Aaron Giles

Thanks for the great response to DREAMM 3.0! Unfortunately, a few crashers slipped through the testing process, so I've just published a 3.0.1 update. In particular, instability in Infernal Machine/Shadows of the Empire should now be fixed. Get it here: https://aarongiles.com/dreamm

Happy release day! DREAMM 3.0 is officially finished and released. Downloads for Windows, MacOS, and Linux: https://aarongiles.com/dreamm This version adds support for all remaining DOS-based LucasFilm/LucasArts games (plus some goodies), adds a CRT simulation filter, support for add-on packs, and tons of small changes. Thanks to everyone who tested, reported bugs, and helped track down new versions! I want to especially call out Alex Kaiser for his extensive testing help, John Novak for his CRT shader help, and Daniel Albu for his overall project support. Use this thread to report any issues or questions.

Thanks for the shout-out! I actually managed to lay my hands on one, and from what I can tell the bug that produced the broken save games was fixed with my fix for the opening level, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we won't see those pesky asserts again.

Getting close to release now. DREAMM 3.0b19: https://aarongiles.com/dreamm/beta Please try out Infernal Machine and let me know if you see that pesky assert! New in 3.0b19: * Fixed race condition on startup that caused spurious crashes * Worked around OG bug in Infernal Machine that would cause asserts after loading the first level * Changed Direct3D FPU fiddling to match documentation a bit better * Fixed error in ZIP unshrinking code * Added more safety around handling corrupt archives

Quick turn around for DREAMM 3.0b18: https://aarongiles.com/dreamm/beta New in 3.0b18: * Updated documentation to reflect new features: https://aarongiles.com/dreamm/docs/v30 * Fixed bug that caused textures to be lost if you changed resolutions in Infernal Machine * Fixed bug that caused combo boxes to open blank if only a small number of items were present * Fixed Day of the Tentacle Roland upgrader installer to actually work * Fixed handling of bitfield-based RGB bitmaps in Windows; fixes Behind the Magic windowed mode * Fixed lack of gain control when using sound fonts * Fixed detection of add-ons, which was broken in some cases with the last beta * Fixed crash in UI when custom graphics are used and the game exits * Fixed bug where font rendering could trash memory in some edge cases * Fixed bug where joystick configuration would not work at all if asymmetric axes are present * Fixed bug where the WinHelp missing message could be repeatedly invoked until DREAMM crashed * Fixed empty CD Audio tracks when reading from a ZIPped CD image * Added logic to CRC an entire file for cases where the first 2MB match * Removed sound configuration for Monkey CD and Loom CD; these now hard-default to AdLib * Tweaked the CRT shader to hopefully avoid artifacts on Apple Silicon-based systems

DREAMM 3.0b17 now available. Time to start winding down the cycle and finalize 3.0, so if there are significant open issues, let me know soon https://aarongiles.com/dreamm/beta New in 3.0b17: * Many new demos and alternate versions supported - Highly recommend you rescan your collection; I renamed a bunch of stuff that won't be found without a rescan * Tweaked the aggressive nested image search to find more stuff * Fixed logic for identifying games that would sometimes "discover" a phantom addon/expansion * Fixed language setting for Star Wars Chess Windows version * Fixed Outlaws 2.0.1 upgrader to work again * Fixed emulation bug in handling multiple address/operand size prefixes on an instruction * Further improved texturing accuracy in 3D rasterizers * Added support for weird French Making Magic demo that's just a video player using SMACKPLY.EXE * Added support for X-Wing slideshow demo with janky early logo * Added support for Dark Forces slideshow demos * Added support for the Behind the Magic Pepsi preview

Another week, another beta: https://aarongiles.com/dreamm/beta New in 3.0b16: * Added advanced per-game configuration; you can now tweak CPU speed and remap joystick controls * Added support for The Dig Super Sampler Demo * Added support for 2-level Rebel Assault II Demo * Added support for Rebel Assault II Special Edition (DOS and Windows) * Added support for Rebel Assault II French Demo * Added support for Full Throttle German Demo * Added support for Day of the Tentacle Spanish Demo * Added support for Outlaws CD demo * Added support for Dark Forces PC Gamer demo * Added support for an earlier Shadows of the Empire demo * Added support for the German version of Star Wars: Behind the Magic - Special Vehicles Edition * Added support for Indy Crusade CMS patch, and enabled CMS music for English 1.4 EGA version * Added some limited throttling in hopes of making SWSE not go crazy fast, with limited success so far * Added ability to auto-fix certain known corrupt versions (Spanish SOMI for example) * Fixed early Rebel Assault II demo with launcher that would previously hang * Fixed Star Wars Chess Windows opening scroll * Fixed TIE Fighter Collector's CD demo crashing after ~60 seconds * Fixed detection of nested self-extracting EXE archives (e.g., on CD-ROMs) * Make scanning more aggressive in searching embedded image files to find EXE-packaged demos on CDs * Improvements in 3D rasterization: - coordinates are converted to 16.8 fixed point and rounded as described in the Direct3D spec - improved accuracy of texture/color values at the start of each span - fixed incorrect texture bias for unfiltered textures - use correct renderstate for determining clamping/wrapping on Direct3D 3 and earlier * Reduced calls to SDL_SetWindowMimimumSize which due to an SDL bug causes the window to be raised on Linux * Windows/Cmd key no longer sends keystrokes to the emulator

New DREAMM beta today: https://aarongiles.com/dreamm/beta New in 3.0b15: * Added option to verify all variants of a game if multiple variants are present * Added loading indicator at startup of DREAMM and at game startup * Improved responsiveness switching between variants in the face of slow disk/network access * Added support for displaying shortcuts on the righthand side in menus * When verifying games, if no match is found, perform a thorough scan to see if we just need to reshuffle files * Fixed improperly aligned/spaced text in frontend UI * Fixed Star Wars Chess 1.1 installation on ARM-based systems * Fixed instability and lack of mouse input in Windows Star Wars Chess (pieces still face the wrong way though) * Fixed appearance and behavior of minimized windows in Windows games * Fixed Grim Fandango installs to work across the disk swap (reverify your install to fix the file layout) * Fixed Grim Fandango upgrader auto-run script to be more reliable * Fixed glitchy VGA mode timing in Masterblazer and Night Shift * Fixed Making Magic Japanese installation * Fixed missing backgrounds in InstallShield installers * Fixed missing background in Best of Windows Entertainment Pack installer * Fixed missing icon in Pipe Dream Windows about box * Fixed default background color in 16-bit Windows dialogs * Added support for Star Wars Screen Entertainment German * Automated Japanese SWSE installer

Ok, figured it out. It was a silly typo that will be fixed in the next version. In the meantime, if you create a new empty directory at ~/Library/Application Support/Aaron Giles/DREAMM/gamedelta it should let you launch games again.

Hmmmm, so you're saying you can't launch any games at all on the new version? I don't see that on my Mac. Do you have any unusual configurations? Also, is it an Intel or ARM-based Mac?

New beta for today. https://aarongiles.com/dreamm/beta New in 3.0b14: Major internal change in the way files are accessed; everything should work as before, but definitely report any oddness OutputDebugString and DebugBreak now wired up to DREAMM's debugger for Windows games Added keyboard configuration option, plus initial support for keyboard layouts in Windows (DOS still to come) Added "quiet" mode installation; hold shift when dragging or when clicking the first install button Added support for the Min'n'Mojo Monkey Island 2 Talkie demo Added support for English Rebel Assault II Level 4 Demo, made it the basis for other languages Added support for Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine preview (including installer) Added support for Jedi Knight Demo installer EXE Added support for CD images embedded in ZIP files (note that they are fully decompressed to RAM!) Fixed Grim Fandango 1.0 releases; this required a major rework and exposes multiple discs for you to swap NOTE: You will need to re-install any existing Grim Fandango installations! Fixed bug where menu selections would be stuck moving up in Grim Fandango Fixed keyboard behavior in Outlaws when typing names (though still glitchy in some versions due to OG bugs) Fixed popping sounds in some Windows games (Shadows of the Empire) Fixed incorrect mouse tracking in Loom CD in EGA mode Fixed bug in game detection logic when counting files that don't require 100% CRC matches Fixed bug where initial stack pointer for .COM programs was wrong and could trash memory Fixed incorrect alpha blending of UI text when a background is present Fixed bug where sound fonts with uppercase .SF2 extensions were not being recognized

Ok, new beta time! https://aarongiles.com/dreamm/beta New in 3.0b13: * UI font is now generated live at the target resolution from TrueType * Split DREAMM options into Options & Tools; moved Add New Games to tools * Enforced a minimum window size to help prevent problems at very low resolutions * Made auto-pause a global setting, configurable from the Options screen * Internal debugger added, run with -debug; mostly for my internal use, but you can play with it; try 'help' * Fixed bug where TIE Fighter Collector's CD would hang if you skipped through opening cutscenes * Fixed errors when running CD versions of Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe * Fixed bug where overdriving MIDI volume for external MIDI devices would wrap * Fixed visual glitch where indefinite progress bars would overhang to the left * Removed video configuration from Indy Fate Italian (GOG) to prevent errors when starting

I suspect the flakiness in Monkey 4 is due to running low on memory in the virtual machine. Does your weird behavior only happen after playing the game for a while?

Are you the personal who emailed me about this? I sent a reply yesterday, but here it is: Hi there, Thanks for the report. The Italian version of Escape from Monkey Island has a copy protection scheme on it which doesn’t work in DREAMM yet. It’s my bad that I don’t show a warning there. I hope to get this fixed eventually, but I have a workaround (see below). What’s interesting is that they later released the 1.1 version on CD, and that version no longer uses the copy protection. So the EXE that is included with that CD works. If you download that and replace the Monkey4.exe in your installed copy with the attached version, it should run. Let me know if you’re able to get it to work! Aaron

New beta is up. Lots of "big" new stuff and opportunities for regression. Hopefully this is the last "big" update for this release. Need to go back and fix bugs. 🙂 https://aarongiles.com/dreamm/beta New in 3.0b11: * Added proper TrueType font support to Windows emulation via FreeType * Added better locale and code page support for Windows; Japanese and Chinese games now mostly work * Redid volume controls to be proper sliders, mouseable, work in dB, and support overdriving * Centralized audio resampling code, made audio output fully independent of output frequency * You can now type the start of a game name in the carousel screen to select it * Added missing TIE95 file to fix joystick configuration; either reinstall or copy JOYSTICK.TXT from original * Fixed hanging notes when using certain external MIDI devices * Fixed Outlaws definitions that caused mis-identification of some versions * Fixed random-ish early exit on X-Wing 95 due to an OG bug * Fixed window frame size in certain cases for Windows programs