RE: Betrayal at Krondor

clueless1 wrote on 2020-10-17, 16:57:

If you decide to play this game, it is speed sensitive, so your system can't be faster than a slow 486. At least on my system it works out that way. MIDI music gets jacked up if I don't run SETMUL CCD on my P200MMX, which works out to about a 16Mhz 486. I think even with FM music, the game will freeze/lock up if you get beyond about 486/33 speeds, but you'll have to try for yourself, because it may vary depending on your system. Maybe a natural 486 would play it fine at higher speeds...

I decided to try out the MT-32 and was pleasantly surprised. I was already aware that the music quality was a notch below the DreamBlaster X2, but there are some advantages:
1. The game is a little less speed sensitive, so I can run SETMUL DCD which is the equivalent of about a 486/25 or 33.
2. The music still sounds great and has more of a retro character to it while still sounding loads better than FM.
3. The games sound effects are also piped through the MT-32 and actually sound really good! Better than Sound Blaster fx.
4. I was getting some stuck MIDI notes with the X2 that don't happen with the MT-32.

So yeah, I'm sticking with MT-32 for the remainder of my playthrough.

Finished Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. Lots of improvements over the previous games. Several ways to traverse the map and fewer restrictions on how to complete your objectives. The bank level in particular was very well designed.

The game felt great until the last couple of missions where you're once again forced into scripted firefights and other mandatory sequences which defy plausibility. It kinda feels like the devs threw those levels together in a rush so they could push the game out of the door. Also, the product placement was weird, but I did enjoy seeing Athlon64 screensavers on in-game computers since I played through the game using that CPU. 😁

Anyway, I considered playing Double Agent next, but then remembered that the PC version was a buggy mess with a useless night vision mode. Think I'll just replay it on my PlayStation2 when I get the chance.

i'm about half way through unreal (gold) playing on the p3/gf2. first time playing and i'm really enjoying it. some puzzles are twisting my head but i put that down to the big maps. my god what a soundtrack too...

I've been making it my nightly routine to fire up one of the Versas/Versai and play Sierra Hoyle Card Games Solitaire and MicroLink Yahtzee, and occasionally NES Tetris on NESticle or GameBoy Tetris on VGB. That's how I relax. Sometimes the wife wants to play too. Looks like I'll have sound now too since the M/75 is down for awhile, and the P/75 has SB Compatible audio 😁.

foil_fresh wrote on 2020-11-02, 11:19:

i'm about half way through unreal (gold) playing on the p3/gf2. first time playing and i'm really enjoying it. some puzzles are twisting my head but i put that down to the big maps. my god what a soundtrack too...

Couldn't agree more. Great game, the atmosphere, soundtrack, tension, etc. I played it back in Spring of 2018. I remember it being super long (30ish hours?) and it took me a couple of months to finish.

it's usually the NaliCastle that gets you. Two potential monster-related soft locks (that's never patched) and it's a super backtracky map.

clueless1 wrote on 2020-11-02, 23:51:

foil_fresh wrote on 2020-11-02, 11:19:

i'm about half way through unreal (gold) playing on the p3/gf2. first time playing and i'm really enjoying it. some puzzles are twisting my head but i put that down to the big maps. my god what a soundtrack too...

Couldn't agree more. Great game, the atmosphere, soundtrack, tension, etc. I played it back in Spring of 2018. I remember it being super long (30ish hours?) and it took me a couple of months to finish.

39 levels!

leileilol wrote on 2020-11-03, 01:36:

it's usually the NaliCastle that gets you. Two potential monster-related soft locks and it's a super backtracky map.

i think that's one of the last ones i've played. luckily the translator was kind enough to fill in the mental gaps, i found the switches to the doors -fairly- easily. this is the one where you gotta open the underwater tunnel to finish the level, yea?

foil_fresh wrote on 2020-11-03, 01:38:

leileilol wrote on 2020-11-03, 01:36:

it's usually the NaliCastle that gets you. Two potential monster-related soft locks and it's a super backtracky map.

i think that's one of the last ones i've played. luckily the translator was kind enough to fill in the mental gaps, i found the switches to the doors -fairly- easily. this is the one where you gotta open the underwater tunnel to finish the level, yea?

I needed help on that one, the switches were in such random locations. But it was the levels in near-darkness that followed that got to me...

No. It's the level that's shown in the opening sequence. There's a couple of parts where a Brute and a Krall can force a door to be permanently locked shut.

If Unreal level length gets to you, Return to Na Pali might suit your fancy....if you can put up with the weird awkward Legend/Heuristic ideas of monsters and weapons clashing with everything (especially the half-life inspired god AI marines) giving the 'modders' impression. The height of that expansion is the one scrapped Unreal-length Unreal level that seems to have survived the most (you'll know the level when you hear the alex banger and recognize certain parts of 97 press screens). There's a bad soft lock at the last level too 😀

Cheers for the heads up. Def gonna play the expansion if im not too burnt out on unreal.

Duke3d,Blood,ShadowWarrior.

Somehow I get bored after a couple of levels, so I switch it up. Strange thing is that I never had that with Doom.Anyone else feel the same ?

Yes, it's too much maze like for my poor brain.
Doom II and Quake 1 is the sweet spot for me.

I feel the same. I think it's the level design. Duke3D and (especially) Blood have some of the best levels ever in an FPS, but I often feel like I've had enough after just a level or two as the levels are generally more involved with multiple subsections that feel like their own levels at times. Doom feels more to me like an arcade game and it's easy to just keep playing every time you reach a new level.

The plentiful hitscan enemies in the Build engine games might play a role as well.

leileilol wrote on 2020-11-03, 01:41:

There's a couple of parts where a Brute and a Krall can force a door to be permanently locked shut.

I fix a lot of these in my server during the InitGame function. Though, I honestly never had softlocks happen to me during normal play so I guess I'm just incredibly lucky.

One thing I wonder though, is why the book in NaliCastle is DefaultTexture and same with the elevator leading up to the giant gasbag.

xcomcmdr wrote on 2020-11-03, 07:58:

Yes, it's too much maze like for my poor brain.
Doom II and Quake 1 is the sweet spot for me.

I forgot about Quake, I'm sure I have it somewhere in the attic.
Although I'm not sure if it is version 1 or 2 as I remember playing it under Windows.

newtmonkey wrote on 2020-11-03, 08:03:

I feel the same. I think it's the level design. Duke3D and (especially) Blood have some of the best levels ever in an FPS, but I often feel like I've had enough after just a level or two as the levels are generally more involved with multiple subsections that feel like their own levels at times. Doom feels more to me like an arcade game and it's easy to just keep playing every time you reach a new level.

The plentiful hitscan enemies in the Build engine games might play a role as well.

Sometimes its unclear to me where to go, and when I'm stuck or worse: 'forgot to pick up a key', then it feels like a chore. Doom is good fallback for those frustrating moments 😁

Played a bit with WinDoom on Windows 3.11 and 9x:

Serial mode didn't work between Win3.11 and 98, it asked for a non-existent .dll file, didn't try network mode yet.

held wrote on 2020-11-03, 07:52:

Duke3d,Blood,ShadowWarrior.

Somehow I get bored after a couple of levels, so I switch it up. Strange thing is that I never had that with Doom.Anyone else feel the same ?

Doom's first episode is my jam. Knee Deep in the Dead, ahh, how I love you. I played it shareware pretty much endlessly as a kid. Weird, my parents never let me play ANYTHING even REMOTELY "mature", but DOOM was fine. I can go back to it literally any time at all and have a blast. And yes, I mean literally in the literal sense of the word.

Playing the Price of Loyalty expansion pack for Heroes of Might & Magic II. Awesome game, amazing soundtrack.

Also, running some Doom2 in-between the HOMM2 missions. Just to break things up a bit.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2020-11-07, 11:45:

Also, running some Doom2 in-between the HOMM2 missions. Just to break things up a bit.

I've always struggled with the episodic nature of many DOS FPS like the Dooms, Quake, Duke3D, etc. When I finish the first episode, I feel like I won and the desire to continue the next episode goes away.

Well, I just realized that Betrayal at Krondor is not as speed sensitive as I thought when you use the MT-32. I'm actually playing on my 200MMX without any slowdown settings enabled. It appears to be a General MIDI thing with my X2 daughterboard. Music gets all jacked up and the game gets unstable with GM music, but not so with the MT-32.