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Author Topic:   sound probs-stuttering

Felipe posted 02-23-99 04:18 PM ET
big prob:
ac is stuttering whenever trying to play speech. the guy keeps repeating himself once or twice. is there a fix for that`?
furthermore i got no music at all during tha game (no it is turned on)
i have an ibm mwave soundcard an win95 directx6
rodmoe posted 02-23-99 06:21 PM ET
From what I've been able to gleen from other newgroups the problem is probably related to agp/pci cards "hogging" the pci bus.
The mp3 files associated with the stuttering you're describing aren't able to appropriate sufficient bandwith to function properly.
If this is the case...then I'm afraid we're screwed; the only fix is to turn down the graphics acceleration through device manager.
I hope I'm wrong.
Rod
Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS posted 02-23-99 06:25 PM ET
Check out DXDiag.exe and look for "!", any text in the note sections that doesn't say "No Problem", and run the tests. Tell me what you find.
jkm
firaxis games
rodmoe posted 02-23-99 06:27 PM ET
P.S. to previous post:
If this IS right, its great argument for NOT going to pci sound as the problem will effect a lot of different cards by numerous manufacturers.
Rod
dodger posted 02-23-99 06:57 PM ET
TO FIRAXIS: FYI, I have this problem too, and I'm in Windows NT, and I have exactly the same problem with the speech in Ceaser 3.
bulldozer posted 02-23-99 07:51 PM ET
I've also got this stuttering problem. I've tried v2.0, directx 6.1, EAX=0 and DS3D=0, and everything else I've spotted from these pages. Video playback works fine, and I've never had this problem with any other game.
Had some !'s with directx 6.0, but disappeared with 6.1, but no change in stuttering. Dxdiag sound test worked for both versions of directx.
K6-2 350 MHz, 64 MB SDRAM, Turtle Beach Tropez Plus sound, STB Velocity 128(4 MB) PCI video.
It's ISA sound, so the PCI bus "hogging" theory can't be my problem.
Any ideas of stuff to try?
Felipe posted 02-24-99 08:11 AM ET
my soundcard is not pci either
it is an ordinary ibm mwave isa card!!
a p200 should be enough to play the sound without probs, shouldn't it???
so what can i do to enjoy that brilliant game??
Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS posted 02-24-99 11:49 AM ET
NT sound stuttering is the way the NT emulated directsound drivers. Even MS calls it's directsound implementation "crude".
What stutters? Is it the voices or sound effects? If it's the voices, it's an MP3 thing. If it's simply multiple voices overlapping each other, that's a bug that's fixed in the next patch.
jkm
firaxis games
Bone Daddy posted 02-24-99 12:25 PM ET
Try checking the IRQ settings.
I had this same stuttering sound problem, using an ISA Creative Soundblaster 16. I discovered that Windows98 had set the card up with an IRQ of 10, but the documentation for the card said the factory defaults were 3,5 or 7. I changed the IRQ to 7, and now the sound in Alpha Centauri works perfectly.
Bone Daddy posted 02-24-99 12:27 PM ET
(addendum)
Except for the overlapping multiple voices, of course. Glad to hear that's being fixed in the next patch.
gruffudd posted 02-24-99 12:33 PM ET
From what I understand, if you are getting stuttering sound, your drivers are not Direct Sound compatable. Try downloading the current drivers and see if that corrects it.
bulldozer posted 02-24-99 12:44 PM ET
It's really bad with voices. It's hard to tell if sound effects are stuttering in the game because they are so short and due to v2.0, but I'm pretty sure they stutter too. Sound effects in the menu I get at startup definately stutter.
I've played mp3 things before without any problems. Is there a standalone mp3 player similar to AC's player that I could try out?
I'll check out that IRQ suggestion tonight.
Conservator posted 02-24-99 06:29 PM ET
I'm having the stuttering problem too, with an ISA SB 64 AWE. I've downloaded the latest drivers from Creative (dated in January this year), but no dice. I'll have to check the IRQs, as suggested.
Is DirectX 6.1 available someplace for download? Perhaps at Microsoft?
bulldozer posted 02-24-99 09:23 PM ET
directx 6.1 can be downloaded from http://www.microsoft.com/directx
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Author	Topic: sound probs-stuttering
Felipe	posted 02-23-99 04:18 PM ET big prob: ac is stuttering whenever trying to play speech. the guy keeps repeating himself once or twice. is there a fix for that`? furthermore i got no music at all during tha game (no it is turned on) i have an ibm mwave soundcard an win95 directx6
rodmoe	posted 02-23-99 06:21 PM ET From what I've been able to gleen from other newgroups the problem is probably related to agp/pci cards "hogging" the pci bus. The mp3 files associated with the stuttering you're describing aren't able to appropriate sufficient bandwith to function properly. If this is the case...then I'm afraid we're screwed; the only fix is to turn down the graphics acceleration through device manager. I hope I'm wrong. Rod
Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS	posted 02-23-99 06:25 PM ET Check out DXDiag.exe and look for "!", any text in the note sections that doesn't say "No Problem", and run the tests. Tell me what you find. jkm firaxis games
rodmoe	posted 02-23-99 06:27 PM ET P.S. to previous post: If this IS right, its great argument for NOT going to pci sound as the problem will effect a lot of different cards by numerous manufacturers. Rod
dodger	posted 02-23-99 06:57 PM ET TO FIRAXIS: FYI, I have this problem too, and I'm in Windows NT, and I have exactly the same problem with the speech in Ceaser 3.
bulldozer	posted 02-23-99 07:51 PM ET I've also got this stuttering problem. I've tried v2.0, directx 6.1, EAX=0 and DS3D=0, and everything else I've spotted from these pages. Video playback works fine, and I've never had this problem with any other game. Had some !'s with directx 6.0, but disappeared with 6.1, but no change in stuttering. Dxdiag sound test worked for both versions of directx. K6-2 350 MHz, 64 MB SDRAM, Turtle Beach Tropez Plus sound, STB Velocity 128(4 MB) PCI video. It's ISA sound, so the PCI bus "hogging" theory can't be my problem. Any ideas of stuff to try?
Felipe	posted 02-24-99 08:11 AM ET my soundcard is not pci either it is an ordinary ibm mwave isa card!! a p200 should be enough to play the sound without probs, shouldn't it??? so what can i do to enjoy that brilliant game??
Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS	posted 02-24-99 11:49 AM ET NT sound stuttering is the way the NT emulated directsound drivers. Even MS calls it's directsound implementation "crude". What stutters? Is it the voices or sound effects? If it's the voices, it's an MP3 thing. If it's simply multiple voices overlapping each other, that's a bug that's fixed in the next patch. jkm firaxis games
Bone Daddy	posted 02-24-99 12:25 PM ET Try checking the IRQ settings. I had this same stuttering sound problem, using an ISA Creative Soundblaster 16. I discovered that Windows98 had set the card up with an IRQ of 10, but the documentation for the card said the factory defaults were 3,5 or 7. I changed the IRQ to 7, and now the sound in Alpha Centauri works perfectly.
Bone Daddy	posted 02-24-99 12:27 PM ET (addendum) Except for the overlapping multiple voices, of course. Glad to hear that's being fixed in the next patch.
gruffudd	posted 02-24-99 12:33 PM ET From what I understand, if you are getting stuttering sound, your drivers are not Direct Sound compatable. Try downloading the current drivers and see if that corrects it.
bulldozer	posted 02-24-99 12:44 PM ET It's really bad with voices. It's hard to tell if sound effects are stuttering in the game because they are so short and due to v2.0, but I'm pretty sure they stutter too. Sound effects in the menu I get at startup definately stutter. I've played mp3 things before without any problems. Is there a standalone mp3 player similar to AC's player that I could try out? I'll check out that IRQ suggestion tonight.
Conservator	posted 02-24-99 06:29 PM ET I'm having the stuttering problem too, with an ISA SB 64 AWE. I've downloaded the latest drivers from Creative (dated in January this year), but no dice. I'll have to check the IRQs, as suggested. Is DirectX 6.1 available someplace for download? Perhaps at Microsoft?
bulldozer	posted 02-24-99 09:23 PM ET directx 6.1 can be downloaded from http://www.microsoft.com/directx