VOGONS


PIT Perfect

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First post, by Glidos

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Big, big improvement in Glidos. One of the worst problems I've been fighting against is making the DOS games run at correct speed. At last I think I've found the solution, for most games at least. What I hope you will notice in the new version.

* Games play exactly at the right speed. The most noticable improvement is in Descent II: at last the controls don't go wonkey when playing under XP. In fact it is smooth, smooth, smooth.

* No more bumping the priority of the DOS game so that it can make it look like your computer has crashed. Silly me: I discovered that the right thing to do is drop the priority.

* The DOS side shuts down when the Windows side of Glidos is closed, so no more windowless DOS games hanging around.

* Just while I was fiddling, I added an extra resolution setting of 1600 x1200.

There's a few games that the new method doesn't work for, so I've provided a way to reinstate the old method of control. In the Glidos.ini file, if you set ControlJudderFix to 1 then you get the new PIT control method. If you set it to 2, you get the old method, with the behaviour you would have got with a value of 1. If you set it to 3, you get the behaviour you used to get from value 2. A setting of 1 is the best as long as it isn't one of the games that go funny.

As its a big change, I've decided not to release it yet on the main web site. I wondered if some people here would mind trying it out first. Here it is.

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  • Filename
    glidos_v1_21.exe
    File size
    772.16 KiB
    Downloads
    1570 downloads
    File license
    Fair use/fair dealing exception

Reply 2 of 53, by Kaminari

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This new version works great for me, except that I need to use the old method for all of my games (TR, UB, Redguard). The new PIT actually works OK, but I noticed that the sound stutters badly with ControlJudderFix=1.

I'll try to tweak the VDMS settings and make some tests.

Reply 3 of 53, by DosFreak

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Noticed the same as posted above.

Suggestions:
Multiple instances of GliDOS seem to interfer with each other. Program GliDos to not launch another instance if already in memory?
search program for supported gamesto automagically find the game?
Link in GliDOS for each Game's setup program.
Include DOS4GW.EXE for GLDVESA.EXE program
Include NoLFB support into Glidos.exe or include NOLFB into GLIDOS Package
800X640 is listed as a resolution?

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Reply 4 of 53, by Glidos

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Kaminari wrote:

This new version works great for me, except that I need to use the old method for all of my games (TR, UB, Redguard). The new PIT actually works OK, but I noticed that the sound stutters badly with ControlJudderFix=1.

It was sound stutters that led me to disable it for Extreme Assault. So you are finding it stutters in TR and Redguard. That's a shame. Where in the game are you getting sound stutters? Is it in FMV sequences or all through the games?

Reply 5 of 53, by Glidos

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DosFreak wrote:

Noticed the same as posted above.

Bugger! So maybe this makes things worse for most people.

Suggestions: Multiple instances of GliDOS seem to interfer with each other. Program GliDos to not launch another instance if al […]
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Suggestions:
Multiple instances of GliDOS seem to interfer with each other. Program GliDos to not launch another instance if already in memory?

Yeh, I should do that. Its really easy.


search program for supported gamesto automagically find the game?


Yeh that would be good. Sort of thing I might never get around to. Someone else could do this in a standalone program. It just needs to construct an appropriate Glidos.ini file.

Link in GliDOS for each Game's setup program. Include DOS4GW.EXE for GLDVESA.EXE program […]
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Link in GliDOS for each Game's setup program.

Include DOS4GW.EXE for GLDVESA.EXE program


Maybe. I don't think GldVesa.exe is general enough to handle all the setup programs.


Include NoLFB support into Glidos.exe or include NOLFB into GLIDOS Package


Gldvesa.exe takes over the VESA interrupt and announces a lack of LFB support, just like nolfb. The problem with Gldvesa though (noticeable only with Blood) is it does a lot more than that, and uses a fair amount of DOS memory in doing so.


800X640 is listed as a resolution?


Lost me there.

All nice suggestions, but I really need to sort out this timing thing. I thought I'd done it. The new method works well for me on three different computers. Perhaps I've been ignoring the audio glitches.

Reply 6 of 53, by DosFreak

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heh.

800X640 is listed as an actually resolution in the GliDos resolution menu.

Weeiiirrdd.

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Reply 8 of 53, by Glidos

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I've just tested v1.21 again, and I do get a few audio glitches in the FMVs of TR and in speach of Redguard, although only on my 800MHz Athlon based computer running XP. On my 1700+ Athlon based computer, running 2000, everthing is perfect.

One thing, I don't think I'm using the VDMSound update, just what you get from the latest installer, withount dropping in the update files. Actually I haven't checked the VDMSound site for a while; perhaps I'm not even using the latest installer.

Reply 9 of 53, by Kaminari

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Hey Paul,

Oddly, the movies play fine for me. It's during the game that the sound drops.

In Redguard, it's all the time; the game is pretty CPU intensive and there are always cracks in the sound effects and music. Setting JudderFix to 2 fixed the problem.

TR and TRUB: the sounds only stutters when Lara is facing a large vista. How could I descrive that...? When Lara is facing a wall or is in a restricted space with a limited sight, drawing the guns and shooting around produce a normal, loud and clear shooting sound. But if she turns around and the 'sight-seeing' widens (like in a big cave or open space, for example), then the shooting sound dramatically degrades and begins to crack. Again, setting JudderFix to 2 corrects the problem: it simply behaves like in the previous GliDOS versions (read: great!).

From what I could understand, it seems it has to do with the complexity of the scenery (ie with the CPU load). I have to mention it only affects the sound and not the timing or the speed of the game itself. I have a P3/620 and a GeForce2 Ti. This is a rather modest configuration by today's standards and could perfectly explain the sound stuttering. I can live with the old timing method 😀

Reply 10 of 53, by Glidos

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Thanks, that's some very useful info. It might be that I need to keep the process priority increase in.

Here's another version of PollPipe.dll to try.

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  • Filename
    pollpipe.zip
    File size
    13.84 KiB
    Downloads
    1224 downloads
    File license
    Fair use/fair dealing exception

Reply 11 of 53, by CraigG

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Oh yeh: sorry Craig, the new method doesn't work for Screamer 2. It makes the controls go all funny.

Darn it. It's a conspiracy I tells you, a conspiracy. 😁 😉

One day, I'll get to play my Screamer games in all their glory 😀

I'll give this version a go, and see what it's like.

Athlon 64 3000+ stock
MSI NForce 4 K8N Neo Platinum
2Gb RAM
nVidia Geforce 6800GT stock clocks
SBLive! Platinum + Audigy ZS2 Drivers
WinXP Pro SP2

Reply 12 of 53, by Glidos

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CraigG wrote:

Darn it. It's a conspiracy I tells you, a conspiracy. 😁 😉

One day, I'll get to play my Screamer games in all their glory 😀

Just one of many conspiracies. I think its a conspiracy when my nicve change makes things run really nice on some computers and make things worse on others.


I'll give this version a go, and see what it's like.


Be appreciated.

Reply 14 of 53, by CraigG

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Be appreciated.

Damn it, will have to wait until Sunday I'm afraid.

I've changed soo much hardware lately it's brought back all the spinning logos.

But on Sunday, I'm going for the biggy and moving to Nforce2 with the Epox 8rda+, Athlon Barton, DDR 400, 200Mb Western Digital HD, and maybe a Radeon 9700 Pro. Not sure. Depends on what the Radeon breaks in regards to wrappers and emulators.

Anyway, I've never had a problem with Glidos. It's always worked superbly for me. 😁

Athlon 64 3000+ stock
MSI NForce 4 K8N Neo Platinum
2Gb RAM
nVidia Geforce 6800GT stock clocks
SBLive! Platinum + Audigy ZS2 Drivers
WinXP Pro SP2

Reply 15 of 53, by DosFreak

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OpenGlide works great with the 9700. Haven't tried any other Glide emulators on it for awhile but they all sucked...as usual.

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Reply 16 of 53, by Snover

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*too long this has been on-topic 😉*
Has anyone seen the specs for the ATi Radeon 9800!? That thing is going to kick. I feel bad for nVidia, I love their cards but they really dropped the ball with the FX. Here's to hoping the OpenGL support includes the palette extension (conspicuously problematic and missing in ATi's cards).

Yes, it’s my fault.

Reply 17 of 53, by CraigG

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The 9800 looks good. But also looks too expensive.

But NVidia will have the NV35 out in a few months, so I'm looking forward to what that will have to offer.

I just like NVidia cards, and more importantly, their drivers.

Athlon 64 3000+ stock
MSI NForce 4 K8N Neo Platinum
2Gb RAM
nVidia Geforce 6800GT stock clocks
SBLive! Platinum + Audigy ZS2 Drivers
WinXP Pro SP2

Reply 18 of 53, by Glidos

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Kaminari wrote:

The cracks are gone! 😀

Okay, thanks a lot.

Please can you try another one? This one doesn't do anything to the priority to the main thread in the DOS process. It avoids the high priorities that sometimes make things lock up, but seems to cure the crackles for me.

Attachments

  • Filename
    pollpipe.zip
    File size
    13.84 KiB
    Downloads
    1312 downloads
    File license
    Fair use/fair dealing exception

Reply 19 of 53, by Glidos

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CraigG wrote:

The 9800 looks good. But also looks too expensive.

But NVidia will have the NV35 out in a few months, so I'm looking forward to what that will have to offer.

I just like NVidia cards, and more importantly, their drivers.

I'm a bit worried about nVidia now. I heard the GeforceFX sounds like a vacuum cleaner and can be heard in the next city. What's the NV35? If that turns out to be a quiet GeforceFX, I'll be very pleased.