VOGONS

Common searches


First post, by Guest

User metadata

I see a post every now and then about a new version, but maybe many others are just deleted because it's an annoying question. I have never posted one though I search this forum daily and had another account that I lost. I'm sure it must be an annoying question to come up and I have been a regular to this site since October of last year. We have not had a new update for dosbox in a year. 😢

The frustrating thing is I can think of no other replacement for dosbox except the emulator that microsoft bought a while ago for dos emulation in which you also have to own an old copy of Dos itself which is an unfeasible option. Through the year I have seen some good adaption of hq2x and opengl video enhancements that do spruce up the old games, but they don't feel optimized in speed as I am running a 3000+ Amd processor with a good vid card. I think dosbox programmers have done an amazing job with the emulator and I don't want to give the impression that they are not appreciated. But I guess I am after a year now the one asking the simple (and possibly annoying question) is a new version close to completion...apologetically I'm still an avid fan who can put off reward only just a little longer than some. 😊

Yours truly,
warnicj1

Reply 1 of 3, by HunterZ

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++

What's been happening lately is that the DOSBox devs have been keeping the latest DOSBox source code on a CVS archive on sourceforge.net where anyone can access it. Several kind people have been using the latest source code to build work-in-progress versions of DOSBox (known as "CVS builds" since they were built from code on a CVS archive) for everyone to play with.

The DOSBox devs are generally pretty careful about testing changes before putting it on sourceforge, and the community is good about testing new changes and giving feedback. As a result, the DOSBox CVS builds tend to be pretty stable.

Additionally, some people have come up with experimental, unofficial addons to DOSBox that aren't included in the official CVS source (e.g. Direct3D output, automatic cycle adjustment, MT-32 emulation). Some of these are built into several of the popular CVS builds for people to try out.

You can find out more info about CVS builds by following the link in my signature.

As for a new official release: There is always talk of one. I think Qbix may have recently released a test candidate build to the official beta testers a while back, but I'm not sure how that's going.

We've been pointing people to the CVS builds for a couple months now when they report problems with 0.63, and for the most part people are happy with having the very latest changes instead of using an official version that will go out of date again as soon as it is released.

Reply 2 of 3, by mirekluza

User metadata
Rank DOSBox Moderator
Rank
DOSBox Moderator

You can use a CVS build... A lot of people do...
The new version (when it comes) will not be anything else then just CVS build made at the time when developers decide...
There is not any miraculous new version made in deep secret in QBix's cellar... 😀 All which is finished is in CVS or in patches on sourceforge (as a matter of fact CVS builds are probably richer than the release will be, because some patches will not make it to the officiall version).

Mirek

Reply 3 of 3, by DosFreak

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++

There is not any miraculous new version made in deep secret in QBix's cellar..

As far as we know..... heh

The long time between releases is also good because it helps to pinpoint game problems to specific releases. If new official versions were released monthly it would get confusing when getting reports from normal users since they usually neglect to add what version of DosBox they are using. Those who post asking for help are usually using the latest official version (0.63)...of course there are those oddballs using 0.61 and 0.62....

From my testing of DosBox since it was first released on SourceForge up until today, I can honestly say that the next official version of DosBox (Release date: Dec 25, 2008, DNF Release date!) will be the most feature rich, stable, and most compatible version of DosBox yet. 😀

How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
Make your games work offline