exoscoriae
commented
2 weeks ago ok, so does Hyperspped need a new crack?
Hardnova: I have created a system that copies the savegame when you exit to a "savegame" folder, and then copies those files to each of the installs. My testing from the eginning of the game seems to show this works fine.
Opened a stand alone ticket for J.R.R.Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings (1990). Added a note to the run.bat file.
m1 tank platoon: I had to convert this to staging because I needed the autotype ability for the Desert Palette mod. Everything works great for me currently in the game, however I haven't tested it with the alt launcher.
Wizball = bymped cycles to 400. Still slows down, but not nearly as badly.
lots of work on this one. thank you very much for doing so much of it
Python-Exoproject
I have finished going through all the games in eXoDOS that had a conf with tandy=on. In the attached zip is a fix for each game to allow compatibility with the alt launcher and provided sound choices. For the majority this had no impact on the current main launch dosbox fork and just entailed moving the tandy=on from the conf to the run.bat. Any other discoveries, changes, or games that did require a move to Staging for main launch are discussed below.
eXoDOS.zip
Even though its not required for the changes, I have included the launch bat or .exo file in each games folder in my attached archive just for reference so that you can easily identify which game a folder is for.
Games with other changes
For these games on top of the conf and\or run.bat fix I discovered another issue and fixed it. The files required for the fixes are included in the above zip, the below are just descriptions of what I changed and why.
Altered Beast (1990) - Discovered while looking at this one that the tandy sound wasnt working even when selected, it was using pc speaker. Turns out tandy sound for this game only functions when machine=tandy. Ive setup an exception and required conf files to allow the user sound choice while fixing the tandy=on issue. No run.bat as sound choice is made in game.
Hard Nova (1990) - Has a new run.bat and conf to handle the tandy=on issue just like the rest but also might require another look in regards to its layout. Currently it has a copy of the game for each sound option, but this means that a character created when selecting Sound Blaster is completely separate from the copy of the game loaded when selecting MT32.
Hunt for Red October, The (1990) - Tandy sound driver was broken. Ripsaw via a request from Spectre repaired it and it I have included it along with the conf needed for alt launcher compatibility
Hyperspeed (1991) - I also removed the call to the crack TSR as its a bad crack as per https://github.com/exoscoriae/eXoDOS/issues/4793
J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings Vol 1 (1990) - Has a new run.bat and conf to handle the tandy=on issue just like the rest. There are two other items however. First, the tandy sound choice for the game was setup for tandy music but with soundblaster fx. I have included an updated game file that uses tandy for both. Second, the tandy sound option is terrible and ive discovered its because it only sounds as it should when machine=tandy and the game is set for TGA video. If this is implemented then its a significant improvement for the tandy option, however there is a catch. Whenever the actual gameplay starts dosbox crashes with an MCB chain error and even Stagings flags to allow dosbox to continue in the face of these errors wont overcome it. So we can either leave it as it is sounding terrible and not how it would have sounded on hardware, or remove the Tandy choice.
Leather Goddesses of Phobos 2 (1992) - Discovered while looking at this one that the tandy sound wasnt working even when selected, it was using sound blaster. Turns out tandy sound for this game only functions when machine=tandy. Ive setup an exception and required conf files to allow the user sound choice while fixing the tandy=on issue.
MechWarrior (1989) - Discovered while looking at this one that the tandy sound wasnt working even when selected, it was using sound blaster. Turns out tandy sound for this game only functions when machine=tandy. Ive setup an exception and required conf files to allow the user sound choice while fixing the tandy=on issue. I also discovered that MT32 sound choice was also not working due to mpu401=uart in the conf and fixed this as well
Super Tetris (1991) - Discovered that the MT32 sound option was using pc speaker for fx (once the music stops in game). Provided config file that will make the game use SB for fx. Usual conf to remove tandy=on provided, no new run.bat required as tandy isnt one of our provided sound choices (Its possible for the game but will mean an exception.bat and alt conf for machine=tandy as the tandy DAC option from the games setup requires tandy machine to work).
Tongue of the Fatman (1989) - Discovered while looking at this one that the tandy sound wasnt working even when selected, it was using sound blaster. Turns out tandy sound for this game only functions when machine=tandy. Ive setup an exception and required conf files to allow the user sound choice while fixing the tandy=on issue.
TV Sports - Boxing (1991) - Not an issue, just an unneeded file. There is a copy of the manual in the game zip making up the majority of the zip file size
Games that did require a main launch dosbox fork change to Staging
These games for the reasons noted below need to be moved to Staging to allow compatibility. Ive kept it to a minimum (16 out of 127) and only moved them when needed as I know you prefer not to spend time moving games over if they currently work anyway
Bad Blood (1990) - Game can do Innovation SSI-2001 sound so I set it up and provide the converted conf and edited run.bat, you already had the Innovation sound folder present
Bard's Tale Construction Set, The (1991) - Currently there are all sorts of issues with the sound in the game. Sound FX are tinny and full of pops (during battles for example), and the scroll speed of the text during battles is really slow for some of the sound choices (which turns out is caused by specific sound device combinations). I have experimented and found (with kcgens assistance) the best combinations of devices and in game options to avoid the worst of the issues. I have had to use Staging to allow some of its advanced features like tandy fade out to remove hanging notes that occasionally happened and give better quality Tandy. All required files provided
Bard's Lore, The - The Warrior and The Dragon (1998) - This game shares the same issues as the Bard's Tale Construction Set as its a module built using it. Same solutions, all files provided.
Bard's Lore II, The - The Dark Tower (1998) - This game shares the same issues as the Bard's Tale Construction Set as its a module built using it. Same solutions, all files provided.
Bard's Quest, The - Dungeons of the Unknown (1994) - This game shares the same issues as the Bard's Tale Construction Set as its a module built using it. Same solutions, all files provided. In addition I removed the Sound Canvas user choice as it was actually using the MT32 config and sound files and sounded horrible, there is no Sound Canvas option in the game installer. This means "Bard's Quest, The - Dungeons of the Unknown (1994)" will also need to be removed from the Sound Canvas playlist in LB
Bo Jackson Baseball (1991) - This one needs switching to Staging in dosbox.txt as on top of the tandy=on issue in the conf it also needs pcspeaker=impulse for alt launcher compatibility. Converted conf provided.
Games, The - Winter Challenge (1991) - This one needs switching to Staging in dosbox.txt as for the tandy to work it needs tandy=psg value in the conf for alt launcher compatibility. Converted conf provided
Hare Raising Havoc (1991) - The Soundblaster option for this game causes a freeze every other step the character makes. The game also allows PS/1 audio which sounds identical to the Soundblaster choice barring a little more scratchiness and has no frame freezes. Conf included to allow use of PS/1 audio and switch to Staging.
Hoyle Classic Card Games (1993) - This one needs switching to Staging in dosbox.txt as on top of the tandy=on in the conf it also needs lpt_dac=disney for alt launcher compatibility (Disney Sound Source is used with Tandy sound selection for the fx driver). Converted conf provided
Metropolis (1987) - This game was running on X as it was the only fork to play the sound properly. Staging now can do this as well so I have provided files to convert to Staging. I have also provided here (Metropolis.zip, courtesy of Spectre) copies of the booter IMA files for preservation. I do not recommend switching to using the booter version over the current .com conversion however for two reasons. First, the user will need to change disks, and second is the cycles will need to be played with to find the right speed for the voices to sound ok and other parts of the game to not be too fast. Neither Spectre nor myself could find a suitable setting that managed this. Considering the readme that comes with metropol.com discusses fixing speed issues this may not be a surprise.
Planet X3 (2018) - This game has a composite CGA mode that I hadnt setup. The composite setup requires Staging so files provided to convert and setup the composite choice. This can also be marked on the LB composite playlist. Since I was adding the structure for everything else I also added the Tandy graphics mode which has a slightly different palette.
Reader Rabbit 2 (1991) - This game was setup in run.bat wrong for the adlib choice to output adlib sound. As I also found the game can output IBM PS/1 audio I converted it to Staging and set it up as such.
Star Fleet II - Krellan Commander (1989) - This one needs switching to Staging in dosbox.txt as on top of the tandy=on issue in the conf it also needs pcspeaker=impulse for alt launcher compatibility. Converted conf provided.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II - The Arcade Game (1991) - The game had an in game Tandy sound option which required machine=tandy to work properly. I set all this up and have provided the exception and conf files. There is no run.bat as the choice is made in game. I converted to Staging to allow the use of autotype to navigate the Tandy menu selections and save the user the trouble or chance of selecting wrong mode when machine=tandy
TV Sports - Basketball (1990) - This one needs switching to Staging in dosbox.txt as on top of the tandy=on issue in the conf it also needs pcspeaker=impulse for alt launcher compatibility. Converted conf provided.
Ultima VI - The False Prophet (1990) - The run.bat had some ECE specific tweaks for the sound blaster option that are better left on default values in Staging. Also needed pcspeaker=impulse. Converted conf provided.
Wizball (1987) - This one needs switching to Staging in dosbox.txt as on top of the tandy=on issue in the conf it also needs pcspeaker=impulse for alt launcher compatibility. Converted conf provided. This game may also need its cycles examined. For now ive kept them the same as they were in ECE (cycles=300) but this game is one of those ones where the game speed depends on whats happening on screen. If you have a few objects on screen and start to change direction while shooting it can slow down significantly. This was true in ECE as well.