TR1/ DgVoodoo + Lara moving too fast + Soundproblem + Savegame corruption

Joseph · 08-07-05, 23:04

Problem: In DgVoodoo, Lara is moving too fast, and sound and animations not synchronous.

First, the very tiresome, timeconsuming way. Scroll down to post #3 for the much more efficient way (Thanks to Zebius and JasonDavies15 for this tip, i should have known this earlier it would have saved me a lot of time).

The time consuming way:
Right-click on the Tomb Raider (Glide) shortcut that is on your Desktop,

and choose "Properties". On the VDMSound tab, choose "Advanced", then tab "Performance".

Move the CPU usage slider to the best setting for your pc. Start with moving it to the right, somewhere like in the following picture.
The slidebar is very sensitive, it makes a lot of difference where you set its pointer. The best place differs per cpu. On PC1 i have Pentium 650 (3.8 Ghz), on PC 2 i have Pentium4 ~2.66Ghz, and on both this is my exact setting which is perfect:

The slider: don't take 'point' litterally: the visible points on the bar are much too coarse; the space between two tiny points is the area you have to explore for your ideal setting. It took me a long time. Because the slider is too small. You will not notice visually every move you made. When you know you are close to the point (a bit to the right or left are both wrong in opposite direction ), it is time to start making printscreens of what you are doing. That's the way i did it: drew the bar a nanometer to the left, made printscreen, compared it to the previous printscreen still opened in Photoshop.

You can also use the default Windows XP Magnifier: Start / All Programs / Accessories / Accessability / Magnifier.

But you can also install Magical Glass. This freeware tool allows you to magnify any portion on your screen to 1-pixel level, zoom in and out. I should have used it myself!

Lara moving too fast and sounds and animations not synchronous, are related to the same problem. But you will probably not notice when she is only walking and / or shooting. But you WILL notice in the FMV's. So, the best way to determine your best setting for the silder, is the following.
I have this savepoint here, at the end of "Tomb of Qualopec". DOWNLOAD.

What i do first, is turn around and run back through the corridor, into the tomb. If that feels normal (not too slow, not too fast), i go back to first spot, dive into the water and encounter Larson, shooting him. Cutscene follows.

Now when i have the slider too far to the right, the conversation between Lara and Larson is finished earlier than the animation. Slider too far to the left, the cutscene is finished earlier than the conversation. The moment that Lara kicks Larson is the ultimate test, because it is near the end. If you hear Lara's footkick at Larson at the same moment as you see it, you've got your game perfectly balanced.

"Thank you. I will." says Lara.

Efficient way of solving the "Too Fast Lara" problem:

The most easy method is to edit the Tomb Raider (Glide) using Notepad.
Do the following:

Open Notepad, or
right-click on your Desktop, choose New > Textfile.
Click File > Open...
At Filetypes choose "All files".
In the top-dropdownlist navigate to where your Tomb Raider (Glide) shortcut is situated, for instance your Desktop.

Select the file, (notice that at Filename the file is now called "Tomb Raider (Glide).VLP)
Choose to Open.
Now you can edit the vlp file.
Find the line "idlePrio".

Since i used the method with the slider, my file already had the ideal value which on my pc, is:
idlePrio=72
For a start, you can use this value.
Save and Exit.
Load the savegame just before the Lara and Larson FMV (DOWNLOAD) (see first post in this thread) and check if this is your ideal setting too. Otherwise, change down to 71, 70... or up to 73, 74, 75... everytime after edit in Notepad: save, close, start the game and load the savegame before the FMV.

Neteru · 09-07-05, 10:41

I think this could do with being at the top. Sticking...

Joseph · 10-07-05, 18:03

Moved

Joseph · 10-07-05, 18:04

The game runs, but i do not have any CD audio in-game.

Missing the Intro music on the Passport screen, also missing environmental ('ambient') sounds ingame, and several dialogs.
In fact you are missing the following tracks, which can be heard if you play the TR1 cd like a normal audio-cd in Windows Media Player or on your regular cd-player in your stereo.:
Track 1: (only noticed on your stereo as a track, time: 19:23 minutes) contains only data, no sound, silent. Skip to track 2)
Track 2: Background music for the Main Title Screen
Track 3: Ambient music
Track 4: Another ambient sound
Track 5: Introduction sound
Track 6: Another sound
Track 7: Natla and Lara's dialogue after the Great Pyramid Level
Track 8: Lara and Larson's dialogue after LEVEL 4
Track 9: Lara places the scion, after Natla's Mine
Track 10: Lara is reading the hieroglyphics, after Tomb of Tihocan level.

Workaround:
Check ON digital audio for cd-rom player!

First, in Windows soundvolume control, check that CD-AUDIO is not mute. Volume up.

And check the same situation in the sound control menu of your soundcard (like the Creative surroundmixer if you have a Creative soundcard like Soundblaster Live or Audigy) or soundchip.

After this, go to Control Panel / System / Hardware / Device Manager. Doubleclick on your cd-rom drive / tab Properties. Check on " digital cd-audio for this cd-rom drive".

Also check the situation on Control Panel / Sounds and Audiodevices / tab "Audio" / press the button "Volume". Be sure that "Mute all" is UNchecked.

If this still does not work, check if you have a audio-cable connected between your cd-player and your soundcard or -onboard chip.

Note: If your Tomb Raider cd is a version from the company "SoldOut", it is possible that you are one of those unlucky who happen to have a version on which the abovementioned 9 soundtracks are missing. Not present at all on the cd. To check if your cd is such version do the following:
Put the TR1 cd in your cd-rom player, close the dos-screen or exit the game. Now start Windows Media Player. From the dropdown list at its right side, choose your cd player where the cd is in.

Alternatively, you can play the TR1 cd as a normal music cd in the regular cdplayer of your stereo. Skip Track 1 (which is data).

If in Windows Media Player these tracks cannot be played, or in your stereo's cd player there is no music to be heard, your TR1 version does not contain these tracks.

Workaround: download the Tomb Raider I Audio package from this page and burn your own replacement cd.
Read this page to learn how to do it.

Joseph · 05-08-05, 17:21

Additional comment to the

Quote:

Workaround: download the Tomb Raider I Audio package from this page and burn your own replacement cd.
Read this page to learn how to do it.

From that page i quote:

Quote:

1) Create a single replacement CD-ROM
Copy the TR1 audio files 2 -10* to the audio section of the project.**
Copy the TR1 Data files to the data section of the project.

* Audio Track 1 is a dummy track only for use in method 2.

2) Create a Audio CD (requires 2 CD-ROM drives)
Use this method if you do not have Mixed-mode burning software.

Open Microsoft Media Player and create a Playlist of TR1 audio tracks 1-10*
* Track 1 is a dummy track that would normally be the Data files.

> In method 1 you must use only soundtracks 2 - 10.
> In method 2 you must use track 1 (a dummyfile) and sountracks 2 - 10 (* see picture below).

Getting more into detail for method 2:
You NEED to copy track 1 (from the package) as well, it is a dummy track, needed to trick the game.
Do not rename the tracks. The game will choose track 2 as the first track, because it is programmed to do that. If the dummy track is missing and you rename the other tracks, the game will skip your track 1 and start with track 2.

The clue is: When you place the original TR1 cd into your cd player of your regular home-stereo, it first counts the tracks, and it sees 1 - 10 (TR1) or 1-61 (TR2). You press the Play button, and it starts playing track 1. On TR1, that is 19:23 minutes of pure silence!

Because it is the data folder. Stupid, but it counts that folder as a track. Even 'plays' it, as silence.

So, when you use the '2-cd' method and just burn a secondary cd with only the music files, you burn list 1 - 10 of which track 1 is the same as track 10. The same principle goes for TR2 in this '2-cd' method.

For the replacement disc, method 1, (which is 1 cd) you only use and burn track 2 - 10, place them freely next to the copied DATA and FMV folders and the other files from the cd.
Don't rename the tracks, the first audiofile is named 'track 2'! There must not be a audio-'track 1' on the cd and the DATA folder is also not really called track 1. Only a regular cd-player in your home stereo gives it that name.

* A audio cd should look like this:

You see? Track 1 is the same as track 9. It only serves as a dummy file and will be skipped by the game.

Because, when the game is launched, it is programmed to start playing the musicfile called Track 2 from the CD. (On the original Tomb Raider 1 CD the data-folder is called track 1.)

CONCLUSION
In both methods, the first real audio track to be played (the passport menu music) is named Track2.

In method 1 (replacement cd), the first audiotrack is 'track2'.
In method 2 (audio cd) the first audiotrack is the dummy file .

Joseph · 05-08-05, 18:19

When you are burning a replacement game-cd, maybe it can be useful to you to see the complete contents of my original Premier Collection TR2Gold -cd1. Seen by Nero.

Note: the size of the files look enormous, but they are measured in bytes. For instance: data1.cab is 517 kB according to Explorer, while according to Nero (who counts the exact bytes) it is 528.770 bytes.
Setup.lid is 1 kB in Explorer, in Nero it is more precise as 47 bytes.

Joseph · 23-07-06, 19:46

Problem: your CPU is a hyperthreaded or dual core Intel CPU, and Tomb Raider 1 on DgVoodoo sometimes/quite often crashes when saving, causing a corrupt savegame.
You have installed TR1 on XP exactly following these instructions, (installed VDMSound 2.10, rebooted, installed TR1 using the Advanced Installer, enabled DgVoodoo).

SOLUTIONS:
- The manual fix (to do each time after launching the game):
When you launched the game, minimize (Windows key), open Windows Task manager (Ctrl+Alt+Del), on the Processes tab find ntvdm.exe, right-click on it, select Affinity, set affinity to CPU0 only.

- Permanent fix:
Download and install: setaffinity.zip
You only have to run this little tool once, set the affinity for ntvdm.exe to CPU 0, and it will be applied permanently.

(You will find ntvdm.exe in the WINDOWS\system32 folder).

Setaffinity maintains this setting invisibly on the background: even after a reboot and launching the game the normal dgvoodoo way, you can see that the affinity is still set to CPU 0 only.

For more details about the tool directly from the creator, read the first post on this page on forums.amd.com.

Joseph · 18-12-06, 16:41

TR1 on XP/2000: Needs VDMSound 2.10, and a reboot. TRAdvanced Installer includes DgVoodoo. TR1 CD must be in the player with the lowest drive letter (if you have more than one player, "D" is lower than "E"). All details in our TR1 FAQ, follow instructions exactly.

TR2 on XP: Needs Windows 98/ME compatibility mode. Windows 2000 compatibility mode works on many XP-PC's as well. That is why on W2000 machines it may well run immediately, or with Windows 98/ME compatibility mode. TR2 CD must be in the player with the lowest drive letter (if you have more than one player, "D" is lower than "E"). To play the game, always quit the autorun from the game-CD. Always launch the game from the shortcut in Start > All Programs > Core Design > TR2 > Play (which on XP you just applied compatibility mode onto). All details in our TR2 FAQ

TR3 on XP/2000: needs our XP/2000 patch/updater which goes under the name XP patch HERE. To play the game, always quit the autorun from the game-CD. Always launch the game from the shortcut in Start > All Programs > Core Design > TR3 > Play which you just patched. All details in our TR3 FAQ

TR4 on XP/2000: needs our XP/2000 patch/updater which goes under the name XP patch HERE. To play the game, always quit the autorun from the game-CD. Always launch the game from the shortcut in Start > All Programs > Core Design > TR4 > Play which you just patched. All details in our TR4 FAQ

TR5 on XP/2000: needs our XP/2000 patch/updater which goes under the name XP patch HERE. To play the game, always quit the autorun from the game-CD. Always launch the game from the shortcut in Start > All Programs > Core Design > TR5 > Play which you just patched. All details in our TR5 FAQ

So: compatibility mode, if applicable, only to use on TR2!

Best is to start all over:
1. Uninstall all TR games.
2. Use the trrc.exe TR Registry Cleaner will remove all game settings left behind after uninstalling TR games.
3. Re-install the games and apply the appropriate updating methods.

08-07-05, 23:04	#1
Joseph Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Netherlands Posts: 29,555	TR1/ DgVoodoo + Lara moving too fast + Soundproblem + Savegame corruption Problem: In DgVoodoo, Lara is moving too fast, and sound and animations not synchronous. First, the very tiresome, timeconsuming way. Scroll down to post #3 for the much more efficient way (Thanks to Zebius and JasonDavies15 for this tip, i should have known this earlier it would have saved me a lot of time). The time consuming way: Right-click on the Tomb Raider (Glide) shortcut that is on your Desktop, and choose "Properties". On the VDMSound tab, choose "Advanced", then tab "Performance". Move the CPU usage slider to the best setting for your pc. Start with moving it to the right, somewhere like in the following picture. The slidebar is very sensitive, it makes a lot of difference where you set its pointer. The best place differs per cpu. On PC1 i have Pentium 650 (3.8 Ghz), on PC 2 i have Pentium4 ~2.66Ghz, and on both this is my exact setting which is perfect: The slider: don't take 'point' litterally: the visible points on the bar are much too coarse; the space between two tiny points is the area you have to explore for your ideal setting. It took me a long time. Because the slider is too small. You will not notice visually every move you made. When you know you are close to the point (a bit to the right or left are both wrong in opposite direction ), it is time to start making printscreens of what you are doing. That's the way i did it: drew the bar a nanometer to the left, made printscreen, compared it to the previous printscreen still opened in Photoshop. You can also use the default Windows XP Magnifier: Start / All Programs / Accessories / Accessability / Magnifier. But you can also install Magical Glass. This freeware tool allows you to magnify any portion on your screen to 1-pixel level, zoom in and out. I should have used it myself! Lara moving too fast and sounds and animations not synchronous, are related to the same problem. But you will probably not notice when she is only walking and / or shooting. But you WILL notice in the FMV's. So, the best way to determine your best setting for the silder, is the following. I have this savepoint here, at the end of "Tomb of Qualopec". DOWNLOAD. What i do first, is turn around and run back through the corridor, into the tomb. If that feels normal (not too slow, not too fast), i go back to first spot, dive into the water and encounter Larson, shooting him. Cutscene follows. Now when i have the slider too far to the right, the conversation between Lara and Larson is finished earlier than the animation. Slider too far to the left, the cutscene is finished earlier than the conversation. The moment that Lara kicks Larson is the ultimate test, because it is near the end. If you hear Lara's footkick at Larson at the same moment as you see it, you've got your game perfectly balanced. "Thank you. I will." says Lara. Efficient way of solving the "Too Fast Lara" problem: The most easy method is to edit the Tomb Raider (Glide) using Notepad. Do the following: Open Notepad, or right-click on your Desktop, choose New > Textfile. Click File > Open... At Filetypes choose "All files". In the top-dropdownlist navigate to where your Tomb Raider (Glide) shortcut is situated, for instance your Desktop. Select the file, (notice that at Filename the file is now called "Tomb Raider (Glide).VLP) Choose to Open. Now you can edit the vlp file. Find the line "idlePrio". Since i used the method with the slider, my file already had the ideal value which on my pc, is: idlePrio=72 For a start, you can use this value. Save and Exit. Load the savegame just before the Lara and Larson FMV (DOWNLOAD) (see first post in this thread) and check if this is your ideal setting too. Otherwise, change down to 71, 70... or up to 73, 74, 75... everytime after edit in Notepad: save, close, start the game and load the savegame before the FMV. Last edited by Simulation; 09-01-07 at 20:11.

09-07-05, 10:41	#2
Neteru Tomb Raider Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Albion Posts: 21,174	I think this could do with being at the top. Sticking... __________________ CONSENSUS FACIT LEGEM

10-07-05, 18:04	#4
Joseph Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Netherlands Posts: 29,555	The game runs, but i do not have any CD audio in-game. Missing the Intro music on the Passport screen, also missing environmental ('ambient') sounds ingame, and several dialogs. In fact you are missing the following tracks, which can be heard if you play the TR1 cd like a normal audio-cd in Windows Media Player or on your regular cd-player in your stereo.: Track 1: (only noticed on your stereo as a track, time: 19:23 minutes) contains only data, no sound, silent. Skip to track 2) Track 2: Background music for the Main Title Screen Track 3: Ambient music Track 4: Another ambient sound Track 5: Introduction sound Track 6: Another sound Track 7: Natla and Lara's dialogue after the Great Pyramid Level Track 8: Lara and Larson's dialogue after LEVEL 4 Track 9: Lara places the scion, after Natla's Mine Track 10: Lara is reading the hieroglyphics, after Tomb of Tihocan level. Workaround: Check ON digital audio for cd-rom player! First, in Windows soundvolume control, check that CD-AUDIO is not mute. Volume up. And check the same situation in the sound control menu of your soundcard (like the Creative surroundmixer if you have a Creative soundcard like Soundblaster Live or Audigy) or soundchip. After this, go to Control Panel / System / Hardware / Device Manager. Doubleclick on your cd-rom drive / tab Properties. Check on " digital cd-audio for this cd-rom drive". Also check the situation on Control Panel / Sounds and Audiodevices / tab "Audio" / press the button "Volume". Be sure that "Mute all" is UNchecked. If this still does not work, check if you have a audio-cable connected between your cd-player and your soundcard or -onboard chip. Note: If your Tomb Raider cd is a version from the company "SoldOut", it is possible that you are one of those unlucky who happen to have a version on which the abovementioned 9 soundtracks are missing. Not present at all on the cd. To check if your cd is such version do the following: Put the TR1 cd in your cd-rom player, close the dos-screen or exit the game. Now start Windows Media Player. From the dropdown list at its right side, choose your cd player where the cd is in. Alternatively, you can play the TR1 cd as a normal music cd in the regular cdplayer of your stereo. Skip Track 1 (which is data). If in Windows Media Player these tracks cannot be played, or in your stereo's cd player there is no music to be heard, your TR1 version does not contain these tracks. Workaround: download the Tomb Raider I Audio package from this page and burn your own replacement cd. Read this page to learn how to do it. Last edited by Joseph; 27-08-06 at 21:28.

05-08-05, 18:19	#6
Joseph Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Netherlands Posts: 29,555	When you are burning a replacement game-cd, maybe it can be useful to you to see the complete contents of my original Premier Collection TR2Gold -cd1. Seen by Nero. Note: the size of the files look enormous, but they are measured in bytes. For instance: data1.cab is 517 kB according to Explorer, while according to Nero (who counts the exact bytes) it is 528.770 bytes. Setup.lid is 1 kB in Explorer, in Nero it is more precise as 47 bytes. Last edited by Joseph; 27-08-06 at 21:35.

23-07-06, 19:46	#7
Joseph Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Netherlands Posts: 29,555	Crash and Savegame corruptions in TR1 on dual-core or Hyperthreaded Intel CPU's Problem: your CPU is a hyperthreaded or dual core Intel CPU, and Tomb Raider 1 on DgVoodoo sometimes/quite often crashes when saving, causing a corrupt savegame. You have installed TR1 on XP exactly following these instructions, (installed VDMSound 2.10, rebooted, installed TR1 using the Advanced Installer, enabled DgVoodoo). SOLUTIONS: - The manual fix (to do each time after launching the game): When you launched the game, minimize (Windows key), open Windows Task manager (Ctrl+Alt+Del), on the Processes tab find ntvdm.exe, right-click on it, select Affinity, set affinity to CPU0 only. - Permanent fix: Download and install: setaffinity.zip You only have to run this little tool once, set the affinity for ntvdm.exe to CPU 0, and it will be applied permanently. (You will find ntvdm.exe in the WINDOWS\system32 folder). Setaffinity maintains this setting invisibly on the background: even after a reboot and launching the game the normal dgvoodoo way, you can see that the affinity is still set to CPU 0 only. For more details about the tool directly from the creator, read the first post on this page on forums.amd.com. Last edited by Joseph; 10-10-06 at 05:09.

10-07-05, 18:03	#3
Joseph Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Netherlands Posts: 29,555	Moved Last edited by Simulation; 09-01-07 at 20:10.

18-12-06, 16:41	#8
Joseph Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Netherlands Posts: 29,555	Summary of how to install Tomb Raider classic on XP TR1 on XP/2000: Needs VDMSound 2.10, and a reboot. TRAdvanced Installer includes DgVoodoo. TR1 CD must be in the player with the lowest drive letter (if you have more than one player, "D" is lower than "E"). All details in our TR1 FAQ, follow instructions exactly. TR2 on XP: Needs Windows 98/ME compatibility mode. Windows 2000 compatibility mode works on many XP-PC's as well. That is why on W2000 machines it may well run immediately, or with Windows 98/ME compatibility mode. TR2 CD must be in the player with the lowest drive letter (if you have more than one player, "D" is lower than "E"). To play the game, always quit the autorun from the game-CD. Always launch the game from the shortcut in Start > All Programs > Core Design > TR2 > Play (which on XP you just applied compatibility mode onto). All details in our TR2 FAQ TR3 on XP/2000: needs our XP/2000 patch/updater which goes under the name XP patch HERE. To play the game, always quit the autorun from the game-CD. Always launch the game from the shortcut in Start > All Programs > Core Design > TR3 > Play which you just patched. All details in our TR3 FAQ TR4 on XP/2000: needs our XP/2000 patch/updater which goes under the name XP patch HERE. To play the game, always quit the autorun from the game-CD. Always launch the game from the shortcut in Start > All Programs > Core Design > TR4 > Play which you just patched. All details in our TR4 FAQ TR5 on XP/2000: needs our XP/2000 patch/updater which goes under the name XP patch HERE. To play the game, always quit the autorun from the game-CD. Always launch the game from the shortcut in Start > All Programs > Core Design > TR5 > Play which you just patched. All details in our TR5 FAQ *So: compatibility mode, if applicable, only to use on TR2!* Best is to start all over: 1. Uninstall all TR games. 2. Use the trrc.exe TR Registry Cleaner will remove all game settings left behind after uninstalling TR games. 3. Re-install the games and apply the appropriate updating methods.