Best pure DOS emulators!!

Bloodwych · 02 July 2003, 12:55

Many of us here are familiar with windows based emulators but what are the best programs for good old but nearly forgotten pure DOS mode?

The reason I'm asking is my old PC is gagging for some constructive use apart from playing PC DOS games. It wants to churn out some quality titles anbd become a pure EMU gaming machine.

Its fantastic specs read as follows:

P233MMX running at 225 (75Mhz bus speed) - might try and overclock this to 260+ if EMUs are slow.
Intel 430TX
64MB RAM
2 MB ATI Rage II
ISA P&P SB 16

This machine isn't powerful enough to run some windows based emulators and even if it was, I'd rather run them on my Athlon XP.

It should be able to handle DOS emu's however, as they require much less power. So EABers, which are the best?

Here is a preliminary list:

Amiga - Fellow.
Atari ST - Pacifist.
Master System - Meka
Arcade - Dos mame with front-end.
C64 - CCS64

erm, that's about as far as I've got.

So.... How are my choices so far?

And what about the best DOS emu's (if they exist) for:

Atari 2600
Acorn machines - beeb, electron, archimedes.
Amstrad CPC's
Spectrum.
Vic 20
Megadrive
Lynx
Nes
Snes
ect..... just suggest any retro DOS emu's for old school PCs!

Thanks kidders!

Bad Mr Frosty · 02 July 2003, 13:16

These are the ones I used back in the day:

Atari 2600 - Stella and z26
Megadrive - Genecyst or KGEN
Lynx - Don`t think there are any
Nes - Nesticle and RockNES
Snes - ZSNES

Bloodwych · 02 July 2003, 14:22

Thanks Frosty.

Just something else I'd like to add - I'm thinking of creating a menu so when the PC boots, it loads all the required dos drivers and then presets me with a choice of emu's. This saves me having to launch them from Win 98 or type in the same command lines all the time.

Anyone know the best way I can achieve this menu? Ideally I'd like something that pops up and presents me the options to either load Win98, goto the command prompt or launch the various DOS EMU's.

FromWithin · 02 July 2003, 15:25

http://www.mindspring.com/~dmerriman/Bootup.htm

Mr Creosote · 02 July 2003, 16:37

Emulators for MS-DOS are almost always the same as for any other operating system. These are the ones I've used:
Atari 2600 - Stella
Spectrum - Warajevo
VC 20 - VICE
Snes - ZSNES

Quote:

Anyone know the best way I can achieve this menu? Ideally I'd like something that pops up and presents me the options to either load Win98, goto the command prompt or launch the various DOS EMU's.

http://www.goodolddays.net/faq-tech.php (see point 6).

manicx · 03 July 2003, 08:49

Amstrad CPC-> Caprice

gary · 03 July 2003, 09:10

I had an old PC like yours and had also started installing emulators to put it into arcade machine until I found out how to make my own CD32 discs and forgot about the PC altogether

What I found was, as good as MAME is, it is not the fastest emulator for your type of machine. You should try:

SYSTEM16 (For games like Outrun / Space Harrier)
http://www.retrogames.com/system16.html

RAINE
http://www.retrogames.com/raine.html

Bloodwych · 03 July 2003, 11:01

Thanks everyone, you've been most helpful.

mtb · 03 July 2003, 14:28

Mess for dos? As you can see it's still mantained.

Quote:

May 22nd, 2003
The DOS port of MESS has been updated to 0.68.

You can try a lot of platforms with this ( dunno if it's fast or not ).

Also mame.

Quote:

Originally posted by Bloodwych
Many of us here are familiar with windows based emulators but what are the best programs for good old but nearly forgotten pure DOS mode?

The reason I'm asking is my old PC is gagging for some constructive use apart from playing PC DOS games. It wants to churn out some quality titles anbd become a pure EMU gaming machine.

Its fantastic specs read as follows:

P233MMX running at 225 (75Mhz bus speed) - might try and overclock this to 260+ if EMUs are slow.
Intel 430TX
64MB RAM
1 MB Trio 64V+
ISA P&P SB 16

This machine isn't powerful enough to run some windows based emulators and even if it was, I'd rather run them on my Athlon XP.

It should be able to handle DOS emu's however, as they require much less power. So EABers, which are the best?

Here is a preliminary list:

Amiga - Fellow.
Atari ST - Pacifist.
Master System - Meka
Arcade - Dos mame with front-end.
C64 - CCS64

erm, that's about as far as I've got.

So.... How are my choices so far?

And what about the best DOS emu's (if they exist) for:

Atari 2600
Acorn machines - beeb, electron, archimedes.
Amstrad CPC's
Spectrum.
Vic 20
Megadrive
Lynx
Nes
Snes
ect..... just suggest any retro DOS emu's for old school PCs!

Thanks kidders!

Unknown_K · 03 July 2003, 18:38

Doesnt dos 6.22 allow you to make a boot menu? this way you can boot up and pick what configuration you need for each emulator.

Bloodwych · 03 July 2003, 23:05

Quote:

Originally posted by Unknown_K
Doesnt dos 6.22 allow you to make a boot menu? this way you can boot up and pick what configuration you need for each emulator.

It might well do. My first experience of running a PC was with Windows 95 so I'm no expert on stand alone DOS operating systems. Just picked up on the basics so I could get games running from various configurations.

Before this I was happily using an Amiga for everything.

FromWithin · 04 July 2003, 01:41

The link I posted above tells you how to create DOS boot menus.

Unknown_K · 04 July 2003, 04:48

My first PC came with dos 3.2, that was a long time ago.

Chuckles · 04 July 2003, 05:13

Quote:

Originally posted by Unknown_K
My first PC came with dos 3.2, that was a long time ago.

<GEEZERMODE>
Good old DOS 3.2, eh? Yessir, that was a real man's OS, that was! None of these fancy sissy-boy GUI's and mice, no sir! Just gimme a blank screen and a cursor - that's all I need! Yep, kids today don't know how good they have it. Why they oughtta have to do all their programming with punch cards and paper tapes, like when I was a kid. It'd make a real man out of 'em, you betcha!
</GEEZERMODE>

Amiga1992 · 04 July 2003, 08:06

Forget about any MAME newer than 0.33 or something like that. It will run like shit. 0.31 runs swell on my ex PC, a Pentium 133, but the newer ones ran like poop.

Here's the list of emus I used on my P133 (I want to put that one in an arcade cabinet!):

*MAME 0.29 (It's got Atari Tetris, what fucking else do I need?!?!

)

*Fellow 0.32 ... 0.33 and the FellowPR ones ran like poop, 0.32 was smoooooth

* Magic-Engine 0.92 (or something like that. The last DOS version. r0x0rz)

* ZSNES. Forgot which version, but it runs like a mad beast

* Genecyst/KGen. Genecyst was faster but KGen was not that bad eitehr and some games ran better with it.

* x128. Best Speccy emu

* Caprice32. for CPC, nothing beats this.

* CCS64 - BEST C64 em00 out there, the win32 version is pants, I always use the DOS one.

* fmsx-dos. This MSX emu is awesome.

* Other arcade emus: Raine, RAGE, NeoRage (NeorageX for Windows runs pretty well too!), System16, System8, SystemC2

If I used others, I forgot! Haven't lameulated in years

Good luck!

Bloodwych · 04 July 2003, 10:38

Quote:

Originally posted by FromWithin
The link I posted above tells you how to create DOS boot menus.

Yep thanks - I've read all the links and absorbed the fine advice so I'll set about getting this PC hooked up over the weekend.

Akira, since you've got a fair few EMU's to run on that P133, I should have no probs with this P233MMX. Many emu's were optimised for MMX later in their development so perhaps that's why some versions run like crap on that P133.

I've never emulated the MSX but going by that thread that was like 9 million posts long perhaps now is the time to start.

It's strange, but using DOS EMU's straight after the PC powers up somehow feels better than running EMU's from windows - closer to the real thing. Sounds stupid I know, it's probably just the novelty factor of setting up this DOS EMU system that's getting to me.

Who's tried out this MESS mtb mentioned then? Never heard of it?

mtb · 04 July 2003, 11:00

Quote:

Originally posted by Bloodwych
Who's tried out this MESS mtb mentioned then? Never heard of it?

Mess stands for something like Multiple emulator super system .

With this you can play a lot of systems ( ex.nes, master system, atari 7800, 5200, genesis, spectrum, ... the list is long. ). Unfortunatly generally is not as perfect as a standalone emu, but it's a lot better than nothing.

I use it sometimes ( linux version ). Note that could be a bit difficult to get it working.

Amiga1992 · 04 July 2003, 16:58

and also slow. MESS is helluva slow.
MY main problem on the P133 was only MAME newer versions, because MAME is a hog. I even got the Pentium optimized versions, but that didn't make much difference. Believe me, you will want to stick to an old one. For MAX speed I always kept a copy of MAME 0.28, that one runs like the fucking Flash

But the romsets are different for newer ones,sincethey did that merged romsets shite :/

There ARE Windows emus that will run fine in that computer. NeoRageX runs swell, JNES was cool and SMYGB was my fave GB emu. For X68000 emulation, EX68 was quite decent on my Penty.

Just be sure to load the bugger with loadsa memory for big roms, then you can play the huge NeoGeo CPS2 shite without problems. The hacked FinalBurn was swell for CPS2 stuff.

Bloodwych · 05 July 2003, 23:23

I'm running about collecting all these EMU's now.

What's the best DOS mame frontend?

Lockrobster · 06 July 2003, 11:40

FeMame is a cool frontend. Also try out Retrocade if Mame is too slow, it's an older project with only ~100 romsets or so but done in handmade assembler, reportedly fast enough for 486s. For the fastest Fellow, your'e looking for the last TFP release 36r1. (Or has there ever been an update after that release?) Just right for Emerald Mine, Giana Sisters etc. on a P200.

02 July 2003, 12:55	#1
Bloodwych Moderator Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: I'm behind you! Posts: 3,763	Best pure DOS emulators!! Many of us here are familiar with windows based emulators but what are the best programs for good old but nearly forgotten pure DOS mode? The reason I'm asking is my old PC is gagging for some constructive use apart from playing PC DOS games. It wants to churn out some quality titles anbd become a pure EMU gaming machine. Its fantastic specs read as follows: P233MMX running at 225 (75Mhz bus speed) - might try and overclock this to 260+ if EMUs are slow. Intel 430TX 64MB RAM 2 MB ATI Rage II ISA P&P SB 16 This machine isn't powerful enough to run some windows based emulators and even if it was, I'd rather run them on my Athlon XP. It should be able to handle DOS emu's however, as they require much less power. So EABers, which are the best? Here is a preliminary list: Amiga - Fellow. Atari ST - Pacifist. Master System - Meka Arcade - Dos mame with front-end. C64 - CCS64 erm, that's about as far as I've got. So.... How are my choices so far? And what about the best DOS emu's (if they exist) for: Atari 2600 Acorn machines - beeb, electron, archimedes. Amstrad CPC's Spectrum. Vic 20 Megadrive Lynx Nes Snes ect..... just suggest any retro DOS emu's for old school PCs! Thanks kidders! Last edited by Bloodwych; 06 July 2003 at 13:00.

02 July 2003, 14:22	#3
Bloodwych Moderator Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: I'm behind you! Posts: 3,763	Thanks Frosty. Just something else I'd like to add - I'm thinking of creating a menu so when the PC boots, it loads all the required dos drivers and then presets me with a choice of emu's. This saves me having to launch them from Win 98 or type in the same command lines all the time. Anyone know the best way I can achieve this menu? Ideally I'd like something that pops up and presents me the options to either load Win98, goto the command prompt or launch the various DOS EMU's. Last edited by Bloodwych; 02 July 2003 at 15:24.

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02 July 2003, 13:16	#2
Bad Mr Frosty Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Praha / Ceska Republika Age: 45 Posts: 107	These are the ones I used back in the day: Atari 2600 - Stella and z26 Megadrive - Genecyst or KGEN Lynx - Don`t think there are any Nes - Nesticle and RockNES Snes - ZSNES

02 July 2003, 15:25	#4
FromWithin Music lord Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Liverpool, UK Age: 50 Posts: 630	http://www.mindspring.com/~dmerriman/Bootup.htm

03 July 2003, 08:49	#6
manicx Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Athens, Greece Posts: 991	Amstrad CPC-> Caprice

03 July 2003, 09:10	#7
gary Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Perth, Western Australia Age: 50 Posts: 283	I had an old PC like yours and had also started installing emulators to put it into arcade machine until I found out how to make my own CD32 discs and forgot about the PC altogether What I found was, as good as MAME is, it is not the fastest emulator for your type of machine. You should try: SYSTEM16 (For games like Outrun / Space Harrier) http://www.retrogames.com/system16.html RAINE http://www.retrogames.com/raine.html

03 July 2003, 11:01	#8
Bloodwych Moderator Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: I'm behind you! Posts: 3,763	Thanks everyone, you've been most helpful.

03 July 2003, 18:38	#10
Unknown_K Registered User Join Date: May 2002 Location: Ohio/USA Age: 55 Posts: 1,380	Doesnt dos 6.22 allow you to make a boot menu? this way you can boot up and pick what configuration you need for each emulator.

04 July 2003, 01:41	#12
FromWithin Music lord Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Liverpool, UK Age: 50 Posts: 630	The link I posted above tells you how to create DOS boot menus.

04 July 2003, 04:48	#13
Unknown_K Registered User Join Date: May 2002 Location: Ohio/USA Age: 55 Posts: 1,380	My first PC came with dos 3.2, that was a long time ago.

04 July 2003, 08:06	#15
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,644	Forget about any MAME newer than 0.33 or something like that. It will run like shit. 0.31 runs swell on my ex PC, a Pentium 133, but the newer ones ran like poop. Here's the list of emus I used on my P133 (I want to put that one in an arcade cabinet!): MAME 0.29 (It's got Atari Tetris, what fucking else do I need?!?! ) Fellow 0.32 ... 0.33 and the FellowPR ones ran like poop, 0.32 was smoooooth * Magic-Engine 0.92 (or something like that. The last DOS version. r0x0rz) * ZSNES. Forgot which version, but it runs like a mad beast * Genecyst/KGen. Genecyst was faster but KGen was not that bad eitehr and some games ran better with it. * x128. Best Speccy emu * Caprice32. for CPC, nothing beats this. * CCS64 - BEST C64 em00 out there, the win32 version is pants, I always use the DOS one. * fmsx-dos. This MSX emu is awesome. * Other arcade emus: Raine, RAGE, NeoRage (NeorageX for Windows runs pretty well too!), System16, System8, SystemC2 If I used others, I forgot! Haven't lameulated in years Good luck!

04 July 2003, 16:58	#18
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,644	and also slow. MESS is helluva slow. MY main problem on the P133 was only MAME newer versions, because MAME is a hog. I even got the Pentium optimized versions, but that didn't make much difference. Believe me, you will want to stick to an old one. For MAX speed I always kept a copy of MAME 0.28, that one runs like the fucking Flash But the romsets are different for newer ones,sincethey did that merged romsets shite :/ There ARE Windows emus that will run fine in that computer. NeoRageX runs swell, JNES was cool and SMYGB was my fave GB emu. For X68000 emulation, EX68 was quite decent on my Penty. Just be sure to load the bugger with loadsa memory for big roms, then you can play the huge NeoGeo CPS2 shite without problems. The hacked FinalBurn was swell for CPS2 stuff.

05 July 2003, 23:23	#19
Bloodwych Moderator Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: I'm behind you! Posts: 3,763	I'm running about collecting all these EMU's now. What's the best DOS mame frontend?

06 July 2003, 11:40	#20
Lockrobster Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Old Europe Posts: 22	FeMame is a cool frontend. Also try out Retrocade if Mame is too slow, it's an older project with only ~100 romsets or so but done in handmade assembler, reportedly fast enough for 486s. For the fastest Fellow, your'e looking for the last TFP release 36r1. (Or has there ever been an update after that release?) Just right for Emerald Mine, Giana Sisters etc. on a P200.

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