KainXVIII wrote on 2023-12-06, 13:28:

Steam version definitely has surround sound support (i'm using Creative Alchemy for 3d sound restoration, others use DSOAL or something)

Ok, this is interesting. I just tried the GOG version of Deus Ex 2 on Win7 and surround sound worked perfectly! And yes, I made sure that CMSS was turned off before testing. After that, I installed the same GOG version on WinXP, and there was no surround sound. No idea what's going on here.

However, despite the success on Win7, the game can't make it back to the list until we figure out how to get surround sound working under Win9x, since that's what this thread is about.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2022-09-03, 09:03:

I was testing surround sound in Star Trek: Deep Space 9 - The Fallen. Since this game is based on the Unreal engine, I figured i […]
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I was testing surround sound in Star Trek: Deep Space 9 - The Fallen. Since this game is based on the Unreal engine, I figured it would support it. Interestingly, the game initially only offers software audio and you have to manually copy over some files in order to get any kind of hardware accelerated sound. Here's what the readme says:

DS9 help file wrote:

Additional 3D Providers
After installation, The Fallen only makes available the recommended base audio drivers. If you wish to use a specialty provider, such as EAX, you need to copy the relevant .m3d file from the /redist/win32/extras folder into the /redist/win32 folder. After copying the relevant .m3d file you can switch to the new provider from the Audio tab within options.

Be warned that changing audio driver from the default can result in slow downs, hangs or audio loss. If you experience audio loss, you may need to restart the game and maybe even restart your computer. Please see the fallen website for additional information.

This does work as advertised, and after copying the files I was able to get the full list of audio providers in the options menu. There's even explicit support for EAX2, something that I haven't seen mentioned before.

The attachment DS9_Sound.jpg is no longer available

EDIT - I was finally able to get surround sound working using the EAX2 option. Here's what I had to do. I started the game, selected the EAX2 sound provider and then quit to desktop. Then, I edited DS9.ini to set UseSurround=True everywhere that it was set to False. Finally, I went to the Windows control panel changed the speakers back to 5.1 and then also went to the Creative Speaker Settings utility and also set the speakers to 5.1. Why was this necessary? Because the game reverts both speaker settings (independantly) to stereo when it first runs! This is what initially confused me. With all that set, I have confirmed that DS9 does deliver full 5.1 surround sound on my system.

Maybe surround sound works better on period correct hardware/software combination, but i'm not a fan that every frontal sound effects are coming from the center speaker (which is mainly used for voice only in modern games/movies) including weapon sounds in DS9 🤣
PS - and what is usestereo command do in Unreal Engine 1? Force mono sound?

KainXVIII wrote on 2024-12-29, 14:54:

Maybe surround sound works better on period correct hardware/software combination, but i'm not a fan that every frontal sound effects are coming from the center speaker (which is mainly used for voice only in modern games/movies) including weapon sounds in DS9 🤣

Given how many extra steps must be taken to enable EAX (and other 3D sound providers) in this game, I'm not surprised if the surround sound implementation isn't that great. I doubt it received a lot of QA testing seeing how thoroughly the developers hid these options.

That said, I'm not overly familiar with this game. While I was testing it, I simply confirmed that the front, center and rear speakers of my 5.1 system were all being utilized. However, I do intend to eventually play it on real hardware, since I am a DS9 fan. 😀

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2024-12-29, 15:11:

KainXVIII wrote on 2024-12-29, 14:54:

Maybe surround sound works better on period correct hardware/software combination, but i'm not a fan that every frontal sound effects are coming from the center speaker (which is mainly used for voice only in modern games/movies) including weapon sounds in DS9 🤣

Given how many extra steps must be taken to enable EAX (and other 3D sound providers) in this game, I'm not surprised if the surround sound implementation isn't that great. I doubt it received a lot of QA testing seeing how thoroughly the developers hid these options.

That said, I'm not overly familiar with this game. While I was testing it, I simply confirmed that the front, center and rear speakers of my 5.1 system were all being utilized. However, I do intend to eventually play it on real hardware, since I am a DS9 fan. 😀

So am i!