From: livigni@bldrdoc.gov (David livigni 303-497-5898)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.desqview
Subject: Re: Game problems with Desqview
Summary: what?
Date: 17 Nov 92 00:18:09 GMT

In article <mike03175921013225052@batpad.lgb.ca.us>, mike@batpad.lgb.ca.us (mike batchelor) writes:
> livigni@bldrdoc.gov (David livigni 303-497-5898) writes:
> >
> > I am having problems running games under Desqview.  I use a large
> > graphics window with no virtualization, no background processing,
> > displays graphics, writes directly to screen, don't share CPU,
> > don't share EGA, etc.  When I run BLOCKS (a 3-d tetris thing) or
> 
> You've got two of those parameters set up in such a way as to ensure that
> DV will not save any graphics screens.  Turn on virtualization, turn
> on shares EGA when foreground/zoomed.  On F1 advanced options, give
> the games 8 graphics pages.  DV can save and restore standard
> 640x480x16 VGA screens.
> 
> 
> 
> [] ---
> [] Mike Batchelor <> Long Beach, California
> [] mike@batpad.lgb.ca.us <or> mikebat@qdeck.com

Virtualization on, are you kidding?  I wanted to play it, not sit there
watching it draw all day!  To say that DV doesent save graphics screens
without virtualization on is a gigantic ERROR or I have been living in an
alternate universe!  I NEVER use graphics virtualization and run graphics
all the time.  Note I am NOT running them in the background.

8 graphics pages?  I thaught the only logical options were 0, 1, or 2 (so
I read in a manual somewhere).  Sim City ran OK with 2-pages, for a while 
anyway.  Then all the sudden the screen began rolling uncontrollably.  It
would be fine for an instant when you switch away and back, but then would
start rolling again.  This happened once before in a CAD program, and I had 
to position the cursor in that instant of stability to save a days work.
My conclusion - forget anything but the simplest games in Desqview.  Sim
City seems to work OK in DVX, but I don't use it much because its slow.
It is faster than WIndows though, but what was wrong with text mode for
text based processes?  I think I'll try OS/2 when they get Windows 3.1 support,
it's presently a better DOS than DOS, and now I have the hardware to run it.

Strange to hear this nonsense from someone at quarterdeck.  Interesting
that the only response I got about my open floppy disk bug was from other
users with the same problem... is there no solution?  The best suggestion I
heard was that DV was running out of SYSTEM memory (specified with Desqview
Setup) when it tried to open the little window with the Abort Retry Fail
options.  This bug was very inconsistant, and I can't get it to do it again
now...

The graphics screen rolling problem may be mouse related since I have heard
of many mouse related problems, and it seems to occur only in programs
that use the mouse.

Enough flames, but like Jerry Pournelle said before he quit using it, it
"feels like a kluge" and I too am getting tired of it.

I've been using Desqview since 1987 when I got a copy with an AST Rampage board.
It allowed me to do almost everything my friend's Amiga could do (well, most
of the significant stuff anyway).  And it required a modest to minimal system
to work it's magic.  And with all the bug fixes, it's pretty solid now and I
have to re-boot rarely.  But it don't like graphics it appears, or the mouse
in many instances.  DVX is interesting but requires far from a minimal system
and I refuse to run text based apps in graphics mode.  It appears better
suited for a server of sorts, just too much overhead for the desktop if your
not using any of the network stuff, and it lacks several niceties of DV like
swapping and the ability to toggle background processing on and off.  Why no
upgrade of text mode DV Classic?  Was it abandoned for DVX?

Sorry about this Quarterdeck, I still think you've got some of the best
programmers in the industry even if their direction has diverted from
what I want.  Send me flames, I deserve em.

David Livigni

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@   Anything stated here is my opinion only    @
@   livigni@bldrdoc.gov                        @
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Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.desqview