A "How To" for running older games with DOSBox...

[The Coop]

Cool. Glad to hear everything got resolved.

[Cassima]

I tried to run Kings Quest 6 in DOSBox with both the downloaded game in a zip file and on my other computer that has a floppy disk drive (I have the actual game). In both cases, whenever I try to install, it says "fatal error: no text for video prompt". I've read your suggestions and was thinking about uninstalling and starting from scratch but then I wasn't able to locate the .conf file you mentioned. Any suggestions?

[The Coop]

DOSBox .73 doesn't come with a config file like it used to. You have to track it down now. However, it's very easy.

Click on "Start", move your mouse to "All Programs", and find the listing for DOSBox .73. Roll your mouse over that listing, and when the new menu comes up, roll over to "Configuration". You'll see an option called "Edit Configuration". Click on that, and when the window pops up, select "File/Save As", and save the config file to your desktop. Then grab that file, and copy it to your DOSBox folder.

Or, you can just edit it from that Start menu if you like. However you do it, just be sure you save the changes before you try and run DOSBox.

I just downloaded the game, and tried it out. It ran fine, and I didn't experience your issue. Here are my config file settings. Setup you config file like this, and see if the game works for you.

fullscreen=false

fulldouble=false

fullresolution=640x448

windowresolution=original

output=surface

autolock=true

sensitivity=200

waitonerror=true

priority=higher,normal

mapperfile=mapper.txt

usescancodes=true

[dosbox]

language=

machine=svga_s3

captures=capture

memsize=32

[render]

frameskip=0

aspect=false

scaler=normal2x

[cpu]

core=auto

cputype=auto

cycles=auto

cycleup=500

cycledown=500

[mixer]

nosound=false

rate=22050

blocksize=2048

prebuffer=20

[midi]

mpu401=intelligent

mididevice=default

midiconfig=

[sblaster]

sbtype=sb16

sbbase=220

irq=7

dma=1

hdma=5

sbmixer=true

oplmode=auto

oplemu=default

oplrate=22050

[gus]

gus=true

gusrate=22050

gusbase=240

gusirq=5

gusdma=3

ultradir=C:\ULTRASND

[speaker]

pcspeaker=true

pcrate=22050

tandy=auto

tandyrate=22050

disney=true

[joystick]

joysticktype=auto

timed=true

autofire=false

swap34=false

buttonwrap=true

[serial]

serial1=dummy

serial2=dummy

serial3=disabled

serial4=disabled

[dos]

xms=true

ems=true

umb=true

keyboardlayout=auto

[ipx]

ipx=false

[autoexec]

loadfix -64

mount a a:\ -t floppy

mount c c:\DOSGames -freesize 999

mount o f:\ -t cdrom

mount n k:\ -t cdrom

C:

Keep in mind, my config file is setup with all my DOS games in their own folders within a folder called "DOSGames" right on drive C: (if you followed my guide, your stuff should be the same way). If you don't have yours set up that way, then be sure to not use anything after the "[autoexec]" line so that DOSBox doesn't look in the wrong spot for the games when it starts.

[Cassima]

Thanks very much. Before you had responded, I actually followed directions from another site that told me to install DosBox within KQ6 so that when you opened DosBox, KQ automatically played. Then after I uninstalled it (I just wanted to play it that one time for memory's sake), my hard drive crashed! So I won't be trying that way again. Anyway, could I use your exact same instructions for installing KQ7, but simply replace all the 6's with a 7? Or is it entirely different?

[The Coop]

Thanks very much. Before you had responded, I actually followed directions from another site that told me to install DosBox within KQ6 so that when you opened DosBox, KQ automatically played. Then after I uninstalled it (I just wanted to play it that one time for memory's sake), my hard drive crashed! So I won't be trying that way again. Anyway, could I use your exact same instructions for installing KQ7, but simply replace all the 6's with a 7? Or is it entirely different?

...

Wow. That game really hated your system

Anyway, as long as it's a DOS game, that shouldn't be a problem. If you follow my guide, then you can just install it through DOSBox (assuming you have the CD/disc), and it should function fine after you've gone through the game's setup and everything. Or, just "find" the game **cough**, drop its folder into your DOSGames folder, and set it up by pointing DOSBox to it and running the needed files ("setup" or "install" is the usual file... I used the latter to tinker with KQ6's settings since it didn't have a "setup" file).

If you have any questions, just ask, and I'll do my best to help if you run into any problems trying to install/run KQ7. But hopefully, if you go down my guide step by step, things'll work out fine for you.

[Cassima]

Thanks again. Yes, it did hate my computer. But I want to play these games so badly, I don't even care. My hard drive can crash, and they'll send me a new one for free (I have a warranty ) Anyway, for some reason, when I try your method, I can never figure out what the hell the executable file text is to type into DOSBox. So, I've gotten KQ5 and 6 to play in DOSBox by installing DOSBox within each separate game folder, tweaking the configuration file, and then running dosbox. I got these directions from Glenn's Guides, but he never responds to my questions. So I'm asking them here. Sorry. Anyway, I've modified the configuration file for DOSBox using this text for KQ5:

mount c c:\games\kquest5

c:

cd kq5

sierra

And the same for KQ6, except replacing the 5's with 6's. Then, when I went to play KQ7, typing that same text into the DOSBox configuration file and replacing the 6's with 7's didn't work! Do you have any idea what text should be added on to the end of the DOSBox conf file(DOSBox said "cannot change directory to kq7; illegal command: sierra) to get it to run KQ7 when DOSBox is opened?

I appreciate all of your help.

[Cassima]

OR, if you don't feel like bothering with all that, could you just tell me what the executable text is for King's Quest 7 that I type into DOSBox to get it to install? Then maybe your steps will work for me.

[The Coop]

If I'm reading your post right, it looks like you have too many steps. The way you have it set up, you should only need...

mount c c:\games\kquest5

c:

... and then type in the name of the executable of the game when you start DOSBox.

Tell you what. Give me the locations for each of the three game executables. I believe I understand what you're trying to set up, I just need to know the exec locations so I can tell you where to point DOSBox.

[Cassima]

And my newbie status is on full display...

What do you mean by location? Where it exists on my comp? Because I already deleted them.

In the meantime, I'll try using what you suggested. Maybe it will work for KQ7.

[Cassima]

I went ahead and downloaded KQ7. I don't see a .exe file, but there is a batch file. Do you think the executable would just be KQ7.BAT? Or would there have to be a cd or a sierra in there somewhere?

[Cassima]

Ok...now I tweaked the configuration file so that I simply added:

mount c c:\games\kquest7

c:

opened DOSBox, typed install.exe, and the game installed. When I typed SETUP, it said it required Microsoft Windows. What now?! This is ridiculous.

[Cassima]

Sorry for all these postings! I got the game to run for 30 seconds after typing SIERRA.EXE, but then it said there was an internal game error. I wonder if there were some other files I was supposed to run or extract in DOSBox that I didn't?

[The Coop]

Dude, slow down with the deletions and such. It's hard to offer help when the situation changes quite a bit with each post

Now, by location, I mean where the executable (or BAT) file is on your PC. If you right click on it and select "Properties", you'll see string of info next to "Location". That's the info I want.

As for the file types, there are several that can be game running executables. EXE, BAT and COM are the usual suspects. So if you have any such files, give them a try.

Regarding you Setup file, you got that message because that particular file is made to only run in Windows, now DOS. So you'll need to use another file to tweak the settings.

[Cassima]

Sorry about all the postings...I kept finding out new things and didn't know how to edit my existing post to include the updates. Anyway, I think I figured out the issue. The KQ7 that I downloaded was from a torrent file of the entire KQ Collection. When I looked at the text file of the setup or readme or whatever it is, under program type it just said "other", whereas KQ1-6 said "dosbox". So it's not even set up to play in dosbox! And, KQ1-6's executables were "sierra", while KQ7's was "sierraw".

I'll try finding a program that can play it. If I can't, I'll just download KQ7 by itself as a zipfile, and let you know the location of the file so I can run it in dosbox. Thanks again for all your help.

[Cassima]

I couldn't find another program that could play King's Quest VII besides dosbox. If you know of one, please let me know.

So I downloaded a zip file from Dos Gamer. I can't tell you the location of the executable because I don't know what the executable is...otherwise i'd just type it into DOSBox. (install.exe, install.bat, setup, none of those worked)

But if I give you this link for the game file, do you think you could find it? http://dosgamer.com/kings-quest-vii-the-princless-bride/

Thanks!

[The Coop]

I'm not sure what to tell you about KQ7. I found several places that have the game (big CD image), but nothing installed will run in DOSBox (hell, one wouldn't even install). I did however, find out that there is a DOS version, and Windows version of KQ7. Right now, I'm questioning whether or not the two versions come on the same disc, so all I can say is... keep looking. There is a DOS version out there somewhere, but I've yet to find it for testing.

[Cassima]

Strange indeed. I did notice the graphics in most of the screen shots were curiously unpixillated, and didn't look like anything that would run in DOS. In fact, it kind of looked like a Disney cartoon or something 0o.

Two last questions (unless I find a DOS version to plague you with questions over )

1). Is it possible to write the image of the CD/Windows version onto a blank CD to play, and then play it through DOSBox or a Windows program?

2). If not, can you recommend any classic games that might be similar to King's Quest to play? I'm not familiar with any other DOS Games.

Thanks again.

[The Coop]

You don't need to burn the disc to use it in Windows or in DOSBox. All you need is Alcohol 52% Free Edition, where you can mount the ISO or Bin/Cue files, and use them like you would a normal CD.

As for games like the King's Quest series, there's the Quest For Glory series, the Space Quest series, and a good number of others. If you go over to Abandonia, and look under their "Adventure" section, you'll find a bunch of them... all DOS-only.

[abomb7682]

Oh, and no, General MIDI and MT-32 don't mix. If you choose MT-32 in a game without setting your "Sounds and Audio Devices" to "MT-32 Synth Emulator", your music will sound weird and busted. The same goes for the other way around.

for this situation i recommend leaving "Sounds and Audio Devices" midi selection on its default.. whatever your soundcard normally offers for general midi.

in DOSBOX at the prompt type mixer /listmidi. remember the number listed for "MT-32 Synth Emulator". Then in the dosbox.conf file under [midi] change the line 'midiconfig=' to whatever number MT-32 was listed as.

This way all your modern programs expecting general midi default to it and your old dos games expecting MT-32 sound.. so... much... better... I find this to be the most elegant solution.

[quatra]

O.k., I read all of the posts.

Now, I got a lot of original DOS games but I want to play them directly from my HDD as that will be a lot faster than from the CD. I know I have to create an image of the CDs (except .iso images).

How and where do I put those? I got ISOBuster.

On the other hand I got Descent2 and Terminal Velocity with a motherboard with the S3D chip back in 1997. It's a OEM release and keeps saying "S3D chip not found or wrong BIOS" whenever I want to play it.

Any way around that?

[The Coop]

O.k., I read all of the posts.

Now, I got a lot of original DOS games but I want to play them directly from my HDD as that will be a lot faster than from the CD. I know I have to create an image of the CDs (except .iso images).

How and where do I put those? I got ISOBuster.

On the other hand I got Descent2 and Terminal Velocity with a motherboard with the S3D chip back in 1997. It's a OEM release and keeps saying "S3D chip not found or wrong BIOS" whenever I want to play it.

Any way around that?

First, get the free edition of Alcohol 52% here. Use it to create MDF/MDS files. This creates a perfect copy of the disc, audio tracks and all, in one main file and a very small sub file. And since this version of Alcohol 52% allows you to create virtual drives (up to six), you can them mount the disc images you just made with it.

You can put the disc images anywhere you want really, but try to keep them all together.

Now, once you've made the virtual drive(s), you'll need to mount them in the DOSBox config file like you would a real CD-Rom drive. Then DOSBox should (barring any odd errors) recognize the virtual drives without any problems, read the disc images as if they were real discs, and play any audio tracks like normal during the game.

As for your D2 and TV problems, I'm not entirely sure what to tell you. DOSBox might not have the ability to mimic the chipset that those games require. However, you can try the various machine types in the config file, and see if one of them allows it to run. You'll find it in the section that reads as such...

[dosbox]

# language: Select another language file.

# machine: The type of machine tries to emulate.

# Possible values: hercules, cga, tandy, pcjr, ega, vgaonly, svga_s3, svga_et3000, svga_et4000, svga_paradise, vesa_nolfb, vesa_oldvbe.

# captures: Directory where things like wave, midi, screenshot get captured.

# memsize: Amount of memory DOSBox has in megabytes.

# This value is best left at its default to avoid problems with some games,

# though few games might require a higher value.

# There is generally no speed advantage when raising this value.

language=

machine=

captures=

memsize=

Perhaps one of those machines types will work.

[Zarggg]

When trying to do your GUS install, I get the error "Install cannot determine the UltraSound card type installed."

Was there something I missed?

[The Coop]

Sorry for the delay. The topic reply notification must have been in another part of the world to have taken so long to arrive.

It seems there's a new bug with DOSBox .73. In order to install GUS, you need to go into your config file and change the Sound Blaster section to read like this...

sbtype=none

sbbase=220

irq=7

dma=1

hdma=5

sbmixer=true

oplmode=auto

oplemu=default

oplrate=22050

Save the change, then it should install fine. Once it's done, you can (in theory) re-enable the Sound Blaster section by putting it back to "sb16" for "sbtype".

[Gollgagh]

good grief D-Fend is a gigantic steaming pos these days

I tried the latest version and I couldn't get it to work properly

I find it odd that the GUI initially designed to make DOSbox easy to use has become far more convoluted than using DOSbox by itself

[Cassima]

I just downloaded a CD talkie version of King's Quest VI, but it runs sluggish on my computer (I have Vista, unfortunately). The sound at times skips, which is really annoying. I tried to change some things on the DosBox configuration file to help with this--like disabling the PC speaker, tandy sound support, and disney, and also trying to increase the cycles. But then, of all things, when I try to save the configuration file, it says the file path is not valid, even when I run it as administrator. How can I fix this? I've always used notepad to read the conf file, and never had any problems until now.