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A3D2 in American McGee's Alice not working (Win 98 with Vortex 2 card)

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First post, by CrimsonMachete

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ZanQuance wrote on 2015-09-19, 20:38:
Sorry I didn't see this earlier, I actually patched my version of Alice to work with A3D 2.0. Search for this in a Hex editor, […]
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Sorry I didn't see this earlier, I actually patched my version of Alice to work with A3D 2.0.
Search for this in a Hex editor, provided long hex to nab correct offset area:
B000520053E87095070083C40885C0751A @0006F1F5 (byte 75)
Change to
B000520053E87095070083C40885C0741A @0006F1F5 (to byte 74)

This will bypass the card detection bug and let A3D 2.0 be enabled.

An old post contained the above solution, however I'm having difficulty applying it to my install.

I've been trying this hex fix but I must admit I'm a little lost. I'm assuming the file to be patched is the Alice.exe; I have opened it in a hex editor (HxD) but can't locate the indicated offset. Can anyone point me in the right direction? I see the instruction to use long hex, but I'm unclear as to what that means exactly.

Any assistance would be appreciated!

Reply 1 of 6, by ott

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It looks like you need initial game version 1.0.0

The attachment alice.jpg is no longer available
The attachment hxd.jpg is no longer available
You can also replace the hex code you are looking for
  1. Top menu: Search → Replace... (Ctrl+R)
  2. Select tab "Hex-values"

    Search for: 
    B000520053E87095070083C40885C0751A
    Replace with: 
    B000520053E87095070083C40885C0741A
  3. Press OK.
  4. Top menu: File → Save
The attachment hxd-replace.jpg is no longer available

Reply 2 of 6, by CrimsonMachete

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ott wrote on 2025-09-12, 08:47:
It looks like you need initial game version 1.0.0 […]
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It looks like you need initial game version 1.0.0

The attachment alice.jpg is no longer available
The attachment hxd.jpg is no longer available
You can also replace the hex code you are looking for
  1. Top menu: Search → Replace... (Ctrl+R)
  2. Select tab "Hex-values"

    Search for: 
    B000520053E87095070083C40885C0751A
    Replace with: 
    B000520053E87095070083C40885C0741A
  3. Press OK.
  4. Top menu: File → Save
The attachment hxd-replace.jpg is no longer available

Excellent! Thank you for the help, that worked perfectly.

Reply 3 of 6, by CrimsonMachete

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One minor issue I've noticed (not with the above solution, but with enabling A3D2 in game) is voices now sound slightly muffled; all other audio is clear and sharp. I'm curious if other people have experienced this, and if it might be down the the drivers I'm using for my sound card (a Turtle Beach Montego II running 2046 Drivers).

Reply 4 of 6, by ott

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CrimsonMachete wrote on 2025-09-13, 04:41:

Excellent! Thank you for the help, that worked perfectly.

Glad to hear that!

CrimsonMachete wrote on 2025-09-13, 05:08:

One minor issue I've noticed (not with the above solution, but with enabling A3D2 in game) is voices now sound slightly muffled; all other audio is clear and sharp.

I'm a newbie in A3D sound, it's hard to say what the problem is. It would be great to see video footage.
I have Vortex 2 SQ2500, but my PC build for A3D3.0/EAX4.0 games is not ready yet (still waiting for Audigy2 non-zs).
---
ZanQuance disappeared somewhere, I hope he is doing well.

Reply 5 of 6, by CrimsonMachete

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I have no easy way of capturing video or audio playback on my Win 98 machine, but something is definitely off with A3D2.0 in Alice; I don't have any issues with any of the other games on the same machine (e.g. Descent 3, Deus Ex). This has me a little stumped. Enabling A3D1.0 doesn't exhibit the same muffled audio.

Reply 6 of 6, by ZanQuance

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Hey all, I'm not completely gone, just off doing other things in life. I do pop in every now and again to see what's new.
The muffled sound is a normal driver bug which never got fixed. I am not sure which driver version worked best for Alice, but I do know that there was at least one version which worked well.
If you open the Alice.exe in the free version of IDA with the patch and non-patched version you can find the code path I found which forces detection of A3D 2.0 and perhaps apply it to later versions of the game exe.
[Edit] Here are the details of my quick fix:
sub_46F160 contains the routine where it does a string compare to determine which audio pipeline to enable
loc_46F1E5 is where it decides to go down the path of Aureal 3d or not with a jnz short loc_46F211
My patch changes this from jnz to jz

There is probably a better method for fixing this bug, but this was the quickest method for my testing purposes.

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