GUS Daily Digest            Fri, 14 Jan 94  0:07         Volume 10: Issue  14 

Today's Topics:
						   2.06a vs. 2.06L
								  3D
					   Adding memory to a GUS?
				   Changing patchdir doesn't help!
			Got my GUS MIDI working again under Windows...
						   Gravis CES news
		   GUS, SB, MPU401, and MidiSoft Recording Session
				  GUS Daily Digest V10 #13 (5 msgs)
							Gus Grievances
							Hired Guns 3D
					   mic input problem solved
						Microprose's response
						Mortal Kombat + MegaEm
					  Os2 & Ultrasound message2
				   PatchDir/PatchMan/PatchPROBLEMS!
					   Sim City 2K and Patches
						Sound Blaster and GUS
				Speech/Voice Recognition for the GUS?
				  Ultrasnd.ini Working file on epas.
					   velocity & shadowcaster
						   WaveTable Synth

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, 13 Jan 1994 03:59:09 -0500 (EST)
From: Peter Joseph Guillaume <guillau1@student.msu.edu>
Subject: 2.06a vs. 2.06L

Could anyone please tell me the differences between the 2.06a disks which I got
with my GUS and the 2.06L disks which are available now on epas?  I want to
know if it's worth the bother.  I've already got the new windows drivers out of
the SDK, incedentally<sp>.

Thanks in advance,
-Pete

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

Date: Thu, 13 Jan 1994 12:25:53 -0500 (EST)
From: Doug Nashold <nashold@WPI.EDU>
Subject: 3D

Are there 3D drivers or does the Ultrasound automatically produce 3D sound with
an application that can handle it?


 Doug Nashold
 nashold@wpi.wpi.edu

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

Date: Thu, 13 Jan 94 10:30:00 +0000
From: "|\/|artin" <martin@wyvern.bri.hp.com>
Subject: Adding memory to a GUS?

Hi all,

I'm in some confusion here, so hopefully someone can sort this out for me.

I bought a 256K GUS a while back, and now want to expand it to 1Mb.
I have seen messages that say I need to buy 256Kx4 fast page DRAM chips.
I looked at my GUS board and there is a total of eight slots, two of which 
have been filled.

Now, a bit of maths here. 1Mb / 8 slots = 128K per chip.
When I look at the chips in the board the numbers on the top claim the
chips to be 256K, which means I have 256K * 2 = 512K of on-board memory
on the GUS card.

Would someone please please please explain:
1. Why this is?
2. What should I expect to buy? 128K chips or 256K chips.
3. IfI buy 256K chips, how many and where do I fit them on the GUS to
get 1Mb of memory!

Cheers,

|\/|

--
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| |\/|artin |/\|ard | email: martin@spira.bri.hp.com    Tel: +44 272 228 142 |
|                   | HPDesk: Martin WARD/HPC655        Fax: +44 272 236 169 |
+--------martin%wyvern.bri.hp.com%hplb.hpl.hp.com%uucp-gw-1.pa.dec.com-------+
|Support Systems Europe, Filton Road, Stoke Gifford, Bristol, AVON, BS12 6QZ.|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

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

Date: Thu, 13 Jan 1994 08:44:17 -0500 (EST)
From: "Todd C. Gleason" <tg2k+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Changing patchdir doesn't help!

Excerpts from mail: 13-Jan-94 GUS Daily Digest V10 #13 by GUS
Server@dsd.es.com 
> > >You must also edit the PatchDir fields (all of them) in
ultrasnd.ini to poi
> nt 
> > >to your /ultrasnd/midi directory.
> > 

I have the ultrasnd.ini file in both my \ultrasnd dir as well as my
\ultrasnd\windows file, and both point to c:\ultrasnd\midi .  Still, no
windows midi whatsoever.  Can someone send me detailed instructions on
how to completely reinstall the gus drivers?  I'm fed up with this...my
midi worked okay with the original gus drivers, and I don't even know
what it might be that I didn't do right--I went completely through their
readme file and changed things like the gravultr.386 (or whatever it was
called) file, and the patchdir fields.  Still, no midi sound.

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

Date: Thu, 13 Jan 1994 09:06:29 -0500 (EST)
From: cfw@epoch.com (Chris Wroten)
Subject: Got my GUS MIDI working again under Windows...

Using the new drivers in the PatchMaker Lite .ZIP file from the Gravis BBS,
I was able to get Midi working again under Windows, which had stopped working
when I upgraded to GUS0035.ZIP.
--
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Christopher F. Wroten, cfw@epoch.com, cfw@world.std.com, 508-836-4711 x339 |
| Epoch Systems Inc, 8 Technology Drive, Westboro, Mass. 01581-1751          |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

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

Date: Fri, 14 Jan 94 02:45:00 BST
From: f.graham@genie.geis.com
Subject: Gravis CES news

Got some Gravis CES announcements on down in this post, not trying to beat
Gravis to the punch here, but I haven't heard from John Smith or any Gravis
people here for a long time so...BTW, there's no "GUS-Max", OS2, or new
megaem news. But first my ramblings:
 
Oh, no, we're catching all the default music questions here!  :>  Let's hear
more _game_ news. Or how 'bout other soundcards, just to keep up with the
competition, can anyone comment on the TurtleBeach Maui that's finally out?
 Couple of GUS fans on Genie have it and really like it so far. (I know, but
this is the only digest I'm subscribed to).
 
Robert Wyrick,
	  re: "ultrasound port address is in conflict";
 I recently swapped to a Computrend MB, (486/33, 4 megs ram) and got the same
exact message with all sbos's. Megaem 23b works fine. Setgus reports "failed
-multiple sbos irq's generated". Don't know the chip names, but my GUS-fan
friends at the store had the same problem with these MB's and found another
MB that works, and they're gonna swap me again. I don't know about tech
stuff (ha, but even I can drive a GUS!), but they said it was the chips.
Sorry I can't be more encouraging.
						-----------------
 Sad about Microprose' attitude to the GUS. Dunno how I'm gonna boycott Fleet
Defender, Across the Rhine and Pacific Air War, assuming the reviews are
_real_ good. Heh, if they would at least use Miles drivers, they'd only have
to be "pretty good"...thank goodness for MegaEm.
 
Here's the latest from the author of EA's Seawolf, which will use Miles
drivers, making it an automatic-buy for me:
 ---- (snip, snip) -----
 Category 9,  Topic 34
 Message 149       Sat Jan 08, 1994
 J.RATCLIFF3                  at 14:11 EST
 
I've been pretty much done on my end for the last couple of weeks. EA is
doing lots of playtesting and play balance, as well as getting manual,
packaging etc. happening.  I've been messing with details on various sound
cards and stuff.
 JWR
 ----- (snip, snip) -------
 ...speaking of Miles drivers and J.Ratcliff (hope this isn't old news):
 
 The Audio Solution is proud to announce the release of the freely
 distributable DIGPAK and MIDPAK developers kit v1.0.  The Audio Solution,
in conjunction with Miles Design, has spent the last four years creating,
 enhancing, and maintaining  a set of device independent DOS based digital
 sound and MIDI music drivers for professional developers.
 These drivers are now freely distributable with non-commercial software
 products, and require only a nominal distribution license fee for
commercial software. This new policy includes exemptions for those
developing software to aid the disabled and not-for-profit organizations. A
special shareware license agreement is available for developers of shareware
distributable games.
 
DIGPAK provides digital sound support, up to 16 bit stereo resolution, on
 all PC sound cards with a programmers API for both DOS real-mode and DOS
 protected mode.  MIDPAK provides MIDI music output and MIDI emulation on
all sound cards, including VESA compliant support.  Unlike some other
developer kits you won't hear MIDPAK advertised as having 'over 450'
function calls. This is a simple to use programming interface with less than
a dozen API calls providing full interactive music control through commands
as simple as 'PlaySequence' and 'StopPlaying'.  Likewise the DIGPAK
interface is just as simple to use.
 
DIGPAK & MIDPAK are currently used by virtually every single interactive
 entertainment publisher in the country, including Activision, Electronic
 Arts,Spectrum Holobyte,The Software Toolworks, Humongous Entertainment,
 Epyx, Virgin Games, GameTek, SSI, SSG, Interplay Productions, and many
more. DIGPAK and MIDPAK have been used in such acclaimed products as Return
To Zork, Putt Putt Joins the Parade, Fatty Bear, Cyberstrike, Seawolf,
Monopoly Deluxe, KaleidoSonics, Gambit, Chessmaster, World Atlas, Warlords
II, Eye of the Beholder, and hundreds more.
 You may get the free developers kit by calling SoundBytes OnLine at  1-314-
939-0200 at up to 14.4kb and download DMKIT.ZIP.  To preview the
 documentation and licensing policy simply download the smaller file
 DGMID.ZIP. This file is also widely available on electronic services. This
 release of the developers kit is in response to a great demand for some
sort  of third party API solution to deal with the plethora of PC sound
cards flooding the market.
 Even though no direct technical support is provided, the programmers kit
 includes generous sample code. In the course of it's wide distribution we
 hope to provide a broadbased grass roots solution to interactive sound and
 music in both commercial and non-commercial software products.
 
Contact:
  The Audio Solution
  747 Napa Lane
  St. Charles, MO 63304
  BBS: 1-314-939-0200
  John W. Ratcliff, 70253,3237@compuserve.com
 ---- (snip, snip) -----------
 
OK, finally here's the Gravis CES announcements just posted on Genie.
Someone might wanna cross-post the first one to the GUS music digest:
 
-------- (snip, snip) ---------------
 Category 1,  Topic 6
 Message 211       Thu Jan 13, 1994
 GRAVIS [Adv Gravis]          at 13:02 EST
 
Agency Contact:
 Pat Meier
 Pat Meier Associates P.R.
 415/957-5999
 
Company Contact:
 Bryan Del Rizzo
 Advanced Gravis
 Computer Technology
 604/431-5020
 
Consumer Electronics Show Debut
 Advanced Gravis Provides Total Musical Solution with Gravis Personal Piano
 System.
 
Vancouver, British Columbia -- January 06, 1994 -- Advanced Gravis Computer
 Technology Ltd., an innovator in affordable wavetable audio boards and
software, announced that they will ship in February a complete home piano
package based on the Gravis UltraSound board.  The "Gravis Personal Piano
System" provides all the elements for a versatile musical keyboard system
that will satisfy the needs of beginning  piano students to sophisticated
orchestral composers for under $495.  Unlike proprietary musical systems,
the Gravis Personal Piano System provides important multimedia components
that can be used by non-music computer users as well.
 
The Gravis Personal Piano System includes the following:
 - Gravis UltraSound board, providing natural piano sounds along with 192
MIDI instrument sounds. Gravis UltraSound uses wavetable synthesis to
provide true-to-life sounds of musical instruments and special effects.
 - A four octave velocity sensitive MIDI keyboard with full size keys,
 manufactured by Fatar, the worlds leading manufacturer of master keyboards.
 - Pair of Powered Speakers.
 - Musicware's Piano, a self-pacing, instructional piano teaching program for
all ages levels, which steps users through a programmed teaching system
designed to give users keyboard skills and build their confidence to explore
the world of multimedia applications.
 
According to Grant Russell, president of Advanced Gravis, "the Gravis
Personal Piano System reaffirms our commitment to product development by
providing high quality multimedia solutions that the whole family can
experience and benefit from together."
 
The Gravis Personal Piano System includes Musicware Piano's professionally
 developed and curriculum based teaching program.  Six courses in all,
Musicware Piano is designed to take beginning music enthusiasts from the
basics to the classics and beyond.  Following is a comparison of Musicware
Piano and Miracle Piano (based on information available 12/29/93):
 
			   Musicware Piano   Miracle Piano
 Runs under Windows        Yes    No
 Integrated Sequential Curriculum
 Teaches:
 Music Theory & Notation   Yes    No
 Ear Training              Yes    No
 Rhythm                    Yes    No
 Sight Reading             Yes    No
 Tracks Individual Students Yes    No
 Provides Immediate Feedback  Yes    Yes
 Structured Learning Format  Yes    No
 - Multiple course offering taking student
 through 3+ years of traditional piano
 instruction.              Yes    No
 
Once users become familiar with their new "piano", they can explore other
 bundled software including Midisoft Recording Session and Power Chords for
 Windows, and sample the variety of 192 patches provided with the UltraSound
 board.
 ------------
 Category 1,  Topic 6
 Message 212       Thu Jan 13, 1994
 GRAVIS [Adv Gravis]          at 13:04 EST
 
Release Date:  January 07, 1994
 TORONTO: AED
 VANCOUVER: AED
 OTC BBS: GRVSF
 
Advanced Gravis and Forte Technologies Announce New Joint Venture for
Virtual Reality Systems. Forte Technologies, Inc. ("Forte") and Advanced
Gravis Computer Technology Ltd. ("Advanced Gravis") today announced they
have signed a letter of intent to form a new joint venture to introduce new
technology and products targeted at the consumer Virtual Reality market.
 
The letter of intent calls for the formation and financing of a new company
 that Gravis and Forte would jointly own.  The new entity would be the
exclusive licensee and developer of the VR technology and products.
Advanced Gravis will negotiate to acquire rights to manufacture and market
products licensed from this venture.  The formation of the venture is
subject to the parties concluding formal agreements concerning the terms,
conditions and financing of the new joint company and the receipt of all
regulatory and governmental approvals, as may be required.
 
The first product from this proposed new company is the VFX1 being
 demonstrated this week in Las Vegas at the Consumer Electronic Show.
 
The VFX1 is a fully integrated interactive head mounted virtual reality
system equipped with color 3D stereo display, proprietary 3D head tracker to
detect head motion, and stereo sound, all packaged in a sleek ergonomic
shell.
 
"This level of integrated design with displays, head tracker, headphones,
and PC interface video card, at a consumer price point, is unprecedented in
this young VR market," explains Paul Travers, President of FORTE
technologies.
 
:The VFX1 system connects easily with existing PCs and entertainment
software, so users can gain a whole new sense of realism.  The full
capability will come from true 3D VR software applications which are
currently being developed", said Grant Russell, President of Advanced
Gravis.
 
The VFX1 is the first truly integrated full VR headset to enter the market
at a target retail price of under $1000.  The product should be ready for
 introduction by Fall 1994.  Features include:
 
o  Dual 0.7 inch color LCD displays that offer high quality 428 X 244
 resolution
 o  Provides an image equivalent to watching a 35 ft screen in 3D at a
distance of 35 ft.
 o  High fidelity stereo headphones
 o  Virtual Orientation System - VOS  head motion tracker provides roll,
pitch and yaw coordinates
 o  Compatible with existing Multimedia IBM PC's
 
The VFX1 is aimed at the PC market, but is compatible with workstations, or
 any device that utilizes a standard VGA card.  There is also an option to
 accept NTSC or PAL video signals from home entertainment systems such as
Sega and Nintendo.
 
For more information contact Pete Matthews at Forte (716) 427-8595 or Grant
 Russell at Advanced Gravis (604) 431-5020.
  ----- (snip, snip) ------
 
 ...lots o' bandwidth, but no long quotes from yesterday, and no sig...
 

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

Date: Thu, 13 Jan 94 08:17:41 EST
From: Akintunde Omitowoju <ZAO1@ETSU.EAST-TENN-ST.EDU>
Subject: GUS, SB, MPU401, and MidiSoft Recording Session

I hope this isn't a FAQ.  If it is please forgive me.  I've just signed on to
this digest.

Ok, here's my first question:

I have a Sound Blaster v1.05 and my GUS both installed in my machine.  The only
problem I'm having with this is that a lot of software can not detect the
Adlib/FM compatible part of my SB.  The software reports a "Adlib Card not
found type error."  When I used SOUND.COM (or SBFMDRV.COM), then I can get
music coming from my Sound Blaster.  Also, when I run SBOS, I then would get
sound out of my SB.  There's a problem somewhere in the detection.  Has anyone
else had trouble of this nature?  Any remmedies???

I also have an MPU401 compatible midi card also installed in my PC.  I don't
want to buy that MIDI connector for the GUS (since I don't have the cash), and
I also am not an electronics genius to be daring enough to build that homemade
connector.  Is there a way I can configure the MidiSoft Recording Session to
use my MPU401 card?  Do I have to reconfigure Windows or something?

Any help would be appreciated.  Thanks!  =)

Akintunde Omitowoju
ZAO1@ETSU.BITNET           (BITNET)
ZAO1@ETSU.EAST-TENN-ST.EDU (INTERNET)

"I program, therefore I debug."

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

Date: Thu, 13 Jan 94 11:10:11 +0200
From: Yossi Oren <LIOREN1@WEIZMANN.weizmann.ac.il>
Subject: Re: GUS Daily Digest V10 #13

>Date: Wed, 12 Jan 1994 11:55:40 -0800 (PST)
>From: "George A. Montemayor" <gmontem@eis.calstate.edu>
>Subject: Should I swith to v2.06a?
>
>  What's the difference between v2.06L disk set and v2.06a disk set? Any
>new patches? Any improvements?
There's the missing tremstr.pat and some Windows fixes.  Get gus0036 from
EPAS (~/gravis/patch) to move up.
HTH,
Yossi.

+---+-----------------------------------------------------------+---+---+
| = |         Signature 1.1f - unregistered evaluation copy     | V | ^ |
+---+-----------------------------------------------------------+---+---+
|Yossi Oren, Al-Daf Engineering Ltd., Rishon Le-Zion, Israel.      Help |
++===============================================++====================++
||Internet EMail:LIOREN1@WEIZMANN.WEIZMANN.AC.IL || GUS - serious sound||
||Bitnet EMail:LIOREN1@WEIZMANN                  || for a funny price. ||
+================================================++=====================+
|| OS/2 Users - total proof that pain doesn't build character.         ||
+=======================================================================+

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

Date: Thu, 13 Jan 1994 11:28:55 -0600
From: Mike Surgeon <surgeon@vss.fsi.com>
Subject: Re: GUS Daily Digest V10 #13

>Date: Wed, 12 Jan 94 17:08:17 MEZ
>From: hach@oracle.dwhl.de
>Subject: Problems with SBOS and DUNE I

>Hi everybody,

>I'm having problems with DUNE I and my GUS. No matter what switch I use
>with SBOS (-O2 etc), it still sounds awfull. I really love the game AND the
>music, is there a way to have both? Or do I have to reinstall my old
>ATI-FX card?

>Thanks in advance ....

I agree, the music with SBOS is awful (so bad, in fact, that I turned the music off). However, using MEGAEM to emulate Roland gives very good sound (I used the
latest version which I beleive is 2.02).

Mike Surgeon

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

Date: Thu, 13 Jan 1994 11:28:55 -0600
From: Mike Surgeon <surgeon@vss.fsi.com>
Subject: Re: GUS Daily Digest V10 #13



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

Date: Thu, 13 Jan 1994 16:45:35 -0500 (EST)
From: Phat H Tran <ptran@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca>
Subject: Re: GUS Daily Digest V10 #13

> Date: Wed, 12 Jan 94 22:42:11 GMT-0800
> From: ferris@mezzanine.mse.arizona.edu (Bob Ferris)
> Subject: 3d files to wav format
> 
> Who Ever Can Help,
> 
> I was wondering if anyone knows how to take a sound file that is
> rendered in one direction and then store that sound file as a wav.
> 
> This is important as not every one has an Ultrasound board.  This way
> soundblaster people can also enjoy enjoy 3d sounds.

Focal Point 3D cannot possibly work on the SB because it requires
a left and a right channel and the SB is a mono card.  You'll be 
able to play recordings of FP3D sounds on a soundcard with a
stereo DAC, but you'll lose the ability to position the sounds
on the fly. 

> Date: Wed, 12 Jan 1994 06:36:46 -0500 (EST)
> From: Daniel Gelinas <gelinas@CAM.ORG>
> Subject: 3 Questions
> 
> This is my first letter to the digest so forgive me for any format error.
> 
> As the subject says I have 3 unrelated questions I need answered.
> 
> 1) Does the Gravis record properly from a standard RCA jack?
> reason: A friend of mine came over with his portable and we plugged his 
> CD-out directly into the gus to perform some samples using USS8 unfortunately
> the VU meters kept on peeking.  Since it is direct there is no way we could 
> control the volume..

Make sure that you have the CD line out plugged into the GUS' line input,
not its mic input (some boxes have them reversed, labelling the mic in as
the line in, and vice versa).  The GUS' input level matches standard line
levels for componenent stereo systems.

> 2) Where can I get the 16bit recording daughtercard, and how much does it cost.
> I live in montreal and cannot find any place that sells this.

It is not out yet.

> Date: Wed, 12 Jan 94 17:16:04 EST
> From: Greg <BGUZ@MUSICB.MCGILL.CA>
> Subject: HIRED GUNS by Psygnosis: 3D?
> 
> The following was written in the most recent issue of
> PC Entertainment:
> 
> "Psygnosis has released 'Hired Guns', the first game to
> take advantage of Gravis' 3D Holographic Sound. The
> Ultrasound's 3D sound effect are stunning, and should make
> for a much more realistic gaming experience."

Take magazine reports with a large grain of salt.  They are usually
written three months in advance, and many intervening circumstances 
may have arisen in the time it takes them to reach the newsstand.
This is not to say that you shouldn't believe that Hired Guns will
have 3D sound (it may very well), but you should just keep in mind 
that mags have cried wolf many times before, and thus not get your
hopes up too high.

Phat.

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

Date: Thu, 13 Jan 1994 17:05:05 -0500 (EST)
From: Phat H Tran <ptran@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca>
Subject: Re: GUS Daily Digest V10 #13

> Date: Thu, 13 Jan 1994 14:27:10 +1030 (CST)
> From: Gavin <SCARMAN@hfrd.dsto.gov.au>
> Subject: Re: GUS Mixer, the GF1, and WaveTable Synth
> 
> bsteinf@eis.calstate.edu (Burke Steinfelt) writes...
> 
> > ...when you play it back at a different rate, higher or lower, the sound
> > speeds up or slows down, respectively, and the sound becomes quite distorted
> > the further away from the original frequency you recorded it at.
> 
> 'layering' is supposed to help this somewhat, eg. sample once per octave or 
> something like that. Check out acguit.zip at epas in ..../sound/patches/files.

Actually, layering is something different.  What you've described is 
the use of multisamples.  Layering is using two or more voices, and
varying the phase, pitch, etc. between them, to produce neato effects
that would talk up too much memory with just one voice.  Layering is
not implemented in the GUS software, unfortunately.
> Date: Wed, 12 Jan 1994 12:00:38 -0500
> From: David Demski <the_gonz@access.digex.net>
> Subject: MicroProse Bashes the GUS
> 
> I was calling Micro Prose BBS the other day and decided to look in the
> message base to see if any one was talking about the GUS.  To my suprise
> there was a fair amount of discussion.  Unfortunatlly the GUS owners
> were being shot down left and right.  Every time any one asked about GUS
> support a Microprose Rep. tld them that they won't support it now and
> that its not their faught that they won't.  I felt that it would be a

This might have been the case six months ago (i.e. a company can fairly
claim that they can't support the GUS because Gravis doesn't make it
easy for them too) but today it's a rather poor excuse for laziness.

> Here are a few of the comments made by Micro Prose Reps:
> 
> -> and should I get a Gravis Ultrasound (returning my SB Pro) for better
> -> music and sounds if microprose will support this?
> 
> I wouldn't recommend it right now. There is still precious little
> support for the GUS in the industry while SB is considered the standard.
> If you still play a lot of older games, the GUS's SB emulation is poor
> at best, don't count on it. You can always add the WaveBlaster, which
> sounds every bit as good as a GUS or you could switch to the new
> MediaVision PAS16XL with wavetable synthesis and full SB compatibility.
> The combo of an SB16 and Roland SCC-1 is about the best you can do,
> though it is a little pricey.

This, of course, sounds like the corporate policy of making the 
consumer buy the expensive, well-understood standards instead of
taking a serious look at entirely capable hardware that is actually 
affordable by most people.  In the case of the GUS, the hardware is
actually much more capable than the expensive alternatives in
certain ways (custom instruments and multiple overlapping sound 
effects).

> -> Thanks for your message regarding the Gravis Ultrasound (Advanced,
> -> that is.:P ) I have heard buzzchat about the Gravis being easier to
> -> program as opposed to the Sound Blaster, and other cards.
> -> Is this true?
> 
> ABSOLUTELY NOT! The originator of these rumors was either Gravis or
> someone who has never programmed. If you have space to link all Gravis's
> library code, and only need to playback standard MIDI files, it may not
> be that hard, but doing anything else involves a considerable amount of
> programming. God help you if you need to do your own patch management!

This I can almost agree with.  RAM makes the GUS versatile, but also 
makes it harder to program for (hey, you can't always have your cake and 
eat it too).  Game developers can either say that they like the potential
that RAM offers and will expend some effort to explore it, or they can say 
that they don't want to consider the GUS' versatility since that would 
divert time away from their golf games.

> -> This wonderful sound board is on the cutting edge of sound board
> -> technology.  The GUS uses wave table synthesis to achieve 16 bit 44.4
> -> Mhz CD quality sound.
> 
> There are a dozen boards with better specs out these days, even if the
> GUS is the cheapest.

There are no other cards as suited for games or as affordable as the
GUS.  WB & SB16 - no RAM, no hardware mixing of multiple digitized
sounds, not affordable.  SCC1 & SB16 - same.  Aria - no RAM, poor
sound quality, no hardware mixing of multiple digitized sounds.  
SW32/GW32 - same.  PAS16XL - no RAM, no hardware mixing of digitized
sounds, not affordable, not out yet.

> -> It uses RAM cacheing (as opposed to ROM) to get almost unlimited
> -> sound and digital effects.
> 
> A side effect of RAM caching is also uncontrollable pauses whenever the
> music needs a new sound.

Not if Microprose's programmers can make the game cache required patches
in advance.  "Uncontrollable" my foot.  There's an uncontrollable pause
when Wing Command loads the next mission.  Whoopee.  Just take care 
in where the patch caching is done, and the pauses when patches are
loaded would not be intrusive.

> ->     In addition to the wonderful sound, Advanced Gravis has done a gr
> -> deal to make it easy for programmers to use the GUS.  A free develope
> 
> They only make it easy if you can use their extremely inefficient and
> large drivers. They have been extremely slow to give us the hardware
> details we require.

What is the register programming information in the public SDK if 
not hardware details?  But Microprose would have a point if they
say that they can't get details about the patches to make use of 
them in their music routines.  Forte have said that they'll release
more complete patch specs soon.

> ->     Many other companies are supporting or have GUS support planned f
> -> the GUS; Sierra, Id, Epic, Accolade, Lucas Arts, Impressions, and
> -> Westwood Studios, to name a few.  I know that Microprose, like many
> -> other software developers have limited resources but the GUS is a gre
> -> new technology that warrants a serious look.
> 
> Almost all of these companies are supporting the GUS only in a General
> MIDI mode. Since all of our games now support General MIDI for music and
> Sound Blaster (or other cards) for digitized sounds, you can use the new
> MegaEm software from Gravis for GUS support.

Sierra's GUS support (in LSL6) does not require Mega-Em.  Id's GUS
support does not require Mega-em, Epic's GUS support does not require
MegaEm, Accolade's GUS support (in StarCon2) does not require Mega-Em,
LucasArts' GUS support does not require Mega-Em.  All these companies
support the GUS in its native mode (although not all take advantage
of the GUS' unique strengths).

> Date: Wed, 12 Jan 94 15:23:48 EST
> From: Chad Smith <s19915@hp.rmc.ca>
> Subject: Mod and Windows Qs
> 
> Hello GUS Masters.  I have a couple of question for those more informed than 
> myself.  First, does anyone know which FTP sites have the MODUS mod player for 
> the 
> GUS and Windows?  Second, the sound quality of playback through Windows for mod 
> and midi files is inferior to that of DOS.  I am using MOD4WIN, MidiSurfer, and 
> the Media Player for PB in Win.  I just use the GUS mod and midi players in DOS. 
>  I'm pretty sure all my software is the latest ver.  Anyone have any suggestion 
> as to 
> why this is so?  My GUS hardware is ver. 2.4, is this the problem?  One 
> more thing is anyone having trouble with MOD4WIN hanging when selecting 
> Stereo playback for frequencies >11k? 

MODs sound inferior because Windows MOD players do the mixing in software
instead of properly using the GUS hardware.  MIDs shouldn't sound any
worse in Windows than in DOS if you're using the hi-fi option (check
in Control Panel Drivers Setup) and have from 20 to 26 voices active and
have enabled all the channels in the MIDI Mapper and are using the
Ultrasound MIDI Mapper setup (not Ultra256, Ultra1024, etc.).

As for stereo MODs, you must use rates of 11025 Hz, 22050 Hz, or 44100 Hz.

> Date: Wed, 12 Jan 1994 08:49 EST
> From: BERNIE3@vms.cis.pitt.edu
> Subject: Os2 & Ultrasound message2
> 
>      #1          12-JAN-1994 08:38:19.10                          
>        NEWMAIL 
>  X-Vms-To: IN%"ultrasound%itchy@dsd.es.com" 
>  
>  
> I am interested in buying an Ultrasound board. 
>  
> Will it work with OS2? 
> Will it work with WINOS2? 
> Do you have drivers for OS2? 

Negative to all three.

>  
> Would SBOS have to be run for OS2? 

No.  SBOS and OS/2 don't mix.

> I'd like to know these answers before I make my buying decision. 

Wait a bit to see what OS/2 drivers will come out for the GUS.  They
are being programmed by 3rd parties at the moment.

> Date: Wed, 12 Jan 94 5:59:56 CST
> From: chuth@lonestar.utsa.edu (Cornel H. Huth)
> Subject: Re: PatchDir to Hell
> 
> >From: Clarke Brunt <CLARKE@lsl.co.uk>
> >>You must also edit the PatchDir fields (all of them) in ultrasnd.ini to
> >>point to your /ultrasnd/midi directory.
> 
> >I've seen this said so many times, but where else might it point? I must
> >have installed every possible new windows driver, and have never yet
> >had to alter PatchDir field - they have been correct all along.
> 
> Something's not quite right. My story's the same: no musica. Patch Manager
> & MidiSoft's program don't do anything. PowerChords gives a DIV/0 box
> and then leaves the mouse-cursor range set to a tiny, oh, 20x20-pixel area.
> Thing is, PatchMaker Lite works (heh).
> 
> & in F:\SND\_GUS\ULTRASND.INI
> [Ultrasound]                 ;I removed blank lines - no difference
> PatchDir=F:\SND\_GUS\MIDI\

This is a shot in the dark, but how about moving the GUS patches to
a path that doesn't have the underscore character?  That underscore
character is the only suspicious thing about your setup.  Everything 
else you've posted is the way it should be.

> Date: Wed, 12 Jan 94 17:08:17 MEZ
> From: hach@oracle.dwhl.de
> Subject: Problems with SBOS and DUNE I
> 
> Hi everybody,
> 
> I'm having problems with DUNE I and my GUS. No matter what switch I use
> with SBOS (-O2 etc), it still sounds awfull. I really love the game AND the
> music, is there a way to have both? Or do I have to reinstall my old
> ATI-FX card?

You can use Mega-Em or the AIL drivers to get much better sound from
the game.  There's a file to patch the game for you on Epas (sorry,
I don't know the directory where it could be found).

> Date: Wed, 12 Jan 1994 11:55:40 -0800 (PST)
> From: "George A. Montemayor" <gmontem@eis.calstate.edu>
> Subject: Should I swith to v2.06a?
> 
>   What's the difference between v2.06L disk set and v2.06a disk set? Any 
> new patches? Any improvements?

The 2.06a disks are later than the 2.06L disks and have more software.
The 2.06L disks are just the 2.06 disks with the commercial software
removed so that they can be placed on Epas.  The 2.06a disks were
released after some bugs were found in the 2.06 disks.

Phat.

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

Date: Thu, 13 Jan 94 15:11:37 EST
From: <sirnewton@aol.com>
Subject: Gus Grievances

Hello,

You know, sure, there way be some incompatabilities with a few games, but
when the gus does work, it works EXTREMELY well.  After playing StarTrek:
Judgement rights with MegaEm, I could never get used to FM again!  And Dark
Side of Xeen had beautiful music with MegaEm.  

Now my question:  How colse to getting some 32bit drivers for the new Sierra
Games?

SirNewton
sirnewton@aol.com

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

Date: Thu, 13 Jan 1994 14:26:07 +0100
From: KJELLJF <KJELLJF@dhhalden.no>
Subject: Re: Hired Guns 3D

I tried hired guns just before christmas, and it didn't have gus-
support at all. Maybe it was a beta version(?). The SB sound 
sucked (as always).
Anyway the four player Amiga version was exellent, and I was 
disappointed that the pc version only had a three player option. 

KJF

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

Date: Thu, 13 Jan 1994 14:44:28 +1030 (DST)
From: Michael Scholten <michael@apanix.apana.org.au>
Subject: mic input problem solved

Phat writes (in rely to Michael's original post)
>> Subject: Mic Input
>>
>> Everything midi is now working well.  Unfortunately my Mic input is
>> suffering now.  Even though I am still limited to 8-bit, I had intended
>> using Patch Maker Lite to play with recording .WAV files and turning them
>> into patches.  I had used the Windows Sound Recorder with the old drivers
>> fairly successfully.  Now I get almost nothing.  Any Ideas?

>Do you have your mic input on (the mic input leaks when it's disabled, so
>you might think it's on when it's not)?  Are you using the new mixer?  Is
>your mic a sensitive one?

Very interesting.  What I heard _was_ the mic input 'leaking' (sad), but
to the best of my knowledge, I did have mic input turned on.  In the new
mixer (which I am using), there is a 'mute mic' button, but no 'enable
mic input'.  My guess is that if its not muted, its enabled.
Unfortunately mine wasn't muted and wasn't enabled.

So, what I ended up doing is going to the USS8.exe program and enabling
my mic input there.  Strangely enough when I started Windows again my
mic was enabled.  I clicked the 'save' button in the mixer, and now
everythings great.

Thanks for your help.

Cheers,

Michael

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

Date: Thu, 13 Jan 94 18:40:58 -0500
From: liaor@churchst.ccs.itd.umich.edu
Subject: Microprose's response

Soooo, we finally hear from a company that the GUS is hard to program.  Of course
this isn't the first time we've heard "The GUS is hard to program."

But to be honest, looking through the GUS SDK 2.10, I can understand why they
would call it hard.  My Apple IIGS technical reference had better details
about the actual hardware and stuff.  But since I don't program extensively,
I really can't comment on how necessary hardware details and more compact
drivers are.  I think Microprose should get a clew.  As recently as Pirates Gold
they didn't bother using digital sound effects (Soundblaster.)

Matter of fact, with a few exceptions, Microprose has been pretty weak regarding
sound support. Just my opinion (based on Civ, and some other games I saw at the
store, demoed on the overhyped SB-16)

I wish game companies would use the GUS's GF1 for multi-channel sound effects,
but I doubt it'll happen.  Gravis's SDK doesn't make it too easy, from what I
can tell (again Icould be wrong, since I haven't actually written a very
complicated GUS program.)

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

Date: Thu, 13 Jan 1994 11:27:23
From: Win Shaw <kws@khongws.pc.my>
Subject: Re: Mortal Kombat + MegaEm

Yo Gussers,

	I've just gotten MK and sadly, it uses the new Dos-Extender ver. 
1.9 which has a dislike for memory managers!!! Therefore, I can't 
load Megaem ver 2.000b3 to emulate Roland.

	I managed to tweak EMM386 (DOS 6.2) to work with the Dos-Extender 
with the switch '-novcpi' but still when I load Megaem, MK would have 
a problem with memory allocation. :(

	Fortunately, SBOS ver. 2.08 works fine with this game without any 
extra switches (except for a tendency to repeat the name of the 
character..ie...Johnny Cage...Johnny Cage...etc....)

	Still, I didn't buy a GUS to listen to SB output!!! So, is there 
anyone who found a way to make Megaem run with the new Dos-Extenders? 
Or are there any new plans for drivers to overcome this limitation as
more and more games are starting to use the Dos-Extender platform?

	Thanks a million!!!

	William

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

Date: Thu, 13 Jan 94 14:06:30 -0500
From: "Momentary language, sexual situations" <dantonio@tay2.dec.com>
Subject: Re: Os2 & Ultrasound message2

> I am interested in buying an Ultrasound board. 

> Will it work with OS2? 

In what way? I've successfully used the AIL drivers in a DOS box under OS/2
with The 7Th Guest and Ultima Underworld (they both sound great!). But alot
of GUS Mod players fail miserably.

> Will it work with WINOS2? 

No. The GUS drivers require gravultr.386 which is a virtual device driver
and not supported under Win-O2/2

> Do you have drivers for OS2? 

There currently are no drivers for OS/2 (either MMPM/2 or dedicated)

> Would SBOS have to be run for OS2? 

No. SBOS tries to trap NMI Interrupts and OS/2 considers this "mucking with
the hardware" and disallows it. The last time I tried this, it trashed my
video driver and I spent an hour on the phone to IBM tracking it down and
fixing it.

The bottom line is that there is precious little OS/2 support and Gravis
has been of minimal help...

DDA

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

Date: Thu, 13 Jan 1994 03:57:40 -0700 (MST)
From: jhender@nyx.cs.du.edu (djkc)
Subject: PatchDir/PatchMan/PatchPROBLEMS!

Well, I changed all PatchDir=c:\ultrasnd\midi to PatchDir=c:\sound\gus\midi
in my c:\sound\gus\ultrasnd.ini file.

I got the patches to LIST in the Patch Manager!

However, they will not load!

They still load in Patch Maker Lite...

I have tried setting the PatchDir pointers in c:\sound\gus\windows\ultrasnd.ini
also, but no go there...

It has something to do with either Patch Maker Lite, Cool Edit, and/or
GUSDK210, which I installed all of these just before I had this problem
with downloading patches in PatchMan..

If anyone can figure it out, please post!

-djkc

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

Date: Thu, 13 Jan 1994 16:20:45 -0500 (EST)
From: gt7039a@prism.gatech.edu
Subject: Sim City 2K and Patches

Regarding putting patches in the MOD file... unfortunately, there is no
easy way to do this, since the patch uses a lot of special features
(fading, for example) that you cannot duplicate by a simple digital
sample. I HAVE created a small utility that will extract all of the .RAW
files out of a Ultrasound patch (I call it PATCHRIP)... and since most
of the samples are 16 bit, versus the standard 8 bit required by most
composition programs, I created a 16 bit sample to 8 bit sample
converter. However, these were rather hastily created, only in a couple
of hours, to help on a .MTM file I was working on...
I will upload PATCHRIP and 16TO8 on archive.epas... perhaps those can
help. I thought that Patch Maker Lite could possibly do the same thing?
I haven't tested the program yet however...


Regarding Sim City 2000, I am running SBOS v.2.08 with Sim City 2000 and
experiencing no problems. Three possible problems: 1) Sim City 2000
requires 4 megs of memory MINIMUM, 2) Sim City requires a nice chunk of
conventional memory to run sound correctly, and 3) Sim City 2000
requires VESA. You already said that you had VESA correctly installed...
I assume the sound settings are ok in Sim City... I would only guess
it's the conventional. I run about 610k conventional free with QEMM...

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

Date: Thu, 13 Jan 94 14:11:24 -0500
From: "Momentary language, sexual situations" <dantonio@tay2.dec.com>
Subject: Re: Sound Blaster and GUS

>  This means SBOS doesn't work and you
> have to disable the SB digital playback on Megaem, but you don't need
> them; and the GUS works fine with all the other GUS aware software. 

I have the same setup and, having recently gotten Sherlock Holmes CD II, I
went to play it, only to have it complain about my soundboard setup (using
the SB 2.0). However, if I use Mega 'Em's SB DAC playback, it works fine,
playing through the GUS!

DDA

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

Date: Thu, 13 Jan 94 10:10:58 PST
From: thomas.lew@octel.com (Thomas Lew)
Subject: Speech/Voice Recognition for the GUS?

In a previous posting, dionf@ERE.UMontreal.CA (Francois Dion) said:

>than the GUS). As for the mic and line in levels, well they are on the
>daughterboard, which is for people who want to record quality samples on the
>GUS. The included 8 bit recording on the GUS was included for MPC compatibility
>and for speech recognition (and with the ALC on the mic input, this is enough).

Does anyone know of any speech or voice recognition packages that support the
GUS?  If they exist, any opinions on how well they work?

Thomas Lew

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

Date: Thu, 13 Jan 94 14:33:47 CST
From: Chevnut@osuunx.ucc.okstate.edu
Subject: Ultrasnd.ini Working file on epas.

	Well, I think this should have been done a long time ago.

I have uploaded my WORKING ultrasnd.ini file to ftp -i archive.epas.utoronto.ca
it is in the submit directory.

The file has the [Ultrasound] section that is for Patch Manager, the sections for Patch Maker Lite (High bank numbers IN ORDER), and sections for three banks
each beginning with [Melodic Bank x] where x is the bank number.  

The first bank number [0] is the patch set with the 2.06L disks, the second [1] 
is also this list for easy modifying, the third [3] is an example using many
of the public domain patches, and the fourth [3] (Darn the previous one is [2])
is completely blank.

I hope this helps.  By the way, pthis is MY ultrasnd.ini so you will have to edit the directories, and delete the bank numbers [2] and [3] for it to work with 
your setup, but at least you can see what a WORKING ULTRASND.INI file looks like.

Greg [Tramp]

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

Date: Thu, 13 Jan 1994 11:29:25 -0500 (EST)
From: William Lapera <uwtl@sunyit.edu>
Subject: velocity & shadowcaster

I was wondering, is it possible to create patches that are velocity sensitive
in terms of a different samples for different velocities?  i.e. a hard hit
on the keyboard for a bass patch would create a slap sound.


Also, does anyone have the game Shadowcaster working with the GUS??


Thanks

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

Date: Thu, 13 Jan 94 13:29:29 PST
From: bsteinf@eis.calstate.edu (Burke Steinfelt)
Subject: WaveTable Synth

To: dionf@ERE.UMontreal.CA (Francois Dion)

> First, this is a question for the gus-MUSIC list, not gus-GENERAL.

Sorry about my last post being in GENERAL and not MUSIC, I totally forgot about
the "music" list AND to subscribe to it. ;)

> The duration will be kept but the range is not that great because you
> introduce distortion in either direction. You would still need about the same
> quantity of samples and get only marginally better sound. Take note that the
> harmonics on real instruments are not at the same ratio at different notes, so
> this part would not improve.

This is true, however the distortion isn't quite as obvious, I've experienced.
I see this technique probly wouldn't work out as good as the current one.


To: Gavin <SCARMAN@hfrd.dsto.gov.au>

> You may get a better response in the GUS music digest.

Thanks, I will remember to subscribe to that digest now. Tnx :)


L8r On
-Spammy

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

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

Date: Thu, 13 Jan 1994 13:39:15 -0500
From: Bryon Daly <ltx!bkd@uunet.UU.NET>

Well, I'm not sure what's causing your problem, but I can tell you that 
SimCity 2000 loaded and ran OK on my system without any fiddling at all.  I 
use QEMM, and it doesn't seem to cause any problems, despite SC2000's 
dire warnings about using memory managers.  One thought: If you're not 
loading any memory manager, are you sure you have enough free mem available for
the game?  It says it needs a lot.  QEMM loads my MS Mouse driver high and frees
up some extra DOS memory.

Right now I have that ultrasound env variable set to 7,7,7,5 (for DOOM 
compatibility).  (It's usually 7,7,11,5).  My GUS is on port 220.  I am using
the 2.something SBOS, the one that came with the 2.06 driver set, I think.

I have a Diamond Speedstar, which is a directly supported video card, so I
don't need to load my vesa driver myself, but I suspect that the game just 
loads the same vesa driver in on its own.

Anyway, the game loads and runs fine, and the music works OK (although I found
it a bit annoying after a while).  Unfortunately, the sound efffects don't 
seem to work correctly, leaving the game almost silent if the music is 
turned off.  I haven't tried the latest SBOS yet, though, to see if that helps,
so this problem may already be solved.                

Well, I hope that helps.
-Bryon

PS - My apologies for a blank message from me that might show up in this 
digest...My junky mailer ran amok for a few moments before I could get it 
under control.
			   

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

Date: Thu, 13 Jan 1994 13:00:49 -0500
From: Bryon Daly <ltx!bkd@uunet.UU.NET>

	

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

End of GUS Daily Digest V10 #14
*******************************
