Master of Magic - March 26, 2019

Edit history:

SDAVerification: 2019-03-26 11:43:02 am

2019-03-12 09:46:53 am

Game Page: http://speeddemosarchive.com/MasterOfMagic.html

Master of Magic (pc) (pc) [Any %] [Single Segment] [Impossible]

Decision: Accept

Congratulations to 'Krayzar'!

Thread title:

SDAVerification

2019-03-12 09:46:53 am

Run Information

Master of Magic (pc) (pc) [Any %] [Single Segment] [Impossible]

Verification Files

http://v.speeddemosarchive.com/mom-v_IQ.mp4

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Please post your opinions about the run and be certain to conclude your post with a verdict (Accept/Reject). If you wish to remain anonymous, you can also send a pm with your reply to 'sdaverification' (please state clearly in that case which run you have verified). This is not a contest where the majority wins - Each verification will be judged on its content.

LotBlind

Edit history:

LotBlind: 2019-03-12 03:37:13 pm

2019-03-12 03:23:36 pm

A/V: The audio sounds sort of tinny or stuffy for some reason. Compared to the old run as well. I don't think there's anything mixed in that isn't the game's own audio but... something is a bit different. Not a big deal I think. Possibly just different sound emulation.

Okay, now that I've succeeded at the idiot test of reading the ENTIRE comments, I can see that this is a very well thought-out run that neither you nor us have reason to be ashamed of!

It's an easy

accept

Krayzar

2019-03-12 03:46:06 pm

On the A/V side: I'm using the GoG.com release as it's the most stable and widely accepted version in terms of settings, but even I agree, there's something odd about the sound compared to what I remember. On the GoG client I do see there were updates in 2015 and 2017 related to linux support, so perhaps they changed some default sound card settings for compatibility reasons. Kinda makes me want to mess with it now to get it sounding the way I'm used to, but that's neither here nor there.

LotBlind

2019-03-13 10:13:18 am

Right, just remember you can't adjust the default CPU cycles etc. settings that might affect performance since that would make different runs very difficult to compare.

I think it won't sound quite like it used to without an actual SoundBlaster of the era. Or I know many games are like that.

Yeah, a game like this you could study for absolutely ages to bring some bigger categories on the table. I always thought the people who should be doing that are those who've already studied it earlier. Maybe someone on Youtube would do that if given the idea.

ktwo

2019-03-17 06:24:15 am

Very nice improvement. Also, thanks a lot for the detailed documention of the run. There is nothing I can add that's not already explained in the run comments.

Easy accept!

LotBlind

2019-03-19 02:53:43 pm

For the record, one thing that could make this even faster is going to some of the older versions of the game, and trying to find some exploitable bugs. I believe we allow doing that even if an official re-release exists, but you do have to use the same emulation settings as I mentioned. I know the game was reaaall buggy at one point.

Krayzar

Edit history:

Krayzar: 2019-03-20 08:55:19 am

Krayzar: 2019-03-20 08:44:23 am

Krayzar: 2019-03-20 08:16:36 am

2019-03-20 08:14:12 am

I'll definitely be running some other possible categories in this one soon! Spell of Mastery and Max opponents and land size would definitely be interesting to route for. Currently training for a marathon in April though, so it'll likely be some time after that.

Yeah, I can't see changing the cycles helping the music on this one as it tends to perform worse in base DOS with modern CPUs, but I always keep those at GoG defaults for consistency.

I'd tend to agree on the older versions, but stability is a major concern with this game. Honestly, I think most of the bugs directly affect stability rather than introduce anything useful, and most of the useful ones are still in 1.31. Back in the day before patch 1.31, getting MoM to run for any length of time without crashing was quite the feat. I'd have to reconfigure all memory manager settings and rewrite my autoexec.bat and a bunch of .inis every time to even get it to start. And good luck trying to run it along side a Windows install. In the late 90s I ended up installing DOS on an old second hard drive and manually set that as the boot drive from the BIOS every time I wanted to play - it was easier than fighting with it on my Windows 98 install! Even with patch 1.31, it's still crash prone on modern hardware with DOS and only runs well on very specific sets of settings in DOSBox. The GoG version is a godsend. I used to mess around with settings in DOSBox for hours trying to find the collection of settings that would keep it stable late game. I'd imagine good portion of any Max opponents and land size run would still be managing slow down and crashes.

There's even fan made fixes that bring the patch up to 1.40, correct some final bugs and make the horrible late game memory leaks and slowdown manageable, but obviously that's not legal for a run.

I have an old pre-1.31 copy sitting on my shelf and it might be interesting to try to document it and see if I can get it running again, even if it doesn't end up saving time.

I'll definitely be running some other possible categories in this one soon!  Spell of Mastery and Max opponents and land size would definitely be interesting to route for.  Currently training for a marathon in April though, so it'll likely be some time after that.

Yeah, I can't see changing the cycles helping the music on this one as it tends to perform worse in base DOS with modern CPUs, but I always keep those at GoG defaults for consistency.

I'd tend to agree on the older versions, but stability is a major concern with this game.  Honestly, I think most of the bugs directly affect stability rather than introduce anything useful, and most of the useful ones are still in 1.31.  Back in the day before patch 1.31, getting MoM to run for any length of time without crashing was quite the feat.  I'd have to reconfigure all memory manager settings and rewrite my autoexec.bat and a bunch of .inis every time to even get it to start.  And good luck trying to run it along side a Windows install.  In the late 90s I ended up installing DOS on an old second hard drive and manually set that as the boot drive from the BIOS every time I wanted to play - it was easier than fighting with it on my Windows 98 install!  Even with patch 1.31, it's still crash prone on modern hardware with DOS and only runs well on very specific sets of settings in DOSBox.  The GoG version is a godsend.  I used to mess around with settings in DOSBox for hours trying to find the collection of settings that would keep it stable late game.  I'd imagine good portion of any Max opponents and land size run would still be managing slow down and crashes.

There's even fan made fixes that bring the patch up to 1.40, correct some final bugs and make the horrible late game memory leaks and slowdown manageable, but obviously that's not legal for a run.

I have an old pre-1.31 copy sitting on my shelf and it might be interesting to try to document it and see if I can get it running again, even if it doesn't end up saving time.

LotBlind

2019-03-20 12:47:22 pm

^ You know best (as it seems)! We and I especially are open 24/7 for quality speedruns of MoM. I'm genuinely astonished that people undertake such endeavours (though I'm more than knee-deep in one of my own).

If it's not entirely obvious which categories should be allowed and how they should be defined, you can also bring that up on our forums. Feel free to generally post under PC Games for whatever updates you have along the way unless there was another forum. Also, we host a speedrun strategy wiki in case you were wondering where to keep your notes.

SDAVerification

2019-03-26 11:43:03 am

Decision posted.