Read the documentation for MOUSE2KV. It is not a TSR. The instructions are quite simple. 😀

Snover wrote:

Read the documentation for MOUSE2KV. It is not a TSR. The instructions are quite simple. 😀

Already done, since yesterday!

Mouse2KV […]
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Mouse2KV

SUMMARY:
Mouse cursor confined to upper left-hand side of screen. Some games or applications that require high-resoultion VESA video modes will experience problems with the mouse cursor under Windows NT4, Windows 2000 and Windows XP.

SYMPTOMS:
The mouse cursor will be confined to the upper or upper-left part of the screen.

CAUSE:
This is caused by the fact that Windows' mouse emulation (int 33h, functions 3, 5 and 6) will only recognize horizontal coordinates between 0 and 639, and vertical coordinates betwen 0 and 199.

Sounds like my problem... 😁

RESOLUTION #1:
Some games support alternate mouse modes that use relative movement instead of absolute coordinates, thus getting around this limitation. Read your game or application's documentation and/or configuration file to see if alternate mouse modes support is available.

Nothing in the manual, documentation and/or configuration file of the game... 🙁

RESOLUTION #2:
Use the attached program to run the game or application. It will stretch the coordinate box to fit the user's requirements.

This is precisely the object of my post: how do I use these drivers? How to activate them in order for them to work with VDMSound?

RESOLUTION #3:
Use an emulator such as Connectix Virtual PC, VMWare, or Bochs to emulate a virtual computer. Then run the game under the operating system that it was designed for. This will remove the limitations imposed on the program by the Host Operating System and allow the game to operate as it should under the guest. (Assuming of course that the emulator includes features such as VESA & mouse support.)

The VMWare emulated VGA driver is the source of other problems and I just have blurred graphics (can't even call them graphics).

UPDATED
Previous program in this thread was created by Vlad R. and only worked for Real Mode games. A new version was created by Peter, initially for XCOM: Apocalypse. Since XCOM is a DPMI game, this new version of MOUSESET, now called Mouse2KV, will also work for other protected-mode games with this mouse problem!

Same problem as RESOLUTION #2's answer.

SUPPORTED GAMES: Magic Carpet 2: The Netherworlds Mechwarrior 2 Mechwarrior 2 Mercenaries SimCity 2000 System Shock (with Mok's […]
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SUPPORTED GAMES:
Magic Carpet 2: The Netherworlds
Mechwarrior 2
Mechwarrior 2 Mercenaries
SimCity 2000
System Shock (with Mok's updated EXE)
Wing Commander 3
XCOM: Apocalypse (with Mok's updated EXE)

OK, I knew I would not find any SSI wargame in this kind of lists well before I decided to install VDMSound. 🙄

If you experience this behaviour in any game not listed here please post so on the forums.

This time it seems I have managed to figure out something in this documentation. 😁

Thanks to Vlad R. for the original MOUSESET, and Peter for the new program!

Good, never forget the credits!

PROGRAM SYNTAX: MOUSE2KV.EXE XRES YRES XMULTI YMULTI PROGRAM.EXE XRES : the horizontal resolution the program will be runnin […]
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PROGRAM SYNTAX:
MOUSE2KV.EXE XRES YRES XMULTI YMULTI PROGRAM.EXE
XRES : the horizontal resolution the program will be running in (eg. 640 for 640x480)
YRES : the vertical resolution the program will be running in (eg. 480 for 640x480)
XMULTI : Speed multiplier for horizontal movement (8 is good for 640x480)
YMULTI : Speed multiplier for vertical movement (8 is good for 640x480)
PROGRAM.EXE : The program to run.

Same problem as RESOLUTION #2: How do I use this precious syntax? I understand what it does but I don't know what to do with it... 🙁

Be sure to run any other TSRs (such as NOLFB.COM or DOSDRV) before you run MOUSE2KV.

How? The batch file I have created seems to run them in the good order? But what do I do with the program syntax? In which file do I have to correct or add the values? 😕

I am sorry but if you don't have a very good computer skill background you can't figure it out by yourself with such indications.

I'm not sure how much more clear this can be.

PROGRAM SYNTAX:
MOUSE2KV.EXE XRES YRES XMULTI YMULTI PROGRAM.EXE

XRES : the horizontal resolution the program will be running in (eg. 640 for 640x480)
YRES : the vertical resolution the program will be running in (eg. 480 for 640x480)
XMULTI : Speed multiplier for horizontal movement (8 is good for 640x480)
YMULTI : Speed multiplier for vertical movement (8 is good for 640x480)
PROGRAM.EXE : The program to run.

So if STEEL PANTHERS is running at 640x480, this would be the correct command to run it: "MOUSE2KV.EXE 640 480 8 8 steel.exe"

Thanks for your answer, after many tests I managed to find the way to write the Steel Panthers batch file in the proper way a few hours before your reply thanks to the Example pif file that can be found in a mouse2kv_v01.zip file I downloaded.

It works if it is written like this:

NOLFB.COM
SPEEDSET.EXE -50
MOUSE2KV.EXE 640 480 8 8 steel.exe

As I wrote it yesterday my problem was not to understand what the settings meant but to understand in what file I had to put those datas and how to write the command.

The batch file needs to be launched once without the -50 setting, I suppose Speedset must first update a file or initialize itself before a speed setting can be set.

Here is a site where I have found a very good tutorial (though it does not work with Steel Panthers it gave me the hint for the way to write the Speedset setting):

http://www.subsowespac.org/sh_xp/silent_hunterxp.shtml

My batch file is written like this:

NOLFB.COM
SPEEDSET.EXE -50
MOUSE2KV.EXE 640 480 8 8 steel.exe

It seemed to work fine last night but it is no more working.
As soon as a negative setting is associated with Speedset, DOS does not manage to run the game because of an overflow of interrupts causing a "professional error" (it sounds logical as Speedset is adding "interrupts" to slow the game).

A batch file written like this allows DOS to run the game correctly so Speedset itself is not the problem:

NOLFB.COM
SPEEDSET.EXE
MOUSE2KV.EXE 640 480 8 8 steel.exe

Has anyone already encountered this problem or does anyone knows another solution to slow down a DOS game (mo'slo does not work with more than 700 Mhz CPU)?

How well does this game work with the latest DosBox CVS? Anyone?

Thanks for your reply but DOSBox is a bit too complicated to use for me without a real manual or tutorial. 🙁

Besides this I am not sure the Steel Panthers games are running in real mode DOS. The first game of the serie was published in 1995 and I have not seen significant changes in the installation and launch processes between the first and last title published in 1997.

Try using another version DOS/4GW. They are in Deep Thought.

I don't know if this is the proper way to use this executable but I have downloaded DOS4gw v1.97 and written my batch file like this:

dos4gw.exe
NOLFB.COM
speedset.exe -50
MOUSE2KV.EXE 640 480 8 8 steel.exe

Result: no change, there is still a graphical issue as soon as a setting is associated with speedset.

Okay, that is WRONG. heh

First off, use the latest version of DOS/4GW, 2.01a. Rename the executable to DOS4GW.EXE and place it in your game directory. You DO NOT run DOS4GW.EXE directly.

Thanks Snover, about to try! 😉

Downloaded Dos4gw 2.0.1a renamed it... same problem as soon as a value is associated with speedset.

🙁

Which "Steel Panthers" is this? I, II, or III?

Nicht Sehr Gut wrote:

Which "Steel Panthers" is this? I, II, or III?

The three actually along with SP:World War II and SP: Main Battle Tank. 😁

Originally posted by Tamerlin The three actually along with SP:World War II and SP: Main Battle Tank. 😁

Oh, grand. Four titles in the same thread. Even if they use the same engine, don't expect them to behave the same.

I've got nothing on 1, will check to see if there's anything out there.

For 2,
showthread.php?threadid=43&highlight=Steel+Panthers

Unfortunately, the link in that post (and the affiliated site) are apparently dead.

For 3, nothing again..but I have the CD somewhere. So that can be tested.

For MBT, it should run with no problem.

Thanks for your help Nicht Sehr Gut. 😀

Originally posted by Nicht Sehr Gut
Oh, grand. Four titles in the same thread. Even if they use the same engine, don't expect them to behave the same.

To the exception of SP: MBT (which is already slowed down to meet the expectations of the higher CPUs) they are all behaving the same. 🙁

I've got nothing on 1, will check to see if there's anything out there.

Thanks again!

For 2,
showthread.php?threadid=43&highlight=Steel+Panthers

Unfortunately, the link in that post (and the affiliated site) are apparently dead.

I think I have already checked this thread but I think it is worth a new look.

For 3, nothing again..but I have the CD somewhere. So that can be tested.

My only problem with the serie is with Speedset.exe, as soon as a value is associated with speedset there seems to be a problem with the graphics because of the higher number of interrupts. 🙁

For MBT, it should run with no problem.

As I told it before there is no need to slow the MBT game down so my default VDMSound shortcut settings work fine.

I have also tried Mo'Slow 1.32a (with my batch file written like this: moslo.com /50) but it has no effect. As Mo'Slo 1.32a is not supposed to work with CPUs featuring a frequency higer than 700 Mhz I don't know if the batch file is not well written or if this software effectively doesn't run with my Athlon XP 1800+ CPU. 🙁

Originally posted by Tamerlin [BTo the exception of SP: MBT (which is already slowed down to meet the expectations of the higher CPUs) they are all behaving the same.

To be honest, I don't understand why you're using SPEEDSET. All 3 SteelPanthers worked for me without it on a 1.7GHz processor. Is this that "map-scrolling" thing?

I think I have already checked this thread but I think it is worth a new look.

Well, like I said it appears to be a dead site now... I can't even find an archive of it on the "Wayback Machine".

My only problem with the serie is with Speedset.exe, as soon as a value is associated with speedset...

Let me be frank...
*changes name*
*changes it back because it feels silly*
I personally consider slow-down tools to be the tools of Satan.

Ok, that's a bit too much...but if I found out the primary coding for them was outsourced to Hell, well...Let's just say I wouldn't be surprised.

Only use them when you absolutely have to...
..and even then you shouldn't. The problems they cause are often as bad as the problems they solve...

Having said all that, I don't understand why your GF2 video card has this mouse issue, I've never seen it with my GF3. I'm amazed at how critical the choice of video cards still is, in the era of XP.

Having said all that, you appear to have just enough horsepower to run this in the latest CVS release of DosBox.

I tested 1,3, and the demo for 2 and they ran fine (except for video, which much be skipped if you wish to preserve your sanity).

Understand, that they will be slow, but the VESA support implemented in the CVS version works well and the mouse issue goes away. Choose the most basic SoundBlaster and you should be good to go.

Remember though, there's no support for the CVS version.

Nicht Sehr Gut wrote:

Well, like I said it appears to be a dead site now... I can't even find an archive of it on the "Wayback Machine".

It is, actually, there.
http://web.archive.org/web/20020603003407/htt … sandbox/xp.html

But now it's here, too:
http://www.longhighway.com/sandbox/xp.html

Always good to follow email domains, Google email addresses, go back to the root domain for the site, etc.

Nicht Sehr Gut wrote:

Is this that "map-scrolling" thing?

Exactly! The shortest move to the border of the screen brings me at the other side of the map... 🙁

Having said all that, I don't understand why your GF2 video card has this mouse issue, I've never seen it with my GF3. I'm amazed at how critical the choice of video cards still is, in the era of XP.

Seems to be an issue related to the GeForce2 MX cards, the problem has been solved with MOUSE2KV.

Having said all that, you appear to have just enough horsepower to run this in the latest CVS release of DosBox.

I would like to test DosBox but I have not found a manual or tutorial to learn how to use it, actually I don't know how to configure it for a game.