Hi, I've made a new patch for the music problem of Outcast that some of us have

PLEASE DON'T USE THIS PATCH IF THE MUSIC WORKS WELL

The first patch I did about this wasn't really a patch, It was a trick to avoid to lower the hardware sound acceleration (in dxdiag) each time we wanted to play the game. But lowering the hardware sound acceleration doesn't come free, and the game just doesn't sound as well as it should, also changing the balance between music and sounds doesn't work very well

Well, this is a real patch, not a trick, this is a patch to try (XD) to fix this problem, now the game should sound as it was meant to sound, like it sounds in the lucky PCS that don't have this problem XD

PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THAT THIS PATCH WAS REALLY HARD AND TRICKY TO MAKE, AND ALTHOUGH I THINK IT SHOULD WORK IN ALL OPERATING SYSTEMS AND CONFIGURATIONS I CAN'T GUARANTEE IT, SO, IF IT DOESN'T WORK FOR YOU, I'M SORRY, I DID MY BEST.

The patch can be installed and removed, so You can try it and if it doesn't work You can remove the patch and let the game as it was before the patch

This patch is totally independent of my hi-res/640x480 patches, so You can install it right away

Well, I hope that it works well, if don't, I'm sorry, this is very tricky to do

Kind regards

LINK TO DOWNLOAD
-----------------------------

Sometimes the link is unavailable for short periods of time. Sorry about that, I don't know why. Maybe that happens when the file has been downloaded a certain number of times. It it says temporarily unavailable please try again later:


NEW:

It seems that maybe this is not going to work for all the sound cards. It works in my pc

Since It works for me, It's even more complicated to try to find why It doesn't work for others

I'd need to have more feedback about this. If You have tried the patch and it worked or it didn't. Could You please post Your Sound card model. I'd appreciate that.


DON'T WORRY, IF THE PATCH DOESN'T WORK, YOU CAN ALWAYS REMOVE THE PATCH AND LET THE GAME AS IT WAS BEFORE THE PATCH


V2a: --- OR --- [url=http://www.megaupload.com/?d=U4UCABZT]HERE





Kind regards

Downloading the new version now, I hadn't even noticed the lack of 3d sound - I guess I don't expect it in such an old game.

Thanks again for your work, and continued work making this work - may I suggest contacting GoG directly and suggesting they bundle your patch with the game? I'd do it for you, but I guess you might have your reasons for not wanting this version promoted for official use =)

I've not played Outcast again for a while - distractions and not finding the right mood - but when I do, I'll endeavor to come back and report on how well this version works.

Thankyou very much, Zenger. Thanks to both GOG.com and your awesome patches, I'm finally able to be blown away by Outcast again. Looking forward to test this when I hit Adelpha later today :)

Thank you for this cool patch, Zenger. However, when I apply the patch and then try to start Outcast, the loading screen flashes by quickly (but seems to load completely), scales down to "framed" mode in its finished state and then the game hangs and won't continue (or just crashes). (BTW I didn't use your other music patch at the same time, only your hi-res patch) So is it just my (admittedly old and a little messed up) pc or is there some kind of problem?

Best Regards ZfreakX

Hi ZfreakX, I'm _Zenger_, I can't log with my user right now

Sorry to hear that, This patch is extremely delicated and complex I'm afraid, What is Your operating system?, what version of DirectX do yo have installed?

If You remove the patch all works again, doesn't it?

Kind regards

If someone else try the patch and it works, or doesn't, please could You post the operating system, version of DirectX and the model of Your sound card?, I'd appreciate that

Thank you very much

Kind regards

Of course :)

Operating System: Windows XP SP3
DirectX: Version 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
As for my type of soundcard, I'm not really sure, because it's a cheap 5.1 surround card, but in my system configuration it says "CMI8738/C3DX PCI Audio Device". Additionally, I have an onboard Realtek AC '97 soundchip, but uninstalling didn't help. And yes, removing the patch fixed the problem.

Best regards ZfreakX

Hi ZfreakX, thank You very much for Your answer

It's kind of surprising, You have the same operating system and DirectX version than me, It's the last scenario I would imagined this patch to fail, and makes me wonder if there is a particular problem with your pc or ths patch It's only going to work in my PC, wich wouldn't be very useful

I need more data I'm afraid XD, If someone else has tested the patch and it worked (or don't)please let me know, don't worry, the patch can be removed with a button click so everything goes as it was before

Kind regards

Hi ZfreakX, could You please try the new version I posted in the first message?

Thank you very much

Kind regards

Hi ZfreakX, I've been working on this and I thought of something, Do You have the EAX option checked in the game options?, if so, could You please uncheck it and try again?

Thank you very much

PS: Sorry for all this, but since this doesn't happen to me It's even more hard to try to find the problem

Kind regards

Dear Zenger,

Thanks for your dedication that you put into this patch.
If you have a knack for this, maybe you should apply to work at Gog.com
On a side note, maybe it's useful to create a list of Soundcards/ Soundchips that will accept your patch.
I 've downloaded your patch V3. Will report back to you if it works on my Intel/ Realtek audiochipset. I see that ZfreakX is also using a Realtek chipset, so that might be interesting for him/ her as well.
Can't boot to Windows straight away, need to finish some things first on my main Linux system, so this might take some time before I get to this.

Hi jorlin, I'm _Zenger_ , I can't log with my user right now.

Thank You very much for Your answer jorlin

Please, if You test the patch let me know, It would be great :D beacuse You have the same sound card as me, so It would be a great test to see if it works for somebody XD, beacuse if it works for You, the problem could be beacuse the program must be following a different flow with other better soundcards, I don't know, seems that way, because the game crashes and that indicates me what is going wrong, that, or that this isn't working for anyone but me XD, so, I'd like to know if it works for anybody

Anyway, I have done the V3 patch to try to guess this other route that some sounds cars are following, It would be great if ZfreakX could test first the V2a patch, and if it crashes, remove that v2a patch and then test the V3 and see what it does.

Altough You have the same (or very similar) sound card than me, if You test the V3 patch and It works well, could You please remove the patch (this is very important), install the V2a and try again?, please, always remember that a patch must be removed before applying the next

Anyway, thanks again for testing jorlin, sadly, since it works for me, it is harder to know what is going wrong, and I'd need some feedback, but of course, only test it if You have time and when You have time

Kind regards

Dear Zenger,

I've tested both patches. Both work perfectly for me :-) .
I could not find any difference between your 2 patches' functionality.
Tested:
- Intro: OK
- Ingame music: OK
- 3D effects: hardly noticeable. Actually sounds better when 3D sounds are off.
- Sound effects: OK

Sound hardware:
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) HD Audio Controller as soundchip on my motherboard
This is also known as the Realtek ALC1200
The Linux driver for it is called intel-hda

Hardware Platform:
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
4GB DDR2 RAM
Motherboard: Asus P5Q

Windows version that has been tested with Outcast: WinXP SP3 32 Bit.

Hi jorlin, I'm _Zenger_ , I can't log with my user right now.


Thank You very much for testing them and write down all the info, now I know that the patch is working for someone :D, and that is really great :D.

So, if there are sounds cards (like seems to be the case of ZfreakX) in wich this patch don't work, It should be because the code takes another route with them. I hope the V3 version of the patch hits the spot and fix this other route.

If someone test the patches and the V2a doesn't work but the V3 works well please tell me, that would mean that the V3 hit the second route and that V3 would be the final patch


Kind regards

Hi Zenger,
thanks a lot for the effort you have poured into this one. Unfortunately I have headed for another continent three days ago and thus won't be able to test your new patch anytime soon. I'm really sorry about that, but I'm gonne be away for five months. Nevertheless I'll give it a shot as soon as I'm back home, so thanks in advance.

Best regards ZfreakX