Originally posted by Unregistered Hi everybody

Hello. Please follow the posting guidelines and give us your system specifications like the processor, memory, video card, etc... Even if it seems irrelevant...it's frequently the key to troubleshooting.

I try to let run "robin hood" from SIERRA (1990)

As in Robin Hood: Conquests of the Longbow by Sierra, (1993)?

I instal VMS sound on the robin directory and run it. The message is : it has run successfully (something like that 😀

You ran it on the game's executable or batch file, not the game's directory, right? You can't "run" a directory.

Also, you didn't actually install VDMSound inside the game directory, did you?

... but after that i clicked on the robin icon to run the game and the same message as before vmssound appear : "unable to initilaze your audio card"

This not a VDMSound problem:
Read the first question on this FAQ:
http://www.queststudios.com/FAQ/audiofaq.html
It's almost a certainty that the answer for you is #4.

I have a sound card integrated on my motherboard.. is it that , the problem ?

While integrated audio hardware tends to be very poor with DOS games (especially in DOS or Win9x), it's probably not related in this case.

If your game version is v1.0, try this patch:
ftp://ftp.sierra.com/pub/patches/pc/lbpat.exe

Start it and it will create the following files:
140.SCR
140.TEX
1535.TEX
180.SCR
README.BAT
README.TXT

Backup those files in your game directory (just in case), then copy the replacement files into your game directory.

If you still can't get SB audio, try using v3 of the GoSierrapatch.

If you're still not getting audio, you might try it with DosBox. Technically it should be possible (can run on a 286), but many Sierra titles seem to have problems on DosBox.

hello again !

Thanks a lot for the time you took to answer !!

ok, so, my components are :

AMD athlon 2400+
Motherboard leadtek K7NCR18D pro
512 Mo
Hardsik maxtor 80Go 8Mo cache
Graphic card GF4 Ti 4800 SE 128 Mo
sound included in my motherboard

I am going to try all your advices

thanks again

Bye

ok mister, I ve try all what you told me , but the only good way which works is to use dosbox... but the problem is that I have always to creat my own directory (mount g g:\dosprog etc...) before to play. ANd I can't save correctly ma part of the adventure... do you know a way to solve that ?

By the way, you was right , it robin hooh from sierra 1993 😀

Thanks bye

Unregistered wrote:

I instal VMS sound on the robin directory and run it. The message is : it has run successfully (something like that 😀 but after that i clicked on the robin icon to run the game and the same message as before vmssound appear : "unable to initilaze your audio card"

Either I misunderstood, or you don't know how to run a game with VDMSound. You are not supposed to click on any icon (unless it's a LaunchPad shortcut); right-click on the game's .exe and choose "Run with VDMS" instead. You may also need updated game sound drivers from Sierra since they crap out on fast machines (which is why DosBox works, i.e. it slows down things quite a bit for you).

V.

indeed indeed, you are right mister administrator. I didn't know the good way to use VMS. I am going to try what you 've wrotten.

Thanks a lot

Francki

Unregistered wrote:

indeed indeed, you are right mister administrator. I didn't know the good way to use VMS. I am going to try what you 've wrotten.

...

VDMSound is becoming popular enough, vladr, that maybe translating the documents and supporting other languages would be a good idea. You could write a post describing what's needed here at VOGONS, I sure people would volunteer from other countries.

For the record, Francki, vladr is not only an administrator but the author of VDMSound. 😁

Originally posted by Unregistered ...the only good way which works is to use dosbox... but the problem is that I have always to creat my own directory (mount g g:\dosprog etc...) before to play.

Yes, just like real DOS you use CD to change directories and type in program names to start them, etc... Just like the old days.

However, there are other ways of starting a DOS gamw within DosBox. From the DosBox README:

You can also add commands to be executed before the main program starts. Or you can use them to start the program. To add comma […]
Show full quote

You can also add commands to be executed before the main program starts.
Or you can use them to start the program.
To add commands use the -c command line switch.

For example:

dosbox c:\atlantis\atlantis.exe -c "MOUNT D C:\SAVES"
This would mount c:\atlanis as c:\ and run atlantis.exe.
Before it does that it would first mount C:\SAVES as the D drive.

In Windows you can also drag directories/files on the dosbox executable.

When you see a README file with a program, please READ it. Like it says, you can type out a series of commands to start the game just the way you want. Then you can place those commands in a .BAT file, to start it up easily.

ANd I can't save correctly ma part of the adventure... do you know a way to solve that ?

Don't know what you mean. Can't save correctly meaning what? Error message? Crash?

By the way, you was right , it robin hood from sierra 1993

Actually, I've seen 1990,1991,1993... I would guess it was very late 1991, or early 1992 considering the date stamps of the resource files.

Originally posted by vladr Either I misunderstood, or you don't know how to run a game with VDMSound.

Hey...How come I don't get any credit on that? 😜

You may also need updated game sound drivers from Sierra since they crap out on fast machines...

Here's a strange one for you Vlad. I can't get digital audio using VDMSound no matter what I do.

The original or a GoSierra patched version (and I already heard of another person who swiped a more recent AUDBLAST.DRV from a more recent Sierra DOS game and that didn't work either).

The odd thing is that, once patched with GoSierra, it plays fine using XP's native emulation. Why would that be? Of course, the big downside is that (for me, and most others) it won't play the AdLib music.

MT32 works for DosBox, VDMSound, and native emulation. All are dreadful. Someday, "real" MT32 emulation will rescue us from this...

Went back to my Amiga version during testing...too bad the music and sound effects from that version can't be used. Functioning MT32 emulation should fix the music (later Amiga titles from Sierra used Roland samples and converted them into a form of MOD music), but even then it would still be missing the digital audio like the sound of the fire in the cave and the sound of taking coins from the money chest, etc... Unfortunately, Sierra didn't put a whole of effort on porting the graphics properly...

hello hello 😀

What I meant when I wrote "I can't save a game (or adventure), it was that, when I was under Dosbox, I managed to mount a drive, but I have to do this procedure everytime I want to play. Each time I close Dosbox, my mounted drive doesn't exist anymore and I have to recreate it. In that way, I meant that I can't save a game because I was not able to keep my own directory when I quit dosbox. But anyway, I've try another dosbox (on the dosbox website), it was doboxfro ver 0.45. With that file , all my game (at the moment) run perfectly , without a problem !!! (audio or graphic)

so thanks a lot everybody for your help !!

francki

Nicht Sehr Gut wrote:

Here's a strange one for you Vlad. I can't get digital audio using VDMSound no matter what I do.

When did this start happenning? Which games in particular?

V.

Originally posted by Unregistered Each time I close Dosbox, my mounted drive doesn't exist anymore and I have to recreate it.

Well then obviously you could save your games, it's just that you either were mounting your game's directory inconsistently (different drive letters or similar error) or that you simply were tired of having to mount the drive each time. You can create a batch file to automatically mount the drive, then start the game

But anyway, I've try another dosbox (on the dosbox website), it was doboxfro ver 0.45.

Actually, that's not another DosBox, but a "front-end" for DosBox. It simplifies operation for people who aren't very comfortable with the command line interface. Just be sure you don't delete your original DosBox installation.

Originally posted by vladr When did this start happenning? Which games in particular?

Err... that would be Robin Hood: Conquests of the Longbow by Sierra, the only game discussed in this thread. *heh*

I have yet to get Digital SoundBlaster audio from it when running with VDMSound. From a "clean install", it generates the "initialize" error (with or w/o VDMSound). After using GoSierra v3, the error disappears, but there is still no audio with VDMSound. After patching, the native SoundBlaster emulation in XP works fine.

Nicht Sehr Gut wrote:

Err... that would be Robin Hood: Conquests of the Longbow by Sierra, the only game discussed in this thread. *heh*

I have yet to get Digital SoundBlaster audio from it when running with VDMSound. From a "clean install", it generates the "initialize" error (with or w/o VDMSound). After using GoSierra v3, the error disappears, but there is still no audio with VDMSound. After patching, the native SoundBlaster emulation in XP works fine.

Any hints from the VDMSound log file? I assume it's the floppy version of the game, right?

V.

Originally posted by vladr Any hints from the VDMSound log file?

None. No errors, no warnings. I should clarify that the "initialize" error only goes away (after GoSierrav3 patching) under native XP emulation. When run with VDMSound, it's still there.

I assume it's the floppy version of the game, right?

Yes, that's all I have. Was there ever an "enhanced CD-ROM" release?

EDIT/UPDATE:
Looks like everyone missed this post over a month ago:
showthread.php?s=&threadid=1333

I checked into it, and he's right. Using Sierra's "updated" AUDBLAST.DRV gets rid of the "initialize" error, but replaces it with looping digital audio. GoSierra v3 does not help.