Blondebeard Posted February 4, 2023 Share Posted February 4, 2023 (edited) 9 hours ago, Aaron Giles said: Blondebeard, this version should stop creating separate entries each time you install a game. However, it will not recognize your previous numbered installs, so you might want to delete those before proceeding. I can confirm I no longer see duplicated variants and I didn’t even have to delete the previous installs Re-installed Escape from Monkey Island and the problem with the music is now fixed as well. Good stuff! Thanks for the fast fix. Quick question, I was trying to get MT32 to work with Monkey Island 2, but I can't figure out where to put the MT32_CONTROL.ROM. I tried putting it inside "~/Library/Application Support/Aaron Giles/DREAMM", but it didn't seem to recognise it. I also tried adding the files to the subfolders "gamedata" and "install", but it still didn't work. When I go to the Sound Configuration I always get "MIDI Port: MacOS internal MIDI (GMIDI mode). Edited February 4, 2023 by Blondebeard 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Giles Posted February 5, 2023 Author Share Posted February 5, 2023 (edited) 14 hours ago, Blondebeard said: Quick question, I was trying to get MT32 to work with Monkey Island 2, but I can't figure out where to put the MT32_CONTROL.ROM I anticipated this problem so I made an easy solution: just drag the ROMs onto the game window and it will stick them in the right place. Same goes for SoundFonts if you want to use your favorite sound font with the GMIDI/MT-32 output of any games. Clearly I need to work on rewriting the docs to reflect how things work now! (Just to be clear: this has worked for the past several versions, I just failed to mention it.) Thanks for verifying the EFMI fix and duplicated variants. Edited February 5, 2023 by Aaron Giles 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blondebeard Posted February 5, 2023 Share Posted February 5, 2023 Thanks! Worked like a charm! Easier than moving the files to a specific folder. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThunderPeel2001 Posted February 7, 2023 Share Posted February 7, 2023 (edited) Finally found some time to play around! Everything seems to work perfectly! So great! Lots of random notes below, sorry! MacBook Pro (M1 Pro) - Ventura 13.1 Dreamm 2.0b11 (Feb 3 2023) I installed SOMI EGA and then added the Disk09 upgrade to see if Roland MT-32 because available, and it did. Same for Loom EGA. I tried a ton of demos and they all seemed to work well, except for Sam & Max Demo [DOTT Engine] with Roland MT-32... a pretty obscure combination On two occasions Dreamm noted that it was a version that wasn't completely recognised, but they ran well (Sam & Max "(Talkie) - English [1D271606]" and Monkey 2 "English [CA97DF8C]" -- although I swear the fish outside the Bloody Lip window didn't appear -- or was that only in the SE??) When I added Full Throttle as an ISO it added two variants: "(Windows) - v1.0, English" and "English, LucasArts Classic" -- not sure what to make of that Same for The Dig: "(Windows) - v1.0, English, Dig95" and "v1.x, English Rerelease" from the same ISO It's a shame that the "Passport to Adventure" demo (which is kind of legendary in its own way) isn't supported, but it's not a necessity. One tiny thing: There's no ALT key on a Mac, only the "Option" key (or ⌥ as it appears on the keyboard), so some of the instructions might be a bit confusing for a non-techie. I jumped in and out of most of the LucasArts back catalogue and didn't encounter any issues at all. Fantastic job! Edited February 7, 2023 by ThunderPeel2001 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scummbuddy Posted February 8, 2023 Share Posted February 8, 2023 There definitely were fish swimming by the portholes of the Bloody Lip bar in non-SE editions of MI2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Giles Posted February 8, 2023 Author Share Posted February 8, 2023 (edited) Ok, time for DREAMM 2.0b12. In addition to supporting a bunch of new versions (especially demos), I dove in and finished implementing a bunch of user interface to-do items. Feels like I'm a lot closer to release now, though you might spot a few new bugs with the UI changes. Give it a try! https://aarongiles.com/dreamm/beta/ Changes since 2.0b11 ==================== * Revamp some aspects of the user interface - New configuration screen for managing each game and switching between versions - Configuration of games can now be done before launching - Removal of games now supported (accessed via "More Options" on the game configuration screen) - New screen for changing the installation folder (accessed via "DREAMM Options") - Newly added games now get a "New" badge to help you find them - Links in text are "hot" now and will open web pages/email - Shrink text size a bit for hover hints - Updated background image with some newly supported characters * Sam & Max: fix bug that led to hangs at startup in the talkie version due to disabled throttling * Mouse: fix incorrect tracking in several early games (e.g., Loom) * CGA: fix incorrect screen height when selected * Add support for numerous demos and alternate versions 5 hours ago, ThunderPeel2001 said: Finally found some time to play around! Everything seems to work perfectly! So great! Wow, that's great. Thanks for giving it a thorough once-over! Too bad I didn't see this before releasing b12, but that's what b13's for. 5 hours ago, ThunderPeel2001 said: I installed SOMI EGA and then added the Disk09 upgrade to see if Roland MT-32 because available, and it did. Same for Loom EGA. Yes, those are expected to work, even if you have to manually add the files. Glad to hear you got them to go. 5 hours ago, ThunderPeel2001 said: I tried a ton of demos and they all seemed to work well, except for Sam & Max Demo [DOTT Engine] with Roland MT-32... a pretty obscure combination Yes, there are a few weird combinations in the demos. Not 100% sure they really worked, will need to test on DOSBox to confirm that it's on my end and not something else weird. 5 hours ago, ThunderPeel2001 said: On two occasions Dreamm noted that it was a version that wasn't completely recognised, but they ran well (Sam & Max "(Talkie) - English [1D271606]" and Monkey 2 "English [CA97DF8C]" -- although I swear the fish outside the Bloody Lip window didn't appear -- or was that only in the SE??) Still new versions turning up, eh? If you're 100% sure those are legit releases, it would help me out to run (from the terminal) ./dreamm.app/Contents/MacOS/dreamm -dirjson <path-to-directory-or-image-file> and send me the results. Then I can add them sight unseen. 5 hours ago, ThunderPeel2001 said: When I added Full Throttle as an ISO it added two variants: "(Windows) - v1.0, English" and "English, LucasArts Classic" -- not sure what to make of that You must have an ISO with my Windows port on it. Both are valid. You can run either the DOS version or the Windows version and they should be roughly equivalent. Same for The Dig (though DIG95 is the port that [I believe] Matt Russell did at the time of the original release, and not my later Windows port). 5 hours ago, ThunderPeel2001 said: It's a shame that the "Passport to Adventure" demo (which is kind of legendary in its own way) isn't supported, but it's not a necessity. Blasphemy! Yes, it is a necessity, and supported in b12. 5 hours ago, ThunderPeel2001 said: One tiny thing: There's no ALT key on a Mac, only the "Option" key (or ⌥ as it appears on the keyboard), so some of the instructions might be a bit confusing for a non-techie. Yeah, I'm debating what to do here. I can just replace all the Alt+ strings with the option character, or I can change the Mac version to accept the Cmd (cloverleaf) instead. Or maybe in addition? (e.g., Alt+X and cloverleaf+X would both do the same thing). As a Mac user, I value your opinion (or anyone else's) on this matter. Edited February 8, 2023 by Aaron Giles 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieHosen Posted February 8, 2023 Share Posted February 8, 2023 Is there a way to have black and white (or even amber) with hercules graphics? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Giles Posted February 8, 2023 Author Share Posted February 8, 2023 D'oh! I shipped a crash bug with no games installed, so we'll skip right to 2.0b13: https://aarongiles.com/dreamm/beta Changes since 2.0b12 ==================== * Fix crash when starting with no installed games * Refresh game list after changing install folders * MacOS: Use symbol for "option" instead of "Alt" in keyboard shortcuts 1 hour ago, DieHosen said: Is there a way to have black and white (or even amber) with hercules graphics? Not at the moment, but I'll consider it! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laserschwert Posted February 8, 2023 Share Posted February 8, 2023 (edited) I would love to see some kind of CRT filter added to DREAMM. Not the usual black-line overlay, but something that has the same effect CRT screens had on dithering in games like Loom. But it's probably out of scope. Edited February 8, 2023 by Laserschwert 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blondebeard Posted February 10, 2023 Share Posted February 10, 2023 I also have a feature request or maybe it’s already possible. It would be cool if we could take screenshots of only the content of the window. Similar to ALT+S on ScummVM. Both Windows and macOS allow to take screenshots of a window but that includes the window frame. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Giles Posted February 10, 2023 Author Share Posted February 10, 2023 On 2/7/2023 at 8:51 PM, DieHosen said: Is there a way to have black and white (or even amber) with hercules graphics? https://corteximplant.com/@aaronsgiles/109838875906204531 On 2/8/2023 at 12:22 AM, Laserschwert said: I would love to see some kind of CRT filter added to DREAMM. Not the usual black-line overlay, but something that has the same effect CRT screens had on dithering in games like Loom. But it's probably out of scope. At the moment, it would require a complete rewrite of the renderer, so definitely out of scope for 2.0. Not completely out of scope for the future. 2 hours ago, Blondebeard said: I also have a feature request or maybe it’s already possible. It would be cool if we could take screenshots of only the content of the window. Good suggestion, I'll look into it. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThunderPeel2001 Posted February 10, 2023 Share Posted February 10, 2023 (edited) I'm not a fan of things that attempt to "improve" older graphics*. I feel that SuperEagle, SAI, etc. do more to detract than add to the image. However when it comes to recreating accurately what we used to see on CRT monitors -- that's actually taking the experience closer to how the game looked... and it arguably looks better, too. Probably really complicated, though! * - With the exception of Laserschwert's AI upscales of Curse of Monkey Island, which need to find their way into a version of that game at some point! Edited February 10, 2023 by ThunderPeel2001 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groggoccino Posted February 10, 2023 Share Posted February 10, 2023 Shaders support would not only allow for the "CRT experience". It could also be very useful for scaling itself. The problem with pixel-perfect scaling is that depending on your screen's resolution, you might end up with a windowboxed image (black bars on all four sides). It kind of feels like watching one of those old, non-anamorphic DVDs on a widescreen TV. There are shaders which specifically fix this. They even out the pixels with minimal, almost imperceptible blur, so you get the best of both worlds: sharp, even pixels with a full 4:3 image on all screens. DOSBox Staging (a modern fork of DOSBox) uses one such shader by default, and the upcoming 2.7.0 version of ScummVM will also include support for shaders, so I think this would be a great addition (even if it's just a minimal, curated list of shaders). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Giles Posted February 10, 2023 Author Share Posted February 10, 2023 New DREAMM beta now posted with a bunch of fixes and improvements. https://aarongiles.com/dreamm/beta I think the UI is finally stable enough to start tackling documentation, so that's next on the agenda. Changes since 2.0b13 ==================== * IMPORTANT: In-game menus are now brought up with Alt+Up Arrow (instead of Alt+M) * MacOS: Change over to using Cmd key in place of Alt key for keyboard shortcuts * Added snapshot taking (Alt+Backspace) and a "More Options" menu item to show them * Added in-game option to change Hercules display color (green/amber/white) * Fixed some broken installers that need to run multiple programs in succession * Fixed installing some games that had CD audio * Should now detect Steam versions of Indy Crusade, Indy Fate, and The Dig * Many fixes for X-Wing/TIE Fighter in particular: - Fixed save directory paths which prevented options from persisting - Fixed file append which was causing recordings to be corrupt - Fixed half-screen mouse cursor problem introduced in b12 - Fixed jumpy mouse cursor in outer UI * Cleaner handling of unexpected issues: should exit to frontend with a message now * Fixed window/dock icons not showing up * Detect self-extracting ZIP EXE files without renaming * More UI tweaking and cleanup * Yet more demo and alternate versions supported, including Grim Fandango demos 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lagomorph01 Posted February 12, 2023 Share Posted February 12, 2023 Wow, Aaron. You’re really working hard on this. I’m sorry I don’t have the time to test all (or any) versions, but I just want you to know I appreciate your incredible work and I think it’s wonderful! Thank you!! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThunderPeel2001 Posted February 12, 2023 Share Posted February 12, 2023 (edited) Appreciating the UI improvements! And I got Passport to Adventure going! A classic demo. Thanks. Edited February 12, 2023 by ThunderPeel2001 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThunderPeel2001 Posted February 12, 2023 Share Posted February 12, 2023 (edited) On 2/10/2023 at 8:00 PM, Groggoccino said: DOSBox Staging (a modern fork of DOSBox) uses one such shader by default, and the upcoming 2.7.0 version of ScummVM will also include support for shaders, so I think this would be a great addition (even if it's just a minimal, curated list of shaders). Hmm. I'd never heard of DOSBox Staging, glad to have found it. I just ran it and can't see any shaders, though. (At least not by default, I guess they're in there somewhere.) Also the game I tried (Cruise for a Corpse) ran unbearable slow... weird. Edit: Spent a little more time with it. Quite nice playing with those shaders. They definitely improve dithered EGA artwork. I'd like for one to just be 100% accurate to say, an old Sony CRT, and leave it be. Sometimes I think they they look great, in other places I feel they're overdoing the scanlines. Hard to tell. (Sorry, this is getting OT.) Edited February 12, 2023 by ThunderPeel2001 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Giles Posted February 13, 2023 Author Share Posted February 13, 2023 (edited) First cut at the 2.0 docs are up here: https://aarongiles.com/dreamm/docs/ If you've helped me out here or elsewhere, check the "Special Thanks" at the bottom and make sure you're listed as you want to be. If I missed you, or you'd prefer a different name, or not to be listed at all, let me know. DREAMM has benefited greatly from the testing this community has provided! Hoping to finalize 2.0 by the end of the week! Cheers, Aaron Edited February 13, 2023 by Aaron Giles 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThunderPeel2001 Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 (edited) Nice! Now I have to find copies of the X-Wing games to try, too! (And I've never played Afterlife.) Was it easy to add support for those Star Wars titles because they used the same underlying technology, or are you just slowly expanding Dreamm to include every DOS game ever and are starting with LucasArts titles? Actually I've just read the documentation and noted that it says, "video updates are done without tearing" in the comparison to DOSBOX section, except I definitely see tearing on my MacBook Pro M1. At least in full screen mode. Here's a screenshot from a video I took with my phone. Edited February 13, 2023 by ThunderPeel2001 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Giles Posted February 19, 2023 Author Share Posted February 19, 2023 Another DREAMM 2.0 beta is ready to play with. Some nice improvements here, thanks to reports from testers. https://aarongiles.com/dreamm/beta/ There was a pretty big change in keyboard handling to accommodate X-Wing controls, so definitely keep an eye on keyboard behavior in case I messed up something. I'm taking the upcoming week off from DREAMM for IRL activities, so we'll see how things look for finalizing 2.0 next weekend. Changes Since 2.0b14 ==================== * IMPORTANT: In-game menus are now brought up with Alt+U (instead of Alt+Up Arrow) (previous idea was bad for Dark Forces when strafing, it became easy to hit) * Documentation is now up to date at https://aarongiles.com/dreamm/docs * Added brief explanatory overlays when changing video parameters via hotkey * Smarter handling of dropped BIN files (with or without their CUE partner) * Improved detection of copy protection in Hercules mode * Fixed subtle issue causing corruption/crashes in GOG X-Wing (classic) versions * Improved joystick controls in the Rebel Assault games * Fixed some missing PC speaker sounds in Maniac Mansion * Fixed occasional error when starting Zak McKracken (original) in Hercules mode * Fix some X-Wing keys that were not responding (redid BIOS-level keyboard logic) * Support for more versions (will it ever end??) 1 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieHosen Posted February 21, 2023 Share Posted February 21, 2023 Hi Mr Giles. Quick question: Is there any way to get to debugging modes like for ex in Last Crusade EGA, stating the game with indy3.exe S will show a sort of sound testing menu, all made in Scumm, apparently. Idk, I think its defined in game as "RO"/Room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Giles Posted March 7, 2023 Author Share Posted March 7, 2023 (edited) DREAMM 2.0b16 is ready! Could this be the last beta? Take it for a spin and let me know if you find any showstopping bugs. https://aarongiles.com/dreamm/beta/ New in 2.0b16 ============= * IMPORTANT: This is likely the final 2.0 beta; report any showstopping bugs to dreamm@aarongiles.com * Added idle loop detection to newly-added games * Fixed a couple of small bugs in new keyboard code, mostly affecting installers * Fix mouse tracking in Monkey Island Hercules mode * Changed 16-bit video in Windows to be 5-6-5 instead of 5-5-5 * Fix occasional hang when exiting via the game's internal mechanisms * Properly identify Indy Fate Italian copy protection screen * Improve identification of several demos and variants, including MacOS GOG versions On 2/20/2023 at 4:59 PM, DieHosen said: Is there any way to get to debugging modes like for ex in Last Crusade EGA Not at the moment, no. I'll add it to the suggestion pile for a potential future version. On 2/13/2023 at 5:56 AM, ThunderPeel2001 said: "video updates are done without tearing" in the comparison to DOSBOX section, except I definitely see tearing on my MacBook Pro M1. At least in full screen mode Yeah, I should probably update that. The way I was doing video updates in 1.0 avoided tearing but you might see it in some games in 2.0 because the video system is running a more generalized model that's not so SCUMM-specific. Edited March 7, 2023 by Aaron Giles 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Giles Posted March 9, 2023 Author Share Posted March 9, 2023 Looks like we'll need one more DREAMM beta before calling it done. Please kick the tires a bit on 2.0b17 to make sure I've ironed out any OS compatibility issues (especially MacOS). https://aarongiles.com/dreamm/beta/ Not using the 'f' word this time to avoid jinxing it. 😁 New in 2.0b17 ============= * Updated SDL and mt32emu DLLs to latest versions on both MacOS and Windows * Fix crash when resizing frontend window via Alt+Plus/Minus * Fixed time loss (up to 100ms) when pausing/resuming * Add License Info in the game UI, accessible via the About box * Made keyboard navigation work more consistently in frontend UI * Games that are complete but only missing EXEs now get a special mention * Added clickable link when adding games so you can see where the game lives * Can now install multi-disc games from multiple folders (when all dragged at once) * Hardcode cdrom.cfg file for TIE CD to hopefully avoid spurious startup issues * Fixed graphic artifacts in The Dig (Windows) 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThunderPeel2001 Posted March 10, 2023 Share Posted March 10, 2023 On 3/7/2023 at 5:52 AM, Aaron Giles said: Yeah, I should probably update that. The way I was doing video updates in 1.0 avoided tearing but you might see it in some games in 2.0 because the video system is running a more generalized model that's not so SCUMM-specific. Ah, I see. Do you know if there is anything I can do on my end to prevent tearing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Giles Posted March 10, 2023 Author Share Posted March 10, 2023 15 minutes ago, ThunderPeel2001 said: Ah, I see. Do you know if there is anything I can do on my end to prevent tearing? Give me some examples where it's particularly bad and I'll see if there's something I can do to improve it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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