Star Trek The next Generation A final unity

[guest]

hmm... that didn't work. is it possible my savegame folder is in the wrong place? is there some way to config it to detect the right place? am I even making sense?

there I go asking questions again...

[dosraider]

hmm... that didn't work. is it possible my savegame folder is in the wrong place?

Did you look@ the screenshot I took ?

is there some way to config it to detect the right place? am I even making sense?

Did you look in your STTNG.INI ?

To repeat myself:

If you like the game hunt for an ISO on the net or buy it on eBay or whatever. Will avoid you headaches.

Find a valid CD image (ISO or BIN/CUE) and :
Imgmount CD image
Install
Done.

And yes, will avoid you a lot of troubles, simple as that.

[guest]

I've installed DOSBox according to the instructions that have been posted here, and I can get to the install screen fine, but when I try to install it says the CD-ROM isn't fast enough. It obviously is, so is there a way to troubleshoot this? I'm using Vista.

[dosraider]

Create a CD image (ISO or BIN/CUE) from your CD and use imgmount to mount that image as CD drive D:\ in dosbox.

[Guest]

Really want to play this game (and Discworld II) but I fear my lack of technical knowledge would mean a massive waste of my time and probably would end up not working anyway.

Was thinking of trying to obtain an old PC from somewhere and just use that rather than messing about with dosbox etc? Is this a reasonable solution or am I being an idiot? (or both)

[dosraider]

Was thinking of trying to obtain an old PC from somewhere and just use that rather than messing about with dosbox etc? .....

Of course it's a valid option .... but fact is: dosbox is much easier in use than any old PC.

Why don't you give it a try?
Begin with the pinned tutorials in this sub to know how to set up dosbox correctly, that's half the work.

If you have more such questions please start your own thread, enough derailment.

[Brat]

Really want to play this game (and Discworld II) but I fear my lack of technical knowledge would mean a massive waste of my time and probably would end up not working anyway.

Was thinking of trying to obtain an old PC from somewhere and just use that rather than messing about with dosbox etc? Is this a reasonable solution or am I being an idiot? (or both)

The old PC method is much harder than a DosBox install.

there are a lot more installation files and alot more manual coding of setup files to get a dos game working on a Dos based System (or win 95 / 98 )
Every single change to tweak the setup files means a full restart of the machine.

you have to edit two files most of the time to get a dos game to work "autoexec.bat" and "config.sys" your system needs to have as much memory available in basic as you can get out of the machine (640k is the max) while attaining a Memory base of 16mb for Star Trek A final Unity. (works best on this high spec setup *old days computer* as I used this setup 17 years ago.) with a 800mb hard drive.

[ElTipejoLoco]

Hey, I've got the game running just fine, but there appears to be a slight hiccup to the audio that doesn't really seem to have any rhyme or reason. I thought initially it might be due to me using a physical CD, so I made an ISO out of it and instructed DosBox (via D-Fend Reloaded) to load it instead of the physical CD. Result: No dice, sound hiccups persist.

I'm not sure exactly what to mess with in order to mend this- if it can even be mended. For all I know the hiccups are kind of natural: maybe I just forgot they were there in my youth. Then again, maybe it's a CPU cycles thing or the like. Also, if the answer was somewhere in this thread inside of an imagehost screen cap, it's there no longer: ImageHost is apparently now closed.

Anyway, here's some of my current settings that I believe are relevant according to the dosbox.config D-Fend made:

Code: Select all

[sdl]
priority=higher,normal

[dosbox]
machine=svga_s3
memsize=16

[cpu]
core=auto
cputype=auto
cycles=auto
cycleup=10
cycledown=20

[mixer]
nosound=false
rate=44100
blocksize=1024
prebuffer=10

[midi]
mpu401=intelligent
mididevice=default
midiconfig=

[sblaster]
sbtype=sb16
sbbase=220
irq=7
dma=1
hdma=5
sbmixer=true
oplmode=auto
oplrate=44100
oplemu=default

[gus]
gus=false
gusrate=44100
gusbase=240
gusirq=5
gusdma=1
ultradir=C:\ULTRASND

[speaker]
pcspeaker=true
pcrate=44100
tandy=auto
tandyrate=44100
disney=true

[dos]
xms=true
ems=true
umb=true

[dosraider]

Can't help you with D-Fend R , never used that thing.

Try asking@ specific D-Fend forum, as is:
D-Fend Reloaded (DOSBox frontend)

[ElTipejoLoco]

I sort of figured that, but seeing as it's only a DosBox frontend (literally a "let me hold your hand and mess with the scary dosbox.config files for you while letting you just mess with drop-down menus and radio boxes instead of, heaven forbid, typing stuff out yourself" program), I just posted the info I thought you might find relevant from the actual dosbox.config file.

I was kind of hoping maybe someone on this forum had set up DosBox with A Final Unity and could confirm or deny experiencing stuttering, and maybe see if they had found a way to fix it. But I'm guessing maybe not.

I'll go to the forum and ask anyway, though I doubt that they have anything other than a confirmation of whether or not they have a pre-made template for the game or not (i.e.- "someone who got the game to work good made this for everyone else to peruse")... and I'm figuring they don't, since D-Fend didn't find any on their template download server.

Thanks anyway, though. Let me know if you revisit the post and check if anything in the config rings a bell as wrong. If it helps any, the BradyGames paperback guide states that stuttering sound might be caused by incorrect IRQ or DMA options, but I'm not actually sure what the correct values for those would be.

[dosraider]

I sort of figured that, but seeing as it's only a DosBox frontend (literally a "let me hold your hand and mess with the scary dosbox.config files for you while letting you just mess with drop-down menus and radio boxes instead of, heaven forbid, typing stuff out yourself" program).....

Maybe I should explain why I can't help you:
D-Fend does a bit more than you seems to think.

I have no idea how it mounts the folders, access them, launches the game ...etc ...
Does it mount a virtual C and does a "cd game" (that's the way it was done in the old MsDos days and that's how it always should be done, can avoid a lot of specific game inherent problems - path setting - subfolders- etce...) or does it mount the game folder directly???

What with the config file ? Does it uses a game specific conf or does it loads the default one and then add s a game specific one?
Does it uses the newer -t cdrom or still uses the older -t iso to mount an ISO???
And so on and so on...... lots of tech babblings here.

Fact is: you do not need a frontend to run games in dosbox, not at all, if you don't want to type out the comm option lines or mounts it's fairly easy to write a game specific batch file with all the needed mounts and-or mem options.
I have approx some 200+ (or 300+???) dosgames installed nowadays, mostly to give tech help here and some for my own pleasure and still have no need for a frontend, just saying, and don't believe I have any trouble running those games.
Again: you don't need a frontend, it just complicates things, not simplifying them.

As I never use a frontend I have no idea how I could be any help for you.

Other fact: Windows isn't bug free (far from even LOL) dosbox isn't bug free (almost, yes, but still ...), dosbox uses sdl layer, also not bug free, and : D-Fend isn't bug free (almost, yes, but still ....) means that by using a frontend you add a layer of problems.

When bug running an app/soft/game the first thing to do is always running it directly in dosbox, will avoid a lot of headaches, believe me.

So, why don't you try it without frontend, directly in dosbox? Read the stickies I would say ......

[ElTipejoLoco]

I'll restate my questions, since they do not depend on a frontend for an attempt at answering them (and I accept full responsibility if, should the answer be a proposed solution, it does not work for me- at least it might work for any future poster):

1. Can any user confirm whether or not A Final Unity's sound stutters at random intervals upon successful installation and emulation on DosBox?
2. If the stuttering is abnormal or can be remedied, what is (are) the common cause(s) and what is (are) its (their) usual fix(es)?
3. Does anyone know what the recommended IRQ and/or DMA option values are for A Final Unity?

Re: Mounting, Re: -t iso VS -t cdrom

Code: Select all

[autoexec]
@echo off
SET PATH=Z:\
keyb US 437
mount C "%ADDRESS WHEREIN GAME WAS INSTALLED HERE%"
imgmount D "%CD ROM IMAGE FILE ADDRESS HERE%" -t cdrom
# Alternatively, if you have the physical disc:
# mount D "%CD ROM DRIVE ADDRESS HERE%" -t cdrom
echo.
C:
cd\
cd \STTNG
Z:\config.com -securemode > nul
STTNG.EXE
exit

Re: Disrespect
I can understand 'techno babble' just fine. I don't believe any of my questions are dependent on the frontend, and I'm not sure merely mentioning the frontend merits the questions being brushed aside.
Re: Read the Stickies
None of the stickies in this subforum relate either answer my questions, nor claim that I broke any subforum specific rules. Similarly, I reviewed the forum's rules and rule addition threads, just in case.

I feel like the way you wish to discuss the frontend is not in line with the rule regarding respect. I never stated that I needed the frontend (and in fact, was making light of its use in my last post), and am aware that to an expert DosBox user (or an average one with either documentation or assistance on hand) it is nothing more than a cumbersome waste of hard drive space that creates more files than necessary to either run DosBox or create dosbox.conf files for the games. If merely mentioning the frontend was a sign of disrespect towards you, then I apologize. I meant no offense.

Since this sound skip issue is not really an obstacle to game play and may in fact be a non-issue (part of the reason for posting was to confirm if it WAS an issue or not), I will now cease to reply to this thread and will resort to quietly monitoring it for answers instead. I might not truly require help, and I am not currently really receiving help, so I will do this just in case either counts as breaking the rules.

[dosraider]

I'll restate my questions, since they do not depend on a frontend for an attempt at answering them (and I accept full responsibility if, should the answer be a proposed solution, it does not work for me- at least it might work for any future poster):

1. Can any user confirm whether or not A Final Unity's sound stutters at random intervals upon successful installation and emulation on DosBox?.

Runs fine here directly in dosbox, no probs.

Re: Read the Stickies
None of the stickies in this subforum relate either answer my questions,

Meant to learn you to run said game directly in dosbox, without front end.

... nor claim that I broke any subforum specific rules. Similarly, I reviewed the forum's rules and rule addition threads, just in case.

WTF? Who said that you broke any forum rule?
Could you please quote where someone told you so?

Also:

Can't help you with D-Fend R , never used that thing.

Try asking@ specific D-Fend forum, as is:
D-Fend Reloaded (DOSBox frontend)

Why don't you ask @ a DFend specific forum?

[adam19842004]

Hi. I don't know if this topic is active or not but I might as well try. I tried installing from a CD.

OS: Windows Vista Service Pack 2
DOSBox version: DOSBox 0.74

My mount line is the one dosraider suggested for fixing the game running speed is too slow problem, xcept I used C instead of d, so I wrote:
mount c e:\ -t cdrom
Then it seemed to install ok, but eventually, it came up with the message "Your CD-ROM drive has not been detected or the game CD-Rom is not in your CD-ROM drive."
Please help me. Thanks.

[tienkhoanguyen]

Jesus Christ!hehe

Your game has a copy protection programmed into it. You need the original disc in the CD-ROM reader at all times. There are some versions of the copy protection that really depends on the speed of the CD-ROM reader. If it is too slow it would not detect it. So if you could mount the CD it might help.

By the way, I do not know how to mount the CD so someone else has to help you on that one.

Thanks!

[Quadko]

Using 'c' as your dosbox CD drive is a little unusual. The CD usually requires a harddrive, so 'c' is usually the harddrive and 'd' the cdrom. (In dosbox c is usually a mounted windows directory, like c:\dosgames\STUnity - it can be called anything, of course)

If you describe your dosbox setup further we might be able to help you out.

And, sorry for the silly question, but you are running the game in dosbox after installing it, and not directly from windows? Sometimes people do that, just double checking.

[Guest]

I'm not sure what you mean by the way DOSBox is set up. Here are the DOSBox options I have set up in notepad:

Code: Select all

# This is the configurationfile for DOSBox 0.74. (Please use the latest version of DOSBox)
# Lines starting with a # are commentlines and are ignored by DOSBox.
# They are used to (briefly) document the effect of each option.

[sdl]
#       fullscreen: Start dosbox directly in fullscreen. (Press ALT-Enter to go back)
#       fulldouble: Use double buffering in fullscreen. It can reduce screen flickering, but it can also result in a slow DOSBox.
#   fullresolution: What resolution to use for fullscreen: original or fixed size (e.g. 1024x768).
#                     Using your monitor's native resolution with aspect=true might give the best results.
#                     If you end up with small window on a large screen, try an output different from surface.
# windowresolution: Scale the window to this size IF the output device supports hardware scaling.
#                     (output=surface does not!)
#           output: What video system to use for output.
#                   Possible values: surface, overlay, opengl, openglnb, ddraw.
#         autolock: Mouse will automatically lock, if you click on the screen. (Press CTRL-F10 to unlock)
#      sensitivity: Mouse sensitivity.
#      waitonerror: Wait before closing the console if dosbox has an error.
#         priority: Priority levels for dosbox. Second entry behind the comma is for when dosbox is not focused/minimized.
#                     pause is only valid for the second entry.
#                   Possible values: lowest, lower, normal, higher, highest, pause.
#       mapperfile: File used to load/save the key/event mappings from. Resetmapper only works with the defaul value.
#     usescancodes: Avoid usage of symkeys, might not work on all operating systems.

fullscreen=false
fulldouble=false
fullresolution=original
windowresolution=original
output=surface
autolock=true
sensitivity=100
waitonerror=true
priority=higher,normal
mapperfile=mapper-0.74.map
usescancodes=true

[dosbox]
# language: Select another language file.
#  machine: The type of machine tries to emulate.
#           Possible values: hercules, cga, tandy, pcjr, ega, vgaonly, svga_s3, svga_et3000, svga_et4000, svga_paradise, vesa_nolfb, vesa_oldvbe.
# captures: Directory where things like wave, midi, screenshot get captured.
#  memsize: Amount of memory DOSBox has in megabytes.
#             This value is best left at its default to avoid problems with some games,
#             though few games might require a higher value.
#             There is generally no speed advantage when raising this value.

language=
machine=svga_s3
captures=capture
memsize=16

[render]
# frameskip: How many frames DOSBox skips before drawing one.
#    aspect: Do aspect correction, if your output method doesn't support scaling this can slow things down!.
#    scaler: Scaler used to enlarge/enhance low resolution modes.
#              If 'forced' is appended, then the scaler will be used even if the result might not be desired.
#            Possible values: none, normal2x, normal3x, advmame2x, advmame3x, advinterp2x, advinterp3x, hq2x, hq3x, 2xsai, super2xsai, supereagle, tv2x, tv3x, rgb2x, rgb3x, scan2x, scan3x.

frameskip=0
aspect=false
scaler=normal2x

[cpu]
#      core: CPU Core used in emulation. auto will switch to dynamic if available and appropriate.
#            Possible values: auto, dynamic, normal, simple.
#   cputype: CPU Type used in emulation. auto is the fastest choice.
#            Possible values: auto, 386, 386_slow, 486_slow, pentium_slow, 386_prefetch.
#    cycles: Amount of instructions DOSBox tries to emulate each millisecond.
#            Setting this value too high results in sound dropouts and lags.
#            Cycles can be set in 3 ways:
#              'auto'          tries to guess what a game needs.
#                              It usually works, but can fail for certain games.
#              'fixed #number' will set a fixed amount of cycles. This is what you usually need if 'auto' fails.
#                              (Example: fixed 4000).
#              'max'           will allocate as much cycles as your computer is able to handle.
#            
#            Possible values: auto, fixed, max.
#   cycleup: Amount of cycles to decrease/increase with keycombo.(CTRL-F11/CTRL-F12)
# cycledown: Setting it lower than 100 will be a percentage.

core=simple
cputype=auto
cycles=max
cycleup=10
cycledown=20

[mixer]
#   nosound: Enable silent mode, sound is still emulated though.
#      rate: Mixer sample rate, setting any device's rate higher than this will probably lower their sound quality.
#            Possible values: 44100, 48000, 32000, 22050, 16000, 11025, 8000, 49716.
# blocksize: Mixer block size, larger blocks might help sound stuttering but sound will also be more lagged.
#            Possible values: 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 512, 256.
# prebuffer: How many milliseconds of data to keep on top of the blocksize.

nosound=false
rate=44100
blocksize=1024
prebuffer=20

[midi]
#     mpu401: Type of MPU-401 to emulate.
#             Possible values: intelligent, uart, none.
# mididevice: Device that will receive the MIDI data from MPU-401.
#             Possible values: default, win32, alsa, oss, coreaudio, coremidi, none.
# midiconfig: Special configuration options for the device driver. This is usually the id of the device you want to use.
#               See the README/Manual for more details.

mpu401=intelligent
mididevice=default
midiconfig=

[sblaster]
#  sbtype: Type of Soundblaster to emulate. gb is Gameblaster.
#          Possible values: sb1, sb2, sbpro1, sbpro2, sb16, gb, none.
#  sbbase: The IO address of the soundblaster.
#          Possible values: 220, 240, 260, 280, 2a0, 2c0, 2e0, 300.
#     irq: The IRQ number of the soundblaster.
#          Possible values: 7, 5, 3, 9, 10, 11, 12.
#     dma: The DMA number of the soundblaster.
#          Possible values: 1, 5, 0, 3, 6, 7.
#    hdma: The High DMA number of the soundblaster.
#          Possible values: 1, 5, 0, 3, 6, 7.
# sbmixer: Allow the soundblaster mixer to modify the DOSBox mixer.
# oplmode: Type of OPL emulation. On 'auto' the mode is determined by sblaster type. All OPL modes are Adlib-compatible, except for 'cms'.
#          Possible values: auto, cms, opl2, dualopl2, opl3, none.
#  oplemu: Provider for the OPL emulation. compat might provide better quality (see oplrate as well).
#          Possible values: default, compat, fast.
# oplrate: Sample rate of OPL music emulation. Use 49716 for highest quality (set the mixer rate accordingly).
#          Possible values: 44100, 49716, 48000, 32000, 22050, 16000, 11025, 8000.

sbtype=sb16
sbbase=220
irq=7
dma=1
hdma=5
sbmixer=true
oplmode=auto
oplemu=default
oplrate=44100

[gus]
#      gus: Enable the Gravis Ultrasound emulation.
#  gusrate: Sample rate of Ultrasound emulation.
#           Possible values: 44100, 48000, 32000, 22050, 16000, 11025, 8000, 49716.
#  gusbase: The IO base address of the Gravis Ultrasound.
#           Possible values: 240, 220, 260, 280, 2a0, 2c0, 2e0, 300.
#   gusirq: The IRQ number of the Gravis Ultrasound.
#           Possible values: 5, 3, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12.
#   gusdma: The DMA channel of the Gravis Ultrasound.
#           Possible values: 3, 0, 1, 5, 6, 7.
# ultradir: Path to Ultrasound directory. In this directory
#           there should be a MIDI directory that contains
#           the patch files for GUS playback. Patch sets used
#           with Timidity should work fine.

gus=false
gusrate=44100
gusbase=240
gusirq=5
gusdma=3
ultradir=C:\ULTRASND

[speaker]
# pcspeaker: Enable PC-Speaker emulation.
#    pcrate: Sample rate of the PC-Speaker sound generation.
#            Possible values: 44100, 48000, 32000, 22050, 16000, 11025, 8000, 49716.
#     tandy: Enable Tandy Sound System emulation. For 'auto', emulation is present only if machine is set to 'tandy'.
#            Possible values: auto, on, off.
# tandyrate: Sample rate of the Tandy 3-Voice generation.
#            Possible values: 44100, 48000, 32000, 22050, 16000, 11025, 8000, 49716.
#    disney: Enable Disney Sound Source emulation. (Covox Voice Master and Speech Thing compatible).

pcspeaker=true
pcrate=44100
tandy=auto
tandyrate=44100
disney=true

[joystick]
# joysticktype: Type of joystick to emulate: auto (default), none,
#               2axis (supports two joysticks),
#               4axis (supports one joystick, first joystick used),
#               4axis_2 (supports one joystick, second joystick used),
#               fcs (Thrustmaster), ch (CH Flightstick).
#               none disables joystick emulation.
#               auto chooses emulation depending on real joystick(s).
#               (Remember to reset dosbox's mapperfile if you saved it earlier)
#               Possible values: auto, 2axis, 4axis, 4axis_2, fcs, ch, none.
#        timed: enable timed intervals for axis. Experiment with this option, if your joystick drifts (away).
#     autofire: continuously fires as long as you keep the button pressed.
#       swap34: swap the 3rd and the 4th axis. can be useful for certain joysticks.
#   buttonwrap: enable button wrapping at the number of emulated buttons.

joysticktype=auto
timed=true
autofire=false
swap34=false
buttonwrap=false

[serial]
# serial1: set type of device connected to com port.
#          Can be disabled, dummy, modem, nullmodem, directserial.
#          Additional parameters must be in the same line in the form of
#          parameter:value. Parameter for all types is irq (optional).
#          for directserial: realport (required), rxdelay (optional).
#                           (realport:COM1 realport:ttyS0).
#          for modem: listenport (optional).
#          for nullmodem: server, rxdelay, txdelay, telnet, usedtr,
#                         transparent, port, inhsocket (all optional).
#          Example: serial1=modem listenport:5000
#          Possible values: dummy, disabled, modem, nullmodem, directserial.
# serial2: see serial1
#          Possible values: dummy, disabled, modem, nullmodem, directserial.
# serial3: see serial1
#          Possible values: dummy, disabled, modem, nullmodem, directserial.
# serial4: see serial1
#          Possible values: dummy, disabled, modem, nullmodem, directserial.

serial1=dummy
serial2=dummy
serial3=disabled
serial4=disabled

[dos]
#            xms: Enable XMS support.
#            ems: Enable EMS support.
#            umb: Enable UMB support.
# keyboardlayout: Language code of the keyboard layout (or none).

xms=true
ems=true
umb=true
keyboardlayout=auto

[ipx]
# ipx: Enable ipx over UDP/IP emulation.

ipx=false

[autoexec]
# Lines in this section will be run at startup.
# You can put your MOUNT lines here.

The main thing to notice is that I've changed the core to simple and the cycles to max. I haven't changed any of the other options. Is that what you needed to know?

I'm trying to install it from within windows. I have the CD in the drive at all times when I'm using DOSBox.

[Quadko]

That's part of it. What do you type when you run dosbox? Some mount commands, I assume, like the one for the cd you mentioned above?

(And you can put those Mount commands in the [autoexec] section, if that saves you time!)

I'll try to get you more details later, or maybe someone else can jump in too.

Anyway, I'd expect something like:
mount c c:\TngUnity
mount d e:\ -t cdrom

Then, inside dosbox, you go to d: and install the game onto c: by running the installer. After that you can run the game inside dosbox from what was installed on c:

[Guest]

Sorry it's taken me a couple of days to get back to you. My full mount lines are:

mount c c:\OLDGAMES

C:

mount c e:\ -t cdrom

INSTALL

The problem seems to have changed now. I don't know why. Maybe this isn't identical to my original mount lines, but it is similar. I spent four days trying to get this to work before posting on this site, so I can't remember everything. These are the mount lines I used today, so I could tell you what they are. Anyway, now it only has "Z" has the option for which drive I can install it on during the installation process.

[tienkhoanguyen]

Sorry normally I joke around a lot however it seems you are typing C: too early. Please try it again and type the C: after mount c e:\ -t cdrom and the above every the same. So to sum:

mount c c:\OLDGAMES
moung c e:\ -t cdrom
C:
INSTALL

God bless!