GUS Daily Digest Fri, 22 Oct 93 0:07 MDT Volume 7: Issue 21 Today's Topics: 2nd reality Advocacy Group? For what?? A remarkably foolish question perhaps... GUS and OS/2 CD Player, one more time. GUS Daily Digest V7 #20 GUS database GUS in Tiger Software catalog IMHO Jarasic Park on PC Just a coupl'a questions... Mega-em? Megam with DAC! WHEN? Microphones and the GUS SC2 save game with a gazillion landers SEAL TEAM - Oh, Never Mind... Seal Team and AIL - Help! Second Reality lockups, one solution Terminator Rampage Demo GUS-ready! what memory to buy? 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: Thu, 21 Oct 1993 18:05:25 -0500 (CDT) From: Antonio Guia Subject: 2nd reality i've finally seen and heard the demo on a 200W system (no surround sound but with headphones on as well, it works!) and it's quite good, but only if connected through the line-out, i've taken the headphones and connected them to the amp-out and it just didn't sound as good, i suspect it may be due to the volume since most of the louder parts of the sound are subject to some serious clipping.... is there any way to turn down the volume of the amp-out in this demo? (good work future crew) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Oct 1993 10:33:44 -0400 (EDT) From: Twenty-First Century Schizoid Man Subject: Advocacy Group? For what?? OK, say that the Netnews thing goes through....what value is an advocacy group? Are we that insecure that we need to waste bandwidth on our hardware preference and Freudian difficulties? (Droopy voice) You know, that GUS is so much better because of [whatever] and the SB sucks because it's only 8-bit. I don't know how big a deal this is, but the school I go to, usually quite generous with the Netnews access, cut a lot of bandwidth out due to needless groups. As far as a newsgroup taking up too much space, consider the useless groups out there that nobody posts to. If a group is useless, it just sits there, and nobody even bothers with it anyway. Thus, alt.fan.ensign-wesley.die.die.die has suffered a well-deserved death. The GUS group would certainly receive enough traffic to keep it afloat. The only downfall is that some loser with a genital inadequacy will post, insisting that his MonsterDick 256-Bit Quadrophonic is awesome, we GUS types are all impotent, all because Lucas hinted at supporting it in the oft-rumored TIE fighter expansion. Well. What do you think, sirs? ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Oct 1993 22:41:21 +1000 (EST) From: "Kunstelj / Michael (ISE)" Subject: A remarkably foolish question perhaps... Greetings all, I am planning to buy myself a soundcard soon. The problem basically equates to this: I have two friends who have strong feelings about soundcards. The first one recommends I buy a GUS. The second one recommends I buy a different brand of card. My question then, really is: Why should I buy a GUS? As I said, my first friend recommends it wholeheartedly. However, after reading numerous messages here it would seem that the GUS is fairly incompatible. (not working properly/at all with various games) Any comments? Will there be a tapering-off point where the GUS should be very close to 100% compatible? Thanks in advance. Also, is there any information around regarding the GUS's virtual reality like sound delay system which allows sounds to be convincingly played from different locations? (whatever) Regards, Mick Kunstelj. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Oct 1993 09:53:50 -0700 (PDT) From: Mark Harrison Subject: GUS and OS/2 CD Player, one more time. > Date: Wed, 20 Oct 93 10:08:50 -0400 > From: adhir@oberon.umd.edu > Subject: Re: Ultrasound Daily Digest V7 #18 > > >> Re: GUS works with OS/2 CD Player. Surely connecting a CD player to > >> the CD Audio-in pins on the GUS does not demonstrate a GUS working > >> under OS/2. I would have thought that all it demonstrates is that > > the GUS can amplify an analogue signal from CD audio-in, and send it > >> out through audio-out. > > > >Well, it's not really meant to demonstrate anything. It was meant to be a > >nice little hint for those GUS owners who are sick and tired of their GUSes > >going to waste while we wait on OS/2 support from Gravis. I know I would > >prefer to hear SOMETHING as opposed to NOTHING while working with OS/2 > >(which is about 99% of the time.) I'm not really concerned with what it > >does or doesn't demonstrate or what the card is or isn't doing. I just > >want to use my GUS and this is just another work around. > > It is no more of a work around than bypassing the gus entirely and > plugging a set of speakers into the earphone jack of the CD ROM drive. True. You could also plug in headphones. I guess it kinda sounded like the GUS was a required piece here. I should have been more careful with my wording. > I think what the above guy was getting to is that the GUS is doing > _nothing_ in your configuration. It is basically being a stereo-jack > connector... nothing else. Go ahead and test it. Remove the GUS, > plug some earphones into the CD ROM and boot OS/2. You'll notice that > everything works just as before. Ok. That's totally true. BUT, I already have all the cables set up to go to my stereo. Now WHY would I want to unplug all the cables and what not, whether they go to my stereo or speakers or whatever, just to plug them into the headphone jack on the CD-ROM? It make much more sense to just use the system as it's set up. Typing 'ultrinit -o -l' is much easier than fooling around switching cables in the back of the computer. Now I'm totally aware that the GUS is doing nothing more than passing the signal through. It does nothing with the signal. I know that. But when I used to listen to silence, I can now very EASILY listen to a CD (course I could use the regular CD player that's less than a foot from the computer, but that's not the point and some people might not have that option.) I would apologize for wasting bandwidth with such a stupid topic, but I've found it a useful trick and thought others might as well. Guess I was wrong. And one final time. The GUS is doing absolutely NOTHING but passing the signal through. I know this already. And you can play CD's without the GUS at all. You just have to fool around with the cables or use headphones (and I hate wearing headphones.) Mark Harrison harrison@sun.lclark.edu ------------------------------ Date: 21 Oct 93 08:13:00 PST From: EBULALACAO@CSUPomona.Edu Subject: Re: GUS Daily Digest V7 #20 You're right about the commercial version of Street Fighter II by Capcom... that game was a joke...too damn slow on my 486DX2/66! The PD version is much better... ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Oct 93 10:39:23 CDT From: surgeon@esds.vss.fsi.com Subject: GUS database When is a new database coming out? I bought my GUS this summer, and the current database is rather old. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Mike Surgeon FlightSafety International 2590 North Highway 94 E-Mail: surgeon@vss.fsi.com Saint Charles, MO 63301-0037 ----------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Oct 1993 11:14:27 -0400 From: davidm@marcam.com (David MacMahon) Subject: GUS in Tiger Software catalog Just saw the GUS in the new Tiger Software catalog. It's got a 1/4 page "article" about it. A couple of things that they say are not quite accurate though: "UltraSound is Adlib and Sound-Blaster compatible..." (that's debatable) and "UltraSound Studio 8 software turns your PC into a professional recording studio for CD-quality voice, music and other wave sounds..." (I wouldn't call 8-bit recording "professional"). They sell it alone or bundled with Roland's CS-10 Powered Stero Speakers and the MIDI box. The costs are (not the lowest I've seen): UltraSound - US$ 149.90 Bundle - US$ 299.90 MIDI box - US$ 49.90 Roland CS-10 - US$ 99.90 They don't mention how much RAM is included. The picture shows a GUS, but it's hard to tell if the memory sockets have chips in them or not. The picture also shows what I think is Chuck Yeager's Combat game (or whatever it's called), but the "article" makes no mention of it. It's nice to see the GUS in such a catalog! It shows that it is really breaking into the "mainstream" market. 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, 21 Oct 93 11:47:47 -0700 From: blarren@uclink.berkeley.edu (Bart Adam Larrenaga) Subject: IMHO In answer to the question in yesterday's digest, IMHO means In My Humble Opinion which, usually, is not humble :-) Anyway...a while ago I saw on epas a little note saying that patches for Privateer were on the way. When will they be ready? And when can I register Mega-Em or get a new version? --Bart ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Oct 1993 13:45:44 GMT From: Ben Leamy Subject: Jarasic Park on PC I just read a preview of JP in PC-REVIEW (UK) magazine. It made no mention of 3D sound being a feature and infact didn't even include the GUS in the list of supported cards. Anyway it doesn't sound to briliant. A cross between commando (C64/arcade) and WOLF3d (PC) ! ;) Note: I have noticed that a number of UK publications (PC ZONE, PC FORMAT, PC REVIEW, PC HOME etc (original names:))) do not include the GUS in the list of cards even when it is supported. eg. Seal Team, Return to Zork(?), Lands of Lore etc. _____________________________________________________ Ben INTERNET = LEAMY%uel.ac.uk@earn-relay.ac.uk (the Bastard) JANET (UK) = LEAMY@UK.AC.UEL ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Oct 93 14:07:54 -0400 From: Brennan Stephens Subject: Just a coupl'a questions... I have a couple of questions for you GUS gurus out there: 1) (and I guess this is the important one) Where can I get the FAQ? 2) Does anyone know about the latest software mailing? I am one of those whose disks were supposedly mailed on Sept. 22, but I haven't seen them yet, so what's up? And what what does BONUS mean in the dbase list? 3) Does anyone know where I can look to get info on building a midi connector box? 4) What's going on with megaem? Will GUS users get it soon? Is it still going to support digital sound eventually? Thanks to any who can help. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Oct 93 08:13:00 BST From: b.williams44@genie.geis.com Subject: Mega-em? Well, Has anyone heard anything on the status of Mega-em and Gravis? how soon will we know when it will be released by Gravis? I like others have been waiting and putting off reg. it till we hear from Gravis. And I'm impat. Oh Well maybe somtime.this 20 min. is killing me. ***StarHawk*** ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Oct 1993 15:48:55 -0400 (EDT) From: Timothy B Martin Subject: Megam with DAC! WHEN? I've heard that the new megam (copyrighted by Forte/Gravis now?) was to be tested sometime this week or next. Is it possible to become a beta tester for this? If not, when can we expect the release of this on the FTP sites? I'm dying for this one! One we have this, the GUS will RULE, ALL domains! (and not to mention once DOOM comes out since i KNOW that they would NEVER EVER leave us GUSers out in the cold with no support!!!!) hint hint... ------------------=============> Tim! <===============--------------------- | Email?: "Do you want to see the Kingdom, | | tm43+@andrew.cmu.edu without a king?" | | - Love and Rockets | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Oct 1993 13:40:48 GMT From: Ben Leamy Subject: Microphones and the GUS I still haven't tried to sample on my card (using a mic) since I tried it with the little microphone that came with a friends PAS16 compatiable. It didn't work with that put I have successfully sampled using the LINE IN and a personal stereo. My questions are.. should the PAS type mic have worked on the GUS? is there some specific type of mic that I should try? (dynamic etc) what impedence should I try to get? could the problem have been that the PAS mic was mono? Help! I want to play around with sampling! _____________________________________________________ Ben INTERNET = LEAMY%uel.ac.uk@earn-relay.ac.uk (the Bastard) JANET (UK) = LEAMY@UK.AC.UEL ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Oct 93 10:16:06 PDT From: mikebat@netcom.com (Mike Batchelor) Subject: SC2 save game with a gazillion landers Several people have responded to my offer to send the SC2 save game I have with a zillion landers and (nearly) unlimited credits. Rather than send out half a dozen uuencodes, I will simply post it to epas this evening in the file "sc2gazillion.zip". -- Mike Batchelor | mikebat@netcom.com | This space for rent mikebat@qdeck.com | ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Oct 1993 20:08:03 -0700 (MST) From: "QUIS CUSTODIET IPSOS CUSTODES." Subject: SEAL TEAM - Oh, Never Mind... Please disregard my post about trouble w/ Seal Team and AIL. I guess I need to learn patience. I just wasn't giving Seal Team enough time to load and misinterpreted the delay as being hung up. The music sounds terrific, very moody and dramatic IMO. I nearly flinched when the bugs started buzzing around. The guns sound weird, though. They appear to be midi effects instead of digital effects. Are there any ways to improve this? It's kind of annoying. Later, Ted. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Oct 1993 19:32:53 -0700 (MST) From: "QUIS CUSTODIET IPSOS CUSTODES." Subject: Seal Team and AIL - Help! Hail, Legions of GUS Wisdom..... Just got Seal Team and can't figure out this AIL business. Okay, I copied the GF1MIDI.ADV over MT32MPU.ADV Then, I copied the GF1DIGI.ADV over SBDIG.ADV Then, I configured the game with Roland music and SB digital but the game hangs. Did I miss something here? (yes, I'm running Ultramid). Grateful for any help. Later, Ted. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Oct 1993 09:46:21 +0200 From: Erik Bunn Subject: Second Reality lockups, one solution Not the Digest wrote: >I'm still having problems with the "falling spheres" portion of >the Second Reality demo. <> I had my first lockups for the first time yesterday. I was really surprised, since I had run the demo several times without problems before. Anyway, I started testing, and found the culprit pretty fast: my Genius mouse driver, somehow, caused it to lock up between the major portions of the demo. An capricious piece of software.. great demo, though. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Oct 1993 22:46:55 -0700 (PDT) From: Don Munsil Subject: Terminator Rampage Demo GUS-ready! Folks, Bethesda Softworks has released a playable demo of Terminator: Rampage. It supports the GUS fully using AIL. You just select it from the install menu, set new IRQ/DMA if necessary, and it creates a TERM.BAT file that automatically loads ultramid high and runs rampage. It's a muy neat game. On my 486/66, with all graphic detail on, it was a wee bit slow, but still a very fine demo. It is a wolf-3d-style run-around-and-kill-everything kind of game. Very claustrophobic. It appears to have a lot of DOOM-like graphic features like lighting up rooms with muzzle flash, textured floors and ceilings, and an animated "cocking" effect and sound every time you fire the shotgun. The music sounded great (instrument-wise), and changed as you moved around and encountered terminators. I will attempt to upload this to epas tonight, and possibly wuarchive or uml. Give it a try! ******************************************************** * Don Munsil * If you open your mind too far, * * dmunsil@netcom.com * people will throw trash in it. * ******************************************************** ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Oct 93 21:54:43 -0400 From: hal wayne black Subject: what memory to buy? After buying my GUS, I got the Second Reality Demo, and taking the advice of some people, I stole some RAM off an old graphics card, and it worked great (what an awesome demo!) Now, I want to use my old graphics card again. Basically, the gist of this message is that I would like to know what the drams are called? are they 256X1 or 256X4 or what, when I am looking through computer shopper to buy some more. (I need to upgrade my new graphics card to 2 megs also). All these use the same ram. I know I need 80ns DRAMS, but what kind, I cannot find written anywhere in the gravis manual, (there was no "offer" with my GUS, though a friend of mine got one with his) and tech support is ignoring my e-mail. Thanks for your help! -- | sylk@mik.uky.edu | hwblac00@ukpr.uky.edu | Entitlements kill | (tastefully short signature) ------------------------------ End of GUS Daily Digest V7 #21 ******************************