Daphne help - amount of delay before and after new search

[Anubis_au]

Hi guys

I've been working the last few days on trying to get my Daphne settings working.

I've tried all sorts of combinations with the delay settings for both the "Before a Search" and "After a search" parameters, and no matter what I try, the games seems to give me next to no time to make a move before cutting over to the death scene, and the game looks and feels very disjointed, in that it cuts frm scene to scene with large / significant black periods in teh video, and the video feels like its being cut off...

What settings have people used with their Daphne setups? I'm testing with both Dragon's Lair and Space Ace.

[Dazz]

Did you make your own vdlp files or did you download and verify using the original DVDs? 

I have been meaning to do this since I have the 20th aniv. DVD's, but just don't feel like having to download them again.  Right now I'm using laserdisk rips that I acquired long long long ago and I have not had to change any settings.  I've beaten both recently and both play arcade perfect. 

I know this doesn't answer your question... But knowing what video files you are working with might be a good starting point for troubleshooting.  Might be better to ask this question over on the Daphne forums.

[WCBoudreaux]

Hey bud... I can help you straighten this out... But I have to know a few things up front...

One being the obvious...

You do realize, that in the original game, it had the long black screens between scenes due to the laserdisc "searching" right?

Basically, you want it to do that, because it sort of gives you a little more time in between scenes... Plus, it's arcade accurate that way... Do a search on Youtube for "Dragon's Lair"... There are some videos of people playing on original equipment, which will show you the black screens, and also, how the game play "looks and feels"... IF you can't find anything, let me know, and I'll make a video of my cabinet in action to give you an idea as to how it looks in action!

Any way, you want to adjust the "Delay Before Starting A Search" and not the "Delay Before Finishing A Search... Keep that one at "Typical Delay *"

Adding more to the "Delay Before Starting A Search" will make the death scenes play out fully, and create the black screens between scenes... I have mine at 175 ms and it's dead on...

Also, under the video tab, make sure everything is set up to the default values... (Being the setting with the * beside it)

Do these things, and if you're still having issues, email me, and I'll help you sort it out...

Second thing being

Which version of Daphne are you using?

Third thing being

Which romset are you using? This has a BIG effect on the way the game plays in Daphne... My suggestion here, is either the F2 romset, or the DLE v2.1... The DLE v2.1 is my suggestion... It uses ALL of the footage, and has a better feel to it... Plus, it kinda eliminates alot of the "randomness" of the game, and also alot of the mirrored scenes...

Let me know about everything I asked, and we'll get it sorted out...

Will

[Anubis_au]

Gday WCBoudreaux

To answer your questions:

1. No, I never played the original game so never had a reference to what normal gameplay should feel like. I just knew that when scenes were cutting out early that something was wrong with my setup.

But I followed your advice, and found a youtube video of someone playing the original arcade game. It gives me a good reference for how the game feels. Let me just say - wow! What a fast-paced game!!

I will have another play with Daphne with the settings you suggested, and I'll post back my findings.

2. Which Daphne version? Will get back to you on that also.

3. I've got several different romsets and for the moment I have Daphne set to use the default (F2?) but will have a go with the different romsets.

I've got several different versions of the video files also, but I'm using one that works well with the framefile, in that the game seems to start normally, atthe intro video. I had it set up once before where it cycled through the various static screens, went halfway through the intro video, then reset back to the intro video, and worked fine from then on. That problem for Dragon's Lair has been solved, the only thing now (I think) is the delay times).

But I am having that cycling / reset problem for Space Ace, so that might be a framefile / romset issue?

What other LD games do you have running? Are Dragon's Lair and Space Ace the big two, or are there other ones that everyone plays?

[Anubis_au]

OK, I did some testing of Daphne at work (did I mention how incredibly non-busy I am at the moment).

Here were my findings.

Firstly, the version of Daphne Loader that I am using is v2.1.51

I went through the settings, and put the settings for the delay as you suggested, WCBoudreaux. Delay before Finishing left with typical delay, delay before Starting was set to 175ms.

I tried it with two different romsets, the DLE v2.1 and the standard, F2.

With the DLE v2.1, the first thing I noticed was the game did the cycle thru the menus, start the intro video, restart, then work properly (show the whole intro video) thing. Which was annoying. Also, with the DLE v2.1 rom, I had no time to react before Dirk died on me. So all up, for the video file I have, the DLE v2.1 rom doesn't seem to be optimum romset to use.

I then tried with the F2 rom, the default. Straight away, the intro video played normally (as in, a normal cycle, not showing the static menu screens first). Also, when playing the game, I had time for the screen to flash and direct Dirk accordingly. And with the 175ms delay you suggested, playability was fine.

So, I think for Dragon's Lair, I will stick with the F2 rom and the settings I have.

Now on to Space Ace, and then the other games (having just found the roms for the other games).

So, until the next update, thanks WCBoudreaux.

[Anubis_au]

OK, Space Ace results.

I tried with two different framefiles supplied to me.

The first framefile starts on frame 0, the other on frame 1 (not much difference really).

I ran Space Ace four times, each of the two framefiles twice, both with Rev A and Rev A2 romsets.

In all four test runs, the same output: the game runs, cycles thru the static menu, starts the intro video. After maybe fifteen seconds, the intro video restarts, and then plays properly all the way to the end. Then it comes up with a rom error warning screen.

Any suggestions with this one?

[Anubis_au]

Actually, before we go on to Space Ace, I did notice the difference in randomness with  the DLE v2.1 romset for Dragon's Lair.

Is there a way to get that romset going, but maybe with a different framefile?

I don't like the way it cycles and then goes through an aborted half-video, but I did see an improvement in the scene randomness...

[WCBoudreaux]

Hey bud! You're most welcome for the help! I'm very sorry about the length of time it's taken me to get back to you... It's been pretty busy around here lately...

Ok, as far as the game starting, and playing about 15 seconds of the intro, then restarting... That's totally normal on the first time... Even the Laserdisc cabinets do that... So that's not a big deal...

IMHO, the Enhanced V2.1 is the best way to play the game... And we'll get it working right for you I assure you...

You asked which games were the "big" ones... Well, I guess that depends on who you ask... But for me, it's the 3 Don Bluth games... Dragon's Lair, Space Ace, and Dragon's Lair 2... Cliffhanger was a great game, and Cobra Command as well... And let's not forget Astron Belt...

Here's what I suggest... Go here, and download this version of Daphne Downloader...

http://www.laserarchive.com/ddl/

Get the "No-Brainer Edition" (I'm assuming you're using windows)

Once you get that, install it... let it update, as that version is a little out of date now... There will be a few updates, so be patient with it...

Once you're done downloading it, and it updates... Contact me at :

sandsamusements@comcast.net

And we'll get you set up... The reason I say contact me via email, is because I don't make my way to this site every day...

Another really handy feature, is that aside from Dragon's Lair, Space Ace, Dragon's Lair 2, and Thayer's Quest, it will download all of the other games for you... If you're patient enough to wait on them...

So, get that version of Daphne, install it, let it update, then contact me...

WCBoudreaux