As the news item i posted seems to take some time to appear here is a link with info and screenshots:

https://forum.amiga.org/index.php?PHPSESSID=dfo3kp9eds2j3ig679alpml9ea&topic=77077.msg862675#new

MagicSN

@MagicSN

Thanks for your work!


My first looks:


The good:
1) 0.8.8 is much more stable than old 0.7.2.
2) This version supports more in-game resolutions.

The bad:
1) Icewind Dale-GoG install script is broken (stops at line 253 - if you remove this entry, which is not in other installer scripts, all works OK).
2) This probably SDL2 issue: GemRB opens in the same screenmode as WB and scales in-game resolution. This may be quite nice on Radeon HD and better GFX card with fast compositing for scaling, but brings quite hefty penalty for older R100/R200 cards. This probably explains abysmal performance on MicroA1.



Now benchmarks (WinUAE 5.2.0):
Host: Ryzen 7 8845HS 3.8 GHz
Guest: 604e, 640 MB RAM, Voodoo 3

Icewind Dale:
640x480 on 1280x800: 12 FPS
640x480 on 1024x768: 15-16 FPS
1024x768 on 1024x768: 13 FPS
800x600 on 800x600: 21 FPS
640x480 on 640x480: 28 FPS


I will add Pegasos 2 benchmarks later.

@pavlor

Thanks a lot for your feedback.

Gog installer for id1 has only been tested with
polish gog (a friend got that), possibly polish and English gog
files differ, i will look at it. If i have further questions on
file directory and stuff i might contact you.

The sdl issue is weird, on my x1000 it definitely did NOT
scale to wb res. But maybe other factors are relevant
when it does this and when not? Worth investigating of
course. But i agree sounds like a sdl issue. What
sdl2 version do you have installed, maybe this matters?

That it is more stable than 0.7.2 (and also morphos
and warpos and aros 0.8.8 probably) is one single bug
which took me WEEKS to find. There was a second showstopper
(Not sure if in 0.7.2 but definitely in all of the others
mentioned) which prevented picking up the portal
key in first bg2 dungeon. I fixed that one too.
And added a lot of optimization.

Btw - were can i get config files to get the ppc stuff
and voodoo stuff on winuae working? I own all
the needed roms etc (legally ;) cppc rom from my
old a4000) but never got it running. I have a hd image
and all but it simply crashes when trying ppc
Or w3d stuff. I suspect the config files would be enough
to get the rest working myselves.
Thanks (main interest- getting warpos to run,
Currently my wos ports require massive betatester
intervention).

Best regards,
Steffen

@MagicSN

Quote:

That it is more stable than 0.7.2 (and also morphos and warpos and aros 0.8.8 probably) is one single bug

Well, 0.7.2 crashed after exit, or at least turned the OS into an unstable mess (even with weird visual artifacts sometimes). Your release is rock solid in comparison.

Quote:

The sdl issue is weird, on my x1000 it definitely did NOT scale to wb res.

Are you sure? Just run sgrab and see how big your GemRB screen is.

Quote:

What sdl2 version do you have installed, maybe this matters?

libsdl2 2.32

Quote:

Gog installer for id1 has only been tested with polish gog (a friend got that), possibly polish and English gog files differ, i will look at it.

The offending line is:
(messages #gemrb-dir)

I have GoG versions of all these old Infinity Engine games and I'm (and my computers) ready to help.

Quote:

Btw - were can i get config files to get the ppc stuff and voodoo stuff on winuae working?

You need also Voodoo3 rom. PM me your email and I will send it with my config file for OS4/Voodoo3 WinUAE setup. Note paths will certainly not work ( ), but you may get general idea about useable configuration. Also I don't use latest WinUAE, so some of the settings may be obsolete. WinUAE supports several GFX options (eg. Picasso IV, or UAEGFX). Warp3D works with Voodoo3 emulation.

Last time I tried anything WOS related was probably in 2014 before OS4 could run in WinUAE.

Last edited by pavlor on 07-Mar-2025 at 06:30 PM.

@pavlor

Absolutely sure on the screen resolution. Looks massively different in 640x480 and 1024x768 (and of course the fps is different). Note i never changed the wb resolution. Of course i never tried this on UAE (which i do not have set up on ppc anyways). Even if you ignore the clearly different resolution ingame it is visible
in the videos as the videos do not scale so you have a different sized border
Depending on resolution.

The offending line sounds like left in debug output with a typo ;) will fix that.

The config file would be cool pretty sure i could manage fixing the paths.
did not know about the voodoo rom.

@MagicSN

Quote:

Absolutely sure on the screen resolution. Looks massively different in 640x480 and 1024x768 (and of course the fps is different).

I mean 640x480 (or 800x600, or 1024x768) ingame is scaled into eg. 1920x1080 screen (or 1280x800 screen on my notebook).

Tomorrow I will test this on Pegasos 2 with proper R200 GFX card and report back.

@pavlor

Absolutely sure on the screen resolution. Looks massively different in 640x480 and 1024x768 (and of course the fps is different). Note i never changed the wb resolution. Of course i never tried this on UAE (which i do not have set up on ppc anyways). Even if you ignore the clearly different resolution ingame it is visible
in the videos as the videos do not scale so you have a different sized border
Depending on resolution.

The offending line sounds like left in debug output with a typo ;) will fix that.

The config file would be cool pretty sure i could manage fixing the paths.
did not know about the voodoo rom.

EDIT: or did you mean scaling on Workbench window mode?

Last edited by MagicSN on 07-Mar-2025 at 11:25 PM.

@MagicSN

No. I meant:

1) In GemRB.cfg screen mode is 640x480 and fullscreen set.
2) When starting the game, GemRB opens a screen with the same resolution as Workbench and game graphics is scaled to it (game graphics is still 640x480, but pixels are multiplied to fit the bigger screen).

@pavlor

Does not happen on my x1000. Probably some issue with p96 driver
on UAE? If you do not believe me i can send comparison screenshot
of once in 640x480 and once 1024x768 (my workbench is 1280xsomething).

Btw the screenshots on alinea shoppage (640x480) are from my qemu system
were it also seems not to scale (i have 1980x1080 res on workbench in qemu).

@MagicSN

It is the same on Pegasos 2 (both with default - which is probably compositing - and software; forgot to try OpenGL - will do once I get to this computer again). My screenshots are scaled...

I don't think WinUAE plays a role here (it is the same on Peg 2), I suspect the culprit is sdl2 renderer. I wonder, which one is used on your system. If it is the same compositing one as on my Pegasos 2, then there may be some deeper issue. Best to wait for input from other R100/200 users to ascertain, if this problem is only on my systems, or it something more general.


Now Pegasos 2 benchmarks:

GemRB 0.8.8
Pegasos 2 G4, 7457 1266 MHz, 1 GB RAM, Radeon 9250 128 MB
SDL2 renderer: default (compositing?)
WB resolution: 1280x1024
Ingame resolution 640x480: 10 FPS

WB resolution: 640x480
Ingame resolution 640x480: 16 FPS

WB resolution: 800x600
Ingame resolution 800x600: 10 FPS

SDL2 renderer: software
WB resolution: 640x480
Ingame resolution 640x480: 13 FPS

Well, not bad, but a little bit embarrassing in comparison to emulated performance.


On a side note, I like how GemRB supports original saves. Nice to see my party with custom character portraits before the end boss of the Heart of Winter.

@pavlor


Damn you are right I was mislead by that it looks different (menu was smaller and stuff), but it is still scaled!

I need to investigate there, maybe scaling can be disabled by some env variable from SDL2 ? Seems clearly SDL2 behavior, I do not do this actively.

Last edited by MagicSN on 08-Mar-2025 at 10:25 AM.

@MagicSN

Many thanks to pavlor for spotting this. Was a stupid setup in the SDL2 Renderer (makes sense when compiling for Linux or whatever for speeding up screen open, but makes no sense on AmigaOS).

I fixed it now, an update will be soon available.

MagicSN

@MagicSN

This kind of scaling may be nice on faster machines (eg. when your widescreen monitor is not able to maintain the correct aspect ratio in 4:3 resolution).

@pavlor

Yes, I made it optionally, not disabled it.

In the new version if you create

env:GemRB/UseScaling

it will behave like the old version, if the file does not exist scaling will be disabled.

Myselves even on x1000 I disabled scaling now, 1024x768 is now 18-20 fps, vs. 16 fps which it was before

@MagicSN

Sehr schön!

@pavlor

Sent the archive to Alinea seems though you have to redownload
the big archive. I will write omce the archive has been
updated on the site.

@MagicSN

Another findings (tested only Icewind Dale so far):

1) Importing saves to GemRB works.
2) Boss fight with the dragon at the end of HoW was much easier, because her minions did not engage until after the fight.
3) Solved: I was not able to use spells/abilities on the character portraits, only on their figurines. Edit: works, only cursor is not visible.
4) After the boss was defeated, its corpse disappeared - I was not able to get a white dragon scale.
5) I was not able to import my save back to the original Icewind Dale (game crashes during load).
6) After leaving the boss fight area of HoW, outro plays and then main menu appears, I'm unable to continue the game (should travel back to Icewind Dale... and defeat its main boss).
7) I can't change bard song and the one I have seems to to nothing (should give AC bonus and regeneration).

Most of these are probably general GemRB issues not relevant to your port (5 is a known issue for late game saves).

Last edited by pavlor on 09-Mar-2025 at 11:30 AM.
Last edited by pavlor on 09-Mar-2025 at 11:19 AM.

@pavlor

Yes, some of the Addons might not be fully supported by GemRB 0.8.8, the base games should be fine. AFAIK especially HOW is affected.

Note the Update1 is now available. You need to redownload the archive you got linked after buying, this will give you the updated archive.

It fixes the ID1 installer, and includes updated Executables regarding the WB Scaling issue (that the fullscreen size was scaled to wb screen size in the old version).

You of course do not need to reinstall and can just copy the exe out of BG1Installer/Exes

The subdirectories in Exes:

440 -> Sam 440
460 -> Sam 460
7400 -> AmigaOne x1000 (no better fitting optimization exists on gcc for this machine)
e5500 -> AmigaOne x5000
a1222 -> A1222
G3 -> everything else

If you reinstall better backup Save/ first, which contains your Savegames.

MagicSN

@MagicSN

Splendid work!

Quote:

AFAIK especially HOW is affected.

No big deal, at least I saw the end titles.


Now time to reinstall all my games. This will take some time...

@pavlor

I assume these were existing savegames of playing on some other platform, at the speed you reached the end ?