Really weird sound problem, all versions

[Gambit37]

I've started getting odd sound problems in RTC.

Specifically, certain sounds now simply do not play. Notable examples are the FTL Swoosh, 'swipe', 'thud', monster slithering and some monster attacks. I haven't progressed far so can't yet tell what other things are missing.

The strange thing is that this happens on <b> all versions of RTC that use sound</b>. I still have all versions for testing purposes and can confirm this. It also happens whether I'm using internal sounds or external ovveride sounds.

I assume that as no-body else has mentioned this, it's something specific to my computer. I don't recall doing anything to my machine recently that would have affected this. The only change I have made in the last few days is to install Corel Draw 8, but I don't see how this could affect RTC.

I will unisntall Corel 8 and see if that fixes the problem, but in the mean time can anyone else confirm if they've experienced the same thing?

[Gambit37]

Well, I uninstalled Corel 8 and that didn't help. I also re-installed DirectX 8 and the MCI control software, neither of which helped. I'm stumped - any ideas anyone?

[Gambit37]

I thought perhaps that this might have been something to do with my Windows swap file - perhaps RTC was reading erroneous data or something. So I changed my settings from temp to permnent which effectively deletes the swap file and starts again. Still no change with RTC...

Incidentally, where does RTC store its swap data - is it in the Windows swap file, or somewhere else?

[George Gilbert]

No idea! RTC doesn't keep its own private data store other than basic memory - Windows then farms that out between local and swap...

[Gambit37]

I fixed the problem - and the solution may well help you to determine why some sfx sound crappy...

My MIDI output was set to 'Muted' on the Volume Controller. Setting it back to normal brought back all the other sounds.... however, now you've confused me as this would suggest some sounds are played using the MIDI device and some using the WAV device. I didn't think you could play WAVS on a MIDI device? Very weird...

[Gambit37]

And just to clarify further, if I mute my WAV output, then all the sounds that were playing previously now are silent (click, doors, dink, etc.) but the FTL swoosh, swipe, thud, slithering, monsters attacks etc. play normally.

Can anyone else confirm that this happens on their computers or is it just mine?

[Gambit37]

I tried playing RTC again using my override file and my 22Khz 16bit sound files which always sound clear as a bell.

Using this set-up and by alternately muting WAV and MIDI outputs, I can finally confirm that the sound effects that sound crappy (as per my original posting <a href="http://pub50.ezboard.com/freturntochaos ... 5.topic</a>) are the ones being played as WAVS. The good sounds are those being played through the MIDI device.

But of course it's not that simple...

To make things more complex there are some discrepancies. If MIDI is muted, I get NO screamer sounds using the built in 11Khz files. If I switch to my 22Khz files then I DO get screamer slithering but NOT screamer shrieks. I do receive screamer shrieks if I enable WAV output, and they clearly sound crappy compared to the slithering.

I know this all sounds weird, but it seems to suggest some kind of random factor involved in determining which devices can play which types of sounds. I think there maybe an issue in the code with some sounds being played through the DX layer and some through old MCI calls. But hey, what do I know...

George, I hope some of this helps you crack the problem!

[beowuuf]

Do you mean simply muting the master controls on volume and midi? If so, muting .wav sounds, for me at least, muted all the sounds, while muting the midi didn't even remove the swish. I do have two rival soundcards, but they seem to be working ok together, and the controls for each were used together to make sure.

[Gambit37]

I don't touch the MASTER volume, but you should be able to mute both the independent volumes for WAV (Maybe named DIGITAL) and the MIDI outputs. Obviously muting the master volume will mute everything....!

[beowuuf]

Sorry, wasn't clear, I meant the main volume controls, not the master vloume : )
Just checking youy weren't disabling the sounds some other way..

Umm, so yep, it sounds like your comp, as I turned off my syth/midi controls and there was no difference

Sounds like it's trying to use the midi device first, and if that doesn't work it's (badly) going back to normal wavs...very odd....

[amaprotu]

You might want to run dxdiag (fromthe run command) and go through all the tests to make sure your direct x is working right. You might need to reinstall directx (newer version or the same..btw which version are you running?)

- Amaprotu

[Gambit37]

Yeah, I've done all that and it doesn't make any difference. I think it's something to do with having an older ISA sound card and not a newer PCI card, but I can't be sure unless I buy a new sound card - which I'm not going to do until I buy a brand new PC.

I have DirectX 8 - the latest version.