Descent: Freespace - The Great War

[DamienD]

Originally Posted by Patrickx1989

I was playing Freespace on WinUAE today and, unfortunately, I ran into a quite serious problem. At mission two (campaign mission, not the trainings), after about 1 minute, the game suddenly freezes and reacts to nothing anymore. Only thing left to do is press F12 and shut down the emulator. Because this happens exactly when the first asteroid explodes on screen, I first suspected an out-of-memory problem, so I turned up the memories in RAM. However, the problem persists. This is also not a one-time problem, but happens every time, regardless if I load the beginning of mission 2 or play the game again from mission one. I tried it 3 times, always freezes. Any help would be greatly appreciated

Originally Posted by Daedalus

I vaguely remember having a similar issue back in the day. It was related to an asteroid texture being corrupted or something, but it was fixed with a patch IIRC. I definitely sorted it anyway and went on to complete the game on my 060/Voodoo-3 setup. Have you installed it from the original CD? Did you install any updates?

Originally Posted by Daedalus

I'd have to see if I can dig it up when I'm next on that machine, but if it's not on Aminet it should still be around somewhere I'd have thought. You need to register products with Hyperion to access updates, which probably explains why you can't see it there.

In the meantime, have you tried dropping the quality settings to see if that helps get past that point? You can always turn them back up afterwards.

Originally Posted by zipper

Those updates from that H site zoned now.

Thanks guys, looks like I'll also need to apply this patch to my setup also

...hadn't played enough to get to this point, so was unaware of this issue.

[Patrickx1989]

Even with the 68k patch installed, the problem persists. Does anyone know how many patches this game got and if there was a separate "Asteroid Bug Fix" or something?

[DamienD]

Damn, I just finished applying "FreespaceUpd68k_1.lha" to my .HDF but you say this didn't fix

There must be other patches available too

Edit: could someone with access to the Hyperion website check available patches for this game and upload to The Zone! please?

[zipper]

That was all what I zoned - just those two.
The full game is 2017 tagged. FreespaceFull_OS3.lha 547601942 Bytes 2017-05-17 Full game CD image of Freespace - The Great War for AmigaOS 68k/WarpOS. And 4.1 version, too.

[DamienD]

Originally Posted by zipper

That was all what I zoned - just those two.
The full game is 2017 tagged. FreespaceFull_OS3.lha 547601942 Bytes 2017-05-17 Full game CD image of Freespace - The Great War for AmigaOS 68k/WarpOS. And 4.1 version, too.

Thanks, but that doesn't fix the asteroid issue.

Managed to find "DescentAmiPt15.lha".

Can also see that there are the following but can't find downloads:

... DESCENT1.5-043.lha
... DESCENT1.5-050.lha
... DESCENT1.5-057.lha

[DamienD]

Originally Posted by DamienD

Thanks, but that doesn't fix the asteroid issue.

Managed to find "DescentAmiPt15.lha".

Can also see that there are the following but can't find downloads:

... DESCENT1.5-043.lha
... DESCENT1.5-050.lha
... DESCENT1.5-057.lha

Bah, I think the above are actually for Descent...

Originally Posted by zipper

The full game is 2017 tagged. FreespaceFull_OS3.lha 547601942 Bytes 2017-05-17 Full game CD image of Freespace - The Great War for AmigaOS 68k/WarpOS. And 4.1 version, too.

I don't have access to these; I'm assuming this is on the Hyperion website?

I installed the game from the original CD-ROM i.e. "Descent - Freespace - The Great War (2001)(Interplay)[!].iso".

[Zarnal]

Originally Posted by Patrickx1989

Even with the 68k patch installed, the problem persists. Does anyone know how many patches this game got and if there was a separate "Asteroid Bug Fix" or something?

Are you in software mode with this game ?
Have you tried temporarily removing the JIT to see if it also crashes ?
Can you provide a save of the game where the problem appears?

[DamienD]

Originally Posted by Zarnal

Have you tried temporarily removing the JIT to see if it also crashes ?

This may work, but without "JIT" the game is way too slow.

[DamienD]

Bah, I've just purchased the direct download "Descent: Freespace (AmigaOS)" from Hyperion... hope this fixes the issue.

[DamienD]

Hmmm, I've just checked the direct download "Descent: Freespace (AmigaOS)" .ISO versus "Descent - Freespace - The Great War (2001)(Interplay)[!].iso".

The files are exactly the same...

Great, then I don't think installing "Descent: Freespace (AmigaOS)" and applying the "FreespaceUpd68K_1.lha" will fix; as I've literally already done that with "Descent - Freespace - The Great War (2001)(Interplay)[!].iso"

[jPV]

I had "Freespace68k Beta 2.lha" archive around, but I don't have any idea if it's for Hyperion's Freespace or for some other port? Can't remember where I've got it. Uploaded to the zone anyway if you want to check it out.

Readme tells:

Changes since update 1:

- Recompiled with GCC 2.95.3
- Big animations are now streamed direct from disk. Saves memory and speeds
up loading.
- New audiostreaming code rewritten from scratch. Faster, better and more
stable.
- CloseWorkbench fixed.
- Updated mixing routines.
- AHI was always used on 68K systems even if Paula was selected in
preferences. Fixed.
- Problems with sound volumes corrected.
- Afterburner didn't always work. Fixed. (needs more testing to be sure)
- Animations during radio conversations were displayd for too short time.
Fixed.
- Analog joystick code moved into ajoy.library.
- Several small fixes and improvements.
- Timer code was broken on 68K. Fixed.
- New hidden config option 'VideoPlayer'. Allows to use external players
for video replay. Example: VideoPlayer = Sys:Utilities/Moovid NOGUI

[twitek]

Originally Posted by DamienD

Bah, I think the above are actually for Descent...

I found them. They are indeed version 0.57 of the Christian Sauer port of PC Version Descent 1.5 PC.

[DamienD]

Originally Posted by jPV

I had "Freespace68k Beta 2.lha" archive around, but I don't have any idea if it's for Hyperion's Freespace or for some other port? Can't remember where I've got it. Uploaded to the zone anyway if you want to check it out.

Readme tells:

Changes since update 1:

- Recompiled with GCC 2.95.3
- Big animations are now streamed direct from disk. Saves memory and speeds
up loading.
- New audiostreaming code rewritten from scratch. Faster, better and more
stable.
- CloseWorkbench fixed.
- Updated mixing routines.
- AHI was always used on 68K systems even if Paula was selected in
preferences. Fixed.
- Problems with sound volumes corrected.
- Afterburner didn't always work. Fixed. (needs more testing to be sure)
- Animations during radio conversations were displayd for too short time.
Fixed.
- Analog joystick code moved into ajoy.library.
- Several small fixes and improvements.
- Timer code was broken on 68K. Fixed.
- New hidden config option 'VideoPlayer'. Allows to use external players
for video replay. Example: VideoPlayer = Sys:Utilities/Moovid NOGUI

Many thanks jPV, I'll try this now

The only thing I've noticed is that the files in the archive "Freespace68k Beta 2.lha" are from "07/05/2003".

The "FreespaceUpd68k_1.lha" is from "10/03/2009".

[DamienD]

Maybe it's due to some of the settings I've set?

These are as follows, I don't use "Warp3D" or have "Network" enabled:

Maybe if I adjust the "Memory" options for "Graphics" & "Textures"?

What do other people have set?

[jPV]

Originally Posted by DamienD

The only thing I've noticed is that the files in the archive "Freespace68k Beta 2.lha" are from "07/05/2003".

The "FreespaceUpd68k_1.lha" is from "10/03/2009".

Hmmm... In my FreespaceUpd68k_1.lha archive I have these dates:

readme.txt                         454 ----rw-d 17-Feb-02 02:02:24
Update68k.hpa                  2512258 ----rwed 17-Feb-02 02:28:10
Install_Freespace.info            5724 ----rwed 17-Feb-02 02:34:48
fsupd                            16438 ----rwed 17-Feb-02 03:18:52

So for me it looks like "beta 2" would be newer. How are filesizes on your archive? Have they "silently" updated it more or is it just some re-packing or something?

[DamienD]

Originally Posted by jPV

Hmmm... In my FreespaceUpd68k_1.lha archive I have these dates:

readme.txt                         454 ----rw-d 17-Feb-02 02:02:24
Update68k.hpa                  2512258 ----rwed 17-Feb-02 02:28:10
Install_Freespace.info            5724 ----rwed 17-Feb-02 02:34:48
fsupd                            16438 ----rwed 17-Feb-02 03:18:52

So for me it looks like "beta 2" would be newer. How are filesizes on your archive? Have they "silently" updated it more or is it just some re-packing or something?

Ah yeah, the files inside the "FreespaceUpd68k_1.lha" archive are the same.

That date I got off the Hyperion website:

[Patrickx1989]

Originally Posted by Daedalus

In the meantime, have you tried dropping the quality settings to see if that helps get past that point? You can always turn them back up afterwards.

Just want to add that any adjustment of the quality settings (and I tried everything the menu allows) does not change the problem. Neither does turning off JIT in the emulator.

[DamienD]

Originally Posted by Patrickx1989

Just want to add that any adjustment of the quality settings (and I tried everything the menu allows) does not change the problem. Neither does turning off JIT in the emulator.

Did you try adjust stuff under "Memory" Patrick?

And maybe it's worth trying to tick "Scale textures".

[DamienD]

@jPV; the "Freespace.exe" from "Freespace68k Beta 2.lha" is a lot bigger than the one after applying "freespaceUpd68k_1.lha":

Should hopefully be a good sign

I know the notes say it's been recompiled though.

Patrick; as you have the game and are able to get to Mission 2... are you willing to test for me?

I'll send you an archive with 2 x .HDFs:

• "FreespaceUpd68k_1" & "Memory increase via Setup".
• "FreespaceUpd68k_1" & "Freespace68k Beta 2".

[Daedalus]

Hmmm, if I get a chance tonight I'll fire up my A1200 and get whatever details I have from it.

But, from memory, software rendering is only supported for the PPC version, so it might not fully work in the 68k version. I only ever used the Warp3D version, so it's also possible that it was fixed in the update for 3D hardware but not for the software renderer. In that case, Wazp3D, or emulating a 3D accelerated card might help...