Serious Sam EAX Restoration Guide

Miss those sweet reverb effects? This guide will show you how to re-enable EAX support for Serious Sam Classics: Revolution with Creative ALchemy, which does not list this game by default.

Introduction

Both Serious Sam: The First Encounter and The Second Encounter supported EAX 2.0 soundcards[en.wikipedia.org] back in 2001. Serious Sam Classics: Revolution says it also supports EAX 2.0, but turning it on in the options menu only brings up the message "EAX error: Cannot query property support". As it turns out, the only way to restore EAX support in this version of the game is to force it on in the Creative ALchemy software despite the fact that it does not show up in the supported games list.

Note: This guide only applies to anyone with an EAX-compatible SoundBlaster soundcard. If you use on-board audio, you will not be able to play with EAX effects. You can find cheap SoundBlaster USB dongles online that only cost between $20 and $40 and support up to EAX 5.0.

Restoring EAX for Serious Sam Classics: Revolution

STEP 1: Download and install the latest Creative ALchemy drivers for your hardware.

STEP 2: Launch Creative ALchemy and click the "add" button.

STEP 3: In the Game Title box, enter "Serious Sam Classics: Revolution".

STEP 4: Select "Use Game Path" and copy and paste the following into the box:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\Serious Sam Revolution\Bin

If Serious Sam Classics: Revolution is not located in this path, then search for it on your computer and type in the correct path instead.

STEP 5: Launch Serious Sam Classics: Revolution, go into the Audio options, and select EAX from the list of audio outputs.

After all is said and done, you should now have the EAX 2.0 effects back again in Serious Sam Classics: Revolution. You can easily hear the difference in sound just by booting up the Training level and hearing the immediate echo in the starting room. Unfortunately, EAX does not improve the 3D audio positioning in Serious Sam like it does in other old FPS games.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading this guide. I hope it solved any problems you had in trying to restore the old EAX effects for Serious Sam Classics: Revolution. I'd like to give thanks to Croteam and Alligator Pit for keeping this old game alive over 16 years after its original release.

"Croteam owns!"

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Sound BlasterX G6. Not working :(