Originally posted by rykion Has anyone got this game to work in Windows XP using DOSbox or VDMSound? Be real curious if there is a way to get this to run under XP, without a bootdisk.

Not sure, it's a protected-mode 386 game so the public version of DosBox can't run it. When I attempted to run it in XP, the program appears to go into limbo.

Will do some more testing and get back with you later...

Turns out I was actually starting up my "Ravenloft: Stone Prophet". My "Strahd's Posession" works fine, with both FM and MIDI for music (although MIDI needs to adjusted down using the OS Volume control as it drowns out the Digital audio).

I didn't even need to enable Low-level CD-ROM access.

Thank you for checking. I pretty certain I was using the floppy version of Strahd's possesion. I'm thinking about buying one of the CD D&D compilations that would include both games, but if Stone Prophet won't work then I guess I'll hold off. Is the CD version of Strahd condidered abandonware yet, if so where would one get it? I can't use a boot disk because I have an Audigy 2. I can get the DOS drivers to load, but I get no sound. Thanks again.

Originally posted by rykion I pretty certain I was using the floppy version of Strahd's possession. I'm thinking about buying one of the CD D&D compilations that would include both games, but if Stone Prophet won't work then I guess I'll hold off.

S.P. appeared to function using the beta version of DosBox, so hopefully it will be fully playable by the next public release. It will need plenty of resources to run it in DosBox, but your AMD can probably handle it.

Is the CD version of Strahd considered abandonware yet, if so where would one get it?

Well, no. Officially nothing is freely available unless they announce it or the author gives special permission, etc...

It was available in at two different AD&D compilations. Oddly enough, the "Stone Prophet" game on my compilation is v1.0, while the "Strahd's Possession" CD is fully updated.

One other thing, check your floppy version. There were some bad bugs that had to be patched. If it's not version 1.1, try here for the patch:
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Battlefi … 2/strahd35.html

The patch is available elsewhere, but that site gives a breakdown of what is fixed/changed.

I can get the DOS drivers to load, but I get no sound. Thanks again.

Semi-Universal rule for DOS games in 2000/XP: When you can't get something to run at all, go back and configure it to run with "no sound" or with "PC Speaker".

Concentrate on getting the basic game to work. If you can't get that to run, sound configuration is a waste of time.

Will try to do some testing for the floppy version.

You are most helpful!
One small note about my reference to no sound. I tend to use too few words, so my explanation wasn't too clear.
What I meant to say was that I get no sound when I use a Win98 bootdisk, with DOS drivers for an Audigy(SB Live most likely) that references default.ecw. The driver loads fine, no errors.
Yet the test program SBEGO.EXE will not run with the boot disk. It errors out saying "SB Emulation loaded???" When I check SBCFG, all settings are correct including stating that SB Emulation is loaded.
THe only thing I can think of is that these drivers just aren't compatible with my Audigy2. PLus, Creative no longer supports DOS..grrrr
Anyway, I really appreciate the info and hope you have a great weekend!!

Here are the settings just for grins:
AUTOEXEC.BAT:
PATH=A:\
SET CTSYN=A:\DOSDRV
SET MIDI=SYNTH:1 MAP:E MODE:0
SET BLASTER= A220 I5 D1 H5 P330 T6
LH A:\DOSDRV\SBEINIT.COM
LH A:\mouse.exe
set temp=c:\Temp
set tmp=c:\Temp

CONFIG.SYS:
device=himem.sys /testmem:off
DEVICE=EMM386.EXE HIGHSCAN i=e000-efff
files=40
buffers=10
dos=high,umb
stacks=9,256
lastdrive=z

CTSYN.INI:
[ctsyn.drv]
OPLPort=388
MPUPort=330
SBPort=220
SBIRQ=5
SBDMALO=1
SBDMAHI=5
SBEnable=true
JOYEnable=true
Waveset=C:\default.ecw
PCIPort=0
PCIIRQ=0
JOYPort=200

[SBEMIXER]
MasterVolL=230
MasterVolR=230
WaveVolL=192
WaveVolR=192
CDVolL=192
CDVolR=192
SynthVolL=192
SynthVolR=192
MT32=TRUE
DigitalSpeakerEnable=FALSE

SBECFG.CFG
;FILE :
; SBECFG.CFG
;Descriptions:
; For SBECFG.CFG file version of 2.00 and above, it
; contained all the black-listed Vendor ID of host bridge
; which are not supported by the SB emulation dos driver,
; rather than those supported Vendor ID!
; It must come in pair with SBECFG.EXE version 3.00 and
; above with this changes... If older SBECFG.CFG file
; version is found, it would assumed that
; all the host bridge are supported!
;Note1:
; By default all host bridge are supported!
;Note2:
; Vendor ID are in HEX value!
;
;Example file format:
;[BLACKLIST]
;VENDORID1=2000
;VENDORID2=2345
;VENDORID3=300A
;Remark:
;All VENDORID# entry must be in sequence, like VENDORID1, VENDORID2, ...,
;VENDORIDn, if n entry is available!
SET CTSYN=A:\DOSDRV
SET MIDI=SYNTH:1 MAP:E MODE:0
SET BLASTER= A220 I5 D1 H5 P330 T6
rem LH A:\DOSDRV\SBEINIT.COM

the DEFAULT.ECW id on the root of C:\ and is 2207KB dated Sept 1999. One more clue to this, is that I read somewhere that you can take one of the standard SF2 (soundfont) files and just rename it to default.ecw and it should work. THe SF2 files that come with the Audigy2 will not even load as DEFAULT.ECW files, so another sign that this setup won't work with Audigy2.

IIRC, The chipset in the Audigy 2 is different from that in the Audigy 1. I did a little bit of research awhile ago and was unable to get any of Creative's DOS drivers to enable sound for the Audigy 2....oddly the Audigy 1 did not come with any NT4 drivers but it did come with DOS Drivers. Now the Audigy 2 comes with NT4 drivers but no DOS drivers. This isn't really that odd if you think about it (NT4 being much easier to support and more profitable than DOS) but still....

Originally posted by rykion The driver loads fine, no errors.
Yet the test program SBEGO.EXE will not run with the boot disk. It errors out saying "SB Emulation loaded???" When I check SBCFG, all settings are correct including stating that SB Emulation is loaded.

Some programs were meant to run on a hard drive and can get flaky if you run them off of a floppy. That's probably not the issue here, but the "poor man's dual-boot" has never been a satisfying solution for me.

PLus, Creative no longer supports DOS..grrrr

Much like 99% of the industry now...

BTW, I did find a floppy version, but the either the copy protection, or the bypass used caused massive problems. Even when run with Win95B, it routinely refused to recognize the music device.

I wonder if one of you good people may have a solution for this one:

(Strahd's Possession)

Everything works! Except voices cut out after a sentence or so. I am so close to perfection it's killing me 😜

VDMSound 2.0.4 with patch on a WinXp Pro, T-Bird box. SoundBlaster Pro 2 emulation at 220,I7,D1. Made sure my AUTOEXEC.NT matched VDMS.

Any suggestion appreciated - I'll try it all!

SirVincealot, I don't see a reason why VDMSound parameters should match those in the CONFIG.NT or AUTOEXEC.NT files. What are you referring to?
IIRC, NTVDM just emulates a plain SB 2.0 card and it is not very properly emulated.

Actually changing the AUTOEXEC.NT set BLASTER stuff is probably a bad idea since then XP's emulator and VDMSound will try to compete for the same virtual address spaces, IIRC.

Thank you!

New developments:

I can get purrrfect voice effects when I tell Strahd Sound Config to use IRQ 10. I can also get SoundBlaster Midi (crap!) that way. Problem is the *only* way that the game will initialize as such is with SDFX, which costs about $CAN 50.

Knowing that IRQ 10 works prefectly is a big bonus, and VDMSound is the only prog that allows me to output Midi as Roland (good!).

So . . . how can I get VDMSound to tap into IRQ10? And why is SDFX so easily able to do so? I can hear some muted popping when SDFX "polls" my system; it sounds as though it forces WinXP to do what it tells it to do.

UPDATE: I've reset my AUTOEXEC.NT to default and made sure my Advanced properties in VDMSound match what I'm asking Strahd Sound to do, still no luck 🙁

The plot thickens . . . 😜

Is there anyway to direct Ravenloft to use an IRQ lower than 10? For protected mode games (at least using the DOS4/GW extender) it's not advisable to go higher than IRQ 7. Do you have a setsound utility or something like that?

eL_PuSHeR wrote:

Is there anyway to direct Ravenloft to use an IRQ lower than 10?

You can use any IRQ from #2, and up. I myself get good results with 5 and 7, but no voice playback.

For protected mode games (at least using the DOS4/GW extender) it's not advisable to go higher than IRQ 7.

IRQ 10 is the only way I can get STRAHD to playback the voice acting in the game.

Do you have a setsound utility or something like that?

STRAHD has its own SOUND.BAT utility, if that is what you are asking me.

Update:

On a whim, I installed STONE PROPHET (aka RAVENLOFT II) which uses more or less the same engine. It's far less flaky but voice *still* cuts out midway through dialogue. 🙁