how do you play your old DOS games?

[jharrison]

what method suits you best?i was thinking of installing Win95 on an old Win98 PC that as of now sits in a garage

[coze]

save yourself the trouble and just give dosbox a whirl.

[s2325]

- laptop from 1994 with MS-DOS & Windows 3.1
- PC from 2003 with MS-DOS & Windows 98 SE

[TCD]

Second what coze said The new 0.7x versions really improved performance and you'll able to run nearly all DOS games

[Thorham]

Originally Posted by jharrison

what method suits you best?i was thinking of installing Win95 on an old Win98 PC that as of now sits in a garage

If you don't mind setting up that old peecee, then it's a good alternative to Dosbox. Check Dosbox's status here to see that it's not 100% compatible yet. Many games will work, though. Again, if you don't mind the hassle, go for the peecee

[keropi]

I have a K6-II/400 pc, with a Roland LAPC-I , SoundBlaster16 + DB50XG and a voodoo3 vga... win98se installed, but boots on DOS. never failed running my old games

a good forum is VOGONS jharrison , check it out: http://vogons.zetafleet.com/index.php

[TCD]

Originally Posted by Thorham

If you don't mind setting up that old peecee, then it's a good alternative to Dosbox. Check Dosbox's status here to see that it's not 100% compatible yet. Many games will work, though. Again, if you don't mind the hassle, go for the peecee

With a real PC you'll need some slowdown tools for older games, but it's still more compatible. You should check here : http://www.dosbox.com/comp_list.php?letter=a if the games you are palnaing to play are supported.

[Muzkat]

I wish I knew how to work Dosbox. I don't find it very user friendly.

[TCD]

Originally Posted by Muzkat

I wish I knew how to work Dosbox. I don't find it very user friendly.

I'll write you a PM tomorrow. I think we can work it out It's a bit complicated at the beginning (like WinUAE), but once you got the basics it's quite easy

[Shoonay]

Originally Posted by Muzkat

I wish I knew how to work Dosbox. I don't find it very user friendly.

But it is, once you get to know what's-what.
Here's an example dosbox.conf file, you should have in your DosBox folder.

# This is the configurationfile for DOSBox 0.72.
# Lines starting with a # are commentlines.
# They are used to (briefly) document the effect of each option.

[sdl]
# fullscreen -- Start dosbox directly in fullscreen.
# fulldouble -- Use double buffering in fullscreen.
# fullresolution -- What resolution to use for fullscreen: original or fixed size (e.g. 1024x768).
# windowresolution -- Scale the window to this size IF the output device supports hardware scaling.
# output -- What to use for output: surface,overlay,opengl,openglnb,ddraw.
# autolock -- Mouse will automatically lock, if you click on the screen.
# sensitiviy -- Mouse sensitivity.
# waitonerror -- Wait before closing the console if dosbox has an error.
# priority -- Priority levels for dosbox: lowest,lower,normal,higher,highest,pause (when not focussed).
#             Second entry behind the comma is for when dosbox is not focused/minimized.
# mapperfile -- File used to load/save the key/event mappings from.
# usescancodes -- Avoid usage of symkeys, might not work on all operating systems.

fullscreen=false
fulldouble=false
fullresolution=original
windowresolution=original
output=overlay
autolock=true
sensitivity=100
waitonerror=true
priority=higher,normal
mapperfile=mapper.txt
usescancodes=true

[dosbox]
# language -- Select another language file.
# memsize -- Amount of memory DOSBox has in megabytes.
# machine -- The type of machine tries to emulate:hercules,cga,tandy,pcjr,vga.
# captures -- Directory where things like wave,midi,screenshot get captured.

language=
machine=vga
captures=capture
memsize=16

[render]
# frameskip -- How many frames DOSBox skips before drawing one.
# aspect -- Do aspect correction, if your output method doesn't support scaling this can slow things down!.
# scaler -- Scaler used to enlarge/enhance low resolution modes.
#           Supported are none,normal2x,normal3x,advmame2x,advmame3x,hq2x,hq3x,
#                         2xsai,super2xsai,supereagle,advinterp2x,advinterp3x,
#                         tv2x,tv3x,rgb2x,rgb3x,scan2x,scan3x.
#           If forced is appended (like scaler=hq2x forced), the scaler will be used
#           even if the result might not be desired.

frameskip=0
aspect=false
scaler=normal3x

[cpu]
# core -- CPU Core used in emulation: normal,simple,dynamic,auto.
#         auto switches from normal to dynamic if appropriate.
# cycles -- Amount of instructions DOSBox tries to emulate each millisecond.
#           Setting this value too high results in sound dropouts and lags.
#           You can also let DOSBox guess the correct value by setting it to max.
#           The default setting (auto) switches to max if appropriate.
# cycleup   -- Amount of cycles to increase/decrease with keycombo.
# cycledown    Setting it lower than 100 will be a percentage.

core=dynamic
cycles=auto
cycleup=75
cycledown=75

[mixer]
# nosound -- Enable silent mode, sound is still emulated though.
# rate -- Mixer sample rate, setting any devices higher than this will
#         probably lower their sound quality.
# blocksize -- Mixer block size, larger blocks might help sound stuttering
#              but sound will also be more lagged.
# prebuffer -- How many milliseconds of data to keep on top of the blocksize.

nosound=false
rate=44100
blocksize=4096
prebuffer=20

[midi]
# mpu401      -- Type of MPU-401 to emulate: none, uart or intelligent.
# device      -- Device that will receive the MIDI data from MPU-401.
#                This can be default,alsa,oss,win32,coreaudio,none.
# config      -- Special configuration options for the device. In Windows put
#                the id of the device you want to use. See README for details.

mpu401=intelligent
device=default
config=

[sblaster]
# sbtype -- Type of sblaster to emulate:none,sb1,sb2,sbpro1,sbpro2,sb16.
# sbbase,irq,dma,hdma -- The IO/IRQ/DMA/High DMA address of the soundblaster.
# mixer -- Allow the soundblaster mixer to modify the DOSBox mixer.
# oplmode -- Type of OPL emulation: auto,cms,opl2,dualopl2,opl3.
#            On auto the mode is determined by sblaster type.
#            All OPL modes are 'Adlib', except for CMS.
# oplrate -- Sample rate of OPL music emulation.

sbtype=sb16
sbbase=220
irq=7
dma=1
hdma=5
mixer=true
oplmode=auto
oplrate=44100

[gus]
# gus -- Enable the Gravis Ultrasound emulation.
# gusbase,irq1,irq2,dma1,dma2 -- The IO/IRQ/DMA addresses of the 
#            Gravis Ultrasound. (Same IRQ's and DMA's are OK.)
# gusrate -- Sample rate of Ultrasound emulation.
# ultradir -- Path to Ultrasound directory.  In this directory
#             there should be a MIDI directory that contains
#             the patch files for GUS playback.  Patch sets used
#             with Timidity should work fine.

gus=true
gusrate=44100
gusbase=240
irq1=5
irq2=5
dma1=3
dma2=3
ultradir=C:\ULTRASND

[speaker]
# pcspeaker -- Enable PC-Speaker emulation.
# pcrate -- Sample rate of the PC-Speaker sound generation.
# tandy -- Enable Tandy Sound System emulation (off,on,auto).
#          For auto Tandysound emulation is present only if machine is set to tandy.
# tandyrate -- Sample rate of the Tandy 3-Voice generation.
# disney -- Enable Disney Sound Source emulation. Covox Voice Master and Speech Thing compatible.

pcspeaker=true
pcrate=44100
tandy=auto
tandyrate=44100
disney=true

[joystick]
# joysticktype -- Type of joystick to emulate: auto (default), none,
#                 2axis (supports two joysticks,
#                 4axis (supports one joystick, first joystick used),
#                 4axis_2 (supports one joystick, second joystick used),
#                 fcs (Thrustmaster), ch (CH Flightstick).
#                 none disables joystick emulation.
#                 auto chooses emulation depending on real joystick(s).
# timed -- enable timed intervals for axis. (false is old style behaviour).
# autofire -- continuously fires as long as you keep the button pressed.
# swap34 -- swap the 3rd and the 4th axis. can be useful for certain joysticks.
# buttonwrap -- enable button wrapping at the number of emulated buttons.

joysticktype=none
timed=true
autofire=false
swap34=false
buttonwrap=true

[serial]
# serial1-4 -- set type of device connected to com port.
#              Can be disabled, dummy, modem, nullmodem, directserial.
#              Additional parameters must be in the same line in the form of
#              parameter:value. Parameter for all types is irq.
#              for directserial: realport (required), rxdelay (optional).
#              for modem: listenport (optional).
#              for nullmodem: server, rxdelay, txdelay, telnet, usedtr,
#                             transparent, port, inhsocket (all optional).
#              Example: serial1=modem listenport:5000

serial1=dummy
serial2=dummy
serial3=disabled
serial4=disabled

[dos]
# xms -- Enable XMS support.
# ems -- Enable EMS support.
# umb -- Enable UMB support.
# keyboardlayout -- Language code of the keyboard layout (or none).

xms=true
ems=true
umb=true
keyboardlayout=none

[ipx]
# ipx -- Enable ipx over UDP/IP emulation.

ipx=true

[autoexec]
# Lines in this section will be run at startup.
mount c g:\emulacja\microsoft\dosbox\games\
mount d g:\emulacja\microsoft\dosbox\progs\

c:

The config is based on my system, and assumes (the last lines) my main emulated C "partition" is on [g:\emulacja\microsoft\dosbox\games\] and when you run DosBox you find yourself straight in that folder, with only having the name of the game's folder and the game's name to type.
An extra line for CD, if you want to play from a CD is [mount e <path> -t cdrom] that should work with most games. See [intro cdrom] for more info.
That's all. DosBox is easy, very easy.

I would also suggest trying the newest VMware build 118166 that FINALLY has DirectX9 support (still without texture acceleration ) for those nasty DOS/Win95 games.

[Dizzy]

My really old DOS games (those I got on 51/4 disks) I play on my old IBM 5150



Else I use Scummvm or DOS Box

[TCD]

@Shoonay
I use little sweet batch files that start the games directly Just a thought

[Shoonay]

yes, that's a good idea too.
i prefer to... type it personally every time

[TCD]

Originally Posted by 5h00n4y

yes, that's a good idea too.
i prefer to... type it personally every time

Ah, I see, you like the right 'feel' of the DosBox I have a folder with lots of batch files, cause I can't stand to type in something before the game starts

[Shoonay]

never had the pc in the dos-days, so why not experience that fully now?

[TCD]

Originally Posted by 5h00n4y

never had the pc in the dos-days, so why not experience that fully now?

Good point

[StingRay]

Originally Posted by Muzkat

I wish I knew how to work Dosbox. I don't find it very user friendly.

There are frontends available for DOSBox which should make it easier to use.
Check this site: DOSBox Frontends

I don't know how good they are though as I never used any of them.

[JACK98]

i found scrummvm better.just copied the dos files from the floppy/cd over to hardrive then add the folder to scrumm.other wise i would play the amiga port on winuae*some of the amiga ports where actually better than the pc versions*

[cosmicfrog]

thats what i was going to say

also what dos games work with win 95 and not win98 cos unless i only had 20 meg of ram and 200 meg hd i would go for win982nd ed

and dizzy now thats my kinda hardware is it green screen or that warm amber

[TCD]

Originally Posted by JACK98

i found scrummvm better,just copied the dos files from the floppy/cd over to hardrive then add the folder to scrumm,other wise i would play the amiga port on winuae*some of the amiga ports where actually better than the pc versions*

Yeah, but you can only play adventures with ScummVM and many Dos games were never made for the Amiga, so you have no real choice to use an old PC or DosBox to play some old games