6 replies to this topic

[theflyingzamboni]

So it's generally known that there's a bug in how BG handles ambient sound that on many systems it becomes unplayable if there are no sounds, due to the game tying up the processor trying to trigger sounds that don't exist. With all the advanced scripting that people do on this game, would it be possible for someone to alter the routine for ambient sounds such that this doesn't happen? I would love a small mod that fixed this so I didn't have to choose between missing out on all those nostalgic sounds, but also don't have to keep turning ambient sounds on and off in config depending on area.

 

(Feel free to relocate this topic if necessary. I wasn't sure where else to put it.)

Edited by theflyingzamboni, 26 April 2020 - 11:53 AM.

[The Imp]

So rather than play a good game, you want to listen a water drop drop in a cave. The BG2Fixpack and BGT-weidu fix some minor ambient sounds... but still your best bet is to disable them when they take too much power from the system, aka to do this, quoting myself:

 

2. Put the ambient sounds off from the BGConfig.exe, as some of the areas might have no ambient sounds and so the game tries to start them many time continuously, and so looses processing power. So the baldur.ini should have these:

Low Mem Sounds 1=0 
Low Mem Sounds 2=1

And the other 24 points I pointed in that post.

The Enhanced Edition games don't suffer the ambient sound bug... well the latest versions don't, as far as I can tell. Or from lag.

 

With all the advanced scripting that people do on this game, would it be possible for someone to alter the routine for ambient sounds such that this doesn't happen?

No. It's not about scripting. It's a faulty map file(specifically a .are's references that do not match the existing .wav files).

[theflyingzamboni]

So rather than play a good game, you want to listen a water drop drop in a cave. The BG2Fixpack and BGT-weidu fix some minor ambient sounds... but still your best bet is to disable them when they take too much power from the system, aka to do this, quoting myself:

2. Put the ambient sounds off from the BGConfig.exe, as some of the areas might have no ambient sounds and so the game tries to start them many time continuously, and so looses processing power. So the baldur.ini should have these:
Low Mem Sounds 1=0
Low Mem Sounds 2=1

And the other 24 points I pointed in that post.
The Enhanced Edition games don't suffer the ambient sound bug... well the latest versions don't, as far as I can tell. Or from lag.

 
What an odd response. As if audio is not part of a game experience? Yes, I would like to hear the drips in the cave as I play, which I am currently doing regardless of sounds. Your condescension is not particularly helpful, nor do I understand why you felt the need to preface your response with it rather than cut straight to answering the question asked. I believe my post made it clear that I am not only aware why the issue occurs, but that I already know to turn off ambient sounds in areas that don't have them. And that I was hoping for a better solution than 'repeatedly turn ambient sound on and off in config.' Or buying additional copies of the games I already own twice over. I also have BGT and Fixpack installed, and several other mods besides, none of which affect the problem, of course.
 

With all the advanced scripting that people do on this game, would it be possible for someone to alter the routine for ambient sounds such that this doesn't happen?

No. It's not about scripting. It's a faulty map file(specifically a .are's references that do not match the existing .wav files).

Are faulty references not fixable? Can the map file be altered to change those references? Or if not, is there a way to find out which references are broken, so dummy wav files with no audio could be created so that the references would have referents?

Edited by theflyingzamboni, 27 April 2020 - 07:36 AM.

[The Imp]

And that I was hoping for a better solution than 'repeatedly turn ambient sound on and off in config.'

And that's what I answered with:

So the baldur.ini should have these:
Low Mem Sounds 1=0
Low Mem Sounds 2=1

It does not by default turn off the ambient sounds. It does so if the game can't have the space it needs to run them. Yes, the answer I give have substance, they are not something I just came up in a moment. That's why I have a lot of posts in this forum.

 

none of which affect the problem, of course.

Really, so you press that the problem is in the original game, and not in say the BGT-weidu's .are -files. Cause that's what you would be saying.
 

 

Are faulty references not fixable? Can the map file be altered to change those references? Or if not, is there a way to find out which references are broken, so dummy wav files with no audio could be created so that the references would have referents?

Yes, they are. Now to fix everyone of them, you need to be able to reproduce them ... or rather make a fix on the fly. There are counteless of reports of people being bugged by this, but no one has followed through with the correct procedure of repeating the information reguired to fix it.

How youask, well the answer is simple, find a faulty point in the map, take a picture and while you have pushed the x button to know where it's located, with a weidu.log that's in the topic and a language in use etc things.

This information can then be used to find the ambient sound file with editors like Near Infinity and others, and the fix is just copy a working .wav file to replace the faulty one. I can do the follow up invertigation, buit I need the original problem information... cause I have not found lag in the game for a decade.

You take the picture by pushing the Print Screen button in your keyboard in game where you find actual lag, then you exit the game, open up mspaint and then push the ctrl + V keys to print the picture to it, and then you save it and upload the file to a picture upload site and then use the link from it to show it in the forum, in the image tags.

Edited by The Imp, 27 April 2020 - 09:46 AM.

[Magus]

So it's generally known that there's a bug in how BG handles ambient sound that on many systems it becomes unplayable if there are no sounds, due to the game tying up the processor trying to trigger sounds that don't exist.

This is the first time I hear about it.

Anyway, take a look at lolfixer.

[Sam.]

So it's generally known that there's a bug in how BG handles ambient sound that on many systems it becomes unplayable if there are no sounds, due to the game tying up the processor trying to trigger sounds that don't exist.

Please cite your source.  There has been a significant amount of research into ambient stutter problems and possible solutions over the years (one such topic is Ambient sounds stutter).  To the best of my knowledge, no definitive causes or generally accepted solutions have been identified.  I do not believe removing references to missing ambients will solve this issue, but if you want to try it, Magus has pointed you to the code that will do it.  If you try it, please report back with the results.

[skellytz]

So it's generally known that there's a bug in how BG handles ambient sound that on many systems it becomes unplayable if there are no sounds, due to the game tying up the processor trying to trigger sounds that don't exist.

 

Hmm, who's made such claims? Other than a few missing bird sounds in BG1 fixed a long time ago, there are no invalid ambients. Lolfixer doesn't find any.