums and file sizes I get in my .zip archive:

1PKUNZIP (R)    FAST!    Extract Utility    Version 2.50   03-01-1999
2Copr. 1989-1999 PKWARE Inc.  All Rights Reserved.  Shareware Version
3PKUNZIP Reg. U.S. Pat. and Tm. Off.
4
5¡ Pentium II class CPU detected.
6¡ XMS version 2.00 detected.
7¡ DPMI version 0.90 detected.
8
9Searching ZIP: BSSKY.ZIP
10
11 Length  Method   Size  Ratio    Date     Time    CRC-32  Attr  Name
12 ------  ------   ----- -----    ----     ----   -------- ----  ----
13  28179  Stored   28179   0%  08-14-1998  04:47  6d0af904 --wa  INSTALL.EXE
148827283  DeflatX 7617977  14%  08-14-1998  04:47  45c8a267 --wa  SKY.DSK
15  53720  DeflatX  14027  74%  08-14-1998  04:47  be0b9468 --wa  SKY.RST
16  11564  DeflatX  10257  12%  08-14-1998  04:47  2383f297 --wa  SKY.DNR
17  10704  DeflatX   4202  61%  08-14-1998  04:47  5e45b3c0 --wa  SKY.RPL
18 401452  DeflatX 146231  64%  08-14-1998  04:47  5eb60024 --wa  SKY.EXE
19      5  Stored       5   0%  08-14-1998  04:49  1bd89e84 --wa  SKY.CFG
20   5349  DeflatX   1389  75%  03-19-1994  20:41  04bf3400 --wa  CRACK/CONTOUR.NFO
21    653  Stored     653   0%  03-19-1994  20:36  28d5b357 --wa  CRACK/CRACK.EXE
22   3216  Stored    3216   0%  09-02-1994  17:07  76f81186 --wa  CRACK/BSSCRK.EXE
23    273  DeflatX    150  46%  03-19-1994  20:38  ce6a682d --wa  CRACK/FILE_ID.DIZ
24 ------          ------  ---                                    -------
259342398         7826286  17%                                         11

Also try both "SoundBlaster/Adlib" (don't forget to set IRQ to 7!!) and/or Roland (port 330), since the problem may appear with one but not with the other (in my case both work fine, but you never know).

2) Bad news: SPEEDSET doesn't work with BSSKY (I guess it's generally the case with some/all protected-mode games).

Also, the source-code for SPEEDSET should be in the SPEEDSET .zip file, no? You need a C compiler (like Borland C++, which is what I now use -- freely available from http://www.inprise.com in exchange for some personal information). Adding floating point support however would bloat the file too much (it's already way too big for its own good).

Cheers,
V.

You need a C compiler (like Borland C++, which is what I now use -- freely available from http://www.inprise.com in exchange for some personal information). Adding floating point support however would bloat the file too much (it's already way too big for its own good).

Any reason you use Borland C++ over MSVC++ (aside from the fact that it's free)? Is it easier to use? I mean, C++ is way over my head (for now...) but it could also be that VC++ is just too damn hard.

Regarding floating point support -- I think that the size bloat would be worth it, honestly. It's an important feature, especially with all the complaints about its granularity.

Snover wrote:

Any reason you use Borland C++ over MSVC++ (aside from the fact that it's free)? Is it easier to use? I mean, C++ is way over my head (for now...) but it could also be that VC++ is just too damn hard.

Regarding floating point support -- I think that the size bloat would be worth it, honestly. It's an important feature, especially with all the complaints about its granularity.

Borland C++ generates 16-bit code (DOS: good), whearas MSVC generates 32-bit code that needs either Windows or a DOS extender (DOS: bad). So it has to be Borland C++, or an old MS compiler (not "visual"), or Watcom, or some other "antiquity". 😀 If I had the time and will I'd have written the bloody thing in MASM (smaller, etc.), but frankly I've got better things to do. 😉

V.

Merci d'avoir porté intérêt à mon article posé sur le site de Grospixels.
Si j'avais su que tu parlais français je ne me serait pas embêté à essayer d'aligner quelques mots d'anglais!

Bah! Ca ne peut qu'être bon pour moi!

Et cette nouvelle version de Speedset, ça avance?

Cordialement,
Treepwood

SYSTRANet translation (for those of us that DON'T speak French) with some Englishising:

Thanks for taking interest in my post on Grospixels.
If I had known that you spoke French I would not have tried to write in English!
Bah! This is good!
Does the new version of Speedset have more advancements? [?]

Snover wrote:

SYSTRANet translation (for those of us that DON'T speak French) with some Englishising:

He, he... 😀

Thanks for taking interest in my post on Grospixels. If I had known that you spoke French I would not have tried to write in En […]
Show full quote

Thanks for taking interest in my post on Grospixels.
If I had known that you spoke French I would not have tried to write in English!
Bah! This is good!

"This can only be good for me"

Does the new version of Speedset have more advancements?[?]

"Is the new version of Speedset advancing?" No, not really, I haven't touched it. I only work on non-work related stuff during weekends (othere than monitoring this forum and the web, which I do daily), and right now I'm multiplexing my weekends between VDMSound, Speedset, and the MT-32 emulation + connex sub-projects (i.e. "digital probe", which eveolved into "homebrew FPGA programming", which I don't know what else it will evolve into). I'm really happy that DosBox is coming along, though.

V.

Priorities, Vlad! 😀

Get that MT-32 emulation done! 😁
Now, dammit! *grr* 😜