DirectX JJFFE information

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Versions

There are two DirectX versions of JJFFE, one intended for running under Windows 95, 98, ME or 2000 which requires DirectX 5, and another with DirectX 3 support (no joystick code) for running under Windows NT4.

The only extra key control in the DirectX versions is Ctrl-F12 to switch between fullscreen and windowed modes.

The two current binary releases include the following files:

winjjffe28b.zip:

ffewin28.exe    -   Replacement Win32/DirectX executable for FFE
ffewin.cfg      -   Example config file for the above
jjffe28.txt     -   Basic readme file for all versions
	

nt4jjffe28b.zip:

ffent28.exe     -   Replacement WinNT4/DInput 3 executable for FFE
ffewin.cfg      -   Example config file for the above
jjffe28.txt     -   Basic readme file for all versions
	

Config file information

[VIDEO] section, general options:

fullscreen      -   Toggles starting in fullscreen or windowed mode
highpriority    -   Sets FFE process priority to high
nodraw          -   Turn off rendering for debug purposes
	

[VIDEO] section, fullscreen options:

triplebuf       -   Turn on triple buffering in 8-bit fullscreen
fswidth         -   Screen width in fullscreen modes
fsheight        -   Screen height in fullscreen modes
fsbpp           -   Screen bit depth in fullscreen modes
	

Setting fswidth = 640, fsheight = 400 for example will lead to a "smoothed out" display which some people prefer. 320x200 should look identical to the DOS versions. An fsbpp value of 8 will be faster on some cards than 16/32, although much slower on others. If fsbpp=8 causes palette flickering, change the value of triplebuf. Some cards won't support anything below 640x480x16, and this can be driver dependent.

[VIDEO] section, windowed options:

noresize        -   Disable window resizing in windowed modes
winwidth        -   Window width in windowed modes
winheight       -   Window height in windowed modes
intermediatebuf -   Enable additional stretching buffer
	

In windowed modes, DirectX JJFFE uses the current bit depth of the display. 320x200 is fastest, but usually too small. Other resolutions are scaled up by the DirectX driver, and speed varies greatly. 640x400 works fine on most cards. The intermediatebuf option is necessary to prevent mouse pointer flicker on some systems, but causes a slight drop in frame rate.

[SOUND] section:

softsynth       -   Allow use of software MIDI synthesizers
forcemci        -   Use MCI rather than DirectMusic for MIDI sound
	

If DirectX 6.1 is present, DirectX JJFFE will use DirectMusic for playing MIDI files. This is usually faster than MCI which is used otherwise. By default, software synthesizers are excluded from DirectMusic device selection.

[TIMER], [MOUSE] and [KEYBOARD] sections:

mtimer          -   Use alternative timing technique
sensitivity     -   Mouse sensitivity, default 100, lower is slower
repeatrate      -   Keyboard repeat rate, gap between repeats in msec
repeatdelay     -   Keyboard delay before first repeat in msec
	

The keyboard repeat rate settings effect the zoom speed on the navigation displays. Mouse sensitivity modification is generally needed under Windows NT 4.

[JOYSTICK] section:

enabled         -   Enable joystick support
xmax            -   Maximum joystick x value
ymax            -   Maximum joystick y value
xexp            -   X axis exponent * 10
yexp            -   Y axis exponent * 10
xdeadzone       -   X axis deadzone size
ydeadzone       -   Y axis deadzone size
xmaxzone        -   X axis max-value zone size
ymaxzone        -   Y axis max-value zone size
	

Joystick support will not work unless you set enabled=1. With older joysticks, the polling causes a fairly heavy frame-rate drop, so it's disabled by default. Only one 2-axis, 2-button joystick is supported and should be calibrated in the control panel. Increase the deadzone values if the stick drifts to one side.


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