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JJFFE |
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Main
executable files Gamma/brightness correction Screenshots Win32 version specific info Running DOS versions under Windows 95, 98 or ME Running DOS versions under raw DOS Running DOS versions under Windows NT or 2000 Running DOS versions under Linux with DOSEMU Making the sound work Making modified cabin bitmaps work Making the videos work |
| Main executable files: These are replacement executables (*not* the whole game) for the floppy 1.06 or CD 1.05 version of Frontier First Encounters. They will run on their own, but you won't get any sound or journals and only one of the cabin bitmaps. Note that version 1.06 of FFE has a different mission.dat file and so probably has different journal text. Different versions sometimes require different additional files - see optional files list above for details. All versions have the additional feature of quitting on Ctrl-Q. Gamma/brightness correction: All versions support a form of gamma correction, configurable in the [VIDEO] section of the relevant config file. RedBase, GreenBase and BlueBase set the red, green and blue base values respectively. Negative values reduce brightness, positive values increase it. Adjust to taste. Screenshots: An old but lesser-known feature is taking screenshots with the number-pad asterisk instead of the PrntScrn key. This is useful under because by default Windows hooks the PrntScrn key for its own purposes. Win32 version specific info: Use F12 to switch between fullscreen and windowed. The Win32 version also supports many more config file options than the others: fullscreen Toggles starting in fullscreen or windowed mode highpriority Sets FFE process priority to high nodraw Turn off rendering for debug purposes triplebuf Turn on triple buffering in 8-bit fullscreen fswidth Screen width in fullscreen modes fsheight Screen height in fullscreen modes fsbpp Screen bit depth in fullscreen modes Setting fswidth = 640, fsheight = 400 for example will lead to a "smoothed out" display which some people prefer. An fsbpp value of 8 will be faster on some cards than 16/32, although much slower on others. If fsbpp=8 causes palette flickering, toggle the value of triplebuf. noresize Disable window resizing in windowed modes winwidth Window width in windowed modes winheight Window height in windowed modes intermediatebuf Enable additional stretching buffer The latter option is necessary to prevent mouse pointer flicker on some systems, but causes a slight drop in frame rate. softsynth Allow use of software MIDI synthesizers forcemci Use MCI rather than DirectMusic for MIDI sound mtimer Use alternative timing technique sensitivity Mouse sensitivity, default 100, lower is slower repeatrate Keyboard repeat rate, gap between repeats in msec repeatdelay Keyboard delay before first repeat in msec enabled Enable joystick support xmax Maximum joystick x value ymax Maximum joystick y value xexp X axis exponent * 10 yexp Y axis exponent * 10 xdeadzone X axis deadzone size ydeadzone Y axis deadzone size xmaxzone X axis max-value zone size ymaxzone Y axis max-value zone size Running DOS versions under Windows 95, 98 or ME: No special issues, except that some video drivers can't correctly handle a mode 13h switch and so will lock up or corrupt the screen on running. If this happens, run from a full-screen DOS window instead. Running DOS versions under raw DOS: ffedos20.exe and ffedal20.exe are a DJGPP executables and so requires an external DPMI server to run. You can get a DOS one from: http://www.jaj22.demon.co.uk/ffe/csdpmi4b.zip (Source at: http://www.jaj22.demon.co.uk/ffe/csdpmi4s.zip) Or any simtel mirror. Unzip csdpmi4b.zip into the FFE directory and then run ffedos20.exe or ffedal20.exe as usual. Running DOS versions under Windows NT or 2000: This can be made to work. To enable sound you need a program called sfx2000 which is time-limited shareware. You can get the trial version from: http://www.softsystem.co.uk/page3.htm To avoid the timelimit (although not the evaluation message), add the following value into the registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\SoftSystems\SoundFX: value name = PSQR@+,> value = 0x19541009 (hexadecimal) To prevent crashes, you may need to increase the amount of DPMI memory available to the program. Using hardware timer compatibility emulation is also recommended. Running DOS versions under Linux with DOSEMU: Disable the sound by deleting hmiset.cfg. There is as yet no known way to make the sound work under DOSEMU, and it tends to lock up the program. Other than that it should run with normal DOSEMU settings. Making the sound work: There are basically three conditions for the sound (digital and midi) to work in DOS versions of JJFFE: 1. Your soundcard correctly provides Soundblaster support under your chosen operating system. 2. JJFFE can find all the sound-related files from the FFE distribution. 3. hmiset.cfg contains the correct settings (ffedos20 only). Point 1 is simple for ISA cards, but can be difficult for PCI cards as they require some sort of emulation. Often you'll have to enable "DOS soundblaster emulation" or something similar. This usually works better under Windows than raw DOS. Try running something like Doom to test whether emulation support is working. Point 2 requires the files listed in the Additional Files section above to be present in the same directory as JJFFE. Also, this should be the working directory when you run the executable. There may be other complications with filenames, so if in doubt, put everything in c:\firstenc. Point 3 (ffedos20 only) is easy enough if you can convince setup.exe to run, but it often doesn't. However, a hacked version of the original is now included which is much more reliable, so give that a shot. See docs below for details. If you can't get either setup.exe to work, you'll need to work out the correct settings yourself and enter them manually in hmiset.cfg. Possible values are listed in setup.ini. Under Windows, you can find out your real values by looking at the resources used by the relevant devices in the device manager. An example hmiset.cfg is shown below: [DIGITAL] DeviceName = Sound Blaster Pro DeviceIRQ = 5 DeviceDMA = 1 DevicePort = 0x220 DeviceID = 0xe001 [MIDI] DeviceName = Sound Blaster Pro DevicePort = 0x388 DeviceID = 0xa002 These settings will work on the majority of machines - if not, try 7 instead of 5 for the IRQ. You can often get wavetable cards working by using: [MIDI] DeviceName = MPU-401 DevicePort = 0x330 DeviceID = 0xa001 If you still can't get the sound to work after trying everything, give me an email at john@jaj22.demon.co.uk with your details, or preferably drop into irc.ctcp.net:6667 or ctcp.mine.nu:6667 channel #gamedev. I'm often around at evenings or weekends. Making modified cabin bitmaps work: These have to be in the same directory as the executable to work. You're only likely to have trouble if you have a faked CD setup. Making the videos work: Make sure the AVIPath points to the correct directory and that videos are enabled within FFE. Also, digital sound support is required for proper timing of the AVIs. |
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DisclaimerJJFFE is a hacked and reverse-engineered version of a commercial game, therefore it's probably illegal to download it even if you own the original legally. It will be removed rapidly if anyone complains. FFE has recently been re-released as shareware by Frontier Developments as part of the Elite Club. Contact infoIf you have problems with JJFFE, you should first check that you've installed it correctly and read the FAQ. If that doesn't solve your problem, you can email me at john@jaj22.demon.co.uk. Alternatively you can find me on the newsgroup alt.fan.elite, the web forum EBBS or on the IRC channel #gamedev on irc.starchat.net. |
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