VOGONS


First post, by Kingjames

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I am playing XCOM 1 with Dosbox v.72 and Windows XP everything was going great and things were working fine until I entered my first Alien base at which time the screen starts tearing horribly and makes the game essentially unplayable.

I tried switching from full screen to windowed and adjusting some of the settings in my Config but nothing I have did as of yet has helped in the least bit. In case it matters I believe I am playing version 1.2 of XCOM 1.

I also searched the forums, and Googled it along with trying various other settings in my Config and nothing seems to help. If I was to guess I think it may be somehow related to my config settings or my LCD not liking the new resolution.

I started to post my Config file and a screenshot here but I decided that might just cause this thread to get cluttered for no reason but if you think it might help I will be happy to do so.

Either way whatever it is I seem to not be able to figure it out any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Reply 1 of 19, by Qbix

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a screenshot will be handy. (as if it does show on the screenshot then your lcd has nothing to do with it. (be sure to make the screenshot with ctrl-f5)

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Reply 2 of 19, by Kingjames

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Here is the screenshot it seems I was wrong then (no surprise) and it is not my LCD.

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Reply 4 of 19, by Qbix

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can you post the contents of your dosbox.conf ?
I would suggest core=dynamic cycles=10000
but to give a good suggestion I need your system specs

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Reply 5 of 19, by Kingjames

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My system specs are AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+, 4GB of memory, and a Geforce 8800 GT videocard. Below is my Config. Thanks.

# This is the configurationfile for DOSBox 0.72.
# Lines starting with a # are commentlines.
# They are used to (briefly) document the effect of each option.

[sdl]
# fullscreen -- Start dosbox directly in fullscreen.
# fulldouble -- Use double buffering in fullscreen.
# fullresolution -- What resolution to use for fullscreen: original or fixed size (e.g. 1024x768).
# windowresolution -- Scale the window to this size IF the output device supports hardware scaling.
# output -- What to use for output: surface,overlay,opengl,openglnb,ddraw.
# autolock -- Mouse will automatically lock, if you click on the screen.
# sensitiviy -- Mouse sensitivity.
# waitonerror -- Wait before closing the console if dosbox has an error.
# priority -- Priority levels for dosbox: lowest,lower,normal,higher,highest,pause (when not focussed).
# Second entry behind the comma is for when dosbox is not focused/minimized.
# mapperfile -- File used to load/save the key/event mappings from.
# usescancodes -- Avoid usage of symkeys, might not work on all operating systems.

fullscreen=true
fulldouble=true
fullresolution=original
windowresolution=original
output=surface
autolock=true
sensitivity=100
waitonerror=true
priority=higher,normal
mapperfile=mapper.txt
usescancodes=true

[dosbox]
# language -- Select another language file.
# memsize -- Amount of memory DOSBox has in megabytes.
# machine -- The type of machine tries to emulate:hercules,cga,tandy,pcjr,vga.
# captures -- Directory where things like wave,midi,screenshot get captured.

language=
machine=vga
captures=capture
memsize=32

[render]
# frameskip -- How many frames DOSBox skips before drawing one.
# aspect -- Do aspect correction, if your output method doesn't support scaling this can slow things down!.
# scaler -- Scaler used to enlarge/enhance low resolution modes.
# Supported are none,normal2x,normal3x,advmame2x,advmame3x,hq2x,hq3x,
# 2xsai,super2xsai,supereagle,advinterp2x,advinterp3x,
# tv2x,tv3x,rgb2x,rgb3x,scan2x,scan3x.
# If forced is appended (like scaler=hq2x forced), the scaler will be used
# even if the result might not be desired.

frameskip=0
aspect=false
scaler=advmame3x

[cpu]
# core -- CPU Core used in emulation: normal,simple,dynamic,auto.
# auto switches from normal to dynamic if appropriate.
# cycles -- Amount of instructions DOSBox tries to emulate each millisecond.
# Setting this value too high results in sound dropouts and lags.
# You can also let DOSBox guess the correct value by setting it to max.
# The default setting (auto) switches to max if appropriate.
# cycleup -- Amount of cycles to increase/decrease with keycombo.
# cycledown Setting it lower than 100 will be a percentage.

core=auto
cycles=10000
cycleup=500
cycledown=20

[mixer]
# nosound -- Enable silent mode, sound is still emulated though.
# rate -- Mixer sample rate, setting any devices higher than this will
# probably lower their sound quality.
# blocksize -- Mixer block size, larger blocks might help sound stuttering
# but sound will also be more lagged.
# prebuffer -- How many milliseconds of data to keep on top of the blocksize.

nosound=false
rate=22050
blocksize=2048
prebuffer=10

[midi]
# mpu401 -- Type of MPU-401 to emulate: none, uart or intelligent.
# device -- Device that will receive the MIDI data from MPU-401.
# This can be default,alsa,oss,win32,coreaudio,none.
# config -- Special configuration options for the device. In Windows put
# the id of the device you want to use. See README for details.

mpu401=intelligent
device=default
config=

[sblaster]
# sbtype -- Type of sblaster to emulate:none,sb1,sb2,sbpro1,sbpro2,sb16.
# sbbase,irq,dma,hdma -- The IO/IRQ/DMA/High DMA address of the soundblaster.
# mixer -- Allow the soundblaster mixer to modify the DOSBox mixer.
# oplmode -- Type of OPL emulation: auto,cms,opl2,dualopl2,opl3.
# On auto the mode is determined by sblaster type.
# All OPL modes are 'Adlib', except for CMS.
# oplrate -- Sample rate of OPL music emulation.

sbtype=sb16
sbbase=220
irq=7
dma=1
hdma=5
mixer=true
oplmode=auto
oplrate=22050

[gus]
# gus -- Enable the Gravis Ultrasound emulation.
# gusbase,irq1,irq2,dma1,dma2 -- The IO/IRQ/DMA addresses of the
# Gravis Ultrasound. (Same IRQ's and DMA's are OK.)
# gusrate -- Sample rate of Ultrasound emulation.
# ultradir -- Path to Ultrasound directory. In this directory
# there should be a MIDI directory that contains
# the patch files for GUS playback. Patch sets used
# with Timidity should work fine.

gus=true
gusrate=22050
gusbase=240
irq1=5
irq2=5
dma1=3
dma2=3
ultradir=C:\ULTRASND

[speaker]
# pcspeaker -- Enable PC-Speaker emulation.
# pcrate -- Sample rate of the PC-Speaker sound generation.
# tandy -- Enable Tandy Sound System emulation (off,on,auto).
# For auto Tandysound emulation is present only if machine is set to tandy.
# tandyrate -- Sample rate of the Tandy 3-Voice generation.
# disney -- Enable Disney Sound Source emulation. Covox Voice Master and Speech Thing compatible.

pcspeaker=true
pcrate=22050
tandy=auto
tandyrate=22050
disney=true

[joystick]
# joysticktype -- Type of joystick to emulate: auto (default), none,
# 2axis (supports two joysticks,
# 4axis (supports one joystick, first joystick used),
# 4axis_2 (supports one joystick, second joystick used),
# fcs (Thrustmaster), ch (CH Flightstick).
# none disables joystick emulation.
# auto chooses emulation depending on real joystick(s).
# timed -- enable timed intervals for axis. (false is old style behaviour).
# autofire -- continuously fires as long as you keep the button pressed.
# swap34 -- swap the 3rd and the 4th axis. can be useful for certain joysticks.
# buttonwrap -- enable button wrapping at the number of emulated buttons.

joysticktype=auto
timed=true
autofire=false
swap34=false
buttonwrap=true

[serial]
# serial1-4 -- set type of device connected to com port.
# Can be disabled, dummy, modem, nullmodem, directserial.
# Additional parameters must be in the same line in the form of
# parameter:value. Parameter for all types is irq.
# for directserial: realport (required), rxdelay (optional).
# for modem: listenport (optional).
# for nullmodem: server, rxdelay, txdelay, telnet, usedtr,
# transparent, port, inhsocket (all optional).
# Example: serial1=modem listenport:5000

serial1=dummy
serial2=dummy
serial3=disabled
serial4=disabled

[dos]
# xms -- Enable XMS support.
# ems -- Enable EMS support.
# umb -- Enable UMB support.
# keyboardlayout -- Language code of the keyboard layout (or none).

xms=true
ems=true
umb=true
keyboardlayout=none

[ipx]
# ipx -- Enable ipx over UDP/IP emulation.

ipx=false

[autoexec]
# Lines in this section will be run at startup.
mount C C:\Ufo
c:

Reply 6 of 19, by Qbix

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the only thing I can recommend from this is to set the memsize back to it's original value or maybe even lower it to 8
xcom doesn't need much memory.
Isn't there a 1.4 patch for this game
i take it happends as well with the normal2x scaler ?

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Reply 7 of 19, by Kingjames

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Set memsize back to orginal - no change

Yes there is a 1.4 patch but it seems to bork the sound, I have no idea why.

It happens with the normal2X scaler, it also happens with scaler set to none.

Reply 8 of 19, by wd

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Looks like a game bug (maybe caused by dosbox though), check the sound
configuration and installation (mount c c:\ufo doesn't look like you've done
a correct installation).
Maybe try to use loadfix before starting ufo.

Reply 9 of 19, by Captain Amazing

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Does this happen every time you enter alien bases, only on certain map tiles etc. Does it happen on other parts of the map or just the part in your screenshot? Looks like it could be missing/corrupt map data. I'd backup my savegames and try a quick reinstall.

Reply 11 of 19, by Kingjames

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Captain Amazing this is the first Alien Base I have encountered so I am not sure if it happens at others or not. On this one though pretty much this whole level looks like what is in the screenshot, interesting as I noted before I have played dozens of Alien Crash site levels, featuring many different maps and not a one of them has shown any graphics anomaly.

Reply 13 of 19, by Kingjames

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In this case I merely copied all the XCOM 1 files to the hard drive and ran the "Setup". When I start the game I run the DOSBox icon and afterward I enter the word "Go" which is the executable.

Again this method and my Config file posted above has worked flawlessly for 20+ hours of gameplay and continues to work so long as I do not enter the Alien Base.

Reply 14 of 19, by wd

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In this case I merely copied all the XCOM 1 files to the hard drive and ran the "Setup".

Don't know if this qualifies as "properly installed".
Anyways try the loadfix stuff and/or check if it behaves the same with sound
disabled, and see if it might just be a corrupt savegame or so.

Reply 15 of 19, by Kingjames

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I am not opposed to a more traditional installation but this particular copy of XCOM that I have originally came on floppy so when I got rid of my floppy drive I started using this method for playing my old DOS games.

When I try a normal install the game asks me whether I would like to install from drive A: or drive B: since I have neither I use the method detailed above. If there is a way to do a normal install that circumvents this limitation I am unaware of it.

Yes this happens without the sound present as well just for kicks I made a copy of my installation and patched the game to the newer version 1.4 which as I remember still borks the sound I believe this was a known issue that as far as I know was never fixed.

I don't believe this to be a corrupted save game as I have went back and replayed from the earlier save up until this point when it arrives to the Alien Base it still happens As for the loadfix that I have not tried but will.

One more interesting clue that I just noticed is that when I use the ingame scanner (sort of like automap feature) from this mode the graphics are NOT corrupted.

Reply 16 of 19, by MiniMax

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mount A "\what\ever\folder\with\xcom" -t floppy
mount C "\what\ever\folder\to\act\as\C"

A:
install

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Reply 18 of 19, by Kingjames

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MiniMax thanks for the instructions. I tried what you said and it worked until it said please insert disk 1. I don't think I maintained the disk 1, disk 2 format as I just copied the files into one directory. I did this to all my old DOS games before I got rid of my floppy. Funny it looks now like I should have saved each disk separately. I guess I will now try the loadfix that was suggested here earlier and see if that helps any.

Reply 19 of 19, by Freddo

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I seem to recall having this issue back in the mid-90s so I don't think it's a DOSBox issue. Unfortunately, I do not remember what the solution is.

I later bought the CD version and it's working fine for me in DOSBox.