I'm trying to play Loom on a Dell Axim x50v (WM 2003SE, VGA type Pocket PC, no 3rd party VGA apps). When I started it up, instead of the intro music, I got a lot of talking that had nothing to do with what was going on onscreen. It sounded like comments I would be getting if I were picking things up and looking at them.
I think I may have used Cdex wrong, though the speech was not too slow (a possible problem mentioned in Sir Dave's PocketScumm Manual). I have the CD version of Loom.
Sir Dave says
Be sure the Encoder tab is selected at the top of the Settings screen. Now note beside 'Encoder' the description of the Lame MP3 Encoder. Leave all the settings as they are and make sure the 'On the fly MP3 Encoding' box is checked. (Note: you do have the option of encoding the MP3 files at 64 kbps rather than 128; the sound is still quite good and the files will take half the space which is a considerable space saving on memory cards! To do so, beside 'Bitrate Min' enter 64 instead of 128.) Now click on the Encoder drop-down arrow to the right and select 'Wave Output Encoder'. Change the 'Samples/sec' to 22050 Hz.
and this is where I have a problem. The version of Cdex I downloaded yesterday (cdex_170b2) doesn't have a 22050 Hz setting on the Encoder tab when Lame MP3 Encoder is selected. The lowest it goes is 32000. So I left it at 44100.
If I choose WAV Output Encoder, I do see a choice for 22050 Hz. But I don't understand what this is doing so I didn't choose it. Sir Dave specifically says to have Lame MP3 Encoder selected, but maybe the version I downloaded doesn't have it? Should I have chosen 22050 Hz from the WAV Output Encoder tab? Should I get an older version of Cdex?
Last edited by mudpuppy on Tue May 15, 2007 1:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
Perhaps you've created an MP3 with variable bit rate? As far as I know, ScummVM has always been able to play MP3s with variable bit rate, but has, until recently, assumed that the bit rate is constant when asked to play the file from a specific point in time.
That could be it. The Encoder tab has both a Bitrate Min and a Max setting, and I see I only set the Min. I'll try recompressing the file with both Min and Max set to 64 and see if I have any better luck.
EDIT ---
Nope. Didn't work. I tried it both with Min and Max set to 64, and no success. Then I tried changing to WAV Encoder on the Encoder tab and setting that to 22050 Hz, and then switching back to Lame MP3 Encoder. It created a file that was the same size as the one without messing with the WAV Encoder settings, though not identical. But the resulting file produced the same problems with the wrong sounds playing.
A little ways into Playing the game, some guy says "Welcome to Crystalguard, stranger. I'm Mas..." and then the voice cuts out and there is no more music. There are no sound effects either.
If I go into Options by clicking on the file icon in the left corner, I can enable speech and subtitles, which results in both speech and subtitles, but the wrong speech file. When I click the leaf that's hanging from the branch, the subtitles say
"The last leaf of autumn"
while the voice snarls
"And ye'd better not be here when I get back."
...which is all very amusing in that one instance, but all comments seem to be screwed up, with the correct subtitles and the wrong speech. And I can't get rid of the speech. Choosing "subtitles only" does not get rid of the speech. Changing volume settings has no effect. And there is no music.
Is there a process for playing the floppy version of Loom? I can do without the voice, but I'd like to have the music.
EDIT again --
Got the floppy version working, and the music is in the right place now. Too bad the graphics don't look as good. I'd still like to know which version of Cdex Sir Dave used to get his sound file. Maybe if I used an earlier version of Cdex I could get the sound file for the CD version working properly.
EDIT again again --
I think I may have gotten it. As far as I've played into it, it finally works with the right sounds in the right places, except for sometimes missing the last word in a sentence. I've tested it as far as playing enough to get the F note.
I think my Cdex default settings after installation must have been different than Sir Dave's. If anyone has the same problem, here is what I ended up with on the Encoder tab:
With WAV Output Encoder selected:
Thread Priority: Normal
Don't delete ripped WAV file after conversion unchecked
Format: WAV
Compression: None(PCM)
Samplerate: 22050 Hz
Channels: Mono
On the fly Encoding checked
Here's the situation: CDex is undergoing constant upgrading and some of the installation selections have changed which may have been the cause of your original problems. It probably did have something to do with the initial configuration CDex started with. In any event, your post was a help because it alerted me to some CDex changes that have occurred.
When installating CDex, it is important to install just CDex by selecting 'CDex Full, No Shortcuts'. This installs CDex without the Automatic Configuration option which may have been the source of your problems. There may have been CDex version issues as well. Using the CDex site I directed people to results in the downloading of v1.7beta 2. I tried this version out and it seems buggy under Windows 98SE (I test under 98SE and XP). I have changed the download site so that people will be directed to the stable v1.51. I retested that version with Loom and everything worked just fine with my original instructions except that I do notice (as you found) that the last syllable of sentences is cut off. It's not a major problem, but if people want to try to get it perfect, they'll have to experiment a bit. FWIW: the last version of CDex I tested under was v1.4.
From your post above, you seemed to have realized that the 'WAV Output Decoder' setting for 'Samples/sec' has to be set at 22050 hz as my instructions indicate. Remember that you have to set both that WAV Output Decoder AND the MP3 Decoder because CDex will be ripping the Loom soundfile to a WAV file first and then translating that to MP3.
One thing I noticed is that your settings include 'Mode: Mono'. That should be set to 'Stereo', otherwise you're missing out on Loom's stereo sound.
Last edited by SirDave on Mon May 28, 2007 9:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
mudpuppy wrote:
"The last leaf of autumn"
while the voice snarls
"And ye'd better not be here when I get back."
On my CD, "The last leaf of autumn" is at about 6:50 into the track, and the "And ye'd better not be here when I get back." is at about 3:25. I wonder if it's significant that it played from a point only halfway to the desired one.
Thanks for the tip about Cdex 1.51, Sir Dave.
When you used Cdex 1.4, did it not have the problem with missing the last syllable? I found it online here http://hitekguy.com/software.htm
It was hard to find a working download of it with a Google search. Most links redirect you to 1.51 or the 1.70 beta.
Also thanks for the tip about the stereo. I'll try redoing the track with Cdex 1.51 and see if it works any better.
eriktorbjorn wrote: On my CD, "The last leaf of autumn" is at about 6:50 into the track, and the "And ye'd better not be here when I get back." is at about 3:25. I wonder if it's significant that it played from a point only halfway to the desired one.
I expect it is, but I don't know enough about what's going on during encoding to figure it out.
