Sluggish mouse on WC1 (DOSBox 0.72)

S

=Shadow=

Rear Admiral
I'm having problems with the DOS version, even though I managed to beat it on an earlier version of DOSBox a few years ago. Well, it's more of an annoyance: the mouse feels very sluggish (as if it had a very low sensitivity) when moving around the Tiger's Claw, and the game -looks- sluggish whenever I'm not flying nor talking to people.

I ran the game at 3000 cycles, and the non-sluggish parts ran fine (Wing Commander CIC recommends 3500 cycles). At 15000 cycles, the game runs extremely fast at those points, but oddly enough, the sluggish parts remain just as sluggish.

Any ideas as to what might be causing this?

These are the contents of my dosbox.conf file...

Code: 
# 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=false
fulldouble=false
fullresolution=original
windowresolution=original
output=surface
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=vga
captures=capture
memsize=16

[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: normal,simple,dynamic,auto.
#         auto switches from normal to dynamic if appropriate.
# cycles -- Amount of instructions DOSBox tries to emulate each millisecond.
#           Setting this value too high results in sound dropouts and lags.
#           You can also let DOSBox guess the correct value by setting it to max.
#           The default setting (auto) switches to max if appropriate.
# cycleup   -- Amount of cycles to increase/decrease with keycombo.
# cycledown    Setting it lower than 100 will be a percentage.

core=auto
cycles=15000
cycleup=1000
cycledown=1000

[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=7
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=true
gusrate=22050
gusbase=240
irq1=5
irq2=5
dma1=3
dma2=3
ultradir=C:\ULTRASND

[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=none
timed=false
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]
# ipx -- Enable ipx over UDP/IP emulation.

ipx=false

[autoexec]
# Lines in this section will be run at startup.
mount c d:\oldgames
c:
 
=Shadow= said:
I'm having problems with the DOS version, even though I managed to beat it on an earlier version of DOSBox a few years ago. Well, it's more of an annoyance: the mouse feels very sluggish (as if it had a very low sensitivity) when moving around the Tiger's Claw, and the game -looks- sluggish whenever I'm not flying nor talking to people.

I ran the game at 3000 cycles, and the non-sluggish parts ran fine (Wing Commander CIC recommends 3500 cycles). At 15000 cycles, the game runs extremely fast at those points, but oddly enough, the sluggish parts remain just as sluggish.

Any ideas as to what might be causing this?
Click to expand...

You could try switching core to either dynamic or normal and see if that helps
 
Tried all the CPU core options: dynamic, normal, simple and auto. Oh, and I load the game with loadfix -1 wc, as that supposedly prevents a crash in the second mission.

No dice. :(
 
Also tried all the available output modes.

I've a dual-core processor, and I suspect it might be related to the problem. I don't remember having this problem when I last played WC1, on a single-core processor.

Perhaps DOSBox doesn't support dual-cores.
 
I have a dual core processor that works great with WC1. Just about all computers sold today are multi-core, so it'd be a big problem if there was some kind of incompatibility with DOSBox. It's more likely to be a specific conflict between DOSBox and your mouse or maybe a third party program. Something like a certain virus checker or music player or anything sitting in the background could be causing a rare bug.

Have you tried adjusting the mouse sensitivity? sensitivity=25 or =200 to see if there'sa difference. Have you adjusted the frameskip in game? How sluggish is it? The gameflow parts are designed to be somewhat slow so that everyone can read the dialogue.
 
It appears to be a sensitivity issue, but the sensitivity is fine at 100 once you're flying. Increasing it to 200 or even 300 helps in the sluggish parts, but inflight it becomes way too much.

The mouse is also choppy besides sluggish. In comparison, WC2's mouse is much smoother, and has better sensitivity.
 
=Shadow= said:
It appears to be a sensitivity issue, but the sensitivity is fine at 100 once you're flying. Increasing it to 200 or even 300 helps in the sluggish parts, but inflight it becomes way too much.
Click to expand...

Do you use the mouse in flight? Can you get by using a joystick/keyboard for flight and the mouse with a high sensistivity setting during gameflow?

=Shadow= said:
The mouse is also choppy besides sluggish. In comparison, WC2's mouse is much smoother, and has better sensitivity.
Click to expand...

That would suggest some acute incompatibility between your mouse and how WC1 works in DOSBox. What kind of mouse is it? You should see if there are any special settings you can enable/disable. Do you have other unused input or USB devices you can unplug before you try again?
 
If it's a wireless mouse is the reciever close to the the mouse. Mine goes choppy if it's more then 3 foot away or when the battery is low.
And my game (WC1) went choppy at parts aswell becuase my CPU was running hot. Other games ran fine, but during space flight... Try yanking your cpu heatsink and cleaning the dust out of it then reaplying the heat conductive gel stuff.
 
Deadman_ny said:
Try yanking your cpu heatsink and cleaning the dust out of it then reaplying the heat conductive gel stuff.
Click to expand...

NO!
Please do NOT try this advice unless you know what you are doing. Reading various tech forums it seems that the chances are higher that you will seriously fuck up and damage the CPU and or the motherboard in the process. Especially if you use a heat gel that is a conductor (which most are in my experience).

Clean the heatsink, try to play with your PC case open, but don't try removing it.
 
If you want to test if it is a single core, enter the taskmanager from windows as dosbox is running and assign it to a single core. (rightclick on the running program in task manager, bottom option).
 
omg, I do this too much....give the down and dirty. Well, he doesn't have to rip it out, your right, just check it for dust and blow it out with air.
 
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