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Ultima VII Frame Limiter Patch

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Reply 21 of 33, by ptrie

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Posting here again because I can't reply to PMs. Thanks for reporting the compilation error (and its fix!). I didn't notice because it was working fine with the old version of nasm I was using. I've updated the git repo, and enabled the Issues section on GitHub.

Reply 22 of 33, by blackgater78

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Hi to all, i'm trying to setting up without issues BG for DOSBox...i'm trying to hex edit the. hack file provided by great ptrie to have,as suggested, a default delay value of 10 for the frame limiter... but i'm a totally noob with hex editors... I've opened the file and all i can see is an endless series of number and letters...please help with step-by-step guide...much appreciated...

Reply 23 of 33, by badmojo

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blackgater78 wrote on 2022-05-04, 10:08:

Hi to all, i'm trying to setting up without issues BG for DOSBox...i'm trying to hex edit the. hack file provided by great ptrie to have,as suggested, a default delay value of 10 for the frame limiter... but i'm a totally noob with hex editors... I've opened the file and all i can see is an endless series of number and letters...please help with step-by-step guide...much appreciated...

It depends on your hex editor but with HxD, use the Search->Go to option and go to offset 19A as below. Edit the '06' to something higher, like 10, for a slower speed in-game.

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Reply 28 of 33, by ESE150

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Thanks for the patch, this improves the game A LOT! Just a question, though:

ptrie wrote on 2021-04-20, 01:37:

SNDDRVRS.DAT 4AF3 (E3 -> EB) to jump over the MT-32 rev. 0 delay loop which causes stutter and long load times
MT32MPU.ADV 78F (E3 -> EB) same thing but for the intro

This is supposed to do the same thing as NewRisingSun's MT-32 driver patch, only for Serpent Isle, right?

If so, should I apply your MT32MPU.ADV Serpent Isle patch to Black Gate too? Because the patch posted by NewRisingSun doesn't cover MT32MPU.ADV, and I've noticed that this file is identical for both games (unlike SNDDRVRS.DAT).

Reply 29 of 33, by ptrie

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badmojo wrote on 2022-05-05, 00:05:

Edit the '06' to something higher, like 10, for a slower speed in-game.

Just so there's no confusion, for anyone going the hex edit route, a value of 10 (decimal) will show as 0A in the editor. Entering 10 (hex) in the editor will result in unbearably slow gameplay.

For those unfamiliar with hex editing I highly recommend using the version with the in-game menu/adjuster I added, especially if you're looking to experiment with different values.

ESE150 wrote on 2022-05-15, 08:04:

If so, should I apply your MT32MPU.ADV Serpent Isle patch to Black Gate too?

I don't think it's necessary. Are you still encountering any MT-32-related stuttering in Black Gate? The MT32MPU.ADV change is only effective in the opening sequence in Serpent Isle - you can notice the pause when it loads the lightning sound effects. Once you're past that intro and in the game, the driver in SNDDRVRS.DAT is used. I don't know why the game has two copies of the driver. I'm away from my computer so I can't check if Black Gate uses the driver in MT32MPU.ADV at any point, but I don't remember noticing any stutter in its intro.

Reply 30 of 33, by badmojo

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ptrie wrote on 2022-05-16, 15:13:

Just so there's no confusion, for anyone going the hex edit route, a value of 10 (decimal) will show as 0A in the editor. Entering 10 (hex) in the editor will result in unbearably slow gameplay.

Yes sorry about that, not well written instructions!

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Reply 31 of 33, by badmojo

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@ptrie I'm assuming that the 'togglable' setting is not persistent in any way? It didn't seem to be despite saving my game.

I wanted to use the hack version that included the frame limiter and the other patches so I've just hex edited this file to have a frame limit setting of 10 by default: https://github.com/ptrie/UltimaHacks/raw/mast … hacks/u7bg.hack

For future reference the hex offset is 3579 in that file.

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Reply 32 of 33, by ESE150

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ptrie wrote on 2022-05-16, 15:13:
ESE150 wrote on 2022-05-15, 08:04:

If so, should I apply your MT32MPU.ADV Serpent Isle patch to Black Gate too?

I don't think it's necessary. Are you still encountering any MT-32-related stuttering in Black Gate? The MT32MPU.ADV change is only effective in the opening sequence in Serpent Isle - you can notice the pause when it loads the lightning sound effects. Once you're past that intro and in the game, the driver in SNDDRVRS.DAT is used. I don't know why the game has two copies of the driver. I'm away from my computer so I can't check if Black Gate uses the driver in MT32MPU.ADV at any point, but I don't remember noticing any stutter in its intro.

I just tested it and it seems that editing MT32MPU.ADV for BG is a bad idea, as it hangs the game at the intro if you're using high cycles.

Reply 33 of 33, by ESE150

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Found a possible bug. I just noticed that when messing with the telescope at Moonglow, the game tends to hang if using high cycles. It doesn't seem to happen when I run it at 14000.

Not a big deal though, as the telescope isn't mandatory.

Btw, sorry if this is a bit off-topic, but do you know if it would be feasible to patch the game to use digital sound (Adlib/Sound Blaster/Sound Blaster Pro) for sound effects, and MIDI for the music? Because that would make it possible to play the game with General MIDI (using the GM fan patch) along with proper SFX. Said patch only converts the music to GM, but leaves most of the the MIDI SFX untouched. Which is unfortunate, because the latter sound terrible with GM as a result, and the game can't be configured to use separate audio outputs for music and SFX.