shmel wrote on 2022-08-15, 23:24:

Trying to run the game on PII 300mhz, Soundblaster 5.1Live and running it via Win98SE.
I have CDrom version of the game, monster.sou filesize is 142MB.

I tried every configuration for SB ports, and no luck. Music plays just fine though.

Is the Cd in the Drive?
Is the Drive the First CD Drive?

Early LucasArts talkies are known to have sound problems on fast CPUs.

Yeah CD is in and it is the first CD drive. I guess maybe it is fast CPU problem it being Pii 300mhz like leileilol suggested?

shmel wrote on 2022-08-16, 16:43:

Yeah CD is in and it is the first CD drive. I guess maybe it is fast CPU problem it being Pii 300mhz like leileilol suggested?

This game has issues with anything faster than a low end 486.

Unfortunately, that PII300 is not a very flexible CPU. If you slow it down by disabling the L1 cache, it will be too slow (in the 286 range). This might be OK/acceptable with certain sound cards, but your SB Live 5.1 uses emulation for digital speech and Adlib/FM, which means that the game will stutter like hell once the CPU has been slowed down.

Another option (still a long shot): your CPU might have an unlocked multiplier, in which case you could run it at 2x (133 MHz). Couple that with the SB Live's rather resource intensive DOS sound emulation + the slowest possible BIOS settings/memory timings, and it might just work (but I wouldn't hold my breath).

Welcome to the (very) deep rabbit hole that is DOS retro gaming. 😁

bloodem wrote on 2022-08-16, 17:15:

This game has issues with anything faster than a low end 486. […]
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shmel wrote on 2022-08-16, 16:43:

Yeah CD is in and it is the first CD drive. I guess maybe it is fast CPU problem it being Pii 300mhz like leileilol suggested?

This game has issues with anything faster than a low end 486.

Unfortunately, that PII300 is not a very flexible CPU. If you slow it down by disabling the L1 cache, it will be too slow (in the 286 range). This might be OK/acceptable with certain sound cards, but your SB Live 5.1 uses emulation for digital speech and Adlib/FM, which means that the game will stutter like hell once the CPU has been slowed down.

Another option (still a long shot): your CPU might have an unlocked multiplier, in which case you could run it at 2x (133 MHz). Couple that with the SB Live's rather resource intensive DOS sound emulation + the slowest possible BIOS settings/memory timings, and it might just work (but I wouldn't hold my breath).

Welcome to the (very) deep rabbit hole that is DOS retro gaming. 😁

Hmm weird i had no problems playing it on my p1 200mmx Cpu.

Peter.Mengel wrote on 2022-08-16, 22:25:

Hmm weird i had no problems playing it on my p1 200mmx Cpu.

As Captain Barbossa would say: "it's more what you'd call 'guidelines' than actual rules" 😁

This is precisely the situation with these old games. Sometimes, a specific hardware combination (even though faster) can give better results for a particular game.
Also, the Pentium MMX is a very flexible CPU, it can hit all important speed points down to a slow 386. With such a CPU, even if you face issues with a certain game, the problem is easily fixable.

for what it's worth I always had issues with the talkie Lucas games... even on actual 386/486
you gotta try stuff like speed settings, mouse drivers, soundcard IRQs... eventually a combo will be found that works 🤣

There are patches for them that ameliorate some of these problems.

bloodem wrote on 2022-08-17, 08:13:

As Captain Barbossa would say: "it's more what you'd call 'guidelines' than actual rules" :-D […]
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Peter.Mengel wrote on 2022-08-16, 22:25:

Hmm weird i had no problems playing it on my p1 200mmx Cpu.

As Captain Barbossa would say: "it's more what you'd call 'guidelines' than actual rules" 😁

This is precisely the situation with these old games. Sometimes, a specific hardware combination (even though faster) can give better results for a particular game.
Also, the Pentium MMX is a very flexible CPU, it can hit all important speed points down to a slow 386. With such a CPU, even if you face issues with a certain game, the problem is easily fixable.

Oh I forgot to say it is mmx cpu. Say more 😀 (as you can tell tag line under my username is pretty accurate to describe my state concerning old tech).

To get Lucasarts talkies to work with sound on some PCs, I often have to do all three of :

• Install the game updates
• Disable L1/L2 cache (+underclock if possible)
• Use precisely version 2.04 of Cutemouse (nothing else works (even MS mouse) - I think because of buggy BIOS, 2.04 bypasses the BIOS).

Most of them will run without the CD if you copy the files to your hard drive.

rasteri wrote on 2022-08-17, 12:42:

To get Lucasarts talkies to work with sound on some PCs, I often have to do all three of : […]
Show full quote

To get Lucasarts talkies to work with sound on some PCs, I often have to do all three of :

• Install the game updates
• Disable L1/L2 cache (+underclock if possible)
• Use precisely version 2.04 of Cutemouse (nothing else works (even MS mouse) - I think because of buggy BIOS, 2.04 bypasses the BIOS).

Most of them will run without the CD if you copy the files to your hard drive.

Funny, Cutemouse doesnt work on my MS Mouse, iam using the oldest MS Driver MOUSE602 and its working very good.
It seems i had alot of luck with the lucasarts talkie games...cause they run all without problems.