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Hey Guys!
I just bought PH2 here on GOG and I feel a bit petty that they decided to run this classic in Dosbox. No big deal, but the DOS-version's scanlines keep me from enjoying this game entirely. So I decided to work on this problem and trying to make this baby run on Windows XP/Vista/7.
Current status: GOG's PH2-Release runs on Win7 64bit. Good!
The only problem left is the videos are being skipped by the game. Not good! So I'm looking into this and will make the the files available to you guys, after i managed to fix the video-issue :-)
It will be only some copy-paste-work for you then...
I'm bumping your thread. Oh man,oh man.I hope you get it running.
Can't we turn off the scanlines like the first one?
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Xyntec: Hey Guys!
I just bought PH2 here on GOG and I feel a bit petty that they decided to run this classic in Dosbox. No big deal, but the DOS-version's scanlines keep me from enjoying this game entirely. So I decided to work on this problem and trying to make this baby run on Windows XP/Vista/7.
Current status: GOG's PH2-Release runs on Win7 64bit. Good!
The only problem left is the videos are being skipped by the game. Not good! So I'm looking into this and will make the the files available to you guys, after i managed to fix the video-issue :-)
It will be only some copy-paste-work for you then...

The scanlines aren't visible while playing the actual game: the images on GOG's site appear that way because they were resized. The in-game video resolution is doubled using a nearest-neighbor method. If you want to blend the fields together, you can try running the game (DOSBox) in OpenGL or Direct3D mode by clicking on the "Graphic mode setup.exe" found in the game's directory.
As HarroSIN said, the interlace lines are not because of the DOS version. They are present in the Windows version, too. There is an updated Windows installer on Squirt the Cat, but while it does eliminate the interlacing through DirectX, it does not eliminate the need of CD swapping. My Phantasmagoria 2 installer concatenates all 5 CDs for full hard drive installation, but still has the interlacing. You can add the patched Windows files from the StC Windows installer to an installation from my DOSBox installer to get the non-interlacing from the StC version with the no DC swapping of mine. Since I didn't get the GOG version, I am not sure how they did theirs. If anyone wishes to experiment , you can go to:
http://www.sierrahelp.com/Patches-Updates/GOGUpdates.html#Phant2
and download the zip with the patched Win files. Unzip it to your Phantasmagoria 2 folder and run SIERRAW.EXE to play the game. Two things to remember, I do not know how well this will work with the GOG version, if at all and if it does, the save games will not be interchangeable.
Well, I removed the scanlins in my patch. I already got the movies working... but: when you try to load the game comes up with some error and quits itself. Gotta fix that before I'll release the files.
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Collector: As HarroSIN said, the interlace lines are not because of the DOS version. They are present in the Windows version, too. There is an updated Windows installer on Squirt the Cat, but while it does eliminate the interlacing through DirectX, it does not eliminate the need of CD swapping. My Phantasmagoria 2 installer concatenates all 5 CDs for full hard drive installation, but still has the interlacing. You can add the patched Windows files from the StC Windows installer to an installation from my DOSBox installer to get the non-interlacing from the StC version with the no DC swapping of mine. Since I didn't get the GOG version, I am not sure how they did theirs. If anyone wishes to experiment , you can go to:
http://www.sierrahelp.com/Patches-Updates/GOGUpdates.html#Phant2
and download the zip with the patched Win files. Unzip it to your Phantasmagoria 2 folder and run SIERRAW.EXE to play the game. Two things to remember, I do not know how well this will work with the GOG version, if at all and if it does, the save games will not be interchangeable.

Right, my work relys on this Win95-fix. I'm just about to make it fully compatible to the GOG-release.
Post edited March 03, 2010 by Xyntec
Collector and Xyntec, you guys rule. It's such a luxury to have multiple solutions at our disposal.
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Collector: As HarroSIN said, the interlace lines are not because of the DOS version. They are present in the Windows version, too. There is an updated Windows installer on Squirt the Cat, but while it does eliminate the interlacing through DirectX, it does not eliminate the need of CD swapping. My Phantasmagoria 2 installer concatenates all 5 CDs for full hard drive installation, but still has the interlacing. You can add the patched Windows files from the StC Windows installer to an installation from my DOSBox installer to get the non-interlacing from the StC version with the no DC swapping of mine. Since I didn't get the GOG version, I am not sure how they did theirs. If anyone wishes to experiment , you can go to:
http://www.sierrahelp.com/Patches-Updates/GOGUpdates.html#Phant2
and download the zip with the patched Win files. Unzip it to your Phantasmagoria 2 folder and run SIERRAW.EXE to play the game. Two things to remember, I do not know how well this will work with the GOG version, if at all and if it does, the save games will not be interchangeable.

The link to the zip file returns a 404 error.
Should work, now.
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Collector: Should work, now.

thank you,thank you,thank you,thank you,thank you!
I'll try it now!
EDIT:
WOW!
THE GAME looks 300% better, way,way,way,way,way,way,way, better.
The game is running fine with all cinematics playing when they should. I don't know what happened at first. At the first try it was skipping the cinematics, now on the second try it is playing them. I'm running Windows Vista 64 bit.
The game crashes when trying to restore.
I hope this feedback can help you guys.
Post edited March 03, 2010 by Wealin
Well, this may take a while. Since I don't have the GOG version, I am doing this blind. Could you post a list of contents of game's base folder and the contents of the dosboxPH2,conf file?
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Collector: Well, this may take a while. Since I don't have the GOG version, I am doing this blind. Could you post a list of contents of game's base folder and the contents of the dosboxPH2,conf file?

# This is the configurationfile for DOSBox 0.72.
# Lines starting with a # are commentlines.
# They are used to (briefly) document the effect of each option.
[sdl]
# fullscreen -- Start dosbox directly in fullscreen.
# fulldouble -- Use double buffering in fullscreen.
# fullresolution -- What resolution to use for fullscreen: original or fixed size (e.g. 1024x768).
# windowresolution -- Scale the window to this size IF the output device supports hardware scaling.
# output -- What to use for output: surface,overlay,opengl,openglnb,ddraw.
# autolock -- Mouse will automatically lock, if you click on the screen.
# sensitiviy -- Mouse sensitivity.
# waitonerror -- Wait before closing the console if dosbox has an error.
# priority -- Priority levels for dosbox: lowest,lower,normal,higher,highest,pause (when not focussed).
# Second entry behind the comma is for when dosbox is not focused/minimized.
# mapperfile -- File used to load/save the key/event mappings from.
# usescancodes -- Avoid usage of symkeys, might not work on all operating systems.
fullscreen=true
fulldouble=false
fullresolution=original
windowresolution=original
output=overlay
autolock=true
sensitivity=100
waitonerror=true
priority=higher,normal
mapperfile=mapper.txt
usescancodes=true
[dosbox]
# language -- Select another language file.
# memsize -- Amount of memory DOSBox has in megabytes.
# machine -- The type of machine tries to emulate:hercules,cga,tandy,pcjr,vga.
# captures -- Directory where things like wave,midi,screenshot get captured.
language=
machine=svga_s3
captures=capture
memsize=32
[render]
# frameskip -- How many frames DOSBox skips before drawing one.
# aspect -- Do aspect correction, if your output method doesn't support scaling this can slow things down!.
# scaler -- Scaler used to enlarge/enhance low resolution modes.
# Supported are none,normal2x,normal3x,advmame2x,advmame3x,hq2x,hq3x,
# 2xsai,super2xsai,supereagle,advinterp2x,advinterp3x,
# tv2x,tv3x,rgb2x,rgb3x,scan2x,scan3x.
# If forced is appended (like scaler=hq2x forced), the scaler will be used
# even if the result might not be desired.
frameskip=0
aspect=false
scaler=normal2x
[[cpu]
# core: CPU Core used in emulation. auto will switch to dynamic if available and appropriate.
# Possible values: auto, dynamic, normal, simple
# cputype: CPU Type used in emulation. auto is the fastest choice.
# Possible values: auto, 386, 386_slow, 486_slow, pentium_slow, 386_prefetch
# cycles: Amount of instructions DOSBox tries to emulate each millisecond. Setting this value too high results in sound dropouts and lags. Cycles can be set in 3 ways:
# 'auto' tries to guess what a game needs.
# It usually works, but can fail for certain games.
# 'fixed #number' will set a fixed amount of cycles. This is what you usually need if 'auto' fails.
# (Example: fixed 4000)
# 'max' will allocate as much cycles as your computer is able to handle
#
# Possible values: auto, fixed, max, %u
# cycleup: Amount of cycles to increase/decrease with keycombo.
# cycledown: Setting it lower than 100 will be a percentage.
core=normal
cputype=auto
cycles=1000
cycleup=500
cycledown=20
[mixer]
# nosound -- Enable silent mode, sound is still emulated though.
# rate -- Mixer sample rate, setting any devices higher than this will
# probably lower their sound quality.
# blocksize -- Mixer block size, larger blocks might help sound stuttering
# but sound will also be more lagged.
# prebuffer -- How many milliseconds of data to keep on top of the blocksize.
nosound=false
rate=22050
blocksize=2048
prebuffer=10
[midi]
# mpu401 -- Type of MPU-401 to emulate: none, uart or intelligent.
# device -- Device that will receive the MIDI data from MPU-401.
# This can be default,alsa,oss,win32,coreaudio,none.
# config -- Special configuration options for the device. In Windows put
# the id of the device you want to use. See README for details.
mpu401=intelligent
device=default
config=
[sblaster]
# sbtype -- Type of sblaster to emulate:none,sb1,sb2,sbpro1,sbpro2,sb16.
# sbbase,irq,dma,hdma -- The IO/IRQ/DMA/High DMA address of the soundblaster.
# mixer -- Allow the soundblaster mixer to modify the DOSBox mixer.
# oplmode -- Type of OPL emulation: auto,cms,opl2,dualopl2,opl3.
# On auto the mode is determined by sblaster type.
# All OPL modes are 'Adlib', except for CMS.
# oplrate -- Sample rate of OPL music emulation.
sbtype=sb16
sbbase=220
irq=5
dma=1
hdma=5
mixer=true
oplmode=auto
oplrate=22050
[gus]
# gus -- Enable the Gravis Ultrasound emulation.
# gusbase,irq1,irq2,dma1,dma2 -- The IO/IRQ/DMA addresses of the
# Gravis Ultrasound. (Same IRQ's and DMA's are OK.)
# gusrate -- Sample rate of Ultrasound emulation.
# ultradir -- Path to Ultrasound directory. In this directory
# there should be a MIDI directory that contains
# the patch files for GUS playback. Patch sets used
# with Timidity should work fine.
gus=false
[speaker]
# pcspeaker -- Enable PC-Speaker emulation.
# pcrate -- Sample rate of the PC-Speaker sound generation.
# tandy -- Enable Tandy Sound System emulation (off,on,auto).
# For auto Tandysound emulation is present only if machine is set to tandy.
# tandyrate -- Sample rate of the Tandy 3-Voice generation.
# disney -- Enable Disney Sound Source emulation. Covox Voice Master and Speech Thing compatible.
pcspeaker=true
pcrate=22050
tandy=auto
tandyrate=22050
disney=true
[joystick]
# joysticktype -- Type of joystick to emulate: auto (default), none,
# 2axis (supports two joysticks,
# 4axis (supports one joystick, first joystick used),
# 4axis_2 (supports one joystick, second joystick used),
# fcs (Thrustmaster), ch (CH Flightstick).
# none disables joystick emulation.
# auto chooses emulation depending on real joystick(s).
# timed -- enable timed intervals for axis. (false is old style behaviour).
# autofire -- continuously fires as long as you keep the button pressed.
# swap34 -- swap the 3rd and the 4th axis. can be useful for certain joysticks.
# buttonwrap -- enable button wrapping at the number of emulated buttons.
joysticktype=auto
timed=true
autofire=false
swap34=false
buttonwrap=true
[serial]
# serial1-4 -- set type of device connected to com port.
# Can be disabled, dummy, modem, nullmodem, directserial.
# Additional parameters must be in the same line in the form of
# parameter:value. Parameter for all types is irq.
# for directserial: realport (required), rxdelay (optional).
# for modem: listenport (optional).
# for nullmodem: server, rxdelay, txdelay, telnet, usedtr,
# transparent, port, inhsocket (all optional).
# Example: serial1=modem listenport:5000
serial1=dummy
serial2=dummy
serial3=disabled
serial4=disabled
[dos]
# xms -- Enable XMS support.
# ems -- Enable EMS support.
# umb -- Enable UMB support.
# keyboardlayout -- Language code of the keyboard layout (or none).
xms=true
ems=true
umb=true
keyboardlayout=none
[IPX]
Enable=0
Connection=0
ipx=false
[autoexec]
# Lines in this section will be run at startup.
@ECHO OFF
mount C "."
cls
c:
cd \
sierra
exit
Above is dosboxphantas2.cfg and base directory contents of gog version of phantas2 in the attachment.
Please keep in mind that :
I added the files in this link to get non-interlacing version http://www.sierrahelp.com/Patches-Updates/GOGUpdates.html#Phant2
I also changed cpu core : normal ,cycles: 1000 to solve sound hitchups.
Thanks for taking time Xyntec and Collector,you guys rule ;)
Attachments:
base.jpg (66 Kb)
Post edited March 04, 2010 by Kesker
I'll see what I can do, but no promises. In order to make the game compatible with Vista, jafa (the creator of the new Windows installer) altered the executable to write save games to the user folder. In the process, the executables from his installers for the SCI games don't completely use the RESOURCE.WIN file for paths. If I I'm not able to get very far with it, I'll try contacting jafa.
Edit: I just noticed what you said about cycles. The version of the executable in that download is the Windows version, so it does not use DOSBox.
Post edited March 04, 2010 by Collector
Yeah,Prior to downloading non-interlacing windows version,i was trying to do solve sound problems in dosbox version so i changed cycles.
I reinstalled the game to get the original cpu cycles value(if you need)
core=auto
cputype=auto
cycles=max
cycleup=500
cycledown=20
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Collector: Well, this may take a while. Since I don't have the GOG version, I am doing this blind. Could you post a list of contents of game's base folder and the contents of the dosboxPH2,conf file?

I can gift you a GOG Phantasmagoria2, if that'd be of help.
Wow, yeah—the Windows executables make this a lot better. Thanks Collector!