UT2004 X-Fi Patch - Ingame battle sounds missing or skipping!

[Morpheus-2396]

Hello,

I've installed UT2004 a few days ago after applying a partition image (resetting the System to an earlier state). Everything works fine except 3D sound after installing the Creative UT2004 X-Fi Patch.

BEFORE installing that patch, 3D sound works like it's supposed to be with "HW 3D Audio + EAX" ("Use System Driver" is enabled) in combination with ALchemy.

AFTER installing the X-Fi Patch, some ingame sounds (shots, death screams) are not being played anymore or they're not always played (= skipping) only a few moments after starting a match. This problem begins to occur even before I start a match - for example when scrolling through the options in the UT2004 Main Menu with the mouse, no scrolling sound is being played. "Use System Driver" is disabled, ALchemy too.

I always install UT2004 the usual way, and my config file is the same I used when the X-Fi Patch *worked like it's supposed to be* (no sound errors). The ALAudio section of my UT2004.ini looks like this:

[ALAudio.ALAudioSubsystem]
UseEAX=True
Use3DSound=True
UseDefaultDriver=False
CompatibilityMode=False
MaxEAXVersion=255
UsePrecache=True
ReverseStereo=False
Channels=24
MusicVolume=0.250000
AmbientVolume=1.000000
SoundVolume=1.000000
VoiceVolume=4.000000
VolumeScaleRec=0.100000
DopplerFactor=1.000000
Rolloff=0.500000
TimeBetweenHWUpdates=10.000000
DisablePitch=False
LowQualitySound=False
UseVoIP=True
UseVAD=False
UseSpatializedVoice=False
SpatializedVoiceRadius=100000.000000
EnhancedDenoiser=False
LocalZOffset=0.000000
BattleKillsTime=12
SpreeKillsTime=7
LowHealthLevel=35
RecoverHealthLevel=50
SpreeKillLevel=3
OutputNamesTxt=False
MusicVoiceCount=21
MaxAudioVoices=127
MusicAccents=False

After I applying the partition image, I refreshed the outdated hardware drivers with actual versions - also for my sound card (X-Fi Titanium PCIe bulk with 64MB X-RAM). I also refreshed Windows (Win7 x64 SP1) - which means I refreshed the complete system!

I don't understand, why this problem occurs now...

M2396

 

[Wormbo]

TBH I'd just ignore that patch, as it's not really necessary for 3D sound and proper X-Fi support. AFAIK it only adds gimmicky sound effects with the intent to show off X-Fi capabilities, rather than actually improve the game. You might want to revert to the standard 3369 patch.

 

[Raynor.Z]

This patch IMO isn't a worth it. I remember it caused all kinds of weird issues years ago. Assault rifle for example sounded very loud and unnatural. Got rid of it and everything was normal again.

 

[Morpheus-2396]

TBH I'd just ignore that patch, as it's not really necessary for 3D sound and proper X-Fi support.

It is necessary, if you want to use 128 channels (which is equal to EAX 5.0) on X-Fi cards (default UT2004 EAX is limited to 64 channels or even 32 Channels only). The amount of sound channels can make a HUGE difference - very noticable in UT3 and even UT1 (I play both with 128 channels!).

Besides... Creative claims, this patch will ensure that UT2004 takes full advantage of the capabilities of X-Fi sound cards (except X-Fi Xtreme Music - that's not a real X-Fi card) and a file size of ~ 180MB should be words enough to say that the X-Fi Patch is more than just new sounds.

Spoken about the new game sounds & music: not all of the weapon/battle sounds are bad - some are even better than the original ones (e.g. Lightning Gun)! Except for the new music - the music is truly catastrophic and should be turned off...

On-Topic: I just don't understand, what's wrong with my setup and especially why the same configuration doesn't work now

M2396