QSS-M
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timbergeron
No 5.1 sound in QSS-M, while it worked in Quakespasm 95.0
Hi! I'm very glad I found QSS-M yesterday for playing Quake.
I've been using the "normal" Quakespasm for the last years and was always happy with it, but I've always wished I could use some alternative HUD. I found this new port here now that comes with a nice newly arranged alternative HUD as a choice already out of the box I definitely want to use on my next playthrough.
But I noticed QSS-M is just using stereo output sound despite my system being set up as a 5.1 system. With regular Quakespasm in the version I used so far (95.0) sound output seems to be taking the configuration from my windows setup and automically puts sound ouput on all boxes of my receiver.
For some reason QSS-M doesn't do this and stays restricted to stereo 2 boxes only.
I didn't find any switch or command line option to change the sound setup within QSS-M so far. Can I change this somehow? Or is QSS-M using different audio drivers in some way so that it won't be possible like it was possible for me in Quakespasm?
Found out something interesting: The difference in treating my audio setup has to do with the sdl2.dll file. There are not the same files in quakespasm 95.0 and current QSS-M, quakespasm's version is smaller and is 1.313 KB, QSS-M's sdl2.dll is 2.451 KB.
If I exchange the sdl2.dll from my QSS-M installation with the smaller one from quakespasm 95.0, I suddenly also have sound on all 5 boxes in QSS-M.
Considering it's a different, probably older version of sdl2.dll I think I could very well encounter issues with this exchange later on. Demos and beginning run fine in surround audio now, though.
Thanks for the thorough explanation. Have you tried the latest version of QS (which uses a newer sdl2)? It appears there may be a way that SDL handles 5.1 audio has changed -- I am playing with some potential fixes.
Thank you very much for replying!
Yes, I indeed tried QS 0.96.3 while investigating this problem here in the meantime and it had the same problem now (only stereo output), And It's true it also uses a newer version of sdl2 (it's 2.473 KB in size there). Also I encountered the same effect with scummvm - after updating to the latest version 5.1 sound was suddenly gone, which was always automatically set to 5.1 output in earlier versions for me, too. You're right and it's very likely about some change in SDL's audio handling.
But so far I'm fine with playing QSS-M with the older SDL2. I did a playthrough of Scourge of Armagon in the last weeks and I could finish it without further problems this way.
The only major bug I noticed was one secret not working correctly: Secret 3 in HIP2M3 - The Catacombs. After shooting a cross, a 100 health is meant to fall from the ceiling. But in QSS-M it didn't fall but kept stuck in the ceiling. I tested in QS 0.95.0 with a transferred savegame and there the 100 health acted correctly and I could pick it up. But I have no clue if this bug was related to me using the older small sdl2 file or had some other reason for it to happen.
There may have been other bugs like maybe some opponents not getting triggered I didn't realize. But I only noticed this single one with that one secret, so nothing major.
But if you find some fix for the audio handling of the current sdl2 at some point in time in later releases it would be awesome.
Can you give this a try with the newer SDL2 dll. This adds a new cvar snd_speakers that defaults to 0 for auto detection, but can also be set to 6 for 5.1 if that does not work. Let me know.
In terms of the secret it may be related to cl_nopext, try setting it to 1 and see if you have the same issue.
With that zip version you posted I only get high pitched screeching noises in-game, unfortunately. Neither sound nor music is produced correctly. I found your new cvar snd_speakers in the config and tried to change it from 0 to 6 and back to 0, but it's the same high pitched junk sounds for both settings. I even tried 2 just for experimenting and it's also the same.
Got back to my regular QSS-M version and sounds were ok again on same setup.
About the other setting cl_nopext I will have a look tomorrow and find an older save from the level I wrote about to test. I'll report after that.
So i played that level Catacombs again and have a save for that secret now. I tested and the secret 3 bug I mentioned also happens with the regular new sdl2. It's apparently not related to my sdl2 exchange.
I wanted to test the cl_nopext cvar, but the value is not appearing in the config.cfg. There is cl_nopred, but no cl_nopext. Adding cl_nopext "1" to the config doesn't do anything and it's automatically erased from the config after I start a game.
Is there another way to set that value I don't know about?
EDIT: I managed to change the value by using the console to set cl_nopext to 1. If I enter noepxt after that, console is also telling me it's set to 1 now. But secret is still not triggered correctly. I used both versions of sdl2, but cl_nopext doesn't seem to fix that bug.
Here is a screenshot of that bug, the 100 health should fall down, but stays in a non-reachable hole in the ceiling.
Tested the new zip and now there is no sound and music. Just silence, no screeching junk sounds like with that one before.
In both settings of snd_speakers 0 and 6.
I'm gonna have to plug in a 5.1 system and test; I will keep you posted.