Rich Nagel

Thanks for the info, that's sort of what I figured. Heh, sure wish I had a copy of their debug version (RA as well as original C&C) <grin>

Heh, a little update on the slow loading terrain editor for DOS... I accidently executed the DOS editor (EDDOS.EXE) while in Windows XP (SP2). I normally run most DOS things under DOSBox, as a lot of the older DOS stuff has a tendancy to choke WXP (sometimes even causing a reboot <aarrgghh>). Anyhow, the DOS editor not only runs perfectly when ran/shelled from WXP, but it loads 1000% INSTANTLY!

Folks, Today I've been playing around with the DOS version of C&C Red Alert. A couple of small discoveries/hints: Similar to my thread for C&C for DOS here -> http://forums.cncnz.com/index.php?showtopic=10594 , Red Alert also supports stereo for sound effects playback... really sounds nice in conjunction with my Sound Blaster Live's EAX reverb and CMSS surround-sound You can use the same instructions in that thread to enable them in RA as well. I've been using DOSBox v0.74 to run RA, and here are the required lines in the REDALERT.INI file to enable the stereo sound effects playback: [Sound] Name=89 Card=e018 Port=220 IRQ=5 DMA=5 BitsPerSample=16 Channels=32 Reverse=0 Speed=1 Subtitles=0 ... and here is my custom DOSBox.conf configuration file that I use that includes the required sound card settings (as well as other stuff, such as running the game with mounted CD ISOs): # This is the configurationfile for DOSBox 0.74. (Please use the latest version of DOSBox) # Lines starting with a # are commentlines and are ignored by DOSBox. # They are used to (briefly) document the effect of each option. [sdl] # fullscreen: Start dosbox directly in fullscreen. (Press ALT-Enter to go back) # fulldouble: Use double buffering in fullscreen. It can reduce screen flickering, but it can also result in a slow DOSBox. # fullresolution: What resolution to use for fullscreen: original or fixed size (e.g. 1024x768). # Using your monitor's native resolution with aspect=true might give the best results. # If you end up with small window on a large screen, try an output different from surface. # windowresolution: Scale the window to this size IF the output device supports hardware scaling. # (output=surface does not!) # output: What video system to use for output. # Possible values: surface, overlay, opengl, openglnb, ddraw. # autolock: Mouse will automatically lock, if you click on the screen. (Press CTRL-F10 to unlock) # sensitivity: Mouse sensitivity. # waitonerror: Wait before closing the console if dosbox has an error. # priority: Priority levels for dosbox. Second entry behind the comma is for when dosbox is not focused/minimized. # pause is only valid for the second entry. # Possible values: lowest, lower, normal, higher, highest, pause. # mapperfile: File used to load/save the key/event mappings from. Resetmapper only works with the defaul value. # usescancodes: Avoid usage of symkeys, might not work on all operating systems. fullscreen=true fulldouble=false fullresolution=original windowresolution=original output=surface autolock=true sensitivity=250 waitonerror=true priority=highest,highest mapperfile=Command and Conquer Red Alert Key Mapper.txt usescancodes=true [dosbox] # language: Select another language file. # machine: The type of machine tries to emulate. # Possible values: hercules, cga, tandy, pcjr, ega, vgaonly, svga_s3, svga_et3000, svga_et4000, svga_paradise, vesa_nolfb, vesa_oldvbe. # captures: Directory where things like wave, midi, screenshot get captured. # memsize: Amount of memory DOSBox has in megabytes. # This value is best left at its default to avoid problems with some games, # though few games might require a higher value. # There is generally no speed advantage when raising this value. language= machine=svga_s3 captures=capture memsize=63 [render] # frameskip: How many frames DOSBox skips before drawing one. # aspect: Do aspect correction, if your output method doesn't support scaling this can slow things down!. # scaler: Scaler used to enlarge/enhance low resolution modes. # If 'forced' is appended, then the scaler will be used even if the result might not be desired. # Possible values: none, normal2x, normal3x, advmame2x, advmame3x, advinterp2x, advinterp3x, hq2x, hq3x, 2xsai, super2xsai, supereagle, tv2x, tv3x, rgb2x, rgb3x, scan2x, scan3x. frameskip=0 aspect=false scaler=normal2x [cpu] # core: CPU Core used in emulation. auto will switch to dynamic if available and appropriate. # Possible values: auto, dynamic, normal, simple. # cputype: CPU Type used in emulation. auto is the fastest choice. # Possible values: auto, 386, 386_slow, 486_slow, pentium_slow, 386_prefetch. # cycles: Amount of instructions DOSBox tries to emulate each millisecond. # Setting this value too high results in sound dropouts and lags. # Cycles can be set in 3 ways: # 'auto' tries to guess what a game needs. # It usually works, but can fail for certain games. # 'fixed #number' will set a fixed amount of cycles. This is what you usually need if 'auto' fails. # (Example: fixed 4000). # 'max' will allocate as much cycles as your computer is able to handle. # # Possible values: auto, fixed, max. # cycleup: Amount of cycles to decrease/increase with keycombo.(CTRL-F11/CTRL-F12) # cycledown: Setting it lower than 100 will be a percentage. core=auto cputype=auto cycles=max cycleup=10 cycledown=20 [mixer] # nosound: Enable silent mode, sound is still emulated though. # rate: Mixer sample rate, setting any device's rate higher than this will probably lower their sound quality. # Possible values: 44100, 48000, 32000, 22050, 16000, 11025, 8000, 49716. # blocksize: Mixer block size, larger blocks might help sound stuttering but sound will also be more lagged. # Possible values: 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 512, 256. # prebuffer: How many milliseconds of data to keep on top of the blocksize. nosound=false rate=22050 blocksize=1024 prebuffer=20 [midi] # mpu401: Type of MPU-401 to emulate. # Possible values: intelligent, uart, none. # mididevice: Device that will receive the MIDI data from MPU-401. # Possible values: default, win32, alsa, oss, coreaudio, coremidi, none. # midiconfig: Special configuration options for the device driver. This is usually the id of the device you want to use. # See the README/Manual for more details. mpu401=none mididevice=default midiconfig= [sblaster] # sbtype: Type of Soundblaster to emulate. gb is Gameblaster. # Possible values: sb1, sb2, sbpro1, sbpro2, sb16, gb, none. # sbbase: The IO address of the soundblaster. # Possible values: 220, 240, 260, 280, 2a0, 2c0, 2e0, 300. # irq: The IRQ number of the soundblaster. # Possible values: 7, 5, 3, 9, 10, 11, 12. # dma: The DMA number of the soundblaster. # Possible values: 1, 5, 0, 3, 6, 7. # hdma: The High DMA number of the soundblaster. # Possible values: 1, 5, 0, 3, 6, 7. # sbmixer: Allow the soundblaster mixer to modify the DOSBox mixer. # oplmode: Type of OPL emulation. On 'auto' the mode is determined by sblaster type. All OPL modes are Adlib-compatible, except for 'cms'. # Possible values: auto, cms, opl2, dualopl2, opl3, none. # oplemu: Provider for the OPL emulation. compat might provide better quality (see oplrate as well). # Possible values: default, compat, fast. # oplrate: Sample rate of OPL music emulation. Use 49716 for highest quality (set the mixer rate accordingly). # Possible values: 44100, 49716, 48000, 32000, 22050, 16000, 11025, 8000. sbtype=sb16 sbbase=220 irq=5 dma=1 hdma=5 sbmixer=true oplmode=none oplemu=default oplrate=22050 [gus] # gus: Enable the Gravis Ultrasound emulation. # gusrate: Sample rate of Ultrasound emulation. # Possible values: 44100, 48000, 32000, 22050, 16000, 11025, 8000, 49716. # gusbase: The IO base address of the Gravis Ultrasound. # Possible values: 240, 220, 260, 280, 2a0, 2c0, 2e0, 300. # gusirq: The IRQ number of the Gravis Ultrasound. # Possible values: 5, 3, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12. # gusdma: The DMA channel of the Gravis Ultrasound. # Possible values: 3, 0, 1, 5, 6, 7. # ultradir: Path to Ultrasound directory. In this directory # there should be a MIDI directory that contains # the patch files for GUS playback. Patch sets used # with Timidity should work fine. gus=false gusrate=22050 gusbase=240 gusirq=5 gusdma=3 ultradir=C:\ULTRASND [speaker] # pcspeaker: Enable PC-Speaker emulation. # pcrate: Sample rate of the PC-Speaker sound generation. # Possible values: 44100, 48000, 32000, 22050, 16000, 11025, 8000, 49716. # tandy: Enable Tandy Sound System emulation. For 'auto', emulation is present only if machine is set to 'tandy'. # Possible values: auto, on, off. # tandyrate: Sample rate of the Tandy 3-Voice generation. # Possible values: 44100, 48000, 32000, 22050, 16000, 11025, 8000, 49716. # disney: Enable Disney Sound Source emulation. (Covox Voice Master and Speech Thing compatible). pcspeaker=true pcrate=22050 tandy=off tandyrate=22050 disney=false [joystick] # joysticktype: Type of joystick to emulate: auto (default), none, # 2axis (supports two joysticks), # 4axis (supports one joystick, first joystick used), # 4axis_2 (supports one joystick, second joystick used), # fcs (Thrustmaster), ch (CH Flightstick). # none disables joystick emulation. # auto chooses emulation depending on real joystick(s). # (Remember to reset dosbox's mapperfile if you saved it earlier) # Possible values: auto, 2axis, 4axis, 4axis_2, fcs, ch, none. # timed: enable timed intervals for axis. Experiment with this option, if your joystick drifts (away). # autofire: continuously fires as long as you keep the button pressed. # swap34: swap the 3rd and the 4th axis. can be useful for certain joysticks. # buttonwrap: enable button wrapping at the number of emulated buttons. joysticktype=none timed=true autofire=false swap34=false buttonwrap=false [serial] # serial1: set type of device connected to com port. # Can be disabled, dummy, modem, nullmodem, directserial. # Additional parameters must be in the same line in the form of # parameter:value. Parameter for all types is irq (optional). # for directserial: realport (required), rxdelay (optional). # (realport:COM1 realport:ttyS0). # for modem: listenport (optional). # for nullmodem: server, rxdelay, txdelay, telnet, usedtr, # transparent, port, inhsocket (all optional). # Example: serial1=modem listenport:5000 # Possible values: dummy, disabled, modem, nullmodem, directserial. # serial2: see serial1 # Possible values: dummy, disabled, modem, nullmodem, directserial. # serial3: see serial1 # Possible values: dummy, disabled, modem, nullmodem, directserial. # serial4: see serial1 # Possible values: dummy, disabled, modem, nullmodem, directserial. serial1=directserial realport:com1 serial2=disabled serial3=disabled serial4=disabled [dos] # xms: Enable XMS support. # ems: Enable EMS support. # umb: Enable UMB support. # keyboardlayout: Language code of the keyboard layout (or none). xms=true ems=true umb=true keyboardlayout=auto [ipx] # ipx: Enable ipx over UDP/IP emulation. ipx=true [autoexec] # Lines in this section will be run at startup. # You can put your MOUNT lines here. @ECHO OFF MOUNT C C:\GAMES IMGMOUNT D "C:\GAMES\REDALERT\Command and Conquer Red Alert Allied Disk.iso" "C:\GAMES\REDALERT\Command and Conquer Red Alert Soviet Disk.iso" -T iso VER SET 7 10 SET PATH=C:\;C:\DOS;C:\FED;GM_RESET;C:\NC;C:\NE;C:\NU;C:\PATH;C:\PKZIP;C:\TEMP;Z:\ SET TEMP=C:\TEMP SET TMP=C:\TEMP SET DOS4GVM=DeleteSwapFile:0,SwapFileName:REDALERT.SWP,SwapInc:0,SwapMin:20M,VirtualSize:20M C: CD\REDALERT RA.EXE EXIT Lastly, of special interest, note the: SET DOS4GVM=DeleteSwapFile:0,SwapFileName:REDALERT.SWP,SwapInc:0,SwapMin:20M,VirtualSize:20M line above. Seems that even with DOSBox set up to emulate 64MB of RAM, RA *still* requires a 20MB swap file everytime the game is ran (and deletes it when exiting the game). Using that line creates a permanent DOS4GW swap file that doesn't get created and deleted each time that the game is run, and makes startup/loading a bit faster and smoother (edit) What gave me the idea to do that was from a flashback I had the other day <grin> about how I used to run DOS C&C on my old 486DX-100 ( http://www.cmoo.com/snor/weeds/Weeds_486DX4-100.htm )... I used the same method to make loading faster, especially when the above-said PC had only a 50MHz CPU.

Many thanks, Nyerguds... you da man! Hehe, you know me... I like living dangerously LOL!

Will do, thanks for the link

Thanks for the info, gonna give that a try next Hehe, excellent! That's what I was thinking. No biggie though, as a simply CTRL+F9 in DOSBox terminates the DOSBox session instantly. Hehe, now I just *KNOW* that *YOU* know what my next question is gonna be, right LOL?! Do I even need to ask <grin>?

Hehe, I forgot I posted my reply above... quite interesting LOL! One thing I discoverd: although you can't control the units with your mouse in the usual way, you can press N (next unit) and then G (guard) to get them moving and doing something. BTW, do you know of any way to load another map other than Allied mission 1? Or how to exit (I had to "hard" exit DOSBox; CTRL+F9; to exit the game)? Heh, any more little secret goodies that you know of, Nyerguds <grin>? Needless to say, one of the things I previously checked was my (in)famous "ATTRACT" thing... it didn't do anything though (unlike the original C&C), although it is indeed in RA's GAME.DAT executable.

Thanks for the info That would explain that BASE64 looking data that I saw in the RA MPR and INI files.

...and yet another RA newbie question: Is there a way (or utility) to convert multiplayer maps created for the original C&C so that they can be used in RA (something along the lines of a BIN/INI to MPR converter)?

Thanks for the info, Nyerguds

Hehe, me thinks he's messing with our minds <grin>. Needless to say, as an RA newbie (and one who is quite gullible), I'll be spending the next hour or so "RA EDITOR <ENTER>"...test..."RA EDITOR <ENTER>"...testing... etc... LOL! AFAIK you'll need the Counterstrike addon for the Ant Missions.

P.S. The RA MPR files (as well as the single-player mission INI files) appear not to have a matching terrain/overlay BIN file (like the original C&C does). In the RA MPR and INI files there are two sections "[MapPack]" and "[OverlayPack]" (as well as a smaller section called "[Digest]"), and at first glance the entries below those sections appears to be BASE64 encoded data.

When I saved a blank map using the RA map editor the result was a single file with the extension of "MPR". After having a look at the file it indeed appears to be similar to C&C's INI files, but with the original C&C you need the INI file as well as a BIN file for the actual map terrain. So's, I'm kind of confused... If I have a map for C&C with the filenames TEST.INI and TEST.BIN, do I simply rename the INI to TEST.MPR, and then copy both the MPR and the original BIN in RA's directory on my hard drive?

Thanks for the info, that's what I figured... that the (few) things I read on the Internet were bogus.

One thing that I noticed: The DOS map/terrain editor for RA loads MISERABLY slow under DOSBox. I also tried embedding DOS32A in the editor's EDIT.DAT executable, but had the same results. Am I doing something wrong, or is it simply a side effect of running the editor under DOSBox? I'm assuming that in native DOS, it wouldn't load so painfully slow (even on a fairly quick 486 class machine).

BTW, just got around to testing out (embedding) DOS32A with RA/CS/AM, and it definitely helps with load times, considerably moreso than my afore-mentioned permanent swap file setting for DOS4GW

Interesting find, Nyerguds I seem to remember when I initally set up my 'custom' install of C&C, I had to use the demo's setup proggie... can't remember why, but the one included on the regular C&C CD didn't work properly. My memory fades, but I could be thinking of the SETUP.MIX file though... can't really remember. Either way, the final result was something that I could always run setup at a later time strictly from my hard drive to reconfigure the sound device. Will do. Shoot me an email to [email protected] and I'll reply with an attached ZIP

Thanks for te info, Nyerguds

Sorry about the late reply, I should have got back to you MUCH sooner. Yes, it works PERFECTLY! Again, MANY THANKS! :)

I'm really not sure if it was all that rare. I remember seeing the exact same CD boxed set for quite some time... Office Max (and the local software retailers) at the time had quite a few of them in stock way back when. Yeah, I wish I had never returned it. It wasn't all that long after (maybe less than a year or so) when I upgraded that old 486 DX-50 to a DX4-100 (actually, a bus speed of 50, so's more like 2-100), which would have been more than adequate to run it.

Eons ago I had purchased RA1. It shipped on two CDs (of course), and IIRC was DOS-only. I remember that it REALLY chugged on my old 486DX-50 at the time, and promptly returned the game for a refund. Heh, that shows you how long ago that was... back when you could return software for a refund LOL!

Well, the higher video rez of them sure looks nice Again, the higher video res looks nice, but I guess I've been playing DOS DOOM for too long to really enjoy it LOL!

Another possible suggestion: Try setting up DOSBox to emulate a standard Sound Blaster (not Pro/16/etc...) in conjunction with setting the "rate=" to 22050, as well a only 8-bit. Then configure RA for the same; an 8-bit regular Sound Blaster. That to might help with stuttering, as in theory, it would take less CPU power

It's just got something about it... I dunno. I'm the same way with a lot of other games: I play vanilla DOS DOOM more than any of the Windows ports, always liked SimCity 2000 for DOS better than the Windows versions (except for the extra zoom-in level that they have), and for that matter, had a lot more fun with SC2K than SC3KU. Another that comes to mind, Monopoly Deluxe for DOS verses the Windows version. While the Windows version is *supposed* to be a direct port of the DOS version, the DOS version blows the crap out of the Windows version... _extra_ features, easier interface, and smoother gameplay. Now that I'm thinking about it as well, Air Traffic Controller (a.k.a. TRACON by Wesson International): LOVE the DOS version... ABSOLUTELY **HATE** the Windows 3.1 and Windows 95 versions! Of course, Nyerguds patches for C&C95 are extremely tempting... put's my measly "C&C Hidden Option Utility" to shame LOL!

FWIW, I tried it with Terra Nova, but had random crashes with the game when using DOS32A. I then tried it with DOS C&C, and it indeed helped framerate a bit (when I was 'skirmish-ing'), but... it totally destroys my C&CHOE utility LOL, so's I don't think I'll normally use DOS32A with it.