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C&C TD (95/Gold) Special Options

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A small question about the beta sound effects:

 

I noticed that any time that the file "SCZOUNDS.MIX" was actually contained in my C&C (DOS) directory, the "CHOOSE.WSA" (contained in the "TRANSIT.MIX" file) didn't play/display when starting a new game. This happens reguardless, if the beta sound effects are enabled or not in the GAME.NEW.

 

Any idea why that animation wouldn't play when the file is in my C&C directory? I had a looksie at it using Mix Manager, and all that is contained in the file are the actual beta sound effects (AUD format files).

 

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Hmm... I've had the "choose.wsa not showing" problem before in DOS C&C... I'd have to look into what actually caused it.

Edited by Nyerguds

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BTW, another that I noticed that doesn't play is the map selection screen (showing the GDI and NOD progression).

 

Hehe, made it sort of hard to figure out where to click on the (black) screen <G>.

 

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Yeah, I think it's a WSA reading bug. I know I've fixed it before, but I don't know how. As I said, I'll look into it when I got some more time

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hm... do you happen to have scores.mix in your C&C directory?

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hm... do you happen to have scores.mix in your C&C directory?

 

Sort of (indirectly).

 

I have kind of a strange C&C installation. I run it completely from the hard drive, and have the subdirectory "C&C\C&C_CDS" that contain the following files:

 

CONQUER.COV -> (Covert Operations' CONQUER.MIX file).

CONQUER.G&N -> (Stock C&C's CONQUER.MIX file).

DESERT.MIX -> (Stock C&C's DESERT.MIX file).

GENERAL.COV -> (Covert Operations' GENERAL.MIX file).

GENERAL.GDI -> (Stock (GDI CD #1) C&C's GENERAL.MIX file).

GENERAL.NOD -> (Stock (NOD CD #2) C&C's GENERAL.MIX file).

MOVIES.COV -> (Covert Operations' MOVIES.MIX file).

MOVIES.GDI -> (Stock (GDI CD #1) C&C's MOVIES.MIX file).

MOVIES.NOD -> (Stock (NOD CD #2) C&C's MOVIES.MIX file).

SCORES.MIX -> (Covert Operations' SCORES.MIX file).

SOUNDS.MIX -> (Stock C&C's SOUNDS.MIX file).

TEMPERAT.MIX -> (Stock C&C's TEMPERAT.MIX file).

WINTER.MIX -> (Stock C&C's WINTER.MIX file).

 

Contained in my main "C&C" directory are (amongst others) the following files:

 

GAME.COV -> (Hex-edited stock C&C "GAME.NEW" file).

GAME.GDI -> (Hex-edited stock C&C "GAME.NEW" file).

GAME.NOD -> (Hex-edited stock C&C "GAME.NEW" file).

 

I use a menu launcher of my own creation that copies one of the above three files to the filename GAME.NEW before the launcher starts C&C (depending on the set of missions that I wish to play).

 

These three files have been hex-edited to point to the non-standard filenames in my "C&C\C&C_CDS" directory, and I use the command "C&C -CDC&C_CDS\" in my launcher to start the game after one of the GAME.* files is copied to the GAME.NEW file.

 

So, I suppose the answer would be yes (as I use the "-CD" command line parameter when running C&C, so all of the files can run from my hard drive).

 

 

P.S. I don't know if this makes a difference, but I also have the following "MIX" files in my main "C&C" directory:

 

AUD.MIX -> (Stock C&C's AUD.MIX file).

LOCAL.MIX -> (Stock C&C's LOCAL.MIX file).

SC-000.MIX -> (Covert Operations' "Dino" missions SC-000.MIX file).

SC-001.MIX -> (Covert Operations' missions SC-001.MIX file).

SC-002.MIX -> (A little something of my own creation, all of the stock C&C GDI/NOD/Dino missions modified so that they can be selected from C&C's "New Missions" listbox).

SC-003.MIX -> (Various non-playable "INI" missions that will start the various C&C "hidden" songs using C&C's "New Missions" listbox).

SC-004.MIX -> (Contains the single sound effects file "TOSS.AUD").

SETUP.MIX -> (Stock C&C's SETUP.MIX file).

SPEECH.MIX -> (Stock C&C's SPEECH.MIX file).

TRANSIT.MIX -> (Stock C&C's TRANSIT.MIX file).

SCZOUNDS.MI_ -> (My launcher copies this one to "SCZOUNDS.MIX" before running C&C - if I enable the "Beta Sounds" hidden option within my launcher, and then deletes the file after exiting C&C).

 

The AUD.MIX (IIRC), and the SETUP.MIX files are so that I can run C&C's sound "Setup" program from my hard drive (using the "_SETUP.EXE" from the old C&C demo, the stock SETUP.EXE file calls/executes the _SETUP.EXE file when running it), without C&C griping about the CD not being in the CD-ROM drive.

 

Edited by Rich Nagel

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...you never heard of mix editing have you? You can just merge those general.mix files to contain both the GDI and Nod missions, and have one 100% playable no-cd setup.

 

Not to mention, the Covert Ops and GDI/Nod conquer.mix files are exactly the same (as are the GDI and Covert Ops general.mix).

 

For movies.mix, you can just keep the GDI or Nod one, check which videos from the other movies.mix files aren't inside it, extract these leftover videos from the other mix archives and put them in the "C&C_CDs" directory as bare .VQA files. That works perfectly, and saves about half a gigabyte of disk space.

 

On top of that, aud files work without being in a mixfile, so sc-004.mix isn't really necessary if you just put toss.aud in the game directory.

 

I doubt the setup program has a -cd option though... not to mention, if you're using DOSBox, you can just mount any directory as CDROM.

 

 

And no, as long SCORES.MIX is in the directory used as CD, and not in the main directory, there's no problem. C&C can't scan its subdirectories. I've only seen problems with it when it is in the game directory itself. I think it's a bug related to the sc*.mix reading (since SCores.mix is included in that). The sc*.mix reading happens BEFORE the scores.mix reading, meaning the file can't be read as being scores.mix anymore because it has already been read as being an sc*.mix file. C&C can't read the same filename twice.

Edited by Nyerguds

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Thanks for the in-depth reply, Nyerguds :)

 

 

...you never heard of mix editing have you? You can just merge those general.mix files to contain both the GDI and Nod missions, and have one 100% playable no-cd setup.

 

Actually, I relaized that I could have done this. I had previously created a 'custom' edition of C&C on two CDs that I simply have to copy to a hard drive to install, and I wanted to keep as many of the original unedited C&C files as possible (albiet the extension renaming, and GAME.NEW hex-editing) for nostalgia sake.

 

 

Not to mention, the Covert Ops and GDI/Nod conquer.mix files are exactly the same (as are the GDI and Covert Ops general.mix).

 

Thanks for the info :) That's exactly what I was thinking, but I wasn't sure. The CONQUER.MIX on the GDI and NOD CDs were exactly the same file byte-for-byte, but those two compared to the Covert Operations CONQUER.MIX file was slightly different (slightly different file sizes).

 

A while back I browsed the files using MixMan, but couldn't see any difference of the various resources/files contained in them. So I simply decided on using both of them (just in case I missed something that might cause a problem while playing the game).

 

 

For movies.mix, you can just keep the GDI or Nod one, check which videos from the other movies.mix files aren't inside it, extract these leftover videos from the other mix archives and put them in the "C&C_CDs" directory as bare .VQA files. That works perfectly, and saves about half a gigabyte of disk space.

 

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll definately have to do that (as it saves a lot of disk space) :)

 

 

On top of that, aud files work without being in a mixfile, so sc-004.mix isn't really necessary if you just put toss.aud in the game directory.

 

I had previously tried that with no luck at all. I tried copying the TOSS.AUD file to my main C&C directory (as well as my "C&C\C&C_CDS"), but the sound file never was played. The only way that I could hear it in-game was to put it into a MIX file. I thought that to be quite strange, but just figured it was something weird with C&C (or maybe my non-standard installation).

 

 

I doubt the setup program has a -cd option though... not to mention, if you're using DOSBox, you can just mount any directory as CDROM.

 

I'm not using DOSBox on any of my PCs. Two have Windows 98 SE (which run C&C without a hitch), and one (an old 486 DX2-100) still has MS-DOS v6.22.

 

You are correct, the setup program doesn't have a "-CD" command line parameter, but the stock "_SETUP.EXE" file (that is executed/called by C&C's "SETUP.EXE" file) will gripe about no CD being in the drive (even with all of the required files copied to your C&C directory on your hard drive).

 

Using the C&C demo version's "_SETUP.EXE" file solves this though, it runs the sound setup fine without looking for the CD.

 

 

And no, as long SCORES.MIX is in the directory used as CD, and not in the main directory, there's no problem. C&C can't scan its subdirectories. I've only seen problems with it when it is in the game directory itself. I think it's a bug related to the sc*.mix reading (since SCores.mix is included in that). The sc*.mix reading happens BEFORE the scores.mix reading, meaning the file can't be read as being scores.mix anymore because it has already been read as being an sc*.mix file. C&C can't read the same filename twice.

 

Thanks for the info :) I'm guessing that isn't the problem then with the WSA playback.

 

 

P.S. Another thing with (explaination of) my extremely strange sort of installation:

 

One reason that I used all of the original unedited MIX files (CONQUER.MIX/GENERAL.MIX/MOVIES.MIX etc...) was that I was concerned about multiplayer games as well. I was never really sure of what problems that I might cause by merging them, when playing multiplayer on another PC that was using a standard installation (that required the GDI or NOD CD in the drive).

 

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multiplayer has no problems with your mixfiles. The only thing that matters for multiplayer is the unit/structure/etc stats in the exe, and that all of the building build-up animations have the same amount of frames. Take my Star Wars mod... mods a ton of graphics and audio, yet it works perfectly online vs any normal unmodded player. But I used to have desync problems because some of my buildup animations didn't have the same amount of frames as those of the other player. That's obviously fixed now :)

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multiplayer has no problems with your mixfiles. The only thing that matters for multiplayer is the unit/structure/etc stats in the exe, and that all of the building build-up animations have the same amount of frames.

 

Thanks for the info :) I had a hunch that was the case, but was never really sure before.

 

 

Take my Star Wars mod... mods a ton of graphics and audio, yet it works perfectly online vs any normal unmodded player. But I used to have desync problems because some of my buildup animations didn't have the same amount of frames as those of the other player. That's obviously fixed now :)

 

Ya know, I never even realized that your were the one that created the SW mod (DUH! Stupid me!). Great job on the mod, I really enjoy it! :)

 

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@ Nyerguds,

 

FYI, I just figured out what the "Scrolling" option does :)

 

When this hidden option is enabled, the map will not autoscroll when the mouse cursor is over the "Options" or "Sidebar" tabs at the top of the screen. Works in the DOS version 1.22, dunno about the Windoze version though.

 

Just figgered ya might wanna know :)

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Wow, thanks for figuring that out :)

 

It works in C&C95, but not well... the width reserved for the buttons isn't changed from the DOS version, so it will only prevent scrolling on the left half of the options button and the right half of the sidebar button :P

 

But now that I know what the option actually does, that small error is probably easy to fix in the code, if I just track down the code connected to it :)

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Wow, thanks for figuring that out :)

 

Yer welcome, glad to be of help :)

 

 

It works in C&C95, but not well... the width reserved for the buttons isn't changed from the DOS version, so it will only prevent scrolling on the left half of the options button and the right half of the sidebar button :P

 

But now what I know what the option actually does, that small error is probably easy to fix in the code, if I just track down the code connected to it :)

 

For the DOS version I tried a few games with it enabled, as I was curious to see if there was any advantage when using it. For someone who uses mouse clicks to access the "Options" and "Sidebar" tabs, it would probably quite helpful... it prevents them from accidently scrolling the map when clicking on those tabs. I myself though simply use ESCAPE/SPACEBAR and TAB :)

 

Edited by Rich Nagel

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it's kinda handy.. especially since it only prevents scrolling up. The corner still works, as does the side of the button.

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well, I fixed the button width thing in C&C95. Again, thanks for the help :)

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Again, thanks for the help :)

 

No, thank *YOU* for taking the time to answer all of my numerous rambling questions within this thread, as well as in the 'Command Line Parameter' thread! :) It is really appreciated, as you have helped breathe new life into this game for me :)

 

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