Weird System Shock issues \ VOGONS

Weird System Shock issues

Topic actions

First post, by EdmondDantes

Posted on 2010-10-03, 03:31

EdmondDantes Offline

Rank Member

Rank: Member
Posts: 220
Joined: 2010-06-03, 16:40

My computer:

500 mhz AMD K6-II
Voodoo 3 2000 in the PCI slot
Soundblaster 16 in the ISA slot
128mb RAM (PC133, one stick)
Windows 98 Second Edition

The only other computer I have is a laptop, so using DOSbox is not a viable solution. I also don't suspect that the fan-remake "System Shock Portable" would be of much help. I'm trying to play the CD-ROM edition of System Shock.

Now, as I said in "MS-DOS Tricks and Stuff", System Shock will run just fine if I play it with the CPU Cache disabed (not ENabled, as I had typoed originally). The only problem is that you have to play in 320x200 mode, and even then it runs just a tad sluggishly.

So I tried to get more out of the game. Here's what I tried and what the results are:

Playing it without the CPU Cache = would crash and cause my computer to reboot.

Playing it using Slowdown set to emulate a 66mhz 486 = would crash and cause my computer to reboot.

Playing it using Slowdown set to emulaate a 33mhz 486 = seemed to play fine but performance wise was no better than playing with the CPU Cache off.

Playing in Windows = Wouldn't even start at first. I had to make a shortcut with memory settings.

Playing in Windows after the afformentioned tweaks = This was weird. It would seem fine for 20-30 minutes, and then suddenly my computer would just shut off. For a moment I thought this was a power supply problem, but I played an entirely different game in windows and didn't have a problem for hours, but when I played System Shock for only a couple of minutes it did it again.

Note that since every single one of these errors resulted in a reboot, I didn't get to see the error message.

So, unless there's something I haven't thought to do, it looks like I'm going to just have to play it in 320x200 with the CPU Cache off in DOS mode.

Any suggestions?

Last edited by EdmondDantes on 2010-10-03, 07:56. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 1 of 11, by Mau1wurf1977

Posted on 2010-10-03, 04:01

Mau1wurf1977 Offline

Rank l33t++

Rank: l33t++
Posts: 7652
Joined: 2010-08-27, 04:15
Location: Western Australia

System Shock will run just fine if I play it with the CPU Cache enabled

If it plays fine, why are you slowing down the machine?

Last edited by Mau1wurf1977 on 2010-10-03, 04:11. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 2 of 11, by leileilol

Posted on 2010-10-03, 04:04

leileilol Offline

Rank l33t++

Rank: l33t++
Posts: 12383
Joined: 2006-12-16, 18:03

Especially since System Shock doesn't even really "overspeed". There is NO NEED TO SLOW DOWN FOR SYSTEM SHOCK. In fact, 500mhz is adequate enough to run it at 640x480 at 20fps.

The "only in 320x200 mode" issue? What do you have, the disk version?

long live PCem

Reply 3 of 11, by Mau1wurf1977

Posted on 2010-10-03, 04:12

Mau1wurf1977 Offline

Rank l33t++

Rank: l33t++
Posts: 7652
Joined: 2010-08-27, 04:15
Location: Western Australia

leileilol wrote:
In fact, 500mhz is adequate enough to run it at 640x480 at 20fps.

Wow quite a demanding game...

Looks like you need a 1GHz+ machine for this game 😁

Reply 4 of 11, by leileilol

Posted on 2010-10-03, 04:31

leileilol Offline

Rank l33t++

Rank: l33t++
Posts: 12383
Joined: 2006-12-16, 18:03

Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

Wow quite a demanding game...

1994 didn't have the optimal 3d engines. US Navy Fighters, another 1994 game with SVGA will run like a dog on 500MHz too.

long live PCem

Reply 5 of 11, by EdmondDantes

Posted on 2010-10-03, 07:55

EdmondDantes Offline

Rank Member

Rank: Member
Posts: 220
Joined: 2010-06-03, 16:40

That was a typo. I meant to say "with the CPU Cache DISABLED" (Edited the OP to reflect this)

As I said in the "MS-DOS Tricks and Stuff" topic, the actual running speed of the game is not the only thing that is affected by the CPU Cache. In my case, if I don't disable the cache then System Shock crashes, sometimes after several hous of play but most of the time after only a few minutes. Yes, the game itself takes a performance hit, but at least its actually playable now.

And I'm playing the CD-ROM edition. I thought I had made all this clear in the OP but clearly I was so flustered I wasn't typing straight.

Edit Incidentally I tried running it in Windows again. Unlike last time I barely got five minutes of play before it crashed, but this time it didn't reboot my computer but gave me an error message.

Anyone know what to make of this? (And yes, I'm running it from the actual, store-bought CD, not from a copy or an ISO)

Reply 6 of 11, by EdmondDantes

Posted on 2010-10-03, 15:15

EdmondDantes Offline

Rank Member

Rank: Member
Posts: 220
Joined: 2010-06-03, 16:40

Any help here? Anyone?

Reply 7 of 11, by SKARDAVNELNATE

Posted on 2010-10-03, 16:51

SKARDAVNELNATE Offline

Rank Oldbie

Rank: Oldbie
Posts: 1183
Joined: 2006-10-28, 15:51

What setting are you using for sound? In my DOSBox install I found that using SoundBlaster worked fine but the other SoundBlaster options Pro/16/AWE32 slowed the game down quite a bit. I'm not sure how it would effect the actual hardware though.

Reply 8 of 11, by EdmondDantes

Posted on 2010-10-03, 17:32

EdmondDantes Offline

Rank Member

Rank: Member
Posts: 220
Joined: 2010-06-03, 16:40

I've tried it both configured as a plain Soundblaster and as a Soundblaster 16.

Reply 9 of 11, by EdmondDantes

Posted on 2010-10-07, 08:17

EdmondDantes Offline

Rank Member

Rank: Member
Posts: 220
Joined: 2010-06-03, 16:40

Okay, so now the game crashes even when the CPU Cache is disabled. So I guess it really isn't the speed (though on low speeds the game will usually run for hours).

I developed a theory that maybe the problem was related to my sound card settings, and tested this by having it set to no sound card whatsoever. The bad news: it still crashes.

In a way I'm kinda relieved, since I no longer have a reason to play it on low resolutions if its gonna crash anyway. But I'd still like for it to just stop crashing.

Also, yes I've tried setting my Files and Buffers to above 40 (actually, all my DOS configurations have them set that high or higher by default)