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

[The Coop]

Did you ever think that you're just not meant to play the KQ games? You have more problems with those things

Anyway, which version of DOSBox are you using?

[Cassima]

Haha! Perhaps. But...they're so awesome. They even give me inspiration for a fantasy story I'm trying out. What's even more hilarious is that finally I bought the thing! And this is what happens...

Anyway, to KQ6's defense, this is more of an issue with Dosbox. I'm sure I can get the game to run smoothly if I can save the dang conf file! I'm using version 0.73.

[The Coop]

Here's my suggestion...

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 there's your config file. Make your changes there, and then save it. That's pretty much a sure-fire way to make changes that'll stick, as I've never had any issues with changing it there.

Unless that's what you're already doing. In which case, you might want to try a reinstall of DOSBox. Something may have gone horribly wrong during your tinkering.

[Cassima]

Thanks! That worked.

I've tried as many ways as I could think of to free up space, and it STILL skips. I disabled tandy, disney, and midi sound support, disabled joystick, disabled the pc speaker, increased the cycles to 8000, and increased the ram from 16 to 24. I could try enabling frameskip or increasing the cyles more I guess, or adding more RAM. Can you think of anything else that would help? Thanks.

[The Coop]

After doing a little digging, you could try setting the sample rate to 44,100 (in the config file I believe, or perhaps when the game is installed under the sound options for the game... they didn't say). You could also try selecting "thunderboard" sound option in the game instead of the soundblaster one.

Otherwise, try setting the frame skip to 1... 2 at most. It should barely be noticeable, but it may help get rid of the stuttering sound.

[Cassima]

Thanks. I couldn't find the sample rate. I wonder if changing these values could result in making it worse? It seems to skip now more than ever. I turned the frameskip back on to 0, because it skipped through one part I know was supposed to happen. I guess it just always will skip no matter what. What a rip off. Having paid for the game resulted in the worst experience of it ever.

[The Coop]

Thanks. I couldn't find the sample rate. I wonder if changing these values could result in making it worse? It seems to skip now more than ever. I turned the frameskip back on to 0, because it skipped through one part I know was supposed to happen. I guess it just always will skip no matter what. What a rip off. Having paid for the game resulted in the worst experience of it ever.

The sample rate is in DOSBox's config file. You'll find the rates under [mixer], [sblaster],[gus] and [speaker]. By default, the rates are set at 22050.

[Cassima]

They're changed. It still skips. May be my computer or programs running in the background, even though its pretty new. Thanks anyway.

[The Coop]

Just giving this a bump.

[ronswe7018]

Hi, I have windows 7 and I'm trying to get Sims tower to work. I've downloaded dosbox 0.74 and done exactly as you've said to do. However, when I type setup.exe in dosbox it says "This program requires Microsoft Windows", what can I do to fix this?

[The Coop]

Hi, I have windows 7 and I'm trying to get Sims tower to work. I've downloaded dosbox 0.74 and done exactly as you've said to do. However, when I type setup.exe in dosbox it says "This program requires Microsoft Windows", what can I do to fix this?

That means you have the Windows version of the game, or you're trying to run the game using the Windows executable.

Try other ".exe" files in the game's folder and see if they do the trick (may also be ".com" files or ".bat" files). If all of them say something about needing Windows, then you'll need to find the DOS version of the game (if there is one).

[ronswe7018]

I thank you very much for your response and a quick one at that. Yeah I tried changing the compatiability to everything I could and Windows itself said something along the lines of I needed to get a different version that needed to be 64-bit but I'm pretty sure one doesn't exist considering the game was made for windows 95. I'll do some more searching and see what I can come up with. Again, thanks!

[ronswe7018]

I have had absolutely no luck getting simtower to install and work on my laptop. I have tried everything I can find on the internet and what you said to do. There is no DOS version and I can't download the virtualPC from windows unless I upgrade windows 7 to professional. Any ideas? This is really frustrating & retarded that its so hard for them to make new systems run the old stuff.

Again thanks for your time,

Ron

[The Coop]

I have had absolutely no luck getting simtower to install and work on my laptop. I have tried everything I can find on the internet and what you said to do. There is no DOS version and I can't download the virtualPC from windows unless I upgrade windows 7 to professional. Any ideas? This is really frustrating & retarded that its so hard for them to make new systems run the old stuff.

Again thanks for your time,

Ron

Yeah, it looks like it's a Windows '95 only game. In which case, you're pretty much SOL unless someone's made a patch/hack that gets it to run on newer PCs. That, or create a partition on your harddrive and install Windows '95 or '98 so you can dual boot to run older Windows games.

[NaZz]

Hello, Coop I am desperately trying to play an old game named "Chewey". I'm using DosBox and I'm always getting "Unable to set CD-ROM path" error before I manage to actually launch the game. I have mounted the cdrom in dosbox and everything else as it should be. Please if anyone can help.

[The Coop]

Hello, Coop I am desperately trying to play an old game named "Chewey". I'm using DosBox and I'm always getting "Unable to set CD-ROM path" error before I manage to actually launch the game. I have mounted the cdrom in dosbox and everything else as it should be. Please if anyone can help.

Holy shit, this thread's still here!

My first suggestion would be to get the free version of Alcohol 52% here, and use that for mounting CD-Rom images. I've always had problems with mounting a CD image in DOSBox, but Alcohol 52% has never let me down. Once that's installed and the CD image mounted, make note of what the drive letter is for your virtual CD-Rom drive, and alter the DOSBox config file accordingly for the CD-Rom usage (the example's in the first post of this thread where I explain the bits to add at the end of the config file). That should do the trick. If it doesn't, try posting your DOSBox config file here, and I'll see if anything looks off.

[NaZz]

Wow, I didn't expect an answer, thanks.

I'm a little bit lost so I'm going to try to explain what I've got here. All I got is a folder in which I have the game files including the .exe for which I launch the game.

I downloaded the game in .rar, hit the setup exe and all it did, was just extracted all the game files to a folder of my choice. I've put the folder in C: and named it chewyf5. (just to be simple).

It looks like this :

When I try to run the game from the dosbox I get that error I was talking about : "Unable to set CD-ROM path".

I have tried everything you said in the first post.

Now I've made an image of that folder and mounted it with alcohol and tried with this options :

[autoexec]

loadfix -64

mount f f:\ -t cdrom (F is the mounted image drive)

mount c c:\chewyf5 -freesize 999

C:

but it doesn't work.

I know I'm doing something wrong I'm just so new at this.

[The Coop]

OK. I thought you were having trouble getting a CD to mount in DOSBox. My bad.

Go to Home of the Underdogs (I can't provide a link here, but Google will get you there), and download the version of the game they have, as well as the ERR folder from the mediafire link at the bottom of the comments section. Follow the read me file exactly regarding the chewy.EXE and setup.bat file (run them in Windows). Once they're done extracting everything, put the ERR folder and its two files into the game's directory, start DOSBox, and run the setup.exe and setdir.exe files (set the sound to the first option for SoundBlaster 16/AWE 32).

I just did all that, and the game started up without a hitch.

[NaZz]

Wow man I love you, I really do. I don't know what I did wrong in the process when I did it on my own. I downloaded the game and ERR files from the same link as you did. Did everything you said here except one thing. The only difference I remember that I didn't ran the setdir.exe before (i read about it in the readme but thought its something optional). When I ran it now I got no response, but obviously it did some kind of its job.

Can I do something for you in return?

Thanks once again.

Edited October 21, 2012 by NaZz

[The Coop]

No problem. Glad to hear it worked.

[kr1919]

Dosbox worked with Lords of the Realm1, but i have no sound. Anyone else out there ran this game with Dosbox and had the same issue. I hear the sound file during setup, but no sound during game. Still messing with it tho i am running out of ideas... Thanks.

[The Coop]

Post your DOSBox config file so we can take a look at it. Might be something set up wrong.

[kr1919]

Hope this is what you are asking for. Oh Lords2 and Warcraft Orks and Humans with sound if that is any help. Thanks.

# This is the configurationfile for DOSBox 0.74. (Please use the latest version of DOSBox)

# Lines starting with a # are commentlines and are ignored by DOSBox.

# They are used to (briefly) document the effect of each option.

[sdl]

# fullscreen: Start dosbox directly in fullscreen. (Press ALT-Enter to go back)

# fulldouble: Use double buffering in fullscreen. It can reduce screen flickering, but it can also result in a slow DOSBox.

# fullresolution: What resolution to use for fullscreen: original or fixed size (e.g. 1024x768).

# Using your monitor's native resolution with aspect=true might give the best results.

# If you end up with small window on a large screen, try an output different from surface.

# windowresolution: Scale the window to this size IF the output device supports hardware scaling.

# (output=surface does not!)

# output: What video system to use for output.

# Possible values: surface, overlay, opengl, openglnb, ddraw.

# autolock: Mouse will automatically lock, if you click on the screen. (Press CTRL-F10 to unlock)

# sensitivity: Mouse sensitivity.

# waitonerror: Wait before closing the console if dosbox has an error.

# priority: Priority levels for dosbox. Second entry behind the comma is for when dosbox is not focused/minimized.

# pause is only valid for the second entry.

# Possible values: lowest, lower, normal, higher, highest, pause.

# mapperfile: File used to load/save the key/event mappings from. Resetmapper only works with the defaul value.

# usescancodes: Avoid usage of symkeys, might not work on all operating systems.

fullscreen=false

fulldouble=false

fullresolution=original

windowresolution=original

output=surface

autolock=true

sensitivity=100

waitonerror=true

priority=higher,normal

mapperfile=mapper-0.74.map

usescancodes=true

[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=svga_s3

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.

# If 'forced' is appended, then the scaler will be used even if the result might not be desired.

# Possible values: none, normal2x, normal3x, advmame2x, advmame3x, advinterp2x, advinterp3x, hq2x, hq3x, 2xsai, super2xsai, supereagle, tv2x, tv3x, rgb2x, rgb3x, scan2x, scan3x.

frameskip=0

aspect=false

scaler=normal2x

[cpu]

# core: CPU Core used in emulation. auto will switch to dynamic if available and appropriate.

# Possible values: auto, dynamic, normal, simple.

# cputype: CPU Type used in emulation. auto is the fastest choice.

# Possible values: auto, 386, 386_slow, 486_slow, pentium_slow, 386_prefetch.

# cycles: Amount of instructions DOSBox tries to emulate each millisecond.

# Setting this value too high results in sound dropouts and lags.

# Cycles can be set in 3 ways:

# 'auto' tries to guess what a game needs.

# It usually works, but can fail for certain games.

# 'fixed #number' will set a fixed amount of cycles. This is what you usually need if 'auto' fails.

# (Example: fixed 4000).

# 'max' will allocate as much cycles as your computer is able to handle.

#

# Possible values: auto, fixed, max.

# cycleup: Amount of cycles to decrease/increase with keycombo.(CTRL-F11/CTRL-F12)

# cycledown: Setting it lower than 100 will be a percentage.

core=auto

cputype=auto

cycles=auto

cycleup=10

cycledown=20

[mixer]

# nosound: Enable silent mode, sound is still emulated though.

# rate: Mixer sample rate, setting any device's rate higher than this will probably lower their sound quality.

# Possible values: 44100, 48000, 32000, 22050, 16000, 11025, 8000, 49716.

# blocksize: Mixer block size, larger blocks might help sound stuttering but sound will also be more lagged.

# Possible values: 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 512, 256.

# prebuffer: How many milliseconds of data to keep on top of the blocksize.

nosound=false

rate=44100

blocksize=1024

prebuffer=20

[midi]

# mpu401: Type of MPU-401 to emulate.

# Possible values: intelligent, uart, none.

# mididevice: Device that will receive the MIDI data from MPU-401.

# Possible values: default, win32, alsa, oss, coreaudio, coremidi, none.

# midiconfig: Special configuration options for the device driver. This is usually the id of the device you want to use.

# See the README/Manual for more details.

mpu401=intelligent

mididevice=default

midiconfig=

[sblaster]

# sbtype: Type of Soundblaster to emulate. gb is Gameblaster.

# Possible values: sb1, sb2, sbpro1, sbpro2, sb16, gb, none.

# sbbase: The IO address of the soundblaster.

# Possible values: 220, 240, 260, 280, 2a0, 2c0, 2e0, 300.

# irq: The IRQ number of the soundblaster.

# Possible values: 7, 5, 3, 9, 10, 11, 12.

# dma: The DMA number of the soundblaster.

# Possible values: 1, 5, 0, 3, 6, 7.

# hdma: The High DMA number of the soundblaster.

# Possible values: 1, 5, 0, 3, 6, 7.

# sbmixer: Allow the soundblaster mixer to modify the DOSBox mixer.

# oplmode: Type of OPL emulation. On 'auto' the mode is determined by sblaster type. All OPL modes are Adlib-compatible, except for 'cms'.

# Possible values: auto, cms, opl2, dualopl2, opl3, none.

# oplemu: Provider for the OPL emulation. compat might provide better quality (see oplrate as well).

# Possible values: default, compat, fast.

# oplrate: Sample rate of OPL music emulation. Use 49716 for highest quality (set the mixer rate accordingly).

# Possible values: 44100, 49716, 48000, 32000, 22050, 16000, 11025, 8000.

sbtype=sb16

sbbase=220

irq=7

dma=1

hdma=5

sbmixer=true

oplmode=auto

oplemu=default

oplrate=44100

[gus]

# gus: Enable the Gravis Ultrasound emulation.

# gusrate: Sample rate of Ultrasound emulation.

# Possible values: 44100, 48000, 32000, 22050, 16000, 11025, 8000, 49716.

# gusbase: The IO base address of the Gravis Ultrasound.

# Possible values: 240, 220, 260, 280, 2a0, 2c0, 2e0, 300.

# gusirq: The IRQ number of the Gravis Ultrasound.

# Possible values: 5, 3, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12.

# gusdma: The DMA channel of the Gravis Ultrasound.

# Possible values: 3, 0, 1, 5, 6, 7.

# 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=false

gusrate=44100

gusbase=240

gusirq=5

gusdma=3

ultradir=C:\ULTRASND

[speaker]

# pcspeaker: Enable PC-Speaker emulation.

# pcrate: Sample rate of the PC-Speaker sound generation.

# Possible values: 44100, 48000, 32000, 22050, 16000, 11025, 8000, 49716.

# tandy: Enable Tandy Sound System emulation. For 'auto', emulation is present only if machine is set to 'tandy'.

# Possible values: auto, on, off.

# tandyrate: Sample rate of the Tandy 3-Voice generation.

# Possible values: 44100, 48000, 32000, 22050, 16000, 11025, 8000, 49716.

# 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).

# (Remember to reset dosbox's mapperfile if you saved it earlier)

# Possible values: auto, 2axis, 4axis, 4axis_2, fcs, ch, none.

# timed: enable timed intervals for axis. Experiment with this option, if your joystick drifts (away).

# 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=auto

timed=true

autofire=false

swap34=false

buttonwrap=false

[serial]

# serial1: 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 (optional).

# for directserial: realport (required), rxdelay (optional).

# (realport:COM1 realport:ttyS0).

# for modem: listenport (optional).

# for nullmodem: server, rxdelay, txdelay, telnet, usedtr,

# transparent, port, inhsocket (all optional).

# Example: serial1=modem listenport:5000

# Possible values: dummy, disabled, modem, nullmodem, directserial.

# serial2: see serial1

# Possible values: dummy, disabled, modem, nullmodem, directserial.

# serial3: see serial1

# Possible values: dummy, disabled, modem, nullmodem, directserial.

# serial4: see serial1

# Possible values: dummy, disabled, modem, nullmodem, directserial.

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=auto

[ipx]

# ipx: Enable ipx over UDP/IP emulation.

ipx=false

[autoexec]

# Lines in this section will be run at startup.

# You can put your MOUNT lines here.

[kr1919]

L2 and Warcraft work with sound....

[The Coop]

Not really sure, since I've never played this game. But, I downloaded it through nefarious means, and if you pick Soundblaster from the setup program, you'll get some music (the opening when the trumpeters are on screen, during various still graphics when they pop up during gameplay, etc.). Do you get that?