First, ask all DOSBox questions in the DOSBox forum. Perhaps a mod can move it for you. That said, There are no one size fits all settings for any game. What runs well on one machine may not be optimal on another. Many of the settings will be a matter of personal taste, such as scaler settings. Some like to use heavy anti-aliasing and some like their games in all of their pixelated glory.

You can read the descriptions in the conf file for information on each setting. You can read the manual for more information. There are also the DOSBox guides here that you can follow. And more information can be found on the Wiki.

http://www.dosbox.com/DOSBoxManual.html

DOSBox Guides

http://www.dosbox.com/wiki/

There is no such "thread or page" because there is very little need to tailor the various settings of DOSBox to specific games. The overwhelmingly vast majority of games will play perfectly adequately with the default settings.

I've heard some stuff about a soundblaster driver for the early space quest games but don't know much about it.

Why don't you link to specific examples of what you've heard of, rather than leaving us to guess? I see you made this post seven years ago, but that has nothing to do with Sound Blaster drivers; the early Space Quest games didn't even support the Sound Blaster.

[Thread moved to DOSBox General Section]

lukeman3000 wrote:

I've heard some stuff about a soundblaster driver for the early space quest games but don't know much about it.

The drivers in the SCI games are not setup in DOSBox, but the games themselves. Run INSTALL.EXE in DOSBox to choose game settings. If you are talking about Space Quest and other Sierra games, try the new installers.

http://sierrahelp.com/Patches-Updates/NewSier … tallers.html#SQ

They will automatically set the games up for you.

If you're finding DOSBox difficult to setup, you can checkout some front-ends with easy to use user interfaces. D-Fend reloaded is a great start 😀

lukeman3000 wrote:

I'm looking for something that assumes little to no knowledge on the part of the user which details Dosbox settings for each game.

Don't ask here then. People who know how to setup DOSBOX, likely own or used to own original 8088/80286/80386 hardware and know exactly what games of those era ran on.

lukeman3000 wrote:

Also, I'm interested in learning about ideal sound settings for each game. I.e., I've heard some stuff about a soundblaster driver for the early space quest games but don't know much about it. Despite my continued efforts I'm having trouble making some of the connections here and I'm just not incredibly saavy when it comes to this stuff.

So anyways, is there some kind of guide out there that details this stuff and helps the user set up games so that they can be played "as they were meant" in all aspects?

DOSBOX's default settings emulate a 486 at 33Mhz, which is too fast for games that aren't clock-timed. (eg they say, redraw every 16ms instead of redraw as fast as possible)

Sierra's AGI games are clock-timed, and work at DOSBOX defaults provided you do not use "fastest"
Sierra's SCI games are clock-timed, but there are issues with the sound drivers if it's too fast.
Sierra's SCI32 games pretty much can be played on at 386 speed but the loading time will be excessive, but the only way to ensure it doesn't crash. (Yes SQ6 and KQ7 can be played on a real 386, I used one to do so in 1996.)

Origin's games (eg Ultima 1-9, Wing Commander) use a new engine for every game, and thus what works on Ultima 1 doesn't work on 2, and so forth.

Ultima 1 is clock-timed, but needs to emulate an 8088 4.77Mhz speed to have the PC speaker sound effects playback properly, thus you have to calibrate the speed using syschk, or just adjust it by ear until it's not ear-bleeding. Ultima 2 was written in Assembler and common retail CD-ROM and pirate versions are broken and can't be completed. You pretty much need at least the unofficial map patch to complete it. Ultima 2,3,4,5 and 6 aren't clock timed and require calibration. If you have VGA/music patches applied the CPU that needs to be emulated has to be adjusted. Ultima 6 will not work with the L2 cache enabled on a real system, and thus needs to be calibrated or the music won't work (Same with Wing Commander 1 and 2.) Ultima 7 and 7.5 will not work on anything faster than a 386 and have VGA bugs on real hardware, but the day/night cycle is clock timed. Ultima 8 is the only one that actually will run without any calibration. Ultima 9 is Windows and retail versions don't work on anything other than Win98. Only the GOG version works on current systems.

SCUMM games (Secret of Monkey Island, LOOM, etc) are typically clock-timed and will work on DOSBOX at defaults.

That covers roughly half the games people want to play on DOSBOX (pre-CDROM games.) If you buy the games off GOG they are pre-configured to run with the stock DOSBOX 0.63 or 0.74 build (depending on when you download it.) If you want anything other than adlib music you have to use ykhwong's Jan. 3. 2015 build (Based on DOSBOX 0.74 r3876) for MT-32 or General Midi SoundFont support inside the emulator.

The other half of the games (Eg games that came on CD-ROM initially) are more involved to get the sound playback (eg Return to Zork had a Floppy version, a MPC-1 version wth redbook audio and a hardware MPEG (reelmagic) version with no redbook audio. 7th Guest has Redbook Audio, etc) and thus it's difficult or impossible to get the original retail disk to work with dosbox. In fact the GOG version you get for RTZ is missing the redbook audio completely**. So getting the optimal experience is pretty much subject to interpretation, some people prefer the adlib, others prefer MT-32 or GM music.

So in a nutshell:

- Figure out what the retail (not GOG or Steam) version was designed for, if it supports GM music or MT-32 those require a third party build of dosbox to support it
- Use the GOG version unless there is different content in the steam version (Kings Quest 1 versions were different for example)
- Calibrate DOSBOX for it (default is 486 at 33Mhz) if the GOG or STEAM defaults aren't good enough.
- Replace DOSBOX with a different SVN build if you must have certain hardware support.

Special hardware like 3DFX cards, MPEG decoders, and MT-32 do not have stock support in DOSBOX, and likely never will, and even if it's added officially at some point, no two people will agree on the correct emulation of specialized hardware. This is why some SVN builds by third parties focus on compatibility by emulating bugs, and others only care that it works at all.

** The current version of Return to Zork on GOG does not have a CD-ISO for the music, it ships lossy 160kb OGG files. Despite that, it's setup to use a MT-32 connected to the MPU

Kisai wrote:

DOSBOX's default settings emulate a 486 at 33Mhz

Where did you get that idea?

and thus it's difficult or impossible to get the original retail disk to work with dosbox.

I don't know where you got that idea either.

Sierra's AGI games are clock-timed, and work at DOSBOX defaults provided you do not use "fastest"

I have yet to see an AGI have problems in DOSBox, not counting the fan made games with blown stack and various memory issues. But they these games would have the same problems on a real DOS machine. No need to warn to not use as you call it "fastest". Besides, leaving CPU core, type and cycles set to auto it will see that it is a real mode game and change these settings appropriately.

Sierra's SCI games are clock-timed, but there are issues with the sound drivers if it's too fast.

Not entirely. While there are a few SoundBlaster drivers from around the early SCI1.1 games that have a problem with initialization on too fast machines, most have no initialization issues. The Mixed-up Mother Goose SB driver initialization problem is a different issue of when MSCDEX is not loaded. For a few of those that do Sierra released updated drivers. For the rest this can be addressed in a couple of different ways. Sierra's recommended work around was to turn off the turbo to start the game and then flip it back on. This can be emulated by setting DOSBox's cycles low to start and then use the hot keys to raise the cycles up for playing. The best way is to use the GOSiERRA SB patcher to fix the initialization problem.

Other than that, you still have to deal with speed as these are the games that have all of the timer bugs.

Sierra's SCI32 games pretty much can be played on at 386 speed but the loading time will be excessive, but the only way to ensure it doesn't crash. (Yes SQ6 and KQ7 can be played on a real 386, I used one to do so in 1996.)

The SCI3 games can be played at max as they generally have no timer bugs. KQ7, an SCI2.1 game has only one timer bug. This game has the extra challenge of the fact that most copies are only Win16. It is not until version 2.00b that a DOS interpreter was added. This means that unless you want to buy a copy of Win3x to install in DOSBox you cannot play it in DOSBox. You cannot play it natively on a Win x64 machine. Even with x86 Windows you cannot play past the one timer bug on modern hardware.

It would be far easier for him to use the new installers. He will not need to research each game when he encounters issues and everything will be optimally setup and properly patched and even in the case of KQ7 it will upgrade earlier versions to 2.00b with the DOS interpreter setup in DOSBox.

Jorpho wrote:

Where did you get that idea? […]
Show full quote

Kisai wrote:

DOSBOX's default settings emulate a 486 at 33Mhz

Where did you get that idea?

Because that is what is reported by benchmark tools. A 486 at 33Mhz with no L2 cache.

and thus it's difficult or impossible to get the original retail disk to work with dosbox.

I don't know where you got that idea either.

I'm sure nobody has made the ReelMagic RTZ game work in Dosbox, because DOSBOX does not emulate special hardware.

When people buy a game off GOG, it's been pre-configured to "just work", not "work as designed" because Dosbox does not support MT-32 in official builds. Which was my point, because the RTZ CD-ROM (non-MPEG) version off GOG is setup to use the MT32+Redbook audio, which is not the correct configuration with the stock Dosbox. The MIDI music is used is several places even when the redbook audio is used.

I'm sure there are people who have purchased GOG games, and are happily playing adlib or broken MPU-401 music without realizing it's not supposed to sound that way. This is a problem that people who have played the games on original hardware would notice right away.

collector wrote:

It would be far easier for him to use the new installers. He will not need to research each game when he encounters issues and everything will be optimally setup and properly patched and even in the case of KQ7 it will upgrade earlier versions to 2.00b with the DOS interpreter setup in DOSBox.

Fortunately, the Sierra games off GOG (and steam currently) are configured correctly (for stock DOSBOX.) But if you have the original CD versions of games like LSL6, SQ6 or KQ7 like I do, it's a royal pain in the ass to make the original Retail disc work.

Please be precise:
DOSBox DOES support MT32 in official builds. It even supports MT32 emulation through Munt. Official DOSBox does NOT have built in MT32 emulation, though.

Kisai wrote:

I'm sure nobody has made the ReelMagic RTZ game work in Dosbox, because DOSBOX does not emulate special hardware.

It wasn't clear you were referring to that game specifically. Certainly, there can't be more than a tiny handful of games (or at least, games that anyone today would consider playing) that require such special hardware.

Which was my point, because the RTZ CD-ROM (non-MPEG) version off GOG is setup to use the MT32+Redbook audio, which is not the correct configuration with the stock Dosbox.

Are you saying that GOG is distributing that version with the MT32 ROMs?

This is a problem that people who have played the games on original hardware would notice right away.

MT32 cards were never very common. I would venture to say that many composers purposefully ensured that the music would sound the way they intended on more common sound cards. I would even go so far as to say that if GOG started configuring games to use MT32 by default, people would start complaining that they didn't sound the way they remembered.

But if you have the original CD versions of games like LSL6, SQ6 or KQ7 like I do, it's a royal pain in the ass to make the original Retail disc work.

I'm still not sure why you would say that. You set them up just like any other DOS game.

lukeman3000 wrote:

details Dosbox settings for each game..ideal sound settings for each game.

A tall order, there are thousands of DOS games.

Kisai wrote:

Fortunately, the Sierra games off GOG (and steam currently) are configured correctly (for stock DOSBOX.) But if you have the original CD versions of games like LSL6, SQ6 or KQ7 like I do, it's a royal pain in the ass to make the original Retail disc work.

And most of those Sierra games on GOG are thanks to my resources and installers, either directly and indirectly.

Perhaps you missed the point of my installers. They make it very easy to set these game up in DOSBox, even if the user knows nothing about using DOSBox.

Kisai wrote:

DOSBOX's default settings emulate a 486 at 33Mhz

The default 3000 cycles is about equivalent to 386 at 16 MHz.

Jorpho wrote:

Which was my point, because the RTZ CD-ROM (non-MPEG) version off GOG is setup to use the MT32+Redbook audio, which is not the correct configuration with the stock Dosbox.

Are you saying that GOG is distributing that version with the MT32 ROMs?

No it's shipping a stock DOSBOX with the game configured as if an external MT-32 were connected, hence it doesn't use the adlib and sounds like what typically happens when you send MT-32 mapped instruments to a general midi device in places the redbook audio isn't used.

Jorpho wrote:

This is a problem that people who have played the games on original hardware would notice right away.

MT32 cards were never very common. I would venture to say that many composers purposefully ensured that the music would sound the way they intended on more common sound cards. I would even go so far as to say that if GOG started configuring games to use MT32 by default, people would start complaining that they didn't sound the way they remembered.

There are games that support MT-32 but the installer doesn't configure it properly. Likewise there are games that were designed for General MIDI, but no two people will agree on what GM it's supposed to sound like but will agree on the Adlib mode.

Jorpho wrote:

But if you have the original CD versions of games like LSL6, SQ6 or KQ7 like I do, it's a royal pain in the ass to make the original Retail disc work.

I'm still not sure why you would say that. You set them up just like any other DOS game.

I'm not going to repeat myself again. Try it yourself if you have the discs.

awgamer wrote:

Kisai wrote:

DOSBOX's default settings emulate a 486 at 33Mhz

The default 3000 cycles is about equivalent to 386 at 16 MHz.

I don't think so, and depends on what tool you use to benchmark.

I used to have a real 386DX25 and a Am386DX40, the latter would make SYSCHK show a throughput of 66Mhz. DOSBOX reports that is is a 486DX, the software thinks it is 33Mhz. On real hardware the throughput is always greater than the reported clockspeed. On real hardware you'd see the turbo switch turn off the L2 cache on a 486 and drop throughput below the reported speed, similar to this. So the throughput is 21.70Mhz

Because this benchmark works in realtime, you can adjust dosbox to whatever speed you want it to be.

If you try other benchmark tools, they will also report a 486DX33, but come up with completely different performance characteristics:
SPEEDTST 1.14 (ARA), reports performance equal to a 286 at 13Mhz, or 9.7XT's, which is illogical.

It all depends on what your point of reference is. DOSBOX does not, and is not designed to emulate the performance characteristics of any specific CPU. The best description is simply "It emulates a 486DX33, but has the performance whatever you calibrate it to", the default 3000 in syschk says it's more like 21.70MHz.

MIPS v1.10 (uses an XT as reference like SPEEDTST) and reports being 12.30 XT's, or roughly 3 times the speed of an AT.

It is completely dependent on what tool you are using. DOSBOX does not try to emulate a specific hardware configuration. So that's why some games that would normally say "486 recommended" but don't run as fast as they would if it were a real 486, but other games that recommend a 386 are perfectly fine.

3000 cycles is simply 3000 cycles set as a ceiling. It looks like a 33Mhz 486 to Syschk, it also looks like a 37Mhz 486 to SYSTEST.

This is another point of contention among PC emulation solutions. DOSBOX is designed for playing games, not be a "PC Emulator" because it emulates a Free "DOS" environment, not a "PC environment", which is why there was so much pushback against having Windows 95 run in it (it runs in a degraded mode similar to when it enters safe-mode.)

Which goes back to the OP. There are many subjectively "right ways" to setup a game to play in DOSBOX.

Kisai wrote:

Jorpho wrote:

But if you have the original CD versions of games like LSL6, SQ6 or KQ7 like I do, it's a royal pain in the ass to make the original Retail disc work.

I'm still not sure why you would say that. You set them up just like any other DOS game.

I'm not going to repeat myself again. Try it yourself if you have the discs.

Repeating yourself would be pretty useless, and I don't see anyone asking you to do that, but how about some specifics? I wonder what you're referring to, because I've installed SQ6 and KQ7 in DOSBox 0.74 and SVN with no trouble. Mount the disc, install, and run with default settings; nothing painful in that.

There does appear to be a timing issue in SVN with the 32-bit version of DACBLAST.DRV that applies to KQ7, LSL7 (not sure about LSL6), and SQ6; but it has no impact on installing and running.

awgamer wrote:

Kisai wrote:

DOSBOX's default settings emulate a 486 at 33Mhz

The default 3000 cycles is about equivalent to 386 at 16 MHz.

I'm with you on this one 😁

3000 cycles is just a little bit too slow for Wing Commander, and my own testing puts it at roughly half the speed of a 33 MHZ 386 DX.