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Wing Commander seriesWing Commnader 3 - how to config it properly...(16 posts)(16 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted March 23, 2013
Dear folks at GOG,

I do not understand some of the configs that you ship your games with. Take WC3 for a start. I was speechless about the default setup, in particular as I also own the CD version of the game (and have been running it under DOSBox) - why did I purchase your version as well - pretty simple a: I do support your very laudable efforts, b: I wanted to have a look at how you'd setup your respective versions. And to make a rather long story very short I was rather shocked about the way you set up your version (!). So here is what I would recommend to anyone instead!!!

a) go to your WC3 directory and delete the WC3.cfg (very important indeed !!!) - then you can set up the game properly again... just run the game again and you will get the original setup routine...

for music use Rolad RAP10/SCC1 (!!! - DOSBox emulates stuff for free that used to cost a fortune at the time so when using DOSBox if possible always (!!!) try General Midi/Synth/Yamaha XG for music and SB16 for sound (!!!-!!!-!!!-!!!)) and do not (!!!-!!!-!!!-!!!) waste your time with SoundBlaster/Adlib music if better stuff is on offer...

for sound use Sound Blaster 16

in both cases leave setup parameters (address, IRQ, etc.) as they are...

before that you should edit the DOSBoxWC3conf.cfg file in your WC3 directory:

fullscreen=true
fulldouble=true
fullresolution=1280x960
windowresolution=1280x960
output=openglnb

(1280x960 is 2x 640x480 and also looks good on a modern Hires TV - my monitor conked out one and half years ago so I got myself a 32" telly (HDMI) instead and I have never looked back (!!!)... (with a telly set it to 50/60 Hz and then the internal frequency multiplying stuff (100Hz, 200Hz, 400Hz etc.) works and kicks in...)

and further down

frameskip=0
aspect=true
scaler=normal2x

core=auto
cycles=30000
cycleup=1000
cycledown=1000

With these settings the game plays virtually the same as it used to on my old 486 and also sounds the same (!!!) as it used to with my Sound Canvas DaughterBoard / Terratec Maestro3296 plus SB16 Soundcard...

(My current system: Core i7-3770, Nvidia 570GTX with 16GB memory plus SB X-Fi Titanium PCI-EXpress sound card (most of my games are older and I quite like EAX))

P.S.: Thanks you to the folks at GOG for supplying the DVD version of WC4 - yes, I also own the CD version but the video stuff in the DVD version looks a lot better even than WC4_95 plus no scanlines...

P.P.S.: Should Openglnb not work try Direct3D...
Post edited March 24, 2013 by patricklibuda
Posted April 29, 2013
Wow... are you getting smooth space flight (including launching from the hangar) at 30.000 cycles? I needed to crank cycles up to 100.000 - 150.000 to get smooth gameplay (does play perfectly now though) but maybe I am missing a resource-hogging setting somewhere in DOSBox? This on a i7 3.33Ghz.
Posted May 04, 2013
This may sound nuts, but perhaps different computers need different configurations.
Posted May 04, 2013
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sndwv: Wow... are you getting smooth space flight (including launching from the hangar) at 30.000 cycles? I needed to crank cycles up to 100.000 - 150.000 to get smooth gameplay (does play perfectly now though) but maybe I am missing a resource-hogging setting somewhere in DOSBox? This on a i7 3.33Ghz.
Hi,

90000 e.g. also works fine but then the joystick configuration stuff fails to work - 30000 is a good compromise - however, setting the cycles to 30000 during configuration and 90000 during the game also works as a little trick - with joystick!

as far as graphics is concerned I have learnt to steer clear of surface and opt for openglnb instead (should the screen around dosbox flicker try enabling anti-aliasing in your graphics driver settings - at least that trick worked for me (by the way, it also works in Grand Prix Legends if you choose opengl... :-))
Posted May 04, 2013
Thanks for the info. Hadn't noticed the joystick problem yet, but that is indeed the case. The cutscenes also start to stutter slightly at higher cycles for me. I now have DOSBox set at 30.000 and cycleup/-down at 70.000 - works great!
Posted May 04, 2013
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sndwv: Thanks for the info. Hadn't noticed the joystick problem yet, but that is indeed the case. The cutscenes also start to stutter slightly at higher cycles for me. I now have DOSBox set at 30.000 and cycleup/-down at 70.000 - works great!
one stupid questions regarding cycles - do you use auto, normal, or dynamic?


P.S.: 90000 / auto also drastically shortened the time between parts of videos being played - e.g. elevator sequence if you move about the ship

P.P.S.: I forgot to mention that once you have calibrated the joystick in the game you can set the DOSBox config file in the WC3 directory to higher values as e.g. 90000 and the joystick still works - provided that timed is set to true
Post edited May 04, 2013 by patricklibuda
Posted May 04, 2013
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patricklibuda: one stupid questions regarding cycles - do you use auto, normal, or dynamic?
The core setting? I have it set to auto.
Posted May 04, 2013
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patricklibuda: *snip*
Wait:
You want to tell me that it´s possible to play Wing Commander III in good resolutions?!
That would be awesome!
Can you please post a screenshot of it running in 1280x960 ?
Posted May 04, 2013
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patricklibuda: *snip*
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RadonGOG: Wait:
You want to tell me that it´s possible to play Wing Commander III in good resolutions?!
That would be awesome!
Can you please post a screenshot of it running in 1280x960 ?
Filling in here: nope; the game will always output it's graphics in 640x480 as it was designed, but you have some control over where and how the upscaling (blowing it up to fit the higher resolution of your TV or monitor) takes place. This can be done by DOSBox, your video card driver (depends) or your monitor (also depends), each producing subtly different results. Depends on preference, the game's output resolution and the resolution and aspect ratio of your display what works best for you.
Posted May 04, 2013
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patricklibuda: *snip*
avatar
RadonGOG: Wait:
You want to tell me that it´s possible to play Wing Commander III in good resolutions?!
That would be awesome!
Can you please post a screenshot of it running in 1280x960 ?
it does not run in 1280x960 - it runs in 640x480 scaled up via opengl and looks just as it used to under proper DOS on a Pentium - sorry for the misunderstanding... I use 1280x960 because it is exactly 2x (4x) 640x480


P.S.: @sndwv: looks like while I was typing my reply you posted yours - thanks :-)
Post edited May 04, 2013 by patricklibuda
Posted May 04, 2013
avatar
RadonGOG: Wait:
You want to tell me that it´s possible to play Wing Commander III in good resolutions?!
That would be awesome!
Can you please post a screenshot of it running in 1280x960 ?
avatar
sndwv: Filling in here: nope; the game will always output it's graphics in 640x480 as it was designed, but you have some control over where and how the upscaling (blowing it up to fit the higher resolution of your TV or monitor) takes place. This can be done by DOSBox, your video card driver (depends) or your monitor (also depends), each producing subtly different results. Depends on preference, the game's output resolution and the resolution and aspect ratio of your display what works best for you.
I already thought the latest version of DosBox could have included support for unlimited ingame-resolutions...
This would have simply be to awesome to be real...
;)
Posted May 04, 2013
avatar
sndwv: Filling in here: nope; the game will always output it's graphics in 640x480 as it was designed, but you have some control over where and how the upscaling (blowing it up to fit the higher resolution of your TV or monitor) takes place. This can be done by DOSBox, your video card driver (depends) or your monitor (also depends), each producing subtly different results. Depends on preference, the game's output resolution and the resolution and aspect ratio of your display what works best for you.
avatar
RadonGOG: I already thought the latest version of DosBox could have included support for unlimited ingame-resolutions...
This would have simply be to awesome to be real...
;)
nice idea, unfortunately, if at all, it would only work with 3D stuff...
Posted May 04, 2013
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RadonGOG: I already thought the latest version of DosBox could have included support for unlimited ingame-resolutions...
This would have simply be to awesome to be real...
;)
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patricklibuda: nice idea, unfortunately, if at all, it would only work with 3D stuff...
I could live with scaled interface ;)
That´s no problem for me and I´m using similar fixes for other games. But I´ve never found such a thing for DosGames...
But those developers must have written down resolutions in some place....
Posted May 04, 2013
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patricklibuda: one stupid questions regarding cycles - do you use auto, normal, or dynamic?
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sndwv: The core setting? I have it set to auto.
a nice way to test whether your cycle rate for WC3 is too high is to delete the config file and run the setup stuff again - if the rate is too high the music in the setup menu (and probably also in the game...) plays slower (!), which means that if the music speed is o.k. it is likely that the game speed would be as well (try it out and you might be able to use even more than 70000 - use Roland Rap10 / SCC-1. (do not waste your time with Soundblaster / Adlib music !!!) for music and try it out yourself
Posted May 04, 2013
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patricklibuda: a nice way to test whether your cycle rate for WC3 is too high is to delete the config file and run the setup stuff again - if the rate is too high the music in the setup menu (and probably also in the game...) plays slower (!), which means that if the music speed is o.k. it is likely that the game speed would be as well (try it out and you might be able to use even more than 70000 - use Roland Rap10 / SCC-1. (do not waste your time with Soundblaster / Adlib music !!!) for music and try it out yourself
Cool, I'll give it a go. I did notice midi music stuttering or slowing down with some other games (happens at cycles=max and very high fixed cycle counts).
Post edited May 04, 2013 by sndwv
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Wing Commander seriesWing Commnader 3 - how to config it properly...(16 posts)(16 posts)
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