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First post, by Screamer2

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Is there any known way or idea to get Screamer 2 working (no self exit after time) with Windows XP and SVGA 65k color resolution (without a Glide wrapper - I have problems with dgVoodoo and Glidos is not free)?
I found that the problem is totaly related to the VESA mode and NTVDM cooperation because it runs perfectly with VGA. I think it use a banked mode and get confused about NTVDM supports LFB modes or not. NOLFB.COM doesn't change anything and with VBETEST.EXE testing 640x480 16 bit Linear framebuffer mode results in an exception 0D.

Reply 1 of 4, by VirtuaIceMan

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What problems do you have with dgVoodoo? I only ask as it's the only way to get the game running reliably that I've found (and it looks better as the SVGA mode in all the Screamer games is stretched, meaning some lines are 2 pixels high whilst some are only 1). I run the game by putting the dgVoodoo parts in the game folder (though you need the edited glide2x.ovl file from the dgVoodoo thread if you use Zeckensack/a.n.other wrapper globally (dgVoodoo 1 announcement thread).

As a note, even on my old Voodoo3/5 cards the Glide version was a fair degree more reliable than the SVGA/VESA DOS version

One other unrelated thing for you to try: if you are using VDMSound, go into the game Setup program* and choose no sound. This made Screamer much more reliable (or using the lowest, oldest SoundBlaster Mono available). Although you can run SoundBlaster 16 Stereo with dgVoodoo... as long as you turn the processor usage down in VDMSound you'll get full framerate and glorious sound!

* actually getting into the Setup program can be tricky as it tests the COM port for network connection and this throws XP back to the desktop for an alert box error message, then when you okay the alert box and re-maximise the setup program you get a lot of corrupt DOS characters! If this happens to you, start the Setup program again, then when the alert box appears reselect the game WITHOUT shutting the alert box first and you should get a flashing command line. Then use alt+tab to switch back to desktop again. Now shut the alert box and IMMEDIATELY alt-tab back to the game. If you get the timing right the setup program should appear instead of garbage! Painful but possible...

Ice

Reply 2 of 4, by VirtuaIceMan

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Incidentally the easiest way to test if S2 is crashing is to start a game at the Egypt track then drive down the first hill. It usually crashes fairly soon (repeatably) as you enter the first right-hand corner.

Oh and even the Glide version through dgVoodoo crashed on me when I had a big pile-up... though Screamer2 on an old PC did that too... dodgy programming!

Ice

Reply 3 of 4, by Screamer2

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With dgVoodoo which otherwise a great, accurate work (thanks to DÉGÉ from here Hungary 😉 lines appears on the cars and the track where poligon edges should be meet (but I don't play with the VSynch settings). Later missing textures and full slowdown (don't remember VDMSound runs this time or not). I usig dgVoodoo with the central files (Windows directory) in no server mode.

VDMSound works OK for me (no slowdown with SB16 ST) it seems don't have any influence on the game exits, but after time I test the game without it.

The setup COM problem surprisingly not appears for me and runs perfectly on XP, but on another Windows 2000 machine where I try exactly the same that you describe. There I will try out your solution.

Under Windows 98's DOS (without CD-Audio and sound - VIA VT8233A and/or Realtek ALC201A don't have a DOS driver) as I found the game durable stable, no exits, but I very intrested in trying the Egypt track the mode you wrote.

My to do list:
- dgVoodoo without VDMSound and playing with dgVoodoo settings (missing textures and slowdown, poligon alignment errors disappears?)
- heavy test with the Egypt track under DOS (stable?)
- setup COM problem solving on the Windows 2000 machine

Reply 4 of 4, by VirtuaIceMan

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Screamer2 wrote:

With dgVoodoo which otherwise a great, accurate work (thanks to DÉGÉ from here Hungary 😉 lines appears on the cars and the track where poligon edges should be meet

Try turning off anti-aliasing/ansiotropic filtering on your graphics card - it's more than likely anti-aliasing related as some games on my ATI card have break-up lines around them as they were never meant to be anti-aliased!

Screamer2 wrote:

Later missing textures and full slowdown (don't remember VDMSound runs this time or not). I usig dgVoodoo with the central files (Windows directory) in no server mode.

Try playing with the settings in dvVoodooSetup (hit the DOS option first!).

Screamer2 wrote:

Under Windows 98's DOS (without CD-Audio and sound - VIA VT8233A and/or Realtek ALC201A don't have a DOS driver) as I found the game durable stable, no exits, but I very intrested in trying the Egypt track the mode you wrote.

The Egypt crash I was getting in WindowsXP. On my old DOS/Win98 machine the game is a lot more stable and I can't remember if the crashes happened or not (but I do know that all 3 Screamer games are crash happy!).

Cheers,

Ice