VOGONS


First post, by AlexV

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I'm building a DOSBox setup to host Warcraft: Orcs & Humans (the CD-ROM version) using Roland Sound Canvas VA to get the best experience of this mythic game.

I have a powerhouse to host this (Windows 10, 4 GHz i7, 64 GB RAM, GeForce 1080 @ 4K resolution...) and I have 2 problems:

#1 performance is not that good (some choppiness and the MIDI music is "slow"). I have somewhat fixed this with frameskip=1 but I'm wondering why I need this as it's the fist time I'm having performances issues in DOSBox.

I tested a myriad of settings (windowed /full screen, etc) and the only setting helping me is setting frameskip to non zero. Take note that my (real) CPU load is under 10% at all time while DOSBox is running.

#2 The MIDI tracks don't sound like the real SC-55 with the Roland Sound Canvas VA. Yes Roland Sound Canvas VA is processing the MIDI (I see the equaliser and instruments moving). I don't have a real SC-55 to compare but the Macintosh CD-A track on the CD are much better and YouTube captures of real hardware is much in line with the CD-A than what I get with the Roland Sound Canvas VA. What settings do you use (in Warcraft's SETUP.EXE and in Roland Sound Canvas VA)?

This is my DOSBox conf file (comments removed for clarity):

[sdl]
fullscreen=true
fulldouble=false
fullresolution=desktop
windowresolution=1280x960
output=overlay
autolock=true
sensitivity=100
waitonerror=true
priority=higher,normal
mapperfile=mapper-0.74-2.map
usescancodes=true

[dosbox]
language=
machine=svga_s3
captures=capture
memsize=16

[render]
frameskip=1
aspect=true
scaler=normal2x

[cpu]
core=auto
cputype=auto
cycles=26800
cycleup=10
cycledown=20

[mixer]
nosound=false
rate=44100
blocksize=1024
prebuffer=25

[midi]
mpu401=intelligent
mididevice=default
midiconfig=1

[sblaster]
sbtype=sb16
sbbase=220
irq=7
dma=1
hdma=5
sbmixer=true
oplmode=auto
oplemu=default
oplrate=44100

[gus]
gus=false
gusrate=44100
gusbase=240
gusirq=5
gusdma=3
ultradir=C:\ULTRASND
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[speaker]
pcspeaker=true
pcrate=44100
tandy=auto
tandyrate=44100
disney=true

[joystick]
joysticktype=auto
timed=true
autofire=false
swap34=false
buttonwrap=false

[serial]
serial1=dummy
serial2=dummy
serial3=disabled
serial4=disabled

[dos]
xms=true
ems=true
umb=true
keyboardlayout=auto

[ipx]
ipx=true

[autoexec]
@echo off
mount C "..\Warcraft II"
imgmount D "..\Warcraft II CD-ROM\WARCRAFT2.CUE" -t iso
c:
cls
WAR2.EXE
exit

Thanks for your help!

Reply 1 of 6, by ripsaw8080

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Try output=opengl, and make sure v-sync is not forced ON in the video driver because that can cause choppiness in DOSBox.

I believe Sound Canvas VA emulates an SC-88, and although it might not be completely the same as an SC-55, it should sound good. I see that you have midiconfig=1 in settings; does the MIXER /LISTMIDI command show that the Sound Canvas VA is device 1?

Reply 3 of 6, by AlexV

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ripsaw8080: Yes Sound Canvas VA is indeed device 1. And with Sound Canvas VA you can select wich SC you want to emulate. I use SC-55 for my tests.

lightmaster: Yes I read everything I found here and on the Web. Tried different things for hours before posting.

Reply 4 of 6, by lightmaster

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I just cannot understand and or comprehend why did you said "..performance is not that good (some choppiness.."..

Last edited by lightmaster on 2018-11-14, 21:34. Edited 1 time in total.

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Reply 6 of 6, by MrFlibble

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A while ago I came to the conclusion that using a fixed cycles value may not be the best option. As suggested by the DOSBox wiki, I started using the limit cycles option instead:

cycles=auto 70% limit 26800

DOSBox developers please correct me if I'm wrong on this, but from my experience this produces neat performance including that for Warcraft, although I cannot say for your version which I don't have (BTW your dosbox.conf says WAR2.EXE).

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