Scythifuge wrote on 2024-03-27, 22:33:

Thank you for your efforts and information! I do have my WSS settings set as you have them. I cannot manage to get the popping/crackling in QFG4 to get any better. I was using some OPTi drivers and I tried Diamond's version, with the same results. I am about to try the driver I found in this thread and see if it works:

Re: Brand New Drivers for OPTI 82C929 and 82C924 including StereoFix

I think 82c924-929 have this issue with WSS, I don't fully understand why, since they have the authentic Crystal or AD WSS chip right on the card... The 82c930 seems to have integrated the functionality into the chip itself... If the 82c930 I have on the way to me works, then I would hypothesize that it would also work on the 931/933 - but those chips use OptiFM unfortunately, so you'd have to put up with that if you wanted to use them.

Ithough I may just try to hunt down a Pentium 1 MMX system with the ISA slots I need, and then use Moslo Deluxe to emulate a 486 (and 386) as needed.

Pentium MMX is an excellent platform because it has a lot of other ways to slow it down that don't interfere with normal operations -- so definitely try that if you don't want to deal with 486 (and cpuspd I believe is the program you want to use with that -- check philscomputerlab's video on slowing down Pentium MMX).

I also recommend looking into playing Sierra games on ScummVM... They have all types of built in fixes for these games and everything just works. With KQ6, I was able to get it to run perfectly, with good audio, all fixes, but also with the old character dialog graphics... Everything is configurable.

mockingbird wrote on 2024-03-27, 23:28:

I think 82c924-929 have this issue with WSS, I don't fully understand why, since they have the authentic Crystal or AD WSS chip […]
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Scythifuge wrote on 2024-03-27, 22:33:

Thank you for your efforts and information! I do have my WSS settings set as you have them. I cannot manage to get the popping/crackling in QFG4 to get any better. I was using some OPTi drivers and I tried Diamond's version, with the same results. I am about to try the driver I found in this thread and see if it works:

Re: Brand New Drivers for OPTI 82C929 and 82C924 including StereoFix

I think 82c924-929 have this issue with WSS, I don't fully understand why, since they have the authentic Crystal or AD WSS chip right on the card... The 82c930 seems to have integrated the functionality into the chip itself... If the 82c930 I have on the way to me works, then I would hypothesize that it would also work on the 931/933 - but those chips use OptiFM unfortunately, so you'd have to put up with that if you wanted to use them.

Ithough I may just try to hunt down a Pentium 1 MMX system with the ISA slots I need, and then use Moslo Deluxe to emulate a 486 (and 386) as needed.

Pentium MMX is an excellent platform because it has a lot of other ways to slow it down that don't interfere with normal operations -- so definitely try that if you don't want to deal with 486 (and cpuspd I believe is the program you want to use with that -- check philscomputerlab's video on slowing down Pentium MMX).

I also recommend looking into playing Sierra games on ScummVM... They have all types of built in fixes for these games and everything just works. With KQ6, I was able to get it to run perfectly, with good audio, all fixes, but also with the old character dialog graphics... Everything is configurable.

I dug out my Asus P2B with a 350MHz Pentium II from my storage shed and swapped out the Tomato 4DPS. I put my AWE32 CT2760 in there, using the MPU-IPC-T (for now,) and my old and trusty 8mb ATI Rage3d/Mach64 card since it has drivers for both Win 3.x/Win 9x, and as far as I can remember, worked with all of my games. I also put a Voodoo 1 in there. I have 3 8GB CF cards and some adapters for SD-to-CF and this mobo supports up to 120-128GB, so I have a file storage card, put DOS/Win 3.x on a card, and Windows 95 or 98 Lite on another card, and use either Moslo Deluxe or try the method you mentioned (I will watch Phil's video too.) This was decided after I got Quest for Glory IV DOS version running under Windows 98 with an Audigy 2 ZS with VXD drivers which include DOS support, and an SCC-1 with zero problems. As much as I wanted to use a 486 as my primary retro machine, the Sierra problems, some random Windows 3.x problems, and the SIS chipset being incompatible with two different parallel-to-CF readers and knowing I can emulate a Pentium one down to an XT system, I said screw it and decided that going with my old and otherwise unused P2B is the way to go. Plus, I can still put the 4DPS into another case with the same cards (though I will need to get another intelligent MPU solution.)

If anyone looked at my posting history for well over 10 years, I have done more tweaking, building and rebuilding, repairing and troubleshooting instead of playing the classics and using classic apps in a productive manner, and that has to stop, hehehe. PLaying the first 3 QfG games until running into issues made me decide that enough was enough. Plus, I can easily jump from QfG4 into Dragon Fire, all on the same system. I took a break from rebuilding the PC to check a couple of posts and respond, but I am in the BIOS screen and everything is working, so now it is time to clean up my CF cards and install Windows 9-something and actually have fun, 🤣. Plus, I can re-live the Windows 95 gaming days since I got my first 486 in 1993, upgraded to a DX2 in 1994, and got a Pentium 90 in 1995 and grabbed a Voodoo 1 around 1997, which I used until I got my Gateway Pentium III 450 w/Voodoo 3in 1999 (which I recreated in two forms - one 550 with a Voodoo 3 and a 700 with a Voodoo 5,) and then started building all of my own systems after that. The next step is to get them all set up on a LAN to play Doom, Duke3d, Blood, Warcraft, WC Armada, and a few others. I have a buddy who played these games back in the day, and I am introducing them to by fiance and my son. Back then, I used a serial cable with a null modem adapter, and I have one of those if I want to relive that, hehehe! I don't mean to ramble, I am just glad to have come to some final decisions, and I appreciate all of your help, advice, and information!

Have you folks tried changing the audiosize parameter in resource.cfg?

I just tested the 82C930 for WSS in KQ6, and it worked great!

I will also try swapping the Crystal codec on my 82C924 with an AD part to see if that improves things.

mockingbird wrote on 2024-04-16, 03:56:

I just tested the 82C930 for WSS in KQ6, and it worked great!

Nice! I had a great experience with WSS on that card as well. Meaning, the vast majority of my games which support WSS worked right out of the box, with just a few exceptions. A short list of WSS titles that I've personally tested on the OPTi 82C930 can be found here.

However, I should mention that a few games which worked fine (in WSS mode) when that card was in my Socket 7 system became broken when I put it in a faster Socket 370 system. Tyrian was one such example. It might have been some platform specific incompatibility though, and not necessarily a speed issue. I haven't tested that to a great degree.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2024-04-16, 05:10:

However, I should mention that a few games which worked fine (in WSS mode) when that card was in my Socket 7 system became broken when I put it in a faster Socket 370 system. Tyrian was one such example. It might have been some platform specific incompatibility though, and not necessarily a speed issue. I haven't tested that to a great degree.

Thanks! Good to know... I might try swapping out the Crystal WSS codec on my 82C924 with an AD variant to see if that fixes WSS mode. Do you know if there's an easier way to switch between WSS and SBPRO mode other than having to do so manually in the SBINIT utility?

mockingbird wrote on 2024-04-16, 13:33:

Do you know if there's an easier way to switch between WSS and SBPRO mode other than having to do so manually in the SBINIT utility?

Well, you can manually edit C:\OPTI930\SOUND16.CFG and change this:

1MODE=0,0

to this:

1MODE=0,1

I've only used that between reboots though, as the card still needs to be initialized via SNDINIT.EXE to actually perform the switch. Not sure if there's a way to force the initialization without activating the GUI of SNDINIT.EXE. I can't remember off hand, and I don't have the card currently installed in any of my systems. The aforementioned CFG edit is from my notes.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2024-04-16, 14:04:

Well, you can manually edit C:\OPTI930\SOUND16.CFG and change this:
<snip>

Fantastic, I'll give it a shot. Two simple batch files should do the trick (e.g. wss.bat or sbpro.bat), each file renaming a copy of sound16.cfg for the appropriate mode, and then running sndinit.exe /b. Thanks!

I am necromancing this post to update the information:

So I rebuilt my 486DX2, Pentium 166, and Pentium 700 systems to cover the 90s, due to the K6-III+ system being unstable. The 86 was rebuilt with a Mach32 and K2y-Pro16 (most likely the first sound card I ever had and ran fine with KQ6, the first multi-media game I ever owned which also came with the card, back in the day, in a reveal multimedia upgrade kit,) and the same 16mb RAM chip. I used the same Zida 4dps Tomato board with the SiS chipset.

I could instantly reproduce the issue. I then remembered that I was using 16mb of RAM, and that my first PC had only 4mb, and that games like Privateer have issues with RAM over the 16mmb cutoff . So I adjusted config.sys to only 2mb (for testing.) I could not reproduce the issue in my limited testing. Another thought is that the optical drive may be too fast (I was having issues with QFG4 in my P166 which made me think of this.)

So, it may be a RAM issue, if you run into this with your retro PC and KQ6.

One major discovery about crashing in KQ6 I have made since:

If you have manually copied certain files from the CD over to the HDD and have edited RESOURCE.CFG to reflect this, make sure you copy ALL the files over from the CD.

For example, there are patch files that need to be copied over as well and you need to point to them with the PATCHDIR line in the configuration.

If you don't do this, sure, the game will run. But on anything faster than say a 386DX/33, you will get the aforementioned crash.

SB16 (and ergo AWE32) had a patch from Sierra to fix sound blaster issues. IIRC the issue was there with those cards regardless of how fast the CPU ran. Find the patch on quest studios or sierra chest and try it. And yes, there are certain instructions for applying the patch to a CD Sierra game.. if you get it wrong then the patch won't take effect.

This video
https://youtu.be/c-FO4g4KqKg
runs the CD version on a 486 DX2 66Mhz without issues, albeit on a Sound Blaster Pro 2. The SB Pro is much more speed sensitive than SB16/AWE32 so 66MHz speed isn't the culprit even with the audio driver that came stock on the CD.

mockingbird wrote on 2025-12-05, 12:09:

One major discovery about crashing in KQ6 I have made since: […]
Show full quote

One major discovery about crashing in KQ6 I have made since:

If you have manually copied certain files from the CD over to the HDD and have edited RESOURCE.CFG to reflect this, make sure you copy ALL the files over from the CD.

For example, there are patch files that need to be copied over as well and you need to point to them with the PATCHDIR line in the configuration.

If you don't do this, sure, the game will run. But on anything faster than say a 386DX/33, you will get the aforementioned crash.

Interesting! I have done this with Quest For Glory IV to play without the CD, and given the similarities in the engine, it makes sense that it could work for KQ6.