Rich Nagel

Thanks for the info I had a hunch that it would be the GAME.DAT file. As far as performance, I think I also try it with C&C... the game gets a bit chuggy when I'm playing 'skirmish' mode type games, with 5 AI players and 50 units each (via my C&CHOE utility for the DOS version of C&C). Come to think of it, there are several games that I might try this on. One that comes to mind is Terra Nova. When there is a lot of things going on in the game, freamerate can get real choppy. It's another that uses DOS4GW, so's I might try it on that one as well

Here is the sound section of my REDALERT.INI: [Sound] Name=89 Card=e018 Port=220 IRQ=5 DMA=5 BitsPerSample=16 Channels=32 Reverse=0 Speed=1 Subtitles=0 Note that I had manually added the "Card=" type (for SB16 stereo sound effects)

What are your PC specs (and version of DOSBox)? DOSBox really takes quite a bit of pooter-power. Mine is no speed demon though; a P4-2.666GHZ with 512MB of RAM, but RA runs nicely on it anyway One thing that you could try; try lowering the "rate=" setting in your DOSBox.conf configuration file. I think that the default for DOSBox v0.74 is "rate=44100" (DOSBox v0.73 was "rate=22050")... so's what ever you have that set to, bump it down one. Sound quality won't be as good, but just like real hardware and DOS games running under real DOS, the higher the sampling rate, the more CPU power that ya need. BTW, I think I posted this in one of my other threads, but here is my DOSBox v0.74 DOSBox.conf configuration file for C&C (which is the same as what I use for RA): # 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 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=false 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=ch timed=true autofire=false swap34=true 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 MOUNT D D:\ -T cdrom 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 C: CD\C&C CALL CONQUER.BAT EXIT

Thanks for the info I'll check that out as well, and see if I performance improves.

Many thanks, Nyerguds... will try this ASAP/STAT! :)

That's strange... on my PC it seemed to help the load times a bit. Which dos32a extender do you use? I figger I'd try that one as well

No problem at all. I had a hunch that would probably not be do-able in the DOS version, but thanks for having a look for me Again, I have to give a big thanks for all the help that you have given me for enhancing the playability of my old DOS version of the game

Many thanks, Nyerguds!

A-OK

That would be super if you/he could add the feature to C&C95 and RA95 To me, it makes the game that much more enjoyable, as well as (like I said before) being real handy for quickly figuring out where the action is taking place Man (just like I posted in my other C&C sterero sfx thread), now if we/I could only have true 4-channel quad. surround sound <grin>.

I saw that the mods moved this thread... a million apologies for posting it in the wrong forum :rich_slaps_self:

Not only that, the DOS version uses the Human Machine Interfaces (HMI) drivers for sound (verses C&C95 which uses DirectSound/DirectX). So's unfortunately the "name=" and "card=" entries would have no effect. Damn shame though, as the stereo effect is quite cool. You can really hear things going on all around you, and it makes it easier to track down who/whom is firing at you

Thanks for the info, Nyerguds Yeah, sounds like it would be too difficult to do. I don't suppose though that there would be some easy edit to simply have only the AI enabled, reguardless of what was selected in-game for the multiplayer game type (and reguardless of the normal text on the buttons or their normal functions)? BTW, would you happen to know of the offset that disables (lowers the volume) of the music when a multiplayer game is started?

@Nyerguds, BTW, if you're still around and reading this; I don't suppose that you would happen to know the offsets (and hex edits) for C&C v1.22's GAME.NEW to enable 'Capture the Flag' with 'AI Players' enabled simultaneously (similar to your C&C95 patch)?

Actually, he did most of the work <grin>. With his help I had created a few goodies for C&C for DOS. Most notably a DOS QuickBasic utility to enable all of the hidden options for C&C (including disabling AI alliance in multiplayer games, and allowing you to start a LAN game with only one player... sort of a skirmish mode for DOS C&C). It's really fairly easy. Note that you'll need a fairly quick PC to run multiple copies of DOSBox and the game to keep the framerate smooth (I have a P4 2.66GHZ PC). Anyhow, what I did was to copy C&C to two seperate directories on my hard drive (e.g. "C:\C1\C&C" and "C:\C2\C&C"), as well as a copy of DOSBox to each of these directories. Each of the copies of C&C are setup to run from the hard drive (no CD needed). For "C1" I used the DOSBox 'mount' command (under the "[autoexec]" section) "MOUNT C C:\C1", and for "C2" "MOUNT C C:\C2". For "C1", in DOSBox's "DOSBox.conf configuration file, "ipx=true" under the "[ipx]" section, and "IPXNET STARTSERVER 213" under the "[autoexec]" section. For "C2", in DOSBox's "DOSBox.conf configuration file, "ipx=true" under the "[ipx]" section, and "IPXNET CONNECT 127.0.0.1 213" under the "[autoexec]" section. Ran both DOSBox's (in windowed mode), started a LAN multiplayer game with "C1", joined the game with "C2", and let 'er rip Note that you could also do the same using DOSbox's "serial2=nullmodem", and "serial2=nullmodem server:127.0.0.1". Anyhow, a few more screenies that I uploaded a while back of other games with DOSBox doing the exact same thing: http://www.cmoo.com/snor/weeds/Flight_Simu..._IPX_Driver.png http://www.cmoo.com/snor/weeds/Flight_Simu..._IPX_Driver.txt http://www.cmoo.com/snor/weeds/Flight_Simu...Multiplayer.png http://www.cmoo.com/snor/weeds/Flight_Simu...Multiplayer.txt http://www.cmoo.com/snor/weeds/Flight_Simu..._IPX_Driver.png http://www.cmoo.com/snor/weeds/Flight_Simu..._IPX_Driver.txt http://www.cmoo.com/snor/weeds/Flight_Simu...r_and_Ernie.png http://www.cmoo.com/snor/weeds/Flight_Simu...r_and_Ernie.txt

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, y'all!

I don't think this is 'old hat' <G> as I've yet to read anything on the Internet refering to it. One of the command line parameters in C&C's GAME.NEW and GAME.DAT files is "-ATTRACT". After looking around the 'Net, the only info that I could find on it was in a text file written by Nyerguds at http://nyerguds.arsaneus-design.com/cncstu...xt/ccparame.txt . Other unknown command line parameters are "-0" and "-X", but I have no idea what they do. Also, I have no idea if these command line parameters (as well as the "-ATTRACT" one are contained in C&C95 (as I only have C&C for DOS v1.22), but they may be. Anyhow, the "-ATTRACT" command line parameter starts C&C in a 'storefront' demo mode of sorts. After one minute of idle time at C&C's main menu, the game starts up map, and then begins to play C&C (complete with units/structures/infantry/etc...)! It looks just like if you were actually playing the game yourself, with units being selected, commanded, and with the map being scrolled accordingly. I'm not sure what map it is, but it appears to be SCM01EA (the multiplayer map "Green Acres")... unfortunately after about 45 seconds of gameplay, C&C crashes back to DOS with the error message "pure virtual function called!" I tried a fresh install on various PCs (including my old 486 native-DOS PC), but it always crashed after 45 seconds or so of the running demo... hence, I have no idea what would happen at the end of the mission (maybe it would start another map, and auto-play it as well?). One interesting tidbit, everytime that I started it (before the 45 second crash), the demo appeared to be doing the exact same thing (same unit selections/move commands/map scrolling/etc...), appearing to be some sort of pre-recorded demo 'macro' of sorts... maybe some kind of an unfinished 'demo recorder' of sorts within the game. Anyways, EXTREMELY cool looking! I just wish that it would continue without crashing. Like I said before, dunno if this is old hat (or if it's in C&C95), but I've never read anything on the 'Net refering to this. (edit) P.S. Something gives me the hunch that the "Record.bin" file contained in the "TRANSIT.MIX" file is the recorded demo... and was recorded by a guy named "bill" <G>. Although the utility "VQAtoAVI 2" reports this file as being "info for map screens (population etc)", I think it might be the recorded demo that plays back.

Ahh... thanks for the info I had a hunch that 'NOP' meant 'No Operation', but I wasn't sure. Nope, unfortunately that doesn't work either. I had a thought: I was thinking of using the old archaic DOS memory dumper/editor cheat utility "Game Wizard Pro", but unfortunately as I thought, C&C didn't like it much (hard lock ups when running the utility in the background with C&C). My hunch was that I could dump the memory at that address, and maybe with a bit of byte comparison, be able to determine the relevent offset in the GAME.NEW file. But alas, C&C didn't like 'sharing' with GWP <G>.

That one worked PERFECTLY, Nyerguds, MANY THANKS! BTW, by 'NOPing out the actual allying command' did you mean that would completely remove the allying feature? Although the enemies weren't allied (hehe, funny to see them have a 'swing' at each other <G>), I was still able to 'ally' with them (of course, the sentiment of the enemies wasn't mutual <G>). Yep, C&C was locked up hard as a rock. No biggie though, as I simply ALT+TABbed back to WinDoZe and teminated the DOS shell. When I was using the C&Cheat utility though, it crashes back to DOS with an error message (no lock up), with the standard DOS4GW memory-address crash-type info (a feature of C&Cheat, to provide info to the original author; if his utility was causing the problem or not). (Edit) Dunno if this will help or not, but here's the C&Cheat crash info (using the 'E10BF: 7D EB' hex-edit): DOS prompt error message: -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- C&C just crashed. If you believe that this crash was a result of a bug in C&Cheat, please run C&CHEAT.EXE immediately and fill out a bug report to notify the author of the problem. Thank you for your help. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Contents of CRASH.RPT: -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- DOS/4GW Professional error (2001): exception 0Eh (page fault) at 20F:84C2D783 TSF32: prev_tsf32 6B14 SS 217 DS 217 ES 217 FS 0 GS 28F EAX 8 EBX 7 ECX 6 EDX 8 ESI 8 EDI 84CDF929 EBP ED84C92D ESP 84C92C55 CS:IP 20F:84C2D783 ID 0E COD 6 FLG 10282 CS= 20F, USE32, page granular, limit FFFFFFFF, base 0, acc CFFB SS= 217, USE32, page granular, limit FFFFFFFF, base 0, acc CFF3 DS= 217, USE32, page granular, limit FFFFFFFF, base 0, acc CFF3 ES= 217, USE32, page granular, limit FFFFFFFF, base 0, acc CFF3 FS= 0, USE16, byte granular, limit 0, base 0, acc 0 GS= 28F, USE32, byte granular, limit 6144, base 85497000, acc 40F3 CR0: unavailable Crash address (unrelocated) = 1:0007B783 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Strange, same problem... this one locks up as well. FYI, just to remove any 'variables' from my testing, I've been testing it with a freshly installed copy of C&C that requires the CD in the CD-ROM drive, without the utility (that I normally use) "C&Cheat" installed, 'No sound' for the sound driver, and none of the other addons and other such stuff installed. BTW, (needless to say) the game actually starts up, but the lock up occurs when a network multiplayer game would actually start. Hehe, with all of the most excellent things that Nyerguds has done for my game, he is more than welcome to break it as much as he wishes, at his whim <G> :)

Unfortunately this locks up the game as well

Thanks for the info, Nyerguds! Unfortunately this causes C&C to lock up Just to ensure that we're on the same wavelength, the original bytes in the DOS v1.22 GAME.NEW (starting at offset E10A9) should be 'EB 03', correct?

Finally got off of my butt and uploaded some of my C&C stuff to one of my servers Some of the stuff is for the DOS version of Command and Conquer, but some of it should work OK with the Windows version. Surf here -> http://www.cmoo.com/snor/weeds/Command_and_Conquer/ , and enjoy

Whoops! I made a mistake <G>. I dug out my original install CDs, and my C&C install CDs are indeed v1.22 (GAME.NEW is v1.22, while the included GAME.DAT is simply 0 bytes - to prevent the Cov.Ops. installer from 'downgrading' the game), while the Covert Operations CD contains v1.20 of the GAME.DAT file. Anyhoo, the ZOUNDS.MIX file isn't included on any of these CDs.

Ahhhh, I understand now. Either way, renaming it to SCZOUNDS.MIX allows it to play with my DOS version of C&C when the beta sfx are enabled Nope. A fresh install of mine is v1.20. Hmmm... are there any other 'goodies' on the v1.22 CDs <G>? Thanks for the detailed explaination Strange that my 'rig' of a fix (the SC-999.MIX file with the WSA animations) would work. Hehe, really confuse folks with those DOS commands "COPY/B WHATEVER.PRN PRN" <G>. Not to mention, my old dot-matrix printer <LOL>!