VOGONS


Reply 340 of 380, by Johnny Rico

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svfn wrote:

i just tried with GOG's version after patching with 1.497 Beta, and unzipping the EAX files to the folder, add -snd3d, use either DSOAL or ALchemy and both worked.

have you tried copying the EAX files (in that mega link) to your installation folder already?
https://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Giants:_Citizen … _Hardware_sound

Wow, this worked thanks to this mega archive...It is so weird, I'm sure I checked EVERY webpage about Giants in order to resolve my problem, including the pcgamingwiki one, of course...

I'm wondering if this mega archive is a recent addition to the page...

Anyway, thanks a lot, I just tried the game and EAX works now perfectly with my system 😎 😎

Reply 341 of 380, by Johnny Rico

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-edit- Yes, it was updated about one month ago and I think I checked the page just before that...lame...

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Reply 342 of 380, by svfn

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Johnny Rico wrote:

-edit- Yes, it was updated about one month ago and I think I checked the page just before that...lame...

it's like that sometimes, no worries 😀 never played Kabuto before so thought to give it a try.

SS7: K6-2/350 | FIC PA-2013 2.1 | 32MB PC-100 | 3dfx V3 2000 AGP | AWE64 CT4520 | Win98SE
On MobyGames

Reply 343 of 380, by Johnny Rico

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In a non-retro/old games forum, I would have said "do not focus on graphics and 3d which can look somehow aged and obsolete" but in Vogons...I think I'd like to play the game as if it was my first run again 😀 Combats and shooting may sometimes look confused too but the more and more you progress in the game, the more the game is fun and interesting to play...Not to mention the gorgeous epic John Williamesque soundtrack from Jeremy Soule and the nice humor from differents characters in the game (especially the differents Smarties, great absurd Monty Python feeling).

By the way, the game is still played online, there is a Discord about this.

Good game !

Reply 345 of 380, by BuckoA51

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Will this Sound Blaster X-Fi MB3 software work for me if I use the HDMI audio out from my Nvidia graphics card? Quite happy to pay 30 bucks or so to get EAX/ALChemy on my main PC. Would be fun to play Alice in 4k with proper surround sound.

Edit - Took a chance and yes, it works with Nvidia audio.

Software is a little flaky (it's creative, go figure!), for example sometimes it decides that headphones/2.1 is all you can do until you reboot, and I wouldn't want to use it all the time, but it seems to work.

play-old-pc-games.com

Reply 346 of 380, by Choum

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Can someone test the debug/log mode of creative alchemy when using windows 10 2004 and tell me if it still work ?
It seems to not work anymore since windows 10 update at least on my system

To use debug mode Add to the dsound.ini, the line you want debug for.
LogDirectSound=true
LogDirectSound2D=true
LogDirectSound2DStreaming=true
LogDirectSound3D=true
LogDirectSoundListener=true
LogDirectSoundEAX=true
LogDirectSoundTimingInfo=true
LogStarvation=true

edit : Found the root cause, the debug mode only work if you use a native open Al drivers, and not the creative 3d library.

Reply 347 of 380, by rolloLG

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I'm not a Creative and EAX expert, but I have a question: will Sound Blaster X-Fi MB3 software enable EAX 3-4 with games like 'Thief: Deadly Shadows' (requires EAX 3-4) on my ASUS GL703GS laptop with Realtek (ALC295 chipset) + Nahimic drivers?
I tried ALchemy Universal 1.00.08 software workaround but it didn't work (supports only EAX 1-2?)...

Reply 348 of 380, by Res1s7

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rolloLG wrote on 2020-10-28, 18:35:

I'm not a Creative and EAX expert, but I have a question: will Sound Blaster X-Fi MB3 software enable EAX 3-4 with games like 'Thief: Deadly Shadows' (requires EAX 3-4) on my ASUS GL703GS laptop with Realtek (ALC295 chipset) + Nahimic drivers?
I tried ALchemy Universal 1.00.08 software workaround but it didn't work (supports only EAX 1-2?)...

I'm a MB3 user. It should do. It supports EAX 5 and "Creative cards are generally backwards compatible with older EAX versions" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_A … ensions#EAX_5.0 ... It's just a virtual sound card. A Creative Soundblaster X-fi in software. Just choose the right audio source (the MB3) and target sound hardware to send its output to in the drop down menu at the top right of MB3. I bought it to get the X-fi feature working in Battlefield 2. I had to remove the openAL.dll from the BF2 directory (or rename it) to get BF2 to see what it thinks is official X-fi hardware (it's actually seeing MB3). So I think MB3 installs a specialised or requires a certain version of OpenAl as well as Alchemy. In BF2 its also required to have the correct ".eax" definition file.

Reply 352 of 380, by lowenz

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For EAX through OpenAL (not DirectSound): https://github.com/bibendovsky/eaxefx

Yes, it's working well 😀 (and always based on a OpenAL Soft virtual device so you just need dsoal, eaxefx and a recent OpenAL Soft binaries to restore EAX 100% )

Reply 353 of 380, by mirh

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Thank you lowenz for the tip off.
That's exactly what people have been longing after for over a decade.
(though it's technically just openal focused for the moment, I'm not exactly sure about its interplay with dsoal)

Of course being a replacement for some creative-made software, you have an inane number of quirks and undefined behaviours to replicate too.
If you have a X-Fi card (better if with fixed drivers) to make some sound quality comparison and test, I think the author would be very grateful for your help.

pcgamingwiki.com

Reply 355 of 380, by sean8102

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First off, you guys have the best info on this topic bar none. I've come across it many times when researching EAX support for older games on modern Windows/Hardware. I snagged a PCI-E X-Fi Titanium (the Fatility something, remember that guy? 🤣). And was impressed with how much better the EAX sounded in games compared to using either just Alchemy or something like Creatives MB5 software etc.

IDK if this has been posted here, but the also the latest version of ALchemy (1.45.20) has been cracked to work on systems without a creative card / hardware.

The person that made it said this.

" I made a generic patcher for Alchemy a while back, only posted it on one forum though so it was probably pretty easy to miss...
Only tested with the 1.45.20 version, but it uses signature searching rather than offsets so should work with other versions too."

https://community.pcgamingwiki.com/files/file … nt&comment=2040

That's the comment with a working download link to the "crack" that removes the requirement for Creative hardware. You can download Alchemy 1.45.20 at the top of the page.

I've used it before with zero problems. Did second opinion scans using Hitman Pro and system came back completely clean. The crack it's self though will most likely cause Microsoft Defender and other AV's to play it cautious and flag the exe you use to crack Alchemy, but you can delete the exe after you use it to crack Alchemy (see the readme).

Anyways. I've decided to give my PCI-E X-Fi Titanium one more try with Daniel K's latest and last driver release (he said he's done making creative drivers). The last release just came out a few days ago.

https://danielkawakami.blogspot.com/2021/08/f … port-packs.html

"X-Fi Support Pack 8.0 (Refresh 3)"

About to play some Condemned and see how it goes. My main problem last time with this card on Windows 10 was it getting stuck in Game Mode and not changing unless I rebooted. About to see if that happens when I quit Condemned.

Reply 357 of 380, by lowenz

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As expected not working (audio dropping with incendiary shotgun ammos) in Unreal 2 where EFXEAX is working (no audio dropping)

X-Fi Titanium with Unreal 2 forced in "native" OpenAL mode (bypassing the "System Driver" aka DirectSound wrapping -> UseDefaultDriver=False).

Reply 359 of 380, by rolloLG

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rolloLG wrote on 2020-11-19, 12:10:

This worked for me with Thief 3 Deadly Shadows:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filede … /?id=2291848228

Try this simple solution for EAX on any sound HW. Tested and working in some games (Dragon's Lair 3D, Thief 3, Prince of Persia 2008, Baldur's Gate II). It's the easiest and working solution I've found in all these years.