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Zork seriesZORK NEMESIS: Windows 8 and Sound(4 posts)solved(4 posts)solved
(4 posts)solved
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This is my favourite topic
Posted February 10, 2014
For the most part, the game works, but I am experiencing some weird scratchy sound that may start at any moment and it wont go away once it starts.

I find it difficult to edit the DosBox configurations, I tried to fix sound card values and the game would not load at all. I also edited the values on the video application for screen resolution: Launch Graphic Mode Setup
and it also failed to load :(

So far this worked for the last time I launched the game:

-OpenGL (I don't even know if my computer is capable of using it)
-640x480 resolution

I left everything else the way it was. I am just afraid that the video values I changed have nothing to do with the scratchy sound and that it will happen again when I least expect it.

My computer specifications are attached on the image, thanks!!

Lil


EDIT: Another screenshot is now included, I was able to download a program that tells my OpenGL version. Thanks!
Attachments:
computer_specs.png (91 Kb)
opengl_check.png (39 Kb)
Post edited February 10, 2014 by molokaicreeper
This question / problem has been solved by DeMignonimage
Posted February 10, 2014
avatar
molokaicreeper: For the most part, the game works, but I am experiencing some weird scratchy sound that may start at any moment and it wont go away once it starts. ...
Sound crackling can happen, when DOSBox hasn't got enough CPU resources to process audio, e.g. if cpucycles is set too high, or something suddenly starts "stealing" CPU, or if you are using software resize for very large resolutions, or by some weird multi-core scheduling issue.

Hit Alt+Enter to switch into windowed mode, as it changes the way resources are allocated a bit, which could be enough to stop the crackling. (Hit Alt+Enter again to go back to fullscreen)

Close other software while playing, especially anti-virus and security suites (go offline before, if you feel unsafe).

If you use the game's start link "Launch Zork Nemesis - The Forbidden Lands" it uses the DOSBox configuration from this file: dosboxZorkNemesis.conf

Things you could try:
Increase blocksize, e.g.
blocksize= 4096

Make sure your soundblaster is set to SoundBlaster 16, as the game uses 16 bit sound and on 8 bit cards it has to be sampled down on the flow, which costs processing power.
sbtype=sb16

Set cycles to auto or a fixed value instead of max, to reduce CPU usage. In case of a fixed value, you'll have to experiment to get the minimum value needed for smooth gameplay. I'd try auto first.
cycles=auto
Post edited February 10, 2014 by DeMignon
Posted February 12, 2014
avatar
molokaicreeper: For the most part, the game works, but I am experiencing some weird scratchy sound that may start at any moment and it wont go away once it starts. ...
avatar
DeMignon: Sound crackling can happen, when DOSBox hasn't got enough CPU resources to process audio, e.g. if cpucycles is set too high, or something suddenly starts "stealing" CPU, or if you are using software resize for very large resolutions, or by some weird multi-core scheduling issue.

Hit Alt+Enter to switch into windowed mode, as it changes the way resources are allocated a bit, which could be enough to stop the crackling. (Hit Alt+Enter again to go back to fullscreen)

Close other software while playing, especially anti-virus and security suites (go offline before, if you feel unsafe).

If you use the game's start link "Launch Zork Nemesis - The Forbidden Lands" it uses the DOSBox configuration from this file: dosboxZorkNemesis.conf

Things you could try:
Increase blocksize, e.g.
blocksize= 4096

Make sure your soundblaster is set to SoundBlaster 16, as the game uses 16 bit sound and on 8 bit cards it has to be sampled down on the flow, which costs processing power.
sbtype=sb16

Set cycles to auto or a fixed value instead of max, to reduce CPU usage. In case of a fixed value, you'll have to experiment to get the minimum value needed for smooth gameplay. I'd try auto first.
cycles=auto
---

Thank you so much for your help, I followed your advise and I have been playing without this issue for a while. It seems to have disappeared. I saw in another thread someone recommended using "ddraw" as the output in the dosbox configuration file.

So I set it:

output=ddraw

I really see no significant difference, is there? Still that's graphic related so, I am guessing it should not affect the sound? This laptop seems to be OpenGL compatible, I mean I dunno if this is one of those settings from the old days where people would label all their soundcards as "sbpro" due to it being a more accurate general setting.

I dunno, or maybe I am worrying too much. lol

Thanks so much!!
Lil

EDIT: ^ "I really see no significant difference, is there?" -- Yes, the scratching sound is back with "ddraw", so I changed it to OpenGL once again. Been playing for 1/2 hour with no sound interference.
Post edited February 12, 2014 by molokaicreeper
Posted February 12, 2014
avatar
molokaicreeper: Thank you so much for your help, I followed your advise and I have been playing without this issue for a while. It seems to have disappeared.

I saw in another thread someone recommended using "ddraw" as the output in the dosbox configuration file. I really see no significant difference, is there? Still that's graphic related so, I am guessing it should not affect the sound? ...
You're welcome, great to hear it works! DirectDraw and OpenGlide are for graphics only. What could make the difference is how good the one or the other runs on your system in terms of system utilization. In my experience, OpenGlide makes a better job for DOSBox, but as I've said, it also depends on your system.
Post edited February 12, 2014 by DeMignon
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Zork seriesZORK NEMESIS: Windows 8 and Sound(4 posts)solved(4 posts)solved
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