[Obsolete as of TDM 2.06] TUTORIAL: How to setup EAX for TDM on any soundcard

[Goldwell]

http://i.imgur.com/Zw5yOSf.png

What Does EAX Do?

 

EAX provides a more believable sound and adds reverb similar to what was beloved in Thief 1 and 2. I compiled a video below which is a comparison between regular TDM and EAX enabled TDM. It shows the same mission (Accountant 2) and the same scenes, one with and one without EAX, the difference is quite clear.

 

Recently I was trying to enable EAX for Thief: Deadly Shadows and stumbled upon this solution on TTLG, I thought I would test it on the dark mod and low and behold it does work. So what's the big deal about all of this then? well previously you had to have a soundblaster card that supported EAX 4.0, with the solution below you are able to enable EAX on The Dark Mod with any soundcard.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EM5S7uRZ_5w

 

 

Installation Instructions

 

Download this file: http://www54.zippyshare.com/v/CbuBNIVo/file.html
Mirror: https://www.mediafire.com/?9djsjndl49tk1nf
Mirror: https://mega.nz/#!rUJRHI5S!tOLaeYvTqmCkrPuvKaDT-KMpXmuvTHVmaaxCR8LyDPY

1. Install "EAX4Unified_redist_4001"
2. Install "Creative_alchemy_1.45.03"
3. Put "CreativeALchemy14503RestrictionRemover-MST.exe" in the installation folder of Creative Alchemy (default location: C:\Program Files\Creative\ALchemy).
4. Run "CreativeALchemy14503RestrictionRemover-MST.exe" as administrator and install
5. Reboot PC
6. Go to Creative ALchemy folder and open "ALchemy.exe"
7. Click Add
8. Put "The Dark Mod" as the Game Title and tick the radiobox "Use Game Path" and put your Dark Mod base directory in there (for example I put "D:\Games\darkmod")
9. Click Ok
10. Highlight the newly created "The Dark Mod" entry on the left hand side and click the >>> button to move it over to the right hand side ALchemy-enabled games
11. Close Creative ALchemy
12. Open The Dark Mod and go into settings
13. Under the audio tab turn EAX 4.0 HD on by clicking on the text to the right of it. You will be prompted with a restart dialogue
14. Click "Restart game"
15. Now you have EAX enabled and can enjoy The Dark Mod with it!

[Springheel]

Is the level of reverb adjustable? I'd like some, but I don't know if I'd want it as high as it is in the example video. Even simple rooms sound like echoey caves to me.

[New Horizon]

Yeah, I saw that thread Spring and I'm pretty sure there was a setting you could alter to reduce the reverb. That's a really cool modification.

[Springheel]

I'll definitely be trying this then. Thanks for posting such clear instructions Gold!

[Oldjim]

I thought that EAX support wasn't going to be added/supported until 2.05

I tried it in Volta and the Stone and got a lot of popping/cracks

[nbohr1more]

The 64-bit patch includes EFX which is sorta an Open Source equivalent to EAX.

This is an outside workaround rather than a native code change.

 

Still pretty damned cool but Linux folks will be more inclined to look forward to the native fix.

(Which is one of the main reasons for the 64-bit branch, better Linux support \ no need to install legacy 32-bit libraries, etc.)

[New Horizon]

Yep, this is definitely a great way to enjoy the benefits until the permanent solution comes through for all to enjoy!

[Bikerdude]

Nice work gold!

[Araneidae]

Can any of this work be ported to Linux?

[Bikerdude]

At a guess, only if EAX4Unified & Creative alchemy are available for linux....

[nbohr1more]

The 64-bit branch is the solution to EAX on Linux. It is currently WIP.

 

I don't think WINE will work for drivers and driver hooks.

[Bikerdude]

I just had several thoughts -

1. I see the CreativeAlchemey14303REstrictionRemove patched 2 files, one of them being dsound.dll. Normally when setting up TDM within the althemely application, it copies the dsound.dll to the root off darkmod folder. I already have a dsound.dll file in there so in this instance I will need to copy the updated file over.
2. How will the updated dsound.dll file effect other EAX game, eg Thief 1/2/3...?
3. does that mean with EAX working mappers can now add the EFX args to thier maps? I had started making Sir Talbots EAX/EFX ready when making the map....

[Spooks]

I got very close to getting EAX working a couple of months ago, but the only available link in the several threads I searched in (VOGONS, PCGamingWiki or else) for the MST restriction remover was branded as a trojan by my AV and I didn't want to risk it. With that said this one's obviously coming up clean. I wonder if this is a different version than the one I was looking at. At any rate, I'm really glad that at least some form of EAX is now available for TDM!

 

Since this is a workaround solution I assume the reveerb is kind of static, no? Like, going in bigger rooms won't increase the strength? Because I think a mapper would have to provide those special spawnargs for that.

[nbohr1more]

 

 

I just had a thought, does that mean with EAX working mappers can now add the EFX args to thier maps? I had started making Sir Tolbots EAX/EFX ready when making the map....

 

 

You should be able to do that, yes. It will only have an effect with either the above workaround or the 64-bit branch but it's not a bad idea to get your missions ready

for the new functionality.

[New Horizon]

 

You should be able to do that, yes. It will only have an effect with either the above workaround or the 64-bit branch but it's not a bad idea to get your missions ready

for the new functionality.

 

Is there actually someone working on the 64bit branch though?

[Anderson]

I second the last question.

Great job. This was missed a lot by the community (we're in read only mode usually).

[Goldwell]

 

I just had several thoughts -

1. I see the CreativeAlchemey14303REstrictionRemove patched 2 files, one of them being dsound.dll. Normally when setting up TDM within the althemely application, it copies the dsound.dll to the root off darkmod folder. I already have a dsound.dll file in there so in this instance I will need to copy the updated file over.
2. How will the updated dsound.dll file effect other EAX game, eg Thief 1/2/3...?
3. does that mean with EAX working mappers can now add the EFX args to thier maps? I had started making Sir Talbots EAX/EFX ready when making the map....

 

 

In regards to 1 and 2, I currently have ALchemy working with The Dark Mod and T:DS and I haven't run into any problems there, my T1 and T2 use OpenAL so they are on a different system but regardless both still work as well. So i'm going to assume it's a safe bet and this shouldn't mess with anything, as far as i'm aware the restriction remover is what allows us non-soundblaster card users to actually get this thing working... but of course backup your files just incase.

 

 

I got very close to getting EAX working a couple of months ago, but the only available link in the several threads I searched in (VOGONS, PCGamingWiki or else) for the MST restriction remover was branded as a trojan by my AV and I didn't want to risk it. With that said this one's obviously coming up clean. I wonder if this is a different version than the one I was looking at. At any rate, I'm really glad that at least some form of EAX is now available for TDM!

 

Since this is a workaround solution I assume the reveerb is kind of static, no? Like, going in bigger rooms won't increase the strength? Because I think a mapper would have to provide those special spawnargs for that.

 

The MST restriction remover gave me a trojan warning at first however I submitted the exe to my virus checker company to evaluate (I use BitDefender if you're wondering) and three days later they came back and gave the file a clean bill of health and updated their virus definitions to match this. Either you're using the same virus checker as me or when BitDefender did their review they submitted it to some sort of universal list and all virus checkers are fine with this file now. Either way the file I included here is definitely safe and i'm using it on my system with no problems. In terms of the reverb it uses the standard that TDM has set, mappers can set custom settings however.

 

 

In regards to the EAX/EFX files, I was wondering if we should start future proofing our missions. This would be a great way to test how everything works and save having to go back and tinker with missions again, my only query is if these EFX files will be compatible with whatever TDM uses natively when the EAX alternatively gets implemented? Is it even possible to know that yet?

[Bikerdude]

I think a mapper would have to provide those special spawnargs for that.

Thats easy, just apply the args to existing info_location entities, for Sir Talbot the hard work is already done in this instance.

[Bikerdude]

My only query is if these EFX files will be compatible with whatever TDM uses natively when the EAX alternatively gets implemented? Is it even possible to know that yet?

Im gonna test Sir Talbots with this, to see whats required.

[freyk]

The 64-bit patch includes EFX which is sorta an Open Source equivalent to EAX.

This is an outside workaround rather than a native code change.

 

Still pretty damned cool but Linux folks will be more inclined to look forward to the native fix.

(Which is one of the main reasons for the 64-bit branch, better Linux support \ no need to install legacy 32-bit libraries, etc.)

Are EAX and EFX the same as open Al? How about using that? Edited August 8, 2016 by freyk

[nbohr1more]

As I understand it, the fix replaced the EAX engine code with code that translates map arguments and calculation results to OpenAL.

 

https://github.com/dhewm/dhewm3

[New Horizon]

Are EAX and EFX the same as open Al? How about using that?

 

EFX uses open AI from what I understand, so it's just a matter of waiting for the 64 bit branch, but I honestly don't know if we currently have the hands on deck to handle it. Any experienced coders out there? A lot of the work is done, but there is still a good bit to do.

[nbohr1more]

I'll be trying a local merge of SVN into the 64-bit branch after I finish tracker 3881.

 

I think it's mostly done due to the patches from NagaHuntress but those were never incorporated.

[New Horizon]

I'll be trying a local merge of SVN into the 64-bit branch after I finish tracker 3881.

 

I think it's mostly done due to the patches from NagaHuntress but those were never incorporated.

 

Does SVN make that relatively easy? Are you able to diff the two branches and copy / paste the differences from 2.04 into the 64 bit branch or vice versa?

[nbohr1more]

Yeah you can select revision ranges (commit x to commit y) as I understand it. I should be able to create a new clone branch of 64-bit then merge in SVN changes since the branch-off.

Will give it a try when I get a chance.

 

https://tortoisesvn.net/docs/release/TortoiseSVN_en/tsvn-dug-merge.html