Hardware Acceleration

[FigKnight]

Hey Taffers. I have been fiddling around with alchemy and OpenAL for Thief Deadly Shadows. However it has affected Thief Gold. In Thief Gold there are three Hardware acceleration modes. Off, on and OpenAl. On and OpenAl both have eax however it seems to affect the game's audio, the footsteps are louder in OpenAl mode. Originally only OpenAl had eax. Which mode should I use?

[GORT-SMDM]

It's really a matter of preference. For my setup, I'm using the OpenAL mode. Also I've mentioned this a while back, but since we're dealing with EAX I'll bring this up again.

As i've been testing out between my onboard RealTek HD and my PCI Creative SB X-Fi Extream Music sound deivices, I've noticed that they have some sound differences for EAX. Here's a vid I made for one of the effects. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOjMrJwgxwY

When I get some free time, I think I'll make a comparison for all of the EAX effects.

[FigKnight]

Originally posted by GORT-SMDM:

It's really a matter of preference. For my setup, I'm using the OpenAL mode. Also I've mentioned this a while back, but since we're dealing with EAX I'll bring this up again.

As i've been testing out between my onboard RealTek HD and my PCI Creative SB X-Fi Extream Music sound deivices, I've noticed that they have some sound differences for EAX. Here's a vid I made for one of the effects. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOjMrJwgxwY

When I get some free time, I think I'll make a comparison for all of the EAX effects.

EAX sure does confuse me often. With it on it seems the system in which I can tell a guard's position based entirely on sound is not present, I guess the reverb hides the location

[GORT-SMDM]

Hmmm... Yeah, that can be a problem with some sound chips. For me I was lucky. The PCI Creative SB X-Fi Extream Music sound card has EAX volume control. On top of that, it also keeps the onboard RealTek HD at the same level.

What is your sound device?

[FigKnight]

Originally posted by GORT-SMDM:

Hmmm... Yeah, that can be a problem with some sound chips. For me I was lucky. The PCI Creative SB X-Fi Extream Music sound card has EAX volume control. On top of that, it also keeps the onboard RealTek HD at the same level.

What is your sound device?

I stole creative's software

[FigKnight]

Originally posted by GORT-SMDM:

Hmmm... Yeah, that can be a problem with some sound chips. For me I was lucky. The PCI Creative SB X-Fi Extream Music sound card has EAX volume control. On top of that, it also keeps the onboard RealTek HD at the same level.

What is your sound device?

However I would still like assistance with the EAX, my apologies for the ilegal method, I have no chance of getting a soundcard

[svfn]

are you using TFix (NewDark) for your Thief Gold? afaik TFix supports OpenAL Soft and EAX via EFX.

here on how to install: https://www.systemshock.org/index.php?PHPSESSID=vqvh3vr9iv02uja7905h70gil4&topic=8371.0

how to install TFix: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=113158282
Deadly Shadows uses OpenAL so you can use ALchemy for your Creative soundcard or X-Fi MB3/5.

[FigKnight]

Originally posted by svfn:

are you using TFix (NewDark) for your Thief Gold? afaik TFix supports OpenAL Soft and EAX via EFX.

here on how to install: https://www.systemshock.org/index.php?PHPSESSID=vqvh3vr9iv02uja7905h70gil4&topic=8371.0

how to install TFix: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=113158282
Deadly Shadows uses OpenAL so you can use ALchemy for your Creative soundcard or X-Fi MB3/5.

I can use EAX through OpenAL however it is loud and I cannot tell the position of guards through the sound. I have alchemy but I'm not sure if I can tell the position of enemies with eax it on either

[svfn]

Originally posted by FigKnight:

Originally posted by svfn:

are you using TFix (NewDark) for your Thief Gold? afaik TFix supports OpenAL Soft and EAX via EFX.

here on how to install: https://www.systemshock.org/index.php?PHPSESSID=vqvh3vr9iv02uja7905h70gil4&topic=8371.0

how to install TFix: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=113158282
Deadly Shadows uses OpenAL so you can use ALchemy for your Creative soundcard or X-Fi MB3/5.

I can use EAX through OpenAL however it is loud and I cannot tell the position of guards through the sound. I have alchemy but I'm not sure if I can tell the position of enemies with eax it on either

try newdark with TFix and with openAL Soft, should be more accurate than vanilla openAL.

[FigKnight]

Originally posted by svfn:

Originally posted by FigKnight:

I can use EAX through OpenAL however it is loud and I cannot tell the position of guards through the sound. I have alchemy but I'm not sure if I can tell the position of enemies with eax it on either

try newdark with TFix and with openAL Soft, should be more accurate than vanilla openAL.

Nevermind, I've decided I prefer regular hardware acceleration eax

[svfn]

Originally posted by FigKnight:

Originally posted by svfn:

try newdark with TFix and with openAL Soft, should be more accurate than vanilla openAL.

Nevermind, I've decided I prefer regular hardware acceleration eax

you may be able to control the EAX volume with a Creative sound card, but not so with software solution like x-fi MB3/5. you can try fiddling with ALchemy buffers / duration setting i guess.

with newdark engine + openAL Soft you don't need to rely on discrete sound cards anymore for positional sound + environmental reverb to work and the HRTF should be more accurate. up to you.