Precedence: Bulk Date: Fri, 15 Oct 93 0:49 MDT Errors-To: ultrasound-owner@dsd.es.com From: ultrasound-server@dsd.es.com (Ultrasound Server) Reply-To: ultrasound@dsd.es.com (Ultrasound Daily Digest) Subject: Ultrasound Daily Digest V7 #14 Ultrasound Daily Digest Fri, 15 Oct 93 0:49 MDT Volume 7: Issue 14 Today's Topics: 2nd Reality 2nd Reality on 3 systems - hot program Assault's Result. Best $$$ I've Spent! CGW Sound Card Article division between music and games? (2 msgs) Dolby ProLogic in 2nd Reality DOOM (2 msgs) Flashback with SBOS 3.60 Gunnar's comments GUS and Xwing... Gus as drum machine GUS works with OS/2 CD Player! Here's where to get memory upgrade Lockups in 2nd Reality Mail Flood & Game Support memory/Interplay Memory Upgrade MidiSoft Recording Session Music and Games NHL Hockey Problem with Prince of Persia 2? Replies to mail assault Seal Team Second Reality: Grab It! Second Reality Lockup Splitting the Digest Subject: Syndicate This, that, and the other thing... Ultrasound and QEMM Ultrasound Daily Digest V7 #13 (3 msgs) Standard Info: - Meta-info about the GUS can be found at the end of the Digest. - Before you ask a question, please READ THE FAQ. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 15 Oct 93 11:51:55 +0900 From: Alberto@ishiilab.dnj.ynu.ac.jp Subject: 2nd Reality Quoting from yesterday's digest: >> Ultrasound Daily Digest Thu, 14 Oct 93 0:49 MDT Volume 7: Issue 13 >> ------------------------------ >> Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1993 12:33:13 -0500 (EST) >> From: sjm@se01.elk.miles.com (Scott Mark) >> Subject: 2nd Reality >> [...stuff deleted...] >> After the spinning head, after the box with the shades on the sides, the >> screen changes to a horizon, shading toward the back of the screen, and >> several small spheres drop from the top. They get about halfway down. >> >> Then the system freezes. Ctrl-Alt-Del doesn't work, I have to bash the >> reset button. Might there be some way to skip over this portion? >> >> It's a great demo, I'd like to see the rest of it. Of course, I can use >> second -4 to see the tail part, but I still miss some things. >> >> For the record, I've got Gravis 1MB, Ati Ultra Pro VESA 2MB, on a >> gateway 486-DX2-66V. 16MB. DOS 6. 386MAX. When I try without >> 386MAX, the lockup happens just before those spheres appear- so >> evidently 386MAX buys me something. I'm also having the same problem, at the same point. However, running from SECOND 3, it goes smoothly. My setting is very similar: - no-brand 486-DX2 66 Mhz, 16 Mb - ATI Ultra Pro VESA 2 Mb - GUS 1 Mb at 7,7,15,5 - DOS 6 Tried both with and without QEMM (I'm using 6.01), and plain AUTOEXEC/CONFIG. --- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alberto Tomita Junior alberto@ishiilab.dnj.ynu.ac.jp YOKOHAMA NATIONAL UNIVERSITY tel: +81-45-335-1451 ext. 2906 Div. of Electrical & Computer Eng. fax: +81-45-338-1157 156 Tokiwadai, Hodogaya-ku Yokohama 240 JAPAN home: +81-45-743-3680 (tel & fax) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 Oct 1993 00:18:27 -0600 (CST) From: E33GLASSER@sask.usask.ca Subject: 2nd Reality on 3 systems - hot program Tried this amazing program on 3 GUS equipped computers: 386-25 - 8 MB - 340 HD - Trident 8900c - Speed: approx. 50 mph. 486-33 - 8 MB - 240 HD - ATI Ultra + - Speed: approx. 70 mph. 386-33 - 4 MB - 210 HD - Trident 8900c - Speed: approx. 30 mph. So why is the 386-33 so slooow? With everything else, that computer works faster than average. The only real difference is RAM... ------------------ - Neil Danylczuk - ------------------ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 Oct 1993 16:37:11 +1000 (EST) From: int341m@lindblat.cc.monash.edu.au (Shan Yap) Subject: Assault's Result. Greetings, Sorry for taking such a long time to post this result, my school works have stuff up my time AGAIN. First and foremost I like to say that our so called Assault is NOT a "flaming" campaign (I have specifically said so in my first message), all we have sent are "legitimate" e-mails which urge the various publishers to support GUS, not offence e-mails with "F*** you Origin" as the subject line. Just want to make that clear to some people. For those of you who want to know, there are 59 people who has participated in our Assault and e-mailed me. I wouldn't say that this is a lot of people, but it's sure is a lot more than what I had thought two days ago (considering that there are still some number of people who only e-mailed the publishers). Now that we have done our part, it's up to the software publishers to decide! Three cheers for our efforts! :-) So far I have only received three responses : --------------------------------------------------------------- FROM SSI: Greetings, SSI DOES support GUS. We have since DarkSun, and will continue to support the card (I'm getting one soon)! Wave is the future...FM is fading! -Steve SSI ------------------------------------------------------------------- FROM ACCESS: In the future, Access Software will support all major sound cards in native mode.' -------------------------------------------------------------------- FROM MICROPROSE: Thank you for your letter regarding the Gravis UltraSound. We are currently looking into the card and may support it in future products. Best, Brian/MicroProse -------------------------------------------------------------------- I am sure many of you have got that too. Though these responses are pretty "standard" stuff with no details given, but as Phat has pointed out, it is the action of our mass mailing which may get reported to a higher management level that counts. I have got myself a few "nasty" messages for my "call for action", OTOH I have received a few "good" ones, but I have "enjoyed" them all the same. Don't you just LOVE this NET! And last but not least Long Live GUS! :-o. >From: deraud@power.amasd.anatcp.rockwell.com (Robert Lee DeRaud) >Subject: Get a life! >>From: int341m@aurora.cc.monash.edu.au (Mr K.S. Yap) >>Subject: GUS Assault - Disappointing Responses. >>Greetings, >> As of the time when I write this, I had only received e-mails from 20 >>people telling me that they are in the Assault. 20 people ! Come on! I am >>sure we can do better than THAT! >Gee, which would you rather have: people sending email to the game >companies or people sending email to pat you on the back? I'm sure a few >of us out here have jobs, families, and/or lives. The only reason why I asked people to send me e-mail is because I want to keep track of the number of participants in this assault, I know that some of us, because of our own participation, would be interested in knowing the actual number of "comrades" we have (don't expect you to undestand this, after all you are not one of us), and I am just trying to provide that information! Pat me on my back? Gosh, where do you get this idea from? Shan. int341m@lindblat.cc.monash.edu.au Share and Prosper. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1993 20:11:59 -0600 (CST) From: sed@skorpio.usask.ca (Sed Account) Subject: Best $$$ I've Spent! With the rash of unconstructive criticism and Verbal Vandalism that has appeared in the digest lately, this 'lurker' has decided to make his first post: I had a sound blaster for several years and upgraded to a GUS last year. My GUS installed as easily as my SB and rewarded me with an astounding sound quality increase. I also bought a MIDI interface which I never could bring my self to do with just my sound blaster. I've found my self upgrading my amp, headphones and speakers, and rearranging my computer room to fully appreciate the sound of the GUS. The ironic part of all this... the GUS ended up being one of the lowest priced components in my upgrade! I remember people complaining about not getting any response from Gravis, after sending their registration cards... well it's over 3 years now and I haven't heard a peep from Creative Labs. Gravis not only sent out an upgrade package but also personally phoned me when my order for the MIDI interface was delayed. My Ultrasound has truly been an adventure for me. I always look forward to seeing what new incredible demo or utility will come out, and all the while knowing that the power of the card has not been fully exploited yet. It makes my sound blaster look as multi-function as a toaster :-) I don't have to debate whether I would recommend the card to friends... I just show them some utilities, games or Windows and they're asking where they can buy it! After playing Space Quest 5 with the new Sierra drivers, I am far more pleased than any sound card owner I know. Any complaints or reservations I have over this card will totally be gone as full native support is provided by companies. I hope that the GUS continues to get more companies supporting it and taking advantage of it's capabilities. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1993 08:43 -0400 From: WADLEIGH@PROCESS.COM Subject: Re: CGW Sound Card Article >We're sorry to hear you were disappointed with our recent sound card >survey. We've received several messages from others who, like yourself, >feel the report was inadequate. All we can do is offer our apologize and >tell you that we hope to rectify any aggregious errors in future issues. Makes you rather doubt the journalistic merits of a staff that can't even spell "egregious" properly. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Oct 93 11:34:07 +0100 From: fasching@iue.tuwien.ac.at (Franz Fasching) Subject: Re: division between music and games? Hi all, hi Richard! rford@infocomp.csir.co.za wrote: > Before I launch into boring background and lose anyone who might have a > comment, let me cut to the chase...what are the chances/logistics/other? > involved in splitting the GUS group into music and games? I personally would appreciate very much splitting up the GUS group into music and games. It's annoying to have to browse through all messages in the digest to filter out the music-related ones... I *do* like to play a game once in a while, but it's not that important, if a game won't work with the GUS. The card's sampling and MIDI capabilities are by far more important to me, than any game support. Regards, Franz Fasching fasching@iue.tuwien.ac.at ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Oct 93 14:40:51 -0700 From: peter@netcom.com (Peter Davies) Subject: Re: division between music and games? Emboldened by Mr.Ford's posting to the list, I reveal that I too am also a GUS owner without gamester credentials. Indeed, I can only echo his eloquent plea for a division in the list. I wonder if the gamesters feel let down when the perpetual requests for classification of Mega-em and SBOS as truely SB compatible are interrrupted by an article concerning the midi mapper, low level SDK coding techniques or improved GM patches. I support a division in the list. A sorted list or two lists, it doesnt matter. happy gaming, regards peter@netcom.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 Oct 1993 00:19:51 -0600 (CST) From: E33GLASSER@sask.usask.ca Subject: Dolby ProLogic in 2nd Reality This might be of interest - a friend of mine hooked up his genuine ProLogic receiver to play this demo, and reports that the ProLogic really works. He heard sound coming up the back channel, and the indicator lights on the ProLogic show. Apparently these lights don't come on unless the ProLogic is for real. On simple stereo, I had a sort of 3D sound impression at a couple of points in the demo. (More pronounced with headphones.) The spaceship at the start DEFINITELY moves overhead. ------------------ - Neil Danylczuk - ------------------ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Oct 93 13:54:24 -0400 From: "Momentary language, sexual situations" Subject: Re: DOOM > Can you people email him and convince him that games are getting large > nowadays, no need to be shy, just follow the way of Sierra and Origin ( > not THAT large). GUSsers definitely don't mind getting 1 MEG of high > quality 44.1kHz 3D native music and fx, if they know they are going to > enjoy it eh? The trouble here is that alot of shareware is distributed via slow links (read 2400 baud modems) and that extra MB of GUS stuff is gonna cost folks money to spread around. They might drop the entire package because of it. Now, a commercial release doesn't have that problem so I'd expect to see high-quality GUS stuff in the commercial release...But no for shareware... DDA ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 Oct 1993 13:39:58 +1000 From: David Vu Subject: Re: DOOM > The trouble here is that alot of shareware is distributed via slow links > (read 2400 baud modems) and that extra MB of GUS stuff is gonna cost folks > money to spread around. They might drop the entire package because of it. > Now, a commercial release doesn't have that problem so I'd expect to see > high-quality GUS stuff in the commercial release...But no for shareware... I realised this DDA, and I said put GUS support in a seperate ZIP file so people don't have to download it if they don't want it. Like what Ross has done in the past in Gamebytes, a text version, and a graphics version. Like what Renaissance did when they release Zone 66. -David- ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 Oct 1993 00:21:55 -0600 (CST) From: E33GLASSER@sask.usask.ca Subject: Flashback with SBOS 3.60 Flashback (bought 2 days ago) comes with a customized version of SBOS on the disks. It is called SSISBOS, and I needed it to get the sounds in Flashback to work. Interesting that they included the special SBOS right on the master disks... Anyway this version of SBOS is number 3.60? Does anybody know why that version number? I am using SBOS 2.10 for most other things. SBOS 3.60 sounds great with POP2 music, but the system locks up frequently. ------------------ - Neil Danylczuk - ------------------ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 Oct 1993 00:29:44 -0600 (CST) From: E33GLASSER@sask.usask.ca Subject: Gunnar's comments As I was reading what Gunnar wrote, I remember thinking that although I didn't totally agree, I could appreciate how he might have that interpretation. I have thought some of those things myself at times. Also, the magazine reviews have been mainly accurate. Sometimes their criteria are just inappropriate, or else their audience is not suited to the technical nuances of the GUS. Hey, anybody that's reading this probably has access to help, advice, patch files, FTP sites, etc., that an isolated user would not. Imagine how you'd feel if it were just you and the GUS with disks V1.2 on a deserted island. Without any channels of support and patches, you'd feel pretty bummed too. Whenever I think about these things I also try to remember some of the following: (1) Interest. I've had a GUS for 13 months. Even today, I am excited to try something new with it EVERY DAY. There has been no product that has sustained my interest for so long. I've been through several hard disks, 4 video board upgrades, 3 motherboards, countless lasers & color printers, several operating systems, dozens of applications, and NOTHING has maintained my interest and excitement like the GUS. I check the archives everyday for something new. I change around a patch or try playing a game using a different kind of emulation. (2) Value. Despite being the best, the GUS is still one of the cheapest boards available. The Gravis board, even with the (NECESSARY!) memory upgrade, costs less than a SB Pro around here. For example, 1 MB GUS is about $150-200 here, and the SB-16/Wave Blaster combo is $700. Even if it is better (?) does the extra money warrant it? (3) Versatility. The GUS is still the only board available that gives nice MIDI music and decent digital sound playback and (8bit though) recording. I couldn't stand Adlib, and got tired of SoundBlaster very quickly. My ideal sound system would have been a Roland SCC (sounds very similar to the GUS by the way) with an SB for digital effects. Then, I heard about the GUS. It would provide both of those products to me for a tenth of the price?! (4) Adventure. It was kind of fun to try the different versions of SBOS as they came out to see how each one sounded differently. Granted, now I just want something that works. But it was fun there when SBOS was getting updated every week. (5) SBOS. I know this is crazy, because that program is such a hog, but hear me out. I am pretty pciky about everything, and I can't stand listening to poor quality sound for any length of time. Sound Blaster & compatibles made my ears tired after a short time with their wimpy FM sound and scratchy digital playback. SBOS lets me hear crystal clear sound even with older programs! I think that even if Gravis made a 101% compatible SB daughtercard, I would still use SBOS when I could because of the superior sound quality. (6) Concept. The wavetable/digital style of soundboard is the best idea going. Creative Labs, Turtle Beach, and everybody else have admitted that through their imitations. Programmers will (and already have) become accustomed to splitting sound into MIDI and DIGI portions. Once this is the defacto method, support for GUS, SB+Wave, Maui, etc. will fall into place. ------------------ - Neil Danylczuk - ------------------ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Oct 93 22:56:58 -0400 From: hal wayne black Subject: GUS and Xwing... Here is a letter I got back from LucasArts after mailing them about incompatibility with X-wing, and support of the Ultrasound in later projects: ]From: lucasart1@aol.com ]X-Mailer: America Online Mailer ]Sender: ]Errors-To: ]Reply-To: ]To: sylk@mik.uky.edu ]Date: Mon, 11 Oct 93 17:39:59 EDT ]Subject: Re: Gravis Ultrasound and X-Wing ] ]Hi there! ]Thanks for your note. We appreciate feedback and interest in our games ]and encourage consumers to let us know of their interest in support for ]the latest hardware. However, because the Gravis Ultrasound and X-Wing ]were in ]development at virtually the same time, it was very difficult for us to ]incorporate drivers into X-Wing and be certain they would be completely ]accurate. ]We're very excited by the possibility the newer generations of cards like ]the Gravis Ultrasound represent, and will certainly enhance sound support ]in our future games as the market demands. ]Thanks again for your message! ]Best Wishes, ]Khris Brown ]LucasArts Entertainment Co. I don't know what this means about "as the market demands" but it sounds like he is asking for a mail-rush! remember, it is LucasArt1@aol.com, and NOT LucasArts@aol.com like someone on here said. I suggest anyone who wants to mail someone about Gus support, mail this guy. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1993 18:28:26 -0400 From: davidm@marcam.com (David MacMahon) Subject: Gus as drum machine Hi, There's been some talk lately about using the GUS as a drum machine. I would like to do this, but (not being well versed in MIDI) I'm not quite sure what's involved. Here's what I *think* I need to do... (1) Upgrade my GUS memory to 1 MB. (no, I haven't done it yet :-O) (2) Get Francois Dion's drum patches. (3) Get some sort of MIDI sequencing software. (4) Get some MIDI files for different drum beats. (5) Use (3) to play (4) using patches from (2). Is the a correct overview or am I missing some key concept (i.e. do I need external MIDI devices to do this)? Assuming the overview is correct, what sort of software is available for (3)? I'm sure there are plenty of Windows programs but which is best suited for a drum machine? I'm actually more interested in DOS programs that I could use, are there any? And my final question, where could I find MIDI files for (4)? Thanks for all your help, Dave David MacMahon Systems Administrator davidm@marcam.com <---New address, use this one davidm@opl.com <---Old address, don't use this one ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1993 11:59:31 -0700 (PDT) From: Mark Harrison Subject: GUS works with OS/2 CD Player! This may have been mentioned before, but if it was, I never saw it. So here goes... I picked up IBM's beta driver for the Mitsumi yesterday and installed it along with MMPM/2 (the Multimedia stuff). Then I tried playing a music CD from the CD Player. No luck. Next I went into a DOS session and typed "ultrinit -o" and PRESTO!!! The GUS worked just great. Course I have the Mitsumi wired up to the CD Audio-in pins on the card rather than the normal line-in. If you have it set up that way, I would assume you would need to do a "ultrinit -o -l". BTW, this should work with any CD-ROM with MMPM/2 support, not just the Mitsumi. Mark Harrison harrison@sun.lclark.edu ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Oct 93 10:13:40 EDT From: ral@nsts.bellcore.com (Ron Levenberg) Subject: Here's where to get memory upgrade You can upgrade your GUS memory from 256K to 1MB by calling Advanced Gravis at the Sales number below. I gave my order via credit card. It took over two months because they incorrectly transcribed my credit card number, causing my transaction to be rejected, but no one at Gravis notified me. Two months later I followed up and got it corrected and got the upgrade shortly afterwards. I paid $15 x 3 = $45, plus shipping, for the memory upgrade, and this price was not out of line from the mail order places, all of which told me that they couldn't guarantee suitability of their chips for my sound board, or that they didn't carry the designated chips, or that they couldn't take an order for only 6 chips. Ron Levenberg | Phone (908) 758-5510 Bell Communications Research (Bellcore) | FAX (908) 758-4389 331 Newman Springs Road, Room NVC-2Z203 | ral@cc.bellcore.com Red Bank, NJ 07701-7030 | -----------------------------ATTACHED MESSAGE-------------------------------- Date: Mon, 26 Jul 93 22:13:09 From: matthew.arbeid@gravis.com Subject: GRAVIS INFO Message-ID: <9307262213.A7190wk@gravis.com> Hey Kidz.... PPl want to know our address and other internet stuff...well grab a pen, or select copy or do whatever it is you do cause here we go: Advanced Gravis USA OFFICE CANADIAN OFFICE 1790 Midway Lane 101-3750 North Fraser Way Bellingham,WA Burnaby,BC 98226 V5J 5E9 Phone Numbers: Tech Support: +1 604 431-1807 Sales: +1 604 431-5020 BBS: +1 604 431-5927 Internet: Tech Support: tech@gravis.com *OR* tech1@gravis.com (Paul) *OR* tech2@gravis.com (Me) Sales: sales@gravis.com (Chris) There ya go... Matthew Advanced Gravis Tech Support Group wombat@gravis.com Advanced Gravis...It's not just a job, it's an adventure. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1993 23:40:36 -0700 (PDT) From: Don Munsil Subject: Lockups in 2nd Reality Just to let you know, I am also experiencing the lockup in the same place on the 2nd Relaity demo (the screen shows a gray landscape, and small spheres start dropping from the top of the screen). I have gotten to to work fine on a machine at work, but it has no GUS. :( I have tried totally clean boots, etc. Perhaps next I will try it with DOS 5... I would assume FC will eventually release a patch. ******************************************************** * Don Munsil * If you open your mind too far, * * dmunsil@netcom.com * people will throw trash in it. * ******************************************************** ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 Oct 1993 00:26:54 -0600 (CST) From: E33GLASSER@sask.usask.ca Subject: Mail Flood & Game Support I didn't participate with the mail flood. I prefer to express my opinion with something the companies will actually listen to - $$$. I will only consider buying games that support the GUS _properly_. Programmers like to see and hear their creations at their best, and that means supporting the GUS. It's an issue of vanity. If I wrote some great compositions, I'd rather present them on a MIDI compatible board than through an FM synthesizer, just as I'd like my artwork to be seen at the best resolution and colors. It'll come! Look at the support for Adlib Gold, which actually was discontinued (or went out of business or whatever) for awhile! ------------------ - Neil Danylczuk - ------------------ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Oct 93 05:19:23 EDT From: ddr@math.ufl.edu Subject: memory/Interplay A couple of people were asking about Ram upgrades: You need 256 X 4 chips 80ns work fine. If you know of someone with a dead TVGA card offer to take it off their hands and remove the chips from there (That is what I and several others have done) If you need to buy the chips call the 1-800 numbers in computer shopper and order them, Gravis sells them but they are the same price and do not ship as quickly as other companies. Regarding Interplay: They tell me that for Judgement Rites we are stuck with MegaEm or SBOS, but that future games will be setup to use the GUS! ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Oct 93 12:28:44 -0700 From: Bart Larrenaga Subject: Memory Upgrade I'd just like to thank all the people who mailed me regarding my post in yesterday's digest. You know who you are. --Bart Larrenaga ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Oct 93 21:28:01 EDT From: Thayer York Subject: MidiSoft Recording Session Has anyone else noticed a problem with the way the otherwise nice Windows MIDI editor displays its notes? Here's an example of the problem I'm seeing: If I have a half-note in a measure, then stick another note after it anywhere before the half-note's duration is up, the display changes and makes it look like the half-note is shortened. I discovered that it isn't really, it still gets its full count, but having a display that makes it so you can't tell whether a note is really what it seems is a pain. TYTYALC "The horse's name was Binky. He was a real horse. Death had tried fiery steeds and skeletal horses in the past, and found them impractical, especially the fiery ones, which tended to set light to their own bedding and stand in the middle of it looking embarrassed." _Reaper Man_ by Terry Pratchett ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1993 13:03:37 -0400 From: jericho!gord (Gord Wait S-MOS Systems Vancouver Design Center) Subject: Re: Music and Games I too wouldn't mind such a division on the digest, but I wonder if there would be enough traffic on the music one to warrant a split? One thing that might help, is if the faq were automatically mailed out to all newcomers, so we don't get as many FAQ's (how do I get Xwing under OS2 under NT emulation on my Amiga to use the sounds from my C64 machine on Tuesdays..:) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Oct 93 21:45:59 EST From: elewis@eve.wright.edu (Edward Lewis IV) Subject: NHL Hockey I have been trying to get info on how to get NHL hockey by EA to work with the GUS. I tried looking through back Digest issues, and found an issue that probably has the info in it that I am looking for, but that issue is not complete on EPAS.UTORONTO. It is VOL6 Issue29. It must have had trouble when it was uploaded to epas. If someone could e-mail me that issue or better yet, tell me how to get SBOS and the GUS to work with NHL hockey. It works as an adlib but that's not much better than the internal speaker. I also got it to work with MEGAEM as an MT-32, but I would really like digitized sound. Has anyone been able to get this to work?? Any info greatly appreciated. Thanks, Edward Lewis ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 Oct 1993 00:25:02 -0600 (CST) From: E33GLASSER@sask.usask.ca Subject: Problem with Prince of Persia 2? Prince of Persia works poorly in every setup I try! It only works with SBOS 2.09 and 3.60, but it locks up very frequently. Any concise advice? Incidentally, over 95% of the other games I 've tried work. (Some exceptions, Humans-Megaem only, and Jill of the Jungle-slow downs) The only other one that doesn't work is Bio-Menace (locks up) but I don't care because it is EGA and I can't figure out how to get past the first level anyway! ------------------ - Neil Danylczuk - ------------------ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1993 13:04:29 +0200 From: CRTGRA01@Uctvax.UCT.AC.ZA Subject: Replies to mail assault Hi there, These little messages popped up in my mailbox this morning. Thought that some of you would be interested in them: Quoted Message #1... > The key to supporting various boards from the software > developer's point of view is the amount of support that > we get from the board manufacturer. If Gravis would send > us a board and a developer's kit (including source code) > we would support their board. To date we have received > no information whatsoever from Gravis about this (or any > other) product. > > - Ezra Sidran @ Intergalactic Quoted message #2... > Mr. Carter, > > Thank you for sending us your request. User input is always > important and helpful. > Your writing is not in vain. We are indeed considering Gravis > support in our future games. We hope that you will be impressed. -Impressions End of quoted messages. ******************************************************************** * Grant Carter | Simon says: DIR *.bak * * University of Cape Town | Simon says: DEL *.bak * * South Africa | DEL *.* * * Internet: crtgra01@uctvax.uct.ac.za | * ******************************************************************** ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Oct 93 05:37:47 EDT From: ddr@math.ufl.edu Subject: Seal Team Can someone upload the patched Seal Team Demo to epas? Yesterdays digest mentioned one on gravis' BBS that has been patched to offer GUS in the settings menu. I can't seem to figure out these drivers..... ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Oct 93 09:14:50 -0600 From: Ido Bar-tana Subject: Second Reality: Grab It! Get Second Reality! The sound in this demo alone is worth upgrading to a GUS. Works great even on a 386-20DX with a Stealth VRAM graphics card. Prefers a clean boot. available for anonymous ftp from epas (128.100.160.36) in /pub/pc/ultrasound/demo in two files 2ndreal1.zip, 2ndreal2.zip ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Oct 93 12:19:11 EST From: mbates@casde.com Subject: Re: Second Reality Lockup In Digest V7 #13 Scott Mark described a spot in the Demo where Second Reality locked up on his system. Well buddy, you're not alone, it locks up at exactly the same spot on mine. 486/33, 1M Ultrasound. However, on a 486/25 with a grubby 8 bit SB it runs fine. If I run Second 4 (see notes with demo) the tail end of it runs fine with the Ultrasound. Another interesting point: 9 times out of 10 only the video locks, the music keeps right on playing to the end. On another subject, I just got the DUNE CD. It locks up on my system with SBOS 2b10-02 but runs fine with SBOS 2b8 -02. I have similar intermittent problems with other games and SBOS 2b10 so I've about gone back to 2b8 as the default. The game also sounds great with megaem, but no speech, and the game is so heavily dependent on the speech it loses a lot without it. Does anyone know if DUNE (or VIRGIN game in general) will support a 2 card setup? (see previous paragraph referencing grubby 8 bit SB which could be used for voice)? Marc Bates mbates@casde.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Oct 93 12:39:40 CDT From: Fitzgerald Jr Steele Subject: Splitting the Digest In yesterday's Digest, Richard Ford suggested splitting the GUS group into music and games. I think that is a wonderful idea!! That way, those of us that are not versed in the technical side of computer music can get the help and support we need to get GUS to work the way we want it to -- with games. Those that want support for generating music with the GUS can get it through a Music digest. I, for one, have started to think that the Digest is getting a little long. I mean, how long do you sit there are read through the digest? It seems that more and more people are getting interested in GUS and the Digest, and that's terrific. But as it gets bigger and bigger, it gets harder and harder for people (like me) that aren't as sound card literate to get help with "little things" like getting Ultramid to work with KQ6 (blatent plug -- I still can't get the *&#@ thing to work...any ideas?) Having 2 groups would enable everyone to more quickly have their questions answered; a person could subscribe to both groups if their interest lie in both games and music. So, what do you say? Would it be feasible for two groups? Jerry Steele fjsteele@icaen.uiowa.edu ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Oct 93 16:07:26 CET From: steinrune@ban.aid.no Subject: Subject: I've just bought a GUS. Is it possible to get OS/2 2.1 Drivers for this soundcard? (Please mail it to me!) Stein-Rune Johansen srj@ban.aid.no ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 Oct 1993 00:30:19 -0600 (CST) From: E33GLASSER@sask.usask.ca Subject: Syndicate Syndicate only works with a pared down setup as described by Martin Fink in an earlier Digest (thanks MF by the way). The GUS-SYND patch hard bombs my system something fierce! However, using Martin's setup and SBOS works and sounds great - seems to give stereo effects, too. ------------------ - Neil Danylczuk - ------------------ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Oct 93 22:52:05 MDT From: Stephen N Larson Subject: This, that, and the other thing... Richard Ford writes: > > ...what are the chances/logistics/other? > involved in splitting the GUS group into music and games? > Not a bad idea. I have to sit through 60+Kbytes of daily digest at 2400bps. Those in the know are aware of the term infinity... BTW, I prefer to use my GUS for musical apps, so reading _page_ after _page_ of redundant game problems is a little boring |-O Dave Read Writes: (no pun intended :-) Re: Qemm, SBOS and Xwing > loading SBOS low, however), and now X-Wing stops playing music after a > minute or two of game play...I still get the "doink" laser sounds, but > O.K., so I have played ONE game recently, Xwing; Yes, the same thing happened on my DX50 ISA. I talked to Matthew Arabeid about that, and he assured me that it was Double$pace's fault (not Qemm). I _removed_ Qemm, Double$space and booted barebones; that didn't fix... then took my soundcard to a friend's machine and it did the _same_ thing! Hmm... I know that sales invoice is around here somewhere... To Bart Larrenaga: Don't mess around with upgrade memory from Gravis. I found their memory pricing to be strangely exhorbitant (comparing locally) but 256K X 4bit Drams practically grow on trees here (Edmonton)! If you still can't get Dram, email me and I'll be happy to send you some reputable addresses. BTW, my brother bought a coin-op video game recently for $40 and in it- a GOLDMINE! There's about 8Meg of drams (yes drams, NOT eproms) 44C256-80nS. If any of you are interested in buying upgrage dram, let me know; I'll see what I can do... Gavin writes: > Subject: Sigs in this Newsletter > > Could you all please keep your sigs to just one line, rather than it being cool, > it's a pain and just gives me the _impression_ you're conceited. I save all the > past digests (just in case) and I reckon 50% of them are sigs. > ---------------------------------- He's right people! I could care less if _you_ are the wielder of the jaded sword that would impale the wretched ranks of Creative Lab$... blah blah blah... Keep it short and sweet: who you are, where you work and your email address would be acceptable. OK! a one-line quote then... geeze! :-) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Steve Larson Department of Computer Engineering, University of Alberta larson@bode.ee.ualberta.ca bongos@eigen.ee.ualberta.ca ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Oct 93 12:29:11 EST From: mbates@casde.com Subject: Re: Ultrasound and QEMM In Digest V7 #13, Dave Read asked about Qemm and GUS. In general when I first talked to Gravis many moons ago on the toll voice lines (before I found the list :) ), they were leery of QEMM because of the overhead. However, I've found it to be a minor impediment on a fast machine. I can recommend getting the QEMM 7.02 patches from ftp to QDECK.com. It's called 701to702.zip (or exe, I can't remember) plus a few others since 702 came out. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Oct 93 14:01:02 CDT From: mico@trzdor1.ico.olivetti.com (Michele Costabile) Subject: Re: Ultrasound Daily Digest V7 #13 Ultrasound Server says: | |I'm knocked out with the possibility of having a sampler card in my PC for |musical applications and am waiting for the MAX to arrive. | |As a newcomer I was interested to view all aspects of GUS capability, |therefore the digest was more than welcome bedtime reading matter. Now that |I am a little more versed (pun intended :) ) in the cards generic capability, |I actually find the game-related questions are now redundant (in fact, |annoying:) ). | I agree. I am still waiting for the budget for a PC that can support nice games and live with an old XT that is good enough for Cakewalk, Band in a Box, TeX, UUCP and some other tricks. Of course there is little thrill in CGA games and I do not have any game installed. I look forward to the day when this machine instead of being thrown out of a window when my VGA and Windows discrimination will be ended will proudly sit on the music rack and sound so great [monsieur Dion, how's it going?]. I would rather be kept up to date on GUS programming, sounds available and other musical stuff. -- Michele (mico@trzdor1.olivetti.com) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Oct 93 7:37:31 PDT From: mikebat@netcom.com (Mike Batchelor) Subject: Re: Ultrasound Daily Digest V7 #13 Not the Ultrasound Server once wrote... $ $ ------------------------------ $ $ Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1993 10:28:42 +22311151 (CDT) $ From: read@utpapa.ph.utexas.edu (Dave Read) $ Subject: GUS, SBOS, QEMM and X-Wing? $ $ I posted a similar note to USENET, but got no responses, so here goes $ again... $ $ I have been using SBOS with X-Wing for a few months, and all runs $ well. A week or two ago I installed QEMM 7.01 on my machine (still $ loading SBOS low, however), and now X-Wing stops playing music after a $ minute or two of game play...I still get the "doink" laser sounds, but $ no music! $ $ Does anyone out there know how to get SBOS and QEMM to coexist? $ Quarterdeck has tested X-wing, because we have received many similar complaints as yours. The problem seems to lie entirely in X-wing. It will play music throughout all the missions on one PC with QEMM, but on another, it will cut out. The same pair of machines will get different results using EMM386 from DOS or Windows, one will cut out and another will play without problems. Lucas Arts says use EMM386. I'd agree with them, except that it cuts out unpredictably with that memory manager, too. For what it's worth, it started cutting out on me a few days ago, when it was working perfectly well for the previous several weeks. Now I can't get it to stop doing that under ANY memory manager. I use the MegaEm, though, not SBOS. The music is much better (when it plays! :). ------------------------------- $ Sounds pretty good at the moment but it seems that shelling them with e-mail is $ not quite what they are needing at this time. Seems to me that it is probable $ that GUS support is going to be included but and that ID hear our cries. $ Perhaps if we left them to do their pruning operations we might have an $ even better chance of hearing it soon? (Just a thought). $ $ Grant $ ******************************************************************** They are pruning out all the good code for the GUS, and will treat it like a sound blaster. I had a bit more extensive conversation with this fellow after he sent me the same whining form letter. DOOM! will not use UltraMID, it will be programmed directly for the GUS. Their current sound engine is about 30K on disk right now, including all sound cards currently supported. After linking in the GUS code, it swelled to 270K. His response to that was to be appalled. The first attempt to trim the code at the link stage got the engine down to 140K - still too big, he says. The rest of his rambling left me with the impression that they are more interested in conserving space than in getting good sound. They will cut the samples back to 11Khz, drop stereo fx, and basically cripple the GUS support down to a SB level. Naturally, as puny as the SB and other FM cards are, they are used to tiny code to handle a tiny amount of features. Now along comes the GUS with its rich feature set, and they are blown away by all the things you can do with the card that the SDK supports. But "blown" in the wrong way, sadly. -- Mike Batchelor | mikebat@netcom.com | This space for rent mikebat@qdeck.com | ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1993 20:13:46 +0200 From: Erik Bunn Subject: Ultrasound Daily Digest V7 #13 Not the UDD wrote: >Load time for Windows will increase a little bit, because you now have to >load the GM patch set into the GUS memory. But it should not be >excessive, and with a disk cache, you should barely notice it. My guess >why it is slow for you is that you have SBOS loaded in memory. Windows + >SBOS is a no-no. Type SBOS -F before starting Windows, see if that helps. >Otherwise, get a disk cache. Odd. My load time grew from something like ~15 s to easily 35-45 s with heavy disk activity. The machine is a 486/33, with a smartdrive cache (default size.. I'll try a bigger cache when I get the new graphics card) and a Quantum ~15ms disk. I think I installed the 2.06L disks without even bothering to look at the 1.21's that I got in the box, but I'll have to check that. Anyone care to tell what all is relevant to the patch loading under windoze? SBOS is not loaded, so that is definitely not the problem. Erik Bunn // DiscworldRingworldCerebusSandmanC&HBrazilWandaXpilotRaceDrivin' 3) I don't sign parts of the body, even if they're still attached. -- From Terry's Rules of Book Signing (Terry Pratchett, alt.fan.pratchett) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Oct 93 09:15:00 PDT From: "Tamashiro, Joey" >Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1993 10:28:42 +22311151 (CDT) >From: read@utpapa.ph.utexas.edu (Dave Read) >Subject: GUS, SBOS, QEMM and X-Wing? > >I have been using SBOS with X-Wing for a few months, and all runs >well. A week or two ago I installed QEMM 7.01 on my machine (still >loading SBOS low, however), and now X-Wing stops playing music after a >minute or two of game play...I still get the "doink" laser sounds, but >no music! Don't ask me why, but ..... if you disable "stealth" mode, this problem goes away. Maybe Mike Batchelor can answer explain why this is so .... Mike? ------------------------------ End of Ultrasound Daily Digest V7 #14 *************************************