GUS Daily Digest            Sun, 31 Oct 93 23:07 MST     Volume 7: Issue  31  

Today's Topics:
		 Anyone set up Kyrandia with SB sound and GUS music?
				 Dagger of Amon Ra and Sierra patches
						FBPro and Harrier SVGA
						   Great new idea.
						  GUS DRAM problems
						no speech in Dune (1)
					  Second Reality (again?!?)
				   Zorked my divide error (I hope!)

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.

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Date: Sun, 31 Oct 93 16:10:37 CDT
From: Lee Saito <argyle@camelot.bradley.edu>
Subject: Anyone set up Kyrandia with SB sound and GUS music?

Hello...

 ..I was wondering if anyone has successfully set up The Legend of Kyrandia,
by Westwood Studios, up for SB sound effects and MT-32 music...the game is
kind of old, and the install program is brain-dead and won't let me select
different devices for sound and music.  I have already tried to mess with
the .cfg file it creates, but it seems to tag a checksum at the end...

The idea seems to be similar to the Dune II fix (which also had a brain-dead
install program, as I recall...;)

-- 
-----------------------argyle@camelot.bradley.edu------------------------
Inspiration is born between 1am and 5am, and is fueled by caffeine,
sugar, and panic.
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 31 Oct 1993 19:32:42 -0800 (PST)
From: davep@teleport.com (Dave Pancoast)
Subject: Dagger of Amon Ra and Sierra patches

Anyone know how to use the patches for Sierra games, recently in epas?  I
got them to work for a while on the Dagger of Amon Ra on CD-ROM, but after
a while the system halted and the sound geeked.  Namely it buzzed for a
while, and then cycled through about 50 patches playing one note on each. 
For a little background on my system, it's a 386DX-40, Intel, and the
CD-ROM is a brand new Mitsumi Double-spin.  I hope somebody has gotten
this to work, because it really has me stuck.  BTW, the card has 1024k on it.

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 1 Nov 1993 00:22:48 -0400 (EDT)
From: "K.S. Holly" <u8843389@muss.cis.mcmaster.ca>
Subject: FBPro and Harrier SVGA

Well, 54 weeks with my GUS and I still have to put up with this kind of BS.

I have bought three new games in as many weeks and none of them work with
SBOS.

EA Sports NHL Hockey: No digital output and the Adlib emulation stinks.

SVGA Harrier: Very little output at all and what is there sucks if it
doesn't lock up.

Dynamix (Sierra) Front Page Sports Football Pro: Seems to work fine until
voices are required then nothing but static. Computer locks hard when
exiting from game in disgust. Again, music is poor emulation of Adlib or
Soundblaster. What was all this hype I saw about Sierra coming out with
Gus support?

I've had a GUS since the second week it was introduced. I've argued with
friends about the superior sound quality, I've fiddled with switches, I've
gone through a warranty claim (twice) and endured just every hassle you
can think of with this thing. 

I think I'm at the end of my rope. Much more crap like this and I'll be
sending my GUS to Gravis in a body bag.........in many pieces.


Anyone have any last words of encouragement?

Kevin

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 1 Nov 1993 11:43:32 +1100 (EST)
From: Andrew See <asee@st.nepean.uws.edu.au>
Subject: Great new idea.

I have another scheme to get support out of Origin.

I am going to send them an order from their latest mail-order 
catalog. I will order Privateer, and give them my address and
VISA card number, and clearly state WHEN A GUS DRIVER IS
AVAILABLE PLEASE FILL THIS ORDER. ONLY WHEN GUS DRIVER IS 
AVAILABLE, YOU MAY DEBIT MY VISA CARD.

If a few of us did this, and they therefore had a few thousand
dollars of potential sales staring them in the face, it
would certainly make them think long and hard about GUS support.

Do I have any followers?

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 31 Oct 93 7:46:33 EST
From: Cliff Addy <raddy@unf6.cis.unf.edu>
Subject: GUS DRAM problems

> From: Lexy Bekhly <l914@suearn2.bitnet>
> Subject: GUS with 1016K
> 
>       PatchMan: "1016k of memory remains" when nothing loaded
> 
>       I never heard of not a whole chip but just  some  several
>    kbytes to fail.  Is it possible?  BTW a month ago everything
>    was ok... Any suggestions?

I just upgraded to 1MB and am having similar bizarre problems.  Like this 
fella, Patchman also reports only 1016 (or so) K remaining when no patches
loaded.  My problems are a little worse.  gusdram reports the three new 
banks failing the byte-by-byte probe.  However, the exact number of good
bytes varies according to the number of chips installed, NOT where which
chips are where.  For example, with only bank 2 installed, I get about 64000
bytes good, no matter which chips I install there.  Add bank three and bank
two (same chips as last time) goes down to about 32000 bytes, with bank three
reporting around 10000 bytes good.  Swap these chips around and the numbers
stay the same.  I pulled the original chips in bank 1 and replaced them, but
the new chips also fail here, but with different numbers good than in the 
other banks.  It appears the problems are real, since sounds are fine if
confined to the first 256k, but get crackly and weird if more are loaded.
The chips are Sanyo 256x4, page mode, 70ns.  Originals are 80ns.  I'm running
version 2.06 software downloaded from epas, along with the 2.06a patch.

BTW, I've also sent a note on this to tech@gravis.com, but I'm hoping this 
group will be able to give a faster response.

Cliff Addy
Department of Computer and Information Sciences
University of North Florida

The opinions expressed here are not the official policies of the University of
North Florida.  In fact, they aren't even *my* opinions, I found them lying
on the side of the road.

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 31 Oct 93 19:14 GMT0
From: Paul Kokis <scratcher@cix.compulink.co.uk>
Subject: Re: no speech in Dune (1)

In-Reply-To: <9310300846.AA23338@grue.dsd.ES.COM>
> Dune (I assume you mean Dune I) does not have any digital audio
Oh well B-(. It's just that the intro has shots of the characters with 
mouths flapping, which seems a bit pointless if they don't say 
anything! 

Thanks anyway. Paul - From the UK.

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 1 Nov 1993 14:47:58 +1030 (CST)
From: Gavin <SCARMAN@hfrd.dsto.gov.au>
Subject: Second Reality (again?!?)

When I try to run Future Crew's Second Reality it runs extremely slow on my 
386-40. The opening credits take about 5 mins to complete and the music is very 
slow and deep. I've tried booting with no TSR's and have the demo in a directory 
C:\2nd\ . Even if I run it in "no sound" mode it runs incredibly slow. My GUS is 
set to the defaults. I've got 768k on the GUS and lotsa XMS (not that it's used 
is it?). I've tried it on works 486-25 (which landmarks at the same as my 
386-40) and it runs OK. Anyone solved this problem, I'd really love to hear it 
as well as see it. This is my first 'incompatibility' :-(

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 31 Oct 93 7:39:19 MST
From: Stuart Yoshida <yoshida@elektra.fc.hp.com>
Subject: Zorked my divide error (I hope!)

  I recently asked for advice about fixing the "divide error" problem
  that occurs in RETURN TO ZORK (RTZ).  After many iterations, I finally
  found what I think is the solution, at least in my case.

  I closely examined "mt32.ini" that RTZ uses to emulate a Roland MT32.
  I found that they specify a patch which they call "voiceoo" which DOES
  NOT EXIST!  After consulting the GUS PowerChords/MIDISoft Studio
  manual, I determined that the patch they were really after is called
  "doo".  So I substituted that into the "mt32.ini" file, and now I'm a
  happy camper!

  The fix I described may not cure everyone's "divide error" problem, so
  I think you should also take Phat's advice about memory managers, etc.

  Anyway, I hope this helps!

--

  Stuart Yoshida

Internet: yoshida@elektra.fc.hp.com
   Voice: (303) 229-2324

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 1 Nov 1993 13:00:39 +1100
From: Andrew See <asee@st.nepean.uws.edu.au>

Here is a copy of the reply that I sent to Origin.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Recently you sent me a letter regarding support for the Gravis 
Ultrasound card. I would like to thank you for taking the time 
to write that letter to address my concerns.

Firstly I want to give my opinion a bit of leverage. I am a 
hardcore games purchaser. I have spent $600AUST on various 
Origin products in the last 12 months alone, these products 
include Wing Commander, Wing Commander 2 + Speech. Ultima 7, 
Underworld 1 and 2. Like many gamers who have heard the GUS 
card, I upgraded my old SBpro to a GUS. Since that time I have 
not purchased an Origin product. To show my sincerity, and that 
I am prepared to put my money where my mouth is, I am mailing 
an order and my Visa card # for Privateer, which you may only 
ship to me when a native GUS support driver/patch is available 
for this game.

You mentioned that the GUS is in desperate need of support. 
Whilst this is true for Origin Systems, it is no longer the 
case for the industry as a whole. I have since channelled my 
gaming budget into Return to Zork, Space Quest 5, Silverball, 
The 7th Guest, and Darksun, all of which offer GUS support.
Like I said, I really want to play Privateer, and Shadowcaster, 
but I will not buy them unless a GUS patch is released.


Sierra are supporting the GUS and even offer a backwardly 
compatible driver. Virgin, EA, Activision, Maxis, SSI, 
Interplay, EPIC, Bethesda and others all now have games on the 
market with GUS support. Even sharware authors with very 
limited resources, are offering GUS support. It does appear that 
Origin have been left behind in this case. The playable demo 
version of Bethesda's Terminator Rampage has GUS support, and 
sounds terrific I might add.    

Being a marketing person, I would think that Origin's target 
market, is the "hardcore gamer". These are exactly the people 
who, like me have upgraded to the GUS, and you risk alienating 
your loyal customers, if you go for too much longer without GUS 
support.

You cited economic reasons may be a factor for not adding GUS 
support. Whilst there certainly are many more SB cards out 
there than GUS owners, look at what who owns them. Many SB 
owners have one because that was the only card available at the 
time for whatever application they need it for.
Nearly all GUS owners on the other hand, are serious gamers, 
and will purchase products with GUS support.
There are now close to 100,000 GUS card owners. It is the 
number 2 selling card in the highly informed European market. 
Think about this: Say it costs Origin about $5000 to develop a 
GUS driver, once this driver is released, you would be looking 
at another 100,000 potential customers, and probably at least 
10000 extra sales (considering that most GUS owners fit in 
Origin's target market.) Now if Origin make $30 clear profit on 
each game, thats about a $300,000 return for a $5000 investment.

I follow the internet news areas closely. When a new game with 
GUS support is released, it gets a lot of people talking about 
the game on the net. Currently much of the chat is of 
disillusionment with Origin's lack of GUS support. Please help 
that change. I want to get right back into Origin games as soon 
as I can. I do believe that your products are among the best 
and most innovative in the industry.

Thanks for your time and consideration.

Sincerely, 

Andrew See, 

Sydney Australia.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 1 Nov 1993 11:38:44 +1100
From: Andrew See <asee@st.nepean.uws.edu.au>

I recently send in a registration card for an Origin product. 
On the card, I stated that although I enjoyed the game I was 
registering, I would not buy another Origin product until it 
had GUS support. I got a letter back from a guy called 
Chuck Denning at Origin. This is what he said...

"Thanks you for your recent correspondence regarding the GUS 
support.

ORIGIN SYSTEMS can appreciate your interest in the possibility 
of future industry support for the GUS card. I, myself, have 
heard the demo for this sound card and I found it particularly 
impressive. However, the GUS is a new sound card and in 
desperate need of support by the gaming industry for reasons 
illustrated below. Presently Origin supports and guarantees 
compatibility for the SB, Adlib, Roland and 100% SB compatible 
cards. {Stuff deleted}

Presently, Origin Systems has one [!] GUS card graciously sent 
to us by Gravis. We are in the process of testing the 
compatiility with our past, present and future products.
Advanced Gravis claims "Sound Blaster emulation" on this card 
despite the fact that there's no special FM silicon chip on 
board. This is the primary tool used by soundblasters to 
produce digitised speech and sounds.Origin's audio department 
develops true digitised sound effects and makes direct calls on 
this FM chip. Therefore GUS customers are dependent upon the 
compatibility of their emulation chip.

Because production decisions are based upon consumer demand, 
Origin will continue to monitor the market demand for the 
industry standard, SB, versus the GUS. Development and 
production considerations will be adjusted accordingly.

As you may have noticed, hardware is surpassing the software 
within a two year time frame. Many software manufacturers are 
suffering cutbacks due to the constant and often futile 
attempts to make all products compatible with all hardware. It 
is an endless loop from which no return can be made without 
drawing a line and developing for the future.

I hope this answered your questions.... etc

[Stuff deleted]"
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

So, what do you make of that. 

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End of GUS Daily Digest V7 #31
******************************
