I've been installing and trying out a lot of different Door Games in Mystic on a Windows 7 32 bit machine. Mostly DOS door programs. Some work and some don't. The problem on a lot of the doors is that games that have a lot of movement (artillery, tetris, etc) is that sometimes they're too fast. I realize that many of these games were written years ago on much slower computers and that can be a problem, but i see some of theses same games running on other BBSES and they seem to run just fine as they were intended. I know that many of these BBSes are running on faster computers than me. So my questions is: Is there a way to slow down these doors programs to get them to run correctly?

I seem to run in to a lot of weird glitches when running some doors in Windows. Is this to be expected?

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/04/08 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Lunatics Unleashed BBS (21:3/135)

Hello Cozmo,

I seem to run in to a lot of weird glitches when running some doors in Windows. Is this to be expected?

I haven't run windows of any kind in a long time but I think a windows 32bit install is the best place to run DOS doors.

If you haven't already I would try to lock the fossil at 38400, 57600 or 115200. When I was running OS/2 I used x00 and I always locked the fossil at 115200 and that worked well for me across the board.

Ttyl :-),
Al

--- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20180707
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (21:4/106)

How do I actully lock the rate? I'M using NetFoss. Not to familiar with this.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/04/08 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Lunatics Unleashed BBS (21:3/135)

Re: Re: Doors with Windows 7
By: Cozmo to Al on Thu Jun 03 2021 06:47 pm

How do I actully lock the rate? I'M using NetFoss. Not to familiar with this.

I've never run netfoss so I'm not sure if that is even needed with netfoss.

When I ran the BBS under DOS or OS/2 I started the fossil at a locked baud rate and the BBS, mailer and doors were all set to use that baud rate and if I didn't set some doors at that rate I'd get garbage on the screen.

Not all doors needed or used a fossil but for those that did I used a locked baud rate and that worked well.

Some doors do need a fossil to run, so you can load the fossil at a locked rate before you run the door and the door will use it.

I had success with either x00 or bnu fossils.

Ttyl :-),
Al

... As easy as 3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841
--- SBBSecho 3.14-Linux
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (21:4/106.1)

Cozmo wrote to All <=-

The problem on a lot of the doors is that games
that have a lot of movement (artillery, tetris, etc) is that sometimes they're too fast.

The issue usually isn't CPU speed, it's with real-time doors relying on the serial I/O to perform timing. Software dumps X bytes to the serial buffer which would normally be transmitted at a known rate. When the buffer has finished transmitting it assumes Y milliseconds have passed and it's time to calculate the next event. The problem is TCP/IP moves that data along in a microsecond instead of the several hundred milliseconds serial I/O would have taken.

NetFoss does provide a way to throttle the emulated serial output for doors which use it. In the specific game's batch file, use the /S parameter to slow it down. Just as an example of what your batch file may look like:

C:
CD \DOORS\TETRIS
C:\MYSTIC\NETFOSS\NETFOSS.COM /M /S256
TETRIS.EXE
C:\MYSTIC\NETFOSS\NETFOSS.COM /MR

You would add the lines just above and below TETRIS.EXE and substitute the correct directory where NetFoss is located. The /M parameter is needed to modify NetFoss settings since NetFoss is already loaded. The /S256 is what actually slows NetFoss down. You'll have to experiment to find the correct speed setting. The default setting is 512 so 256 would be a good starting point. Smaller numbers result in slower speed.

The /MR in the second NetFoss line resets NetFoss back to its default settings. It likely isn't needed for your Mystic door usage, but if you don't fully understand how everything is working together it's best to leave it in. It's not hurting anything other than taking another millisecond to exit the door.

I seem to run in to a lot of weird glitches when running some doors in Windows. Is this to be expected?

Doors always have their little quirks. But once you get a few set up it usually gets easier. You'll have to ask about specific problems.

--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
* Origin: The Basement Theory - Sciotoville, Ohio USA (21:2/121)

NetFoss does provide a way to throttle the emulated serial output for doors which use it. In the specific game's batch file, use the /S parameter to slow it down. Just as an example of what your batch file
may look like:

Nice! That worked like a charm. Thank You! Some of these old doors can be a challenge to get to work. But I'm learning and having fun as I go.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/04/08 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Lunatics Unleashed BBS (21:3/135)