VOGONS


First post, by sel666

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just reminding of one problem that never seemed to get an answer. ultima 2 and 3 vga updates don't work in dosbox, as previous graphics remains behind all the time, so for instance "Invalid Move!" stays behind when one walks north, resulting in Northnd Move!

Reply 2 of 19, by mirekluza

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I think my versions of Ultima 2 and 3 are original versions (I did not know that there were VGA updates), so I cannot tell anything to this. Where to get them? Are these just patches or completely rereleased games?

Just one idea: I have EGA version of Ultima 1. It has some graphic problems in input line (filling the rest of line after written text by nonsense) when DOSBOX machine type is "auto". I found out that in it detects and automatically uses Tandy graphic, which is a bit buggy in DOSBOX. When specifying "vga" in DOSBOX.CONF, it correctly uses EGA. Perhaps similar problem may or may not be in those updated versions of Ultima 2, 3 (as I said I never saw them).

Mirek

Reply 3 of 19, by mirekluza

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Ok, I found the upgrade patches on:
http://reconstruction.voyd.net/index.php?page … t&type=upgrades

The problem exists as described bySEL666. The command line is not propely deleted (or scrolled?), new text overwites old text. It has nothing to do with the Ultima 1 Tandy problems I mentioned in previous message.

Mirek

Reply 4 of 19, by Qbix

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I remember there being a bug with ultima 4 with graphics once
and some other ultima game and scrolling....
I'll look into it. (when time allows it.)

Water flows down the stream
How to ask questions the smart way!

Reply 5 of 19, by mirekluza

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Probably caused by missing scrolling support:
INT10:Unhandled mode 6 for scroll
Probablly the same problem as in:
Odd video problems in Nahlakh (with screenshots)

Mirek

Reply 6 of 19, by Qbix

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mirek

try the following once if you want.
in src/ints/int10_char.cpp
there is the scroll function try adding
M_VGA to line 214 and 240
like this
case M_VGA:
case M_EGA16:

Those(EGA and VGA) resemble a lot. So it might just work this way.

Else We have to write special VGA handlers which would handle this case.

Water flows down the stream
How to ask questions the smart way!

Reply 7 of 19, by mirekluza

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> try the following once if you want

I tested the change with Ultima 2, 3 VGA updates: nothing has changed. 🙁 Either it is not correct repair or there is different problem

Mirek

Reply 9 of 19, by mirekluza

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One more game using this scrolling:
Ultima 7 with datadisk "Forge of Virtue"
When "Forge of Virtue" is installed the screen should shake at one moment during the first conversation of Avatar with Iolo (Iolo says something about Lord British knowing more and this leads to FOV plot).
Well, in DOSBOX the screen does not shake (and there are logs about that unhandled scroll)

This is just a visual problem in Ultima 7 (game is playable), but it can be used to test later the possible solution for the scroll.

Mirek

Reply 10 of 19, by mirekluza

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Ultima 2 and 3 VGA updates now work ok.

In Ultima 7 Black Gate + FOV it still does not work as it should (the whole picture should shake, but it seems that something(?) is happening only with bottom line). Well, but since it is not fatal problem there, it can be probably ignored if you do not want to bother with it.

Mirek

Reply 12 of 19, by mirekluza

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No idea. VGA programming is the area I do not know much about. 🙁

I looked on Ultima 7, FAQ on:
http://www.wcnews.com/webmirrors/tech/gamefaq/ultima7.html
There is something about some cards with Riva 128 chipset or Compaq Presario computers having problems with shaking (they call it there earthquake), but otherwise nothing very useful.

Mirek

Reply 13 of 19, by Harekiet

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Hmm and how far in the game does this happen, since the qfix thing seems to screw around with the scrolling functions, so still not perfect.

Reply 14 of 19, by mirekluza

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Harekiet wrote:

Hmm and how far in the game does this happen ...

It is just at the beginning of the game:
1. Start the new game of Ultima 7 (FOV datadisk must be installed)
2. There is in game scene with Iolo and peasant talking
3. Then Avatar appears and starts talking with Iolo
4. In the middle of the conversation the strange sound appears, people are falling down, screen should shake...
5. Iolo tells something like that lord British will know more.
6. Conversation ends, mayor of Trinsic appears and talks with Iolo and Avatar.
...

The random earthquakes appear later in the game as well (when Avatar gets nearer to Exodus island - I did not look there, but I guess it is the same effect).

Mirek

Reply 16 of 19, by mirekluza

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The DOSBOX 0.61 was released on "Tuesday, February 3rd, 2004" (according to DOSBOX page).
The repair was at some time around "2004-3-07" (I guess according to the messages above, I did not check CVS). In other words - it logically cannot be in 0.61.
Wait for 0.62 or use the CVS build (if you read forums you will know where to get it).

Mirek

Reply 17 of 19, by FeedingDragon

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With 0.63 U2 & U3 now work just fine with the graphics updates in all ways except one. The main reason I use DOSBox to run them (the graphics updates include frame limiters to slow the games down,) is for the "speaker" sounds to be correct. If I install the graphics update (even with music turned off in U3 - U2 has "only" the graphics update,) the games slow down tremendously in DOSBox, and are only playable if I speed it up enough to destroy the speaker sounds. I don't know if this is a DOSBox problem or an Upgrade problem, but I've mailed them concerning it as well.

Is there something in DOSBox that will make the emulation run alot slower in VGA mode compared to CGA mode? If not, then I can only assume that it has something to do with the way the upgrade accesses VGA graphics (or intercepts CGA calls with VGA calls.)

If anyone knows anything at all about this problem, please let me in on if there is a simple fix or how to get the upgrade writers to actually respond to my e-mails 🙁

Feeding Dragon

Reply 18 of 19, by HunterZ

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I've never checked that stuff out, but here are some things to try:
- Try a CVS build of DOSBox (see development forum)
- Try different output= settings in dosbox.conf in case your video hardware or drivers are causing the slowdown
- Try different core= settings (simple, normal, full, dynamic) - some games having timing issues with some cores
- Make sure you have installed the latest video, sound, and motherboard chipset drivers from the manufacturers of your hardware (not the vendors or Microsoft), as well as the latest version of DirectX (9.0c)
- Play with the sound buffer sizes in dosbox.conf to see if that helps with the sound (I'm not sure what you mean by the sound being "destroyed")

Reply 19 of 19, by FeedingDragon

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By the sound being "destroyed" I mean the PC Speaker sounds. The games are designed, it seems, to use chip speed to control the speaker sounds (instead of the clock or some other stable source.) So on faster running machines the sounds are spead up until they are little more than brief buzzes. So, if I set the cycles to where the game plays normally the PC Speaker sounds are only buzzes. Yet, if I set it so that the PC Speaker sounds are the way they are supposed to be, then the games play extremely slow with the graphics updates installed.

Note: I've tried all the different core= values available, I've tried different Output= settings, I've even tried disabling all sound and extras (just to check,) and it still runs extremely slow. I haven't tried the CVS, I usually prefer to stick with oficial releases, but the problem has been present for since 0.58 or so.

Feeding Dragon