Running UAKM and Pandora using D-Fend v2 for DOSBox 0.63

First of all - THANK YOU, JAMES for a really nice job on the new message board. Well done!!

D-Fend v2 is great for running UAKM and Pandora. But there is a slight problem with Pandora in VR mode using full screen - it is very sluggish. I've tried increasing the cycles to the max of 20,000 and I've also tried the different CPU core settings, along with different combinations of both cycle and CPU core settings. I know I can change the rendering quality from high to med or low in the Pandora config, which does eliminate the sluggish movement. But then I'm sacrificing the graphics quality. Can anyone offer any suggestions as to how to correct this problem?

Thanks!
Cindy
Sometimes raising your cycle rate does not equal better performance. Open up your task Manager. Now, start at let's say 3000 cycles with 0 frame skips. Check out your cpu usage. Now, raise your cycle until your cpu rate reaches 100%. Now, if your unsatisfied with how it runs, raise your frame skip and try adding a couple of more cycles. Playing around with this and getting it to stay just at 99-100%, as opposed to just blindly raising the rates and having your computer not be able to handle the load, often yields better results. Also, something weird with Pandora is, if you lower the rates a ton, like around 1000 cycles, you actually get rather nice performance, or least I do.

~Keck
Thank you, Keck

Well, I think I finally got the best I'm going to get with the cycles set at 18000 and 0 frame skips, which is quite good compared to what I had to start with. Thanks again for your suggestion.

Cindy
Glad to help. I just have this feeling that each release of Dosbox will just make these games far easier to play, as opposed to just adding more compatibility - but I also hope this happens.

~Keck
Image
Ok, i got d-fend working properly and fixed the mounting problem for Pandora, but now i run into an issue where in the options of the game where you set the cd-rom, it only goes to drive G. I can't get disc 5 or 6 picked up as drives H and I.

Fix one problem and another crops up :/
To fix the CD issue, it should be resolved by opening in the PD installation folder the CONFIG.INI and simply edit [CD MAP] to the proper drive locations and save.
Also if you plan to 'hack' a sound card and you have been encountering trouble in getting 16bit stereo, you need to open the SOUND.INF and place a 1 at the end of each line for the [DIGI_BOARD], this tells the program not to verify the sound card and it works, also for UAKM.
Best of luck, hope that solves the CD mapping issue.
PS edit that stuff in notepad.
Best Regards
KvE aka Ashkii
[DIGI_BOARDS]
1) Sound Blaster 1.0 = 0xe000,0,1,1
2) Sound Blaster Pro = 0xe001,1,2,1
3) Sound Blaster 16 = 0xe018,3,3,1
4) Sound Blaster AWE32 = 0xe018,3,5,1
5) Microsoft Sound System {Microsoft Sound Sys} = 0xe00e,3,6,1
6) Ensoniq Soundscape = 0xe020,3,7,1
7) Pro AudioSpectrum = 0xe005,1,8,1
8) Pro AudioSpectrum 16 {Pro AudioSpect 16} = 0xe006,3,9,1
9) Adlib Gold = 0xe008,3,11,1
10) ESS AudioDrive = 0xe01c,3,18,1
11) Gravis Ultrasound = 0xe025,2,19,1
12) Gravis Ultrasound Max = 0xe029,2,20,1
13) Roland RAP-10 = 0xe022,2,17,1
14) Sound Galaxy Nova16 = 0xe00e,3,21,1
15) SB 1.0 (No Verify) = 0xe000,0,1,1,1
16) SB Pro (No Verify) = 0xe001,1,2,1,1
Politics is like a corral. No matter where you are you will always be shoveling it.
Thanks a bunch for that. Now technically i should have no other problems stopping my enjoyment of this game (i leave allowances should something bizarre go wrong). ^^
Hmmm where can I get this program? I didn't realise it was even possible to play UAKM and Pandora on Windows XP... That's why I haven't play them in like 2 years!
"Passion doesn't just happen... You make it grow".
http://dosbox.sourceforge.net/news.php?show_news=1

You can download dosbox and d-fend there. They take a bit getting used to with fiddling around with settings and such
Atomicvegetable wrote:http://dosbox.sourceforge.net/news.php?show_news=1

You can download dosbox and d-fend there. They take a bit getting used to with fiddling around with settings and such
Thanks. I'll download them sometime soon and hopefully get Pandora running!
"Passion doesn't just happen... You make it grow".