X-Com "UFO Enemy Unkown" v1.2 - DOSBOX v0.63 - Mandriva 2006. Help needed with dosbox.conf settings. \ VOGONS

X-Com "UFO Enemy Unkown" v1.2 - DOSBOX v0.63 - Mandriva 2006. Help needed with dosbox.conf settings.

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First post, by paltrude

Posted on 2006-02-01, 19:10

paltrude Offline

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Joined: 2006-02-01, 17:49
Location: Sweden, the northern parts.

In addition to this post:
See DOSBOX.txt attached to this message.
See sysspec.txt attached to this message.

Game: X-Com "UFO Enemy Unkown" v1.2

System [Software] tweaks: I have tweaked the system by disabling services that isn't needed, nothing system critical but some nonsense services that runs by default on startup. Mostly RAM garbage anyhow...

Problem: Game performance problems [Slow Sound and Graphics] while running "combat mode", both flying and ground combat, probably due to my settings in /etc/DOSBOX.CONF

Is it the renderer? [What renderer should I be able to use? OpenGL, something else?] I have tried pretty much them all, they vary in performance of course but the end result seems the same.

Is it the soundcard sb16? [GUS is disabled]

Is it the amount of RAM [32] allowed to DOSBOX? [I can easily allow more for DOSBOX, before starting dosbox i have more than 300mb free]

Or have you got some other idea?

I get pretty nice glx statistics in "glxgears" [18880+ frames in 5 sec =3770+ FPS in 1024*768] so I doubt that it is related to the graphics card or driver, rather my graphics settings in DOSBOX. I feel that my machine, which seems to run nicely with DOSBOX 0.63 as it is, should perform a little bit better than it does while playing the game.

I might be wrong but then perhaps you can enlighten me as what to try next?

The readme helped me identify most of the stuff I could do, I am pretty fly [for a white guy 🤣] on the DOS and hardware side but I gather some specific DOSBOX and X-Com1 experiences and hints from you expert users are needed in this matter.

Patience comes to those who ... wait?

Reply 1 of 6, by paltrude

Posted on 2006-02-02, 04:11

paltrude Offline

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Rank: Newbie
Posts: 5
Joined: 2006-02-01, 17:49
Location: Sweden, the northern parts.

*Update*
I searched some more and found some hints in the forum I used, check the new dosbox.txt.

Disabling the pc-speaker and the mpu401, changing to dynamic core and using opengl in fullscreen [without full fixed] gave me smooth and fast playing experience in 12000 cycles. No Problem!

I think the CPU:s usage didn't climb much either, I checked, while in window mode and there it circulated between 20 to 60 % [the X-server and dosbox] using xterm and the command "top".

Could it be the dynamic core that's doing it?

Or am I having problems with some other stuff like the emulation of the mpu401 or pc-speaker?

GUS was disabled all along, enabling it and using as sound card in X-Com crashed the game...

Patience comes to those who ... wait?

Reply 2 of 6, by Qbix

Posted on 2006-02-02, 07:40

Qbix Offline

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Rank: DOSBox Author
Posts: 11324
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yeah the dynamic core is in some games great.
the mpu emulation and the pcspeaker emulation shouldn't be interfereing.
In fact in 0.63 it's even adviced to have the pcspeaker emulation on. as else dosbox might crash.

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

Reply 3 of 6, by paltrude

Posted on 2006-02-02, 14:51

paltrude Offline

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Rank: Newbie
Posts: 5
Joined: 2006-02-01, 17:49
Location: Sweden, the northern parts.

Roger that, I have activated the PC-Speaker and the MPU401 and so far so good, no performance problems in either X-com 1 or 2.

I even got better performance in some other games aswell using dynamic core, I guess this feature really benefits my machine and choice of OS and software.

Thanks for the help!

Patience comes to those who ... wait?

Reply 4 of 6, by paltrude

Posted on 2006-02-02, 15:34

paltrude Offline

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Rank: Newbie
Posts: 5
Joined: 2006-02-01, 17:49
Location: Sweden, the northern parts.

Qbix, or to someone else who might know, I chose to double the RAM used by DOSBOX , from 16 to 32, but I wonder what impact that might have had?

Could I use more and what could I expect to gain? Could I use less and still have the same performance? I searched but didn't find proper guidelines... Or perhaps I looked in the wrong places?

Patience comes to those who ... wait?

Reply 5 of 6, by Qbix

Posted on 2006-02-02, 15:54

Qbix Offline

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Rank: DOSBox Author
Posts: 11324
Joined: 2002-11-27, 14:50
Location: Fryslan

well not much. ufo isn't that large. You can use probably 8 or even 4 for ufo.
it's just trial and error really. every game is different.

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

Reply 6 of 6, by paltrude

Posted on 2006-02-03, 17:41

paltrude Offline

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Rank: Newbie
Posts: 5
Joined: 2006-02-01, 17:49
Location: Sweden, the northern parts.

Aaah, should have seen that coming. I guess that was too obvious for me to figure out by myself. 🤣
Thanks again

Patience comes to those who ... wait?

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