Investigate playability issues with Wizardry: Bane of the Cosmic Forge (1990)

[Grounded0]

This game is listed as having a game specific build:

• Support game-specific builds of DOSBox #1671

Check if the game is working with the latest release of DOSBox Staging and have the core issues mentioned in the details been addressed and report back the results.

Code of Conduct & Contributing Guidelines

• Yes, I agree.

[johnnovak]

I'm interested in this as it's a most prestigious RPG, plus it's closely related to other DC offset induced click and pop issues I'm intending to look into anyway.

Related discussion:
#963 (comment)

Related issue:

• Audio popping in Entity game #3486

[vol-2]

IIRC, BOTCF always had crappy digital sound and it has no music. Just fyi it might behoove you to double check the issue isn't also present on original hardware. Though maybe you have a fix for that?

[johnnovak]

IIRC, BOTCF always had crappy digital sound and it has no music. Just fyi it might behoove you to double check the issue isn't also present on original hardware. Though maybe you have a fix for that?

Yeah, I'll test on hardware. And yes, we're aiming to fix sound issues at the emulator level (regardless of the hardware behaviour) if it's not intrusive and practical to do so.

[Grounded0]

@Python-Exoproject has flagged this as good for DOSBox Staging with approval pending from eXo. Since this is a legendary AAA title we'll probably want to do our own investigation that we're happy with the way the game works before closing this.

[johnnovak]

@Python-Exoproject has flagged this as good for DOSBox Staging with approval pending from eXo. Since this is a legendary AAA title we'll probably want to do our own investigation that we're happy with the way the game works before closing this.

Yeah I agree.

[johnnovak]

@Python-Exoproject

The default pcspeaker = discrete setting results in horrible clicks at the start and end of every audio sample. With the improved PC Speaker emulation, however, the clicks are greatly softened and I think we're getting the same results as in the hacked DOSBox with GC support.

[speaker]
pcspeaker = impulse

So this should be enough to migrate this over to Staging in eXoDOS.

Also note that our OPL emulation has been improved in the last few years, so you can configure the game for AdLib/OPL, and you'll get digital sound via OPL, which is also click-free. The sounds are a bit different in OPL mode, and there's more grunge to the sound, so you might wanna offer it as an alternative sound option.

Related: I think I will make pcspeaker = impulse the default later, and I might be able to come up with further Staging-special declicking options to improve this and other problematic games further. But it's enjoyable as it is now with pcspeaker = impulse.

[interloper98]

It's click city on a real DOS PC speaker: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=v38XPp-wokc&t=7m09s (7m 9s mark shows real PC speaker routed through the SB input line).

Nice to see dosbox's speaker is accurate (painfully so, in this case)!

[johnnovak]

It's click city on a real DOS PC speaker: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=v38XPp-wokc&t=7m09s (7m 9s mark shows real PC speaker routed through the SB input line).

Nice to see dosbox's speaker is accurate (painfully so, in this case)!

Haven't tested on real hardware yet, but I think impulse is closer while discrete is too exaggerated as it's simplistic digital emulation only.

That sounds quite horrible in the video, yeah... I guess when you don't route the digital out of the PC Speaker through the sound card but listen to the actual little PC Speaker acoustically in a room, the DC offset induced clicking is masked by the cheap little speakers so it becomes inaudible.

So discrete kinda emulates that, and impulse it more like what you hear through an actual little PC Speaker acoustically.

Well, I will introduce some more advanced general declicker anyway.

[Burrito78]

Wizardry.mov

It sounds normal, but its very annoying. :)

[johnnovak]

@Burrito78 That's through a real PC Speaker? Pretty annoying yeah... then my guess was wrong.

Well, pcspeaker = impulse sounds already better than that, which is good.

[Grounded0]

I understood the best sound option for this game is AdLib/OPL2. People should use the best available sound option.

[MasterO2]

Unless PC Speaker is the only sound option that a DOS game supports (such as Commander Keen 1 through 3), don't use PC Speaker for any DOS game at all.

[johnnovak]

Unless PC Speaker is the only sound option that a DOS game supports (such as Commander Keen 1 through 3), don't use PC Speaker for any DOS game at all.

PC Speaker and OPL are the only options for this Wizardry game.

I understood the best sound option for this game is AdLib/OPL2. People should use the best available sound option.

This game uses both the PC Speaker and the OPL as primitive DACs to output digital audio samples using some clever hacks, so the usual advice that OPL is better doesn't apply.

I found the digital audio via the PC Speaker to be better quality in this game, except for the clicking. But that's almost gone with pcspeaker = impulse.

The digital audio via OPL option results in lower quality sound (lower sample rate and more distorted), and not just that, there appear to be fewer sounds overall and some are slightly different than what you get with the PC Speaker option (to my ear, the samples themselves are different, which is peculiar).

[Grounded0]

Adding eXoDOS/Win3x Issue related to eXoDOS or eXoWin3x projects since the game is listed on eXoDOS megaticket:

• eXoDOS/Win3x compatibility megaticket #3646