🚀 go-pugleaf

In <mhowell.9...@rtd.com> mho...@rtd.com (Mark J. Howell) 
writes: 

>
>Descent really cooks on my box, P5-90, PCI video, PCI Fast SCSI-2, 32M 
RAM, 
>Sound Blaster 16. I can play fluidly full screen with all detail maxed. 
Sound 
>is pretty much the best of any game in the genre that I've come across. 
Music 
>is actually good enough that I say "we don' need no stinkin' AWE32"
>
>_But_
>
>When the MIDI tracks get complex, the music slows down. I notice this 
in the 
>tune that plays when you're in the menu before you start playing. This 
tune 
>also plays on level 2(?) and it's quite disconcerting for the rhythm to 
slow 
>down while playing.
>
>Anybody else observed this?
>
>I'm talking about Shareware v1.1, BTW.
>Mark J. Howell                                   mho...@rtd.com
>----------------------------------------------------------------
>.sig wisdom withheld to protect the innocent.
>

Mark:

I noticed the slowdown on my DX266 with a PAS16 and thought this was 
because I didn't have a faster system. So apparently the problem is more 
complex.

Walt

In article <3j8u2r$h...@ixnews2.ix.netcom.com> walt...@ix.netcom.com (Walter W. Crim, III) writes:
>From: walt...@ix.netcom.com (Walter W. Crim, III)
>Subject: Re: MIDI slowdown on SB16
>Date: 4 Mar 1995 05:33:15 GMT

>In <mhowell.9...@rtd.com> mho...@rtd.com (Mark J. Howell) 
>writes: 

>>
>>Descent really cooks on my box, P5-90, PCI video, PCI Fast SCSI-2, 32M 
>RAM, 
>>Sound Blaster 16. I can play fluidly full screen with all detail maxed. 
>Sound 
>>is pretty much the best of any game in the genre that I've come across. 
>Music 
>>is actually good enough that I say "we don' need no stinkin' AWE32"
>>
>>_But_
>>
>>When the MIDI tracks get complex, the music slows down. I notice this 
>in the 
>>tune that plays when you're in the menu before you start playing. This 
>tune 
>>also plays on level 2(?) and it's quite disconcerting for the rhythm to 
>slow 
>>down while playing.
>>
>>Anybody else observed this?
>>
>>I'm talking about Shareware v1.1, BTW.
>>Mark J. Howell                                   mho...@rtd.com
>>----------------------------------------------------------------
>>.sig wisdom withheld to protect the innocent.
>>

>Mark:

>I noticed the slowdown on my DX266 with a PAS16 and thought this was 
>because I didn't have a faster system. So apparently the problem is more 
>complex.

>Walt

New twist:
Got my reg'd version in the mail. The music is different (much wimpier, I 
think) and no slowdowns on SB16.

Mark J. Howell                                   mho...@rtd.com
----------------------------------------------------------------
.sig wisdom withheld to protect the innocent.

Excerpts from netnews.alt.games.descent: 2-Mar-95 MIDI slowdown on SB16
by Mark J. How...@rtd.com 
> When the MIDI tracks get complex, the music slows down. I notice this in the 
> tune that plays when you're in the menu before you start playing. This tune
> also plays on level 2(?) and it's quite disconcerting for the rhythm to slow 
> down while playing.
>  
> Anybody else observed this?

Yup.  It happens on my P90 also.  I think it happens on everyone's
system, but some (most?) people don't notice it.  It's probably a result
of not coding the music routines very well.  It would be nice if
Parallax would fix this. ;-)

-Jason Fourier

Excerpts from netnews.alt.games.descent: 6-Mar-95 Re: MIDI slowdown on
SB16 by Jason G Fourier@andrew.c 
> Yup.  It happens on my P90 also.  I think it happens on everyone's
> system, but some (most?) people don't notice it.  It's probably a result
> of not coding the music routines very well.  It would be nice if
> Parallax would fix this. ;-)
>  

    Actually Jason, It's a byproduct of the SB16 using the processor and
the hardware interupts to do it's job...  All the coding in the world
won't really get arround that...  Currently the only way to have the
music with no slow down is with a GUS...  Something which I wish I
had...  :(

L8r...

 ________________,^-.                _______________________________   
|                   ,>              |   Ethan Connor                |
|     Arlington->* {                |   Local:  x2-2387             |
|        MA         ?     )         |   Email:  ec...@andrew.cmu.edu |
|___ _____________   `--~ ;         |   IPX:    128.2.46.133        |
    "              \_,-__/           -------------------------------

Excerpts from netnews.alt.games.descent: 6-Mar-95 Re: MIDI slowdown on
SB16 by Ethan M Con...@andrew.cm 
>     Actually Jason, It's a byproduct of the SB16 using the processor and
> the hardware interupts to do it's job...  All the coding in the world
> won't really get arround that...  Currently the only way to have the
> music with no slow down is with a GUS...  Something which I wish I
> had...  :(

Actually Ethan, it is the HMI music drivers, not my sound card, that is
causing the slowdown.  The slowdown that people are experiencing is in
the music, not sound effects.  For Sound Blaster owners, this means FM
music, which puts hardly any load on the CPU at all.  The same can be
said for a typical MIDI sound card.  This means that if Parallax decides
to rewrite their music drivers, then we will all probably stop
experiencing slowdowns.  I have played plenty of games in which the
music speed is just fine.

The GUS and other sound cards with wavetable RAM can help to reduce CPU
load in other situations, but not this one.

-Jason Fourier