News: May 3 - 9, 1999

Sunday, May 09, 1999

Desktop Theater DT2500 - Mark @ 08:26 EST

Mikael while browsing the Creative Labs News Group found a link to a PDF datasheet for a yet to be announced Desktop Theater 5.1 Digital DT2500.

Saturday, May 08, 1999

Surreal Designer Interview - Mark @ 15:58 EST

Thresh's Firingsquad has posted an excellentinterview with the designers at Surreal. They asked the designers about the graphics engine, sound, and gameplay in their 3rd person action title, Drakan. They also scored a handful of exclusive screenshots, which are clustered at the end of the interview. Here is a snip on the audio:

[FS] Will the game include 3D sound? A3D? EAX?

[SD] YES! We fully support both EAX and A3D. I personally think our sound design is one of the best of any game out there. We have almost 50 MB of just sound effects! Our engine can efficiently handle that much because of a new caching system we've developed. Almost every sound in our game is 3D, so if you have a 3D sound card, you'll hear some amazing 3D effects.

QSound 1st Quarter Results - Mark @ 09:27 EST

QSound has announced their first quarter financial results reporting increased revenues for the three months ended March 31, 1999 of $802,739 as compared to $551,528 for the same period in 1998. Net income for the period was $3,809 or $0.00 per share as compared to a net loss of $314,186 or $0.01 for the same period in 1998. Increased revenues were derived primarily from software download sales over the Internet. The Company has no debt and working capital totaled approximately $3.5 million.

Decent 3 Chat Log - Mark @ 08:55 EST

Descent3D has posted an unedited log of the Outrage/Interplay Descent 3 chat held Thursday night. They really need to get some sound guys on these chats as once again a good audio question ("Also, what about EAX and A3D support? will you push the envelope with those two APIs?") was asked but not answered. What I did get out of it in terms of sound is:

Friday, May 07, 1999

Hertic 2 EP 1.06 - Mark @ 23:05 EST

A new batch of Heretic II Enhancement Pack files have been released. The readme (60KB rtf) unfortunately does not identify just what changed from previous EP versions. EAX is still mentioned, along was A3D 2.0 as feature of the upgrade so maybe EAX works now. Just incase you some how missed it before, the first release of the EP promised A3D 2.0 support (and delivered) and EAX support (which does not work). There are a couple of versions of the EP patch that you can grab:

Unreal GPF Errors With Vortex 2 - Frank @ 17:58 EST

We recieved an email from one of our readers (Eric) who has been experiencing as well as hearing reports of unreal giving GPF errors for Vortex 2 owners. He emailed us a workaround which might fix the error. I have not tried out the fix and neither has it been a problem yet (since I dont have unreal installed) Note: This is not an official fix nor do we take any sort of responsibility for your computer blowing up :) And now to erics GPF solution:

Now, as a side note:I'm running the latest Diamond beta drivers with the MX300, and Unreal Retail and 224 have been GPFing like crazy, typically during the flyaround when I press a key (any key). Sooo... This fix may or may not work with the 2030 drivers, but probably will. All you have to do is after rebooting, go into system properties and disable DOS SBPro emulation. Unreal will then work very well. The strange thing is, when rebooting again, Unreal ceases to work. So then you just reenable DOS SBPro emulation, and it works again. Unreal seems to stop GPFing when something is either disabled or enabled in the system properties dealing with the Vortex2 card. This is most odd, and don't even ask how I discovered this (took me 3 days)... Anyway, just thought you guys might want to know.

Erik

Free Play from Gamestorm - Mark @ 12:50 EST

One of our sponsors, Gamestorm has a deal going where you register free and preview their multiplayer games, play a GameBlast, beta test new games, etc. If you join GameStorm you get free game software, unlimited play of great games like Air Warrior III, Warcraft II, Jack Nicklaus Golf, Aliens Online, Casino Poker, and more, for just $9.95 a month, first month free. Why not check out what they have to offer?

Expendable Patch - Mark @ 12:42 EST

Rage has released a patch for their just released, 3D audio supporting via A3D 1.x, DS3D and EAX supporting Expendable. The patch has nothing to do with audio and fixes an issue with Joysticks. You can grab the patch or a 50 MB demo from our Future Games Network affiliate, 3DFiles.

Thursday, May 06, 1999

David Gasior Interview - Mark @ 21:50 EST

GA-Source has posted a recently conducted interview with David Gasior, the A3D Evangelist at Aureal. In this interview David talks about the differences between EAX and A3D, Aureal's future plans, and more. Thanks to Voodoo Extreme for the pointer.

CMSS Whitepaper - Mark @ 21:08 EST

ALive has pointed out that Creative Labs has posted a link to a white paper on Creative Multispeaker Surround (CMSS) (PDF format). I am not sure when the link was added but the paper it self is dated August 1998. Still a good read.

StarWars Episode1: Racer 3Dsound Support - Frank @ 16:31 EST

The LucasArts Star Wars: Episode I Racer page states the following info on sound features. Caught this bit on Vortex Of Sound

Sound: 16-bit sound card or better. PCI 3D sound cards supported.
3D Directional Sound: Supports most DirectSound 3D and Aureal compatible sound cards.

MidiLand S2 4100 Review - Mark @ 15:29 EST

The Stratics Network has posted a review of MidiLand’s S2 4100 speaker system. Here is a snip from the review:

While some have commented that Midiland's S2 speakers are on the expensive side, it is the feeling of this reviewer that the sheer enjoyment that one can obtain from the S2 line justifies the price. If you are a music connoiseur, a music lover, or simply a lover of beautiful sound, then Midiland's speakers will call out to you like few other multimedia speakers.

Ultimate Race Pro Patch - Mark @ 08:10 EST

Kalisto has release a new 1.5 patch for this fun racing gaming. Most of what I see in the readme, including EAX support was already in the 1.4 patch released some time ago. My guess from looking at it is they say that v1.5 fixes keyboard problems with nVidia TNT-based boards. The rest is probably carry over from 1.4. Anyway, if you have the game, go grab it.

Unreal Tech Update - Mark @ 08:04 EST

The Unreal Tech Page has been updated with some new 225 info that in terms of audio just confirms the email we got a couple of days ago from Tim Sweeney. That is:

Creative Labs EAX 3D sound support is fixed for 225; and

they are working with Aureal to get A3D 2.0 support into 225, which is very likely to happen.

Wednesday, May 05, 1999

Labway Announces Xwave THUNDER 3D - Frank @ 16:01 EST

Labway Corporation proudly announces Xwave THUNDER 3D. The Xwave THUNDER 3D is the first in the series of the Xwave line of high performance audio cards. Xwave Thunder 3D utilizes the new VLSI ThunderBird128 Q3D(TM) audio processor that incorporates QSound Labs' Q3DInteractive(TM) (Q3DI) positional audio technology to provide true hardware acceleration, 'no nonsense' 3D positioning for 2 or 4 speaker output and uncompromised game compatibility.

Unreal, A3D 2.0 & EAX - Mark @ 13:06 EST

As you likely know by now, the Unreal 224 patch really messed things up for advanced audio functionality. This was an unfortunate side effect of working on some new audio features. We asked Epic's Tim Sweeney when we can expect a fix and he offered the following:

We'll have A3D 2.0 support in the public's hands within the next two weeks. That will supercede the A3D 1.0 support. Unfortunately, with the 224 release, the 3D sound hardware support in the engine was torn apart while the code was being upgraded from A3D 1.0 to 2.0, resulting in neither working, and also disabling EAX. They'll be back together in the next version.

-Tim

Vortex Advantage Soundcard - Mark @ 12:59 EST

Aureal has announced a new soundcard, based on their Vortex AU8810 chip, for their systems integrator customers. Note that this card is only available in system integrator machines it is not targeted at the hardcore gaming market.

New Benchmark Results - Mark @ 00:17 EST

Our own Mikael Hagén has finished putting five different sound cards through the Ziff-Davis Audio WinBench 99 wringer. The cards tested were Diamond's Monstersound MX300 and Monstersound original, the Sound Blaster Live, an OEM card based on Trident's 4DWaveDX, Yamaha's Wavefore 192 digital and Aztech's 368-DSP. Thats a good range of chipsets that covers 3D audio technology from Aureal, Creative Labs, QSound and Sensaura! On top of testing the MX300 with the current 2015 reference drivers, Mikael also tested it using the pre-release 2030 drivers that were recently posted by Aureal. The results for the 2030 drivers proved to be both impressive and surprising. So what are you waiting for? Check out all the numbers and his analysis.

Tuesday, May 04, 1999

Crashing On Info Tab With Vortex 2030 Pre Release Drivers - Frank @ 15:38 EST

David at Aureal sent a fix to Vortex Of Sound for the Info tab crashing with the 2030 pre-release drivers. You only need to do this if you are experiencing this problem.

Launch a DOS box inside of Windows and go to the Windows System folder. At the command line, type

REGSVR32 SSA3D30.OCX

then press Enter. You shouldn't need to reboot. The Info tab will now work fine.

WarZone Patch 2100 1.01B Fixes Sound Problems - Frank @ 15:21 EST

The New Warzone 2100 Patch (1.01B) fixes problems related to sound. 1.01B is identical in content to 1.01 FINAL and resolves the newly introduced sound bug that was introduced on some creative cards. The patch also weighs at a small 911KB. You can also go to their downloads page to download other Warzone translated patches.

Vortex 2 Driver Links - Mark @ 15:11 EST

During their change over to their new layout the links to the pre-release 2030 drivers were inadvertently removed. The files are still on the ftp server and the links are still on the Aureal Corporate Site so for your downloading convenience, here is the driver information and links:

Aureal A3D Interactive Drivers

A3D Drivers - Download the latest A3D Interactive drivers
  :
(Version 2.08 - 300 KB executable - 04/29/99)

These files are for A3D only; they should work on any A3D product. This file now contains an install program and Readme.

Pre-Release Vortex 2 Drivers (Update Set)- Download Pre-Release Vortex 2 Drivers (without the AU30GM.ARL Wavetable set)  : - Windows 95/98
(Version 4.06.2030.22 (OEM) - 3.5 MB - 04/29/99)
PLEASE NOTE: These are pre-release Vortex 2 reference drivers designed for OEM customers; a retail release is forthcoming. They address the bass-loss issue on certain speaker systems, a memory leak that caused noise after prolonged periods of audio usage, some clicking in certain applications, clicking in MIDI playback, and they add support for 76 concurrent 3D hardware sources. Unless you are experiencing one of these issues, we recommend you wait for the retail release.


Pre-Release Vortex 2 Drivers (Complete)- Download Pre-Release Vortex 2 Drivers (with the AU30GM.ARL Wavetable set)  : - Windows 95 / 98
(Version 4.06.2030 (OEM) - 8 MB - 04/29/99)
PLEASE NOTE: These are pre-release Vortex 2 reference drivers designed for OEM customers; a retail release is forthcoming. They address the bass-loss issue on certain speaker systems, a memory leak that caused noise after prolonged periods of audio usage, some clicking in certain applications, clicking in MIDI playback, and they add support for 76 concurrent 3D hardware sources. Unless you are experiencing one of these issues, we recommend you wait for the retail release.

RAD Game Tools Endorses Two Programs From Yamaha - Frank @ 13:44 EST

Rad Game Tools, one of the largest providers of game developers' tools has enthusiastically endorsed two recently announced programs from Yamaha. One allows game developers to sample the output of Yamaha electronic musical instruments, and the other allows them to use a Yamaha developed DownLoadable Sounds (DLS) sound set for game development.

New Look for A3D.com Website - Mark @ 12:34 EST

Aureal's Official website has just gone through some major changes. Here is the introduction to it via a post by Aureal's Marketing/Communications Director, Bob Safir:

Our Website has a new look and a bigger view of the world.

In an effort to reach out to you, our customers, this is the beginning of an ongoing effort to provide more news, information, and insight into the world of gaming - and into the world of audio - than any of us have ever imagined before.

In a world where content is king, Aureal has plenty to offer. Our efforts to be a part of the best interactive entertainment content on the market, in the form of our A3D audio technology, has paid off greatly. No one has more 3D audio content in games than we do with A3D. Period. But that's just part of our story.

Aureal has always been tuned into the world of audio, and now we're bringing that world to you in a much bigger way. Our Soundings column will offer the latest, greatest stories related to gaming audio and audio in general. The first installment deals with the issue of two vs. four speakers. Upcoming installments may deal with various music formats, such as MP3, or setting up the ideal game environment, or how a specific sound designer tackled a particular title.

Random Access: Cool Audio on Digital Media will review the audio titles delivered in a variety of formats, including DVD, laserdisc, DVD-audio, and who knows - maybe even the latest, greatest motion picture. If it's about audio, we'll be talking about it. Our first installment discusses a very unique title called Baraka: A Digital Poem.

Sound Off is our commentary piece, which naturally, does not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Aureal, its employees, its immediate nuclear family, or its third cousins twice removed. There's the disclaimer -- now go ahead and see the excellent piece on a most timely subject, "Placing the Blame."

Ask Aureal is a column that will take questions from you, our readers, and answer them on a daily basis. Our own David Gasior, as well as other Aureal experts, will answer questions on a variety of relevant topics, so if you've got something on your mind, send it to askaureal@aureal.com.

First Reflections will consist of guest columns on hot 3D audio in new games, written by you, the readers. So, where are you? If you've a column you'd like to write along this line, let us know. We'll be posting information soon on how to submit articles.

Finally, we will now feature a variety of game content from industry-leading Gamespot. Beginning with their daily news feed, we will soon be adding game review, game previews, game demos, and more.

Aside from original Content, the other big 'C' for A3D.COM will include an emphasis on "Community." We don't just want A3D.COM to be our Website, we want it to be your Website as well. We will continually strive to make it so.

To demonstrate once more how serious we are about our new direction, you will soon see that Aureal is dropping the "Semiconductor" from its name. We are no longer just a semiconductor company. We are no longer just a technology company. We are an audio company. If it has to do with audio, we'll have something to say.

Welcome aboard!

Bob Safir,
Director, Marketing Communications
Aureal, Inc.

Upcoming Requiem Patch Info - Mark @ 07:32 EST

More good stuff by way of VoodooExtreme. The information is actually from the Requiem Message Board where "deadpan" the new Designated Developer to answer questions on the board posted that A3D(positional, not reverb), DirectSound 3d, and RSX *should* be supported in the patch. They are entering the testing cycle for the patch now, and will keep the board updated on progress.

The patch may also be addressing a number of non-audio related issues such as Joystick support, an editor, Voodoo3, problems with multiple CD-rom, miniboss AI freezes and some AMD 3dNOW! problems. For now if you do have AMD 3dNOW! problems, go to the console in the game (Press Enter) and type "CS3DNOW!OFF". This should fix some conflicts between 3DNOW! code and certain hardware.

Flatland's Spotnik 3DML Editor - Mark @ 00:44 EST

Ripped (with thanks) from GASource:

GA-Source scoop reveals today that Flatland Online, creators of 3DML, the three Dimensional web Markup Language, will soon release a WYSIWYG ("what you see is what you get") web based editor named “Spotnik”. Spotnik will allow you to drag and drop the 3D “building blocks” such as cubes, ramps, trees, and lampposts that are part of the markup language to make your own 3D web sites.
"With 3DML anyone on the Web can create 3D environments - no modeling or programming is required." said CEO of Flatland, Michael Powers "Now with the introduction of Spotnik it's even easier to create a sensational environment within minutes from inside your current Web browser."

Spotnik provides all the building blocks and textures shipped with 3DML in easy to access palettes. The editor also offers building blocks for 3D effects such as dynamic colored lighting and 3D positional sound using Aureal's A3D 2.0.

Qsound 3D Audio Technology Feature - Mark @ 00:13 EST

With all the attention being given to Aureal and Creative, its easy to forget about the other guys. We have recently done a couple of features on Sensaura and today we have posted our first feature on Qsound's 3D Audio Technology. This technology even includes QSound's own EAX compatible reverb engine called QEM (QSound Environmental Modeling), which is compatible with Creative's EAX.

If you have or are considering a soundcard based on Trident's 4Dwave-DX or upcoming 4 speaker 4DWave-NX or one based on VLSI's Thunderbird 3D chip such as Aztech's PCI 368-DSP then you have a sound card that is using QSound's 3D audio technology.

For all the details you can check out the article.

Xitel Storm Platinum Giveaway - Mark @ 00:12 EST

3DGaming has just stated an Xitel Storm Platinum contest, for anyone who is interested in winning a free Storm Platinum Vortex2 board. Check out www.3dgaming.com for more details.

Monday, May 03, 1999

The Week in Review - Mark @ 13:16 EST

We have posted our latest "Week in Review" with this issue covering all the news from April 26th to May 2nd. We also plan to make this into an weekly newsletter to email to all interested people. If that sounds like you then please head over and sign up for our Week in Review newsletter

Vortex 2 and AC3 - Mark @ 12:42 EST

A few people have been asking about Dolby AC3 support via the beta 2030 Drivers. Just to be sure of the answer I fired an email of to Aureal and thanks to David Gasior can offer the following information:

(vii) AC-3 support works through the waveout interface.
(xii) Support for multichannel AC-3 playback was added through the waveout interface.

What this means is that we can now open a particular waveout device (theS/PDIF port) and pump AC-3 through it. It does not mean we will down mix it to 4 speakers - this requires the software player to do this, and there are several that will in addition to the Zoran SoftDVD player.

Boston Acoustics BA635 Review - Mark @ 12:28 EST

Dimension X has posted a review of Boston Acoustics' BA635 Speaker system.

Storm Platinum Review@ GameWire - Frank @ 07:37 EST

GameWire would like to celerabrate their new grand opening with several reviews. One of which is a Storm Platinum Review. They gave it a rating of 8.75/10.00

With the success of the Storm XV, Xitel got many brand loyalists, many of them eagerly awaiting Xitel's much anticipated Storm Platinum. The sound card is a pure reference spec, as it comes with the standard CD, tad, and aux. inputs. What I really liked was the Optical s/pdif. Even though I will use it, it's still a nice feature to have.

Sensaura Technology Article Updated - Mark @ 00:30 EST

Our article on Sensaura's 3D Audio Technology has been updated with new information on their 4 speaker Multi-drive technology and some other new information.

More on Unreal 224 and 3D audio - Mark @ 00:23 EST

I have received a couple of emails from other people who cannot get 3D audio to work in Ureal on the SB Live with the 224 "patch". It looks like its even worse than that. Here is what Mikael found in his testing:

I also tested Unreal with the new patch and it seems like they just disabled
3D sound and EAX no matter what you do. I tried with the Live and no A3D.DLL file in the folder but I don't think I got any 3D sound and EAX didn't seem to work either.

News from April 26-May 2

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