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Baldur's Gate seriesOdd sound problem under BGEE 1&2(13 posts)(13 posts)
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Posted November 11, 2015
Hi,

I have an odd sound problem with the 'enhanced' editions of BG 1&2.

BG1EE:
When I start a game and walk around, the bloke or girl I happen to be controlling only acknowledges commands very rarely - waiting until he or she has finished acknowledging also helps sometimes - however, the tutors and the girl for whom you are supposed to find a book also stay numb (o.k. I did not try further...) - the classic non-EE version, however, works fine.

BG2EE:
When I start a game, there is no speech until the golem comes. After the other one has said something like 'no matter, they will only be a slight delay' and he vanishes the game hangs - and stays that way until you press Alt-F4 and then click on cancel - then things continue and work fine (o.k. I only checked until Imoen starts to talk...). Here also the classic version works fine.

However, in both cases, the problems disappear when I change my sound device from Soundblaster X-Fi to Nvidia Geforce via my telly (I use a telly as monitor).

And particularly with BG2EE I also have sound artifacts during video clip playback (e.g. the intro).

The funny thing is that both BGEE games are supposed to be using OpenAL for playing sound - and who coughed that up? Creative! and they also use it for their EAX 3D sound stuff under Vista or later... Normally you would expect the X-Fi to work flawlessly under OpenAL and these two games so far are the only ones where I have this kind of problem. (The problems occur regardless of which mode the card is in (Games or Entertainment), speaker set-up (5.1 or 2.0), or audio set-up (32bit/96kHz or 16bit/48kHz).)

By the way, yes I am using the most recent (Win 10 compatible) driver version ;-). Updating did not help.

It would be nice if the folks at Beamdog could look into the matter of sound playback. From what I have read on the net, it would appear that there are a number of sound chips (e.g. Realtek) with similar problems. And despite of the age of both games, there still are problems.

Cheers
Patrick

P.S.: Similar things happen with Icewind Dale EE.
Post edited November 11, 2015 by patricklibuda
Posted November 11, 2015
The enhanced editions have had audio issues (it's not a Creative issue) from day one. Don't hold your hopes out on getting a fix after all this time.
Posted November 11, 2015
avatar
Hickory: The enhanced editions have had audio issues (it's not a Creative issue) from day one. Don't hold your hopes out on getting a fix after all this time.
At least it seams they are still coming up with patches (fairly recently one for BG2EE at least) so with a bit of luck we might ;-).
Posted November 11, 2015
avatar
patricklibuda: At least it seams they are still coming up with patches (fairly recently one for BG2EE at least) so with a bit of luck we might ;-).
Riiiight... and these issues have been with us since 2012 release. We probably won't.
Posted November 11, 2015
avatar
patricklibuda: At least it seams they are still coming up with patches (fairly recently one for BG2EE at least) so with a bit of luck we might ;-).
avatar
Hickory: Riiiight... and these issues have been with us since 2012 release. We probably won't.
have since got a reply on the Beamdog forum (posted the the same original message there as well) according to which they actually might ;-)
Posted November 11, 2015
avatar
Hickory: Riiiight... and these issues have been with us since 2012 release. We probably won't.
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patricklibuda: have since got a reply on the Beamdog forum (posted the the same original message there as well) according to which they actually might ;-)
Link?
Posted November 12, 2015
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patricklibuda: have since got a reply on the Beamdog forum (posted the the same original message there as well) according to which they actually might ;-)
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Hickory: Link?
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/687085/#Comment_687085

near the bottom
Posted November 12, 2015
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Hickory: Link?
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patricklibuda: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/687085/#Comment_687085

near the bottom
Well, I'm glad that reply leaves you feeling optimistic, because to me it looks like a "it's not our fault" brush off, even though the very same .bik movies have no issues in the original games, and this problem is exclusive to Beamdog Enhanced Editions.
Posted November 12, 2015
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patricklibuda: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/687085/#Comment_687085

near the bottom
avatar
Hickory: Well, I'm glad that reply leaves you feeling optimistic, because to me it looks like a "it's not our fault" brush off, even though the very same .bik movies have no issues in the original games, and this problem is exclusive to Beamdog Enhanced Editions.
At least they did not just say 'sod off, the X-Fi is ancient anyway' ;-). Alright, it is but it still sounds brilliant and thanks to Alchemy basically every programme supporting DirectSound hardware mode can also run in hardware mode under Vista and later... That is why it would be nice if the folks at Beamdog were to be so nice as to sort out the sound issues. After all, to be honest, it is not exactly Witcher 3 ;-). If the original versions work fine so should the supposedly enhanced versions.
Post edited November 13, 2015 by patricklibuda
Posted November 13, 2015
avatar
patricklibuda: If the original versions work fine so should the supposedly enhanced versions.
Precisely my point. It's not a Creative problem, it's a Beamdog problem.
Posted November 13, 2015
avatar
patricklibuda: If the original versions work fine so should the supposedly enhanced versions.
avatar
Hickory: Precisely my point. It's not a Creative problem, it's a Beamdog problem.
the only programme from the classic Baldur's Gate et al. series where EAX does not work with Alchemy is Planescape Torment - these Black Isle folks really should be ashamed of themselves ;-)

hardware 3D sound quite simply has punch and - provided that you turn the volume loud enough - can almost blow your roof off or at least really delight your neighbours ;-)

(ironically the spiritual successor to the Baldur's Gate series, Pillars of Eternity, works fine)
Post edited November 28, 2015 by patricklibuda
Posted April 23, 2016
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patricklibuda: If the original versions work fine so should the supposedly enhanced versions.
avatar
Hickory: Precisely my point. It's not a Creative problem, it's a Beamdog problem.
Update: Have since got round to trying out the 2.0 patch - BG2EE. While there was still crackling in the programme intro, at least the game intro played without any sound artifacts. However, the in-game intro (before Imoen comes) still hangs - however, there you can at least get round the problem by pressing Esc.

So, looks like they are slowly getting there ;-).

One of these days might also try the 2.1 patch.

Soundwise the original version still is much better. Hardware 3D sound is just so much better!
Posted April 24, 2016
avatar
patricklibuda: Hi,

I have an odd sound problem with the 'enhanced' editions of BG 1&2.

BG1EE:
When I start a game and walk around, the bloke or girl I happen to be controlling only acknowledges commands very rarely - waiting until he or she has finished acknowledging also helps sometimes - however, the tutors and the girl for whom you are supposed to find a book also stay numb (o.k. I did not try further...) - the classic non-EE version, however, works fine.

BG2EE:
When I start a game, there is no speech until the golem comes. After the other one has said something like 'no matter, they will only be a slight delay' and he vanishes the game hangs - and stays that way until you press Alt-F4 and then click on cancel - then things continue and work fine (o.k. I only checked until Imoen starts to talk...). Here also the classic version works fine.

However, in both cases, the problems disappear when I change my sound device from Soundblaster X-Fi to Nvidia Geforce via my telly (I use a telly as monitor).

And particularly with BG2EE I also have sound artifacts during video clip playback (e.g. the intro).

The funny thing is that both BGEE games are supposed to be using OpenAL for playing sound - and who coughed that up? Creative! and they also use it for their EAX 3D sound stuff under Vista or later... Normally you would expect the X-Fi to work flawlessly under OpenAL and these two games so far are the only ones where I have this kind of problem. (The problems occur regardless of which mode the card is in (Games or Entertainment), speaker set-up (5.1 or 2.0), or audio set-up (32bit/96kHz or 16bit/48kHz).)

By the way, yes I am using the most recent (Win 10 compatible) driver version ;-). Updating did not help.

It would be nice if the folks at Beamdog could look into the matter of sound playback. From what I have read on the net, it would appear that there are a number of sound chips (e.g. Realtek) with similar problems. And despite of the age of both games, there still are problems.

Cheers
Patrick

P.S.: Similar things happen with Icewind Dale EE.
On the two setups I've had problems in, replacing my OpenAL files with OpenAL Soft has worked perfectly.

You might be able to get away with placing the OpenAL Soft files in your game directory too, not needing to replace system files, but I haven't tried.
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Baldur's Gate seriesOdd sound problem under BGEE 1&2(13 posts)(13 posts)
(13 posts)