DOS32A with SS1

[6667dd63f12daGuyFawkesGaming]

Does anyone know if it's possible to use DOS32A with System Shock? I keep trying to use it on xcdshock (the WSAD mouse-look/resolution mod) but it keeps giving me an error. Also I have a minor annoyance where the stereo channels will be backwards when starting the game. You can change them in the setting but it doesn't seem to save the status as it reverts back to normal after quit.

[6667dd63f165fOlfred]

I don't know about the first thing. But about the sound settings. If I remember correctly settings are saved per savegame and not global.

[6667dd63f1801Kolya]

Yes, it's possible to use the DOS32a memory extender. System Shock Portable used it since version 1.1.0.
I'm not sure if the current SSPTool does, since this reincarnation was voodoo's baby, but it seems likely.

[6667dd63f1989voodoo47]

The resulting SSP install is identical to what has been available before the original full download had to be removed (SSP 1.2.3)

[6667dd63f1c2dGuyFawkesGaming]

Ok, so I take I can just disassemble SSPTool and retrieve the updated xcdshock. Anything else that's more up to date that I may need?

I don't know about the first thing. But about the sound settings. If I remember correctly settings are saved per savegame and not global.

Well that's the thing though, it doesn't save. Everything else is preserved (including miscellaneous stuff like hud color) but that particular setting always resets after restart.

[6667dd63f1dc3voodoo47]

shlink is not up to date, as the custom version that comes with SS EE has never been made available as a separate download (NDS probably has the rights - I actually wanted to ask around, but with Citadel coming soon and SS1 source code hopefully soonish, it felt kind of redundant).

[6667dd63f1eb1GuyFawkesGaming]

SS:EE? No, I was talking about Malba Tahan's mod. I assumed you updated it further. Also what's shrink?

[6667dd63f1fc8voodoo47]

I was just pointing out that if you want the latest version of shlink (which has the latest version of the mouselook mod integrated), you will have to dig around SS EE.

[6667dd63f20dbGuyFawkesGaming]

Oh! The native launcher. No I'm actually running it in DOSBox on Mac (though I've played it on PC in the past). To be more specific I'm using Boxer, a special version of DOSBox for the Mac. I already have the game up and running, I just need the latest modding components.

[6667dd63f21cfvoodoo47]

the latest standalone version of the mouselook mod should be here.

[6667dd63f22aaGuyFawkesGaming]

That's the same version I'm using. Are any of the dos items within ssp more up to date or the same as the standalone?

[6667dd63f2378voodoo47]

fairly sure they are the same.

[6667dd63f2434GuyFawkesGaming]

Understood, is it possible though to embed dos32a into xcdshock? or even the vanilla executable?

[6667dd63f250bvoodoo47]

no idea.

[6667dd63f2696GuyFawkesGaming]

Ok, thanks.
EDIT: figured it out. Copy both the sb.exe & dos32a executables to the base directory of your DOSBox virtual hard disk then type:

sb /r \sshock\cdrom\xcdshock.exe, cdshock.exe or sshock.exe

Also works on the installer.exe, though it serves little purpose. And turns out the error I got from dos32a was because I was using an older version. Be sure to download it from the official site, sourceforge only has legacy versions.
EDIT 2: playing around with it a little more, the other executable, sc.exe, can be used to change the host executable's (SystemShock's) binary format (to "LC") and partly compress it. Just type "sc /b \sshock\cdrom\xcdshock.exe, cdshock.exe or sshock.exe" to create it. You can also create an unbound executable with the new format with the /u variable instead. The ss.exe is just for settings (change from verbose to quiet), and I believe sver.exe is the debugger. The stubs are alternate versions of dos32a, though I could not find any specifics about what's different about them. I don't yet know if these are reverent to or have any true impact on SystemShock though

[6667dd63f2792GuyFawkesGaming]

You know, digging around in the SSPTool, I noticed it's xcdshock includes it's own subtitles files (the cyberstring.res) as well as having the cdrom data and base data folders merged. Any reason you performed it like this?

[6667dd63f287avoodoo47]

SSPtool only does one thing - it munches on the CD data and spits out SSP 1.2.3 to avoid legal issues. if you have any questions about the files, fixes and tweaks, Kolya is the one to ask.

[6667dd63f297bKolya]

I don't understand the question. IIRC cybstring.res was an original file. I don't think SSP ever changed it.

[6667dd63f2a6bvoodoo47]

I think it's the fixed text mod.

[6667dd63f2b59Kolya]

Oh yeah, right. You can install that via SSP. Thank you, voodoo. It has nothing to do with xcdshock, ie the mouselook mod.

[6667dd63f2c92GuyFawkesGaming]

That's not entirely what I'm talking about, though to be fair I did find that within ssp's mod files. I dismantled SSPTool using a utility called The Unarchiver (if I'm not mistaken, SSPTool's installer it just an ordinary self-extracting exe) then went to the folder /SSP/mods. All mods, including some of the vanilla stuff (I presume for restoring defaults) are located here. Inside the xcdshock archive though there are some subtitle files, those were what I was talking about.

[6667dd63f2dbfKolya]

I think this had to do with the changed resolution settings. With mouselook mod you can enable higher resolutions. And to display them in the game's options buttons the string file is changed.

[6667dd63f2eb8GuyFawkesGaming]

Ok, but the standalone xcdshock lacked this. Just the executable, the key binding file and the launching bat. Though I do recall reading the xcdshock thread that some users complained the text was miss-scaled at higher resolutions. Perhaps this was a fix created by one of you?

[6667dd63f2fa2Kolya]

No. It probably had to do with the languages that I ripped out an placed in extra downloads. In any case the files are the original versions.