The Dink Network

I adore this DMOD, and used to have no problem with it, so my question is NOT reporting a bug. I'm sure most of it is in my PC.

The program debug log says this DMOD is calling for a file called MMSYSTEM with 304 or 296 before the .dll extension. There is no such file on my system. It didn't appear when I reinstalled the game. I'm no programmer, but I've copied MMSYSTEM.dll and renamed it with each number and put both into SYSTEM, but it doesn't help. Midis won't play. Once in a while, I get a popup that says the .mid file can't play with my present configuration, but it is the same it always was. I did reformat C: a while back, and that's when the problem arose. This DMOD is not the only one which has this same problem. The MMSYSTEM numbers may vary, but otherwise it's the same: no midis.

My audio card is a piece of ...., an Ensoniq, with the faked "Sound Blaster" name. It's an Audio PCI128, a putrid synthesizer of SB sound, but crappy as it is, it used to play this DMOD. I've diddled with my configs, to no avail. I also use W98SE. 126MB RAM 2.2Ghz Celeron chip - 40G free - plenty of HD space.

Can you give me some clues what to do?

In addition, when the game loads, it always has programming comments in the upper left corner of every screen. How can I get rid of those?

I've just downloaded the latest version of PQ. Does it incorporate all the earlier patches? I may be lacking an older patch. My game is still v. 1.32. Might that be part of the problem?

You're one talented guy, Simon. I hope your work pays off with a great job.

Holly B.

Do the other D-mods work?

"In addition, when the game loads, it always has programming comments in the upper left corner of every screen. How can I get rid of those?"

Try disabling the Develop tick box in your frontend.

The problem I mentioned exists with .mid files on almost all DMODs. Can't think of one that doesn't have the problem.

When playing, I suddenly get a popup saying my .mid config isn't quite correct, and it may not play. It has already ignored many .mids by then, which is curious. So I click ok, and then the mid DOES play, but ONLY that .mid. Afterward, no more mids, and sometimes the graphics have become horrible, like pointillism art. I don't know how to fix that, either, so I have to quit and start the DMOD again. This may be in my PC, but other non-dink games don't have this problem.

I have two frontends, the one that comes with Dink and the CustomFE. Neither has a box that says "Develop." There is an edit button on the FE that comes with the original game, but no way to disable it.

The programmer notes don't appear in every DMOD. Pilgrim and one or two others, only. Is there, perhaps a way to edit an .ini file or something to turn it off or keep it from starting?

Thanks,
Holly B.

Oops, I meant debug, not develop. The debug mode displays a box in the upper left corner and shows the sprites' hardboxes around them.

Have you reinstalled Dink and Pilgrim's Quest? And the latest drivers for your soundcard?

You nailed it, Madstalker - I had ticked the "make log file" so I could see when the DMOD ran into troubles with music files. Unticking it did the trick.

Thanks a BUNCH.

I have uninstalled and reinstalled the sound card, the original Dink game and the DMODs themselves. Still no .midis and the problems seem to be consistent in all adventures. But they do not exist for any other game or utility on my system. So why just Dink stuff?

The .mids in my DMODS are somehow conflicting with a problem on my PC. They all played just fine before the last format of C.

I've diddled like crazy with anything concerning sound - including reinstalling DirectX. No cigar.

Something in the Dink games is different. If I knew what it is, it might guide me to the cause of the problem. I have occasional other sound issues with my PC, but the ones with Dink make most adventures unplayable.

If a .mid file does play with that popup I mentioned, it'll sometimes freeze entirely when I walk him into an adjacent map tile.

I had hoped Simon K. could explain the reference to that file MMSYSTEM.dll but with numbers before the extension (MMSYSTEM304.dll or MMSYSTEM296.dll, and others for different DMODs). How can it call for a file the DMOD does not provide and which is not standard on the OS? Yet at one time, it must have, because Pilgrim worked just fine. How could it have?

Thanks for the help,
Holly B.

D-Mod developers do not have any control over MMSYSTEM, unfortunately, and SimonK would likely be as confused as you are. This is a dependency of the dink.exe application, which D-Mod developers cannot modify.

You may want to try Dink Smallwood v1.08 Aural+. I think it plays midi files using DirectX instead of MMSYSTEM.

I am confused... and unfortunately unable to help...

Out! Out! dang Spot!!

Who let the dog in, anyway...

Did you try playing offending .mid files with any other program (e.g. winamp)?
Did you install motherboard and sound card drivers when you reformatted your disk, and is the sound device working correctly?
Try reinstalling the sound driver.
If you know how to check/set sound card's IRQ - make sure it's 5 and not the same with your other cards (modem or LAN).
I encountered sound issues with '98.

If the problem is still in the midis, did you install windows media player 11?
Try uninstalling it.

hey!!
release necromancer already!

decide if you want to make it or drop it

you may be busy or whatever
but atleast make a development/preview(i dunno which applies) thread so we (I) can know the progress

you there??

Hey, it's coming out tomorrow.

Yayyy!!