Are you using DOSBox 0.74-3? Have you tried an SVN build?

Also, a picture is worth a thousand words, and a screen capture can help others better understand your issue.

ripsaw8080 wrote on 2020-07-01, 20:12:

Are you using DOSBox 0.74-3? Have you tried an SVN build?

Yeah, i am using this version

ripsaw8080 wrote on 2020-07-01, 20:12:

Also, a picture is worth a thousand words, and a screen capture can help others better understand your issue.

This is what it looks like in XP dos, but also what the default config on DOSBox looks like. Note the way the diagonal lines are stepped

This is what it looks like when i change the font to 10x18 in XP dos. The lines are more diagonal and not stepped.

I realise this is a small detail, but my uncle (who i'm trying to get this to work for), is old and things have to be the way he knew them to be. So if there anything you can suggest for me to do to get this working i'd be grateful.

Thanks very much.

Because DOSBox emulates old PC video standards, it is not as flexible as the NTVDM with regard to what fonts can be used. Character symbols must be 8 pixels wide.

There is a mode where a 9th pixel column is copied from the 8th pixel column for certain characters, and while this creates a noticeable difference in appearance, I don't think it helps for your purpose. You can try a setting of machine=vgaonly to see what it looks like.

For slash/backslash characters that form nicer diagonals, I think you want a double-height 8-line font, and the easiest way to achieve this is with a machine=cga setting. However, the software you are running in DOSBox may require EGA/VGA video standards, and if so it will be necessary to switch fonts instead of changing machine type, so let me know if that is the case.

ripsaw8080 wrote on 2020-07-02, 05:26:

You can try a setting of machine=vgaonly to see what it looks like.

here's vgaonly look. the font isnt ideal

ripsaw8080 wrote on 2020-07-02, 05:26:

For slash/backslash characters that form nicer diagonals, I think you want a double-height 8-line font, and the easiest way to achieve this is with a machine=cga setting. However, the software you are running in DOSBox may require EGA/VGA video standards, and if so it will be necessary to switch fonts instead of changing machine type, so let me know if that is the case.

Here is the cga setting look, the lines are correct but the font is pretty weird looking...

When i tried this game on vDos it looked perfect font is nice and the lines are aligned, only the Beeps dont work in game (and that's also very important as how does one know if the trains are waiting?). Here is a visual of what it looks like in vDos...

Well, "weird" is subjective, and I know some retro-minded folks who consider the CGA text appearance quite nostalgic.

Anyway, as I mentioned before, DOSBox emulates old PC video standards. Although vDos is based on DOSBox, it throws out the video emulation and uses font-based text rendering like the NTVDM. You can, of course, try to contact the vDos (or vDosPlus) maintainers about adding or improving sound emulation.

My last option for you is to load a different font. For this you use the default machine=svga_s3 setting and run the attached program in DOSBox. The font in this case is an alternate one from the IBM CGA video card, and has a more "thin" appearance than the well-known "fat" font, but also has slashes that make nice diagonals. I'm not sure you'll like it better, though.

ripsaw8080 wrote on 2020-07-02, 08:25:

Well, "weird" is subjective, and I know some retro-minded folks who consider the CGA text appearance quite nostalgic.

yes, sorry, poor choice of words.

ripsaw8080 wrote on 2020-07-02, 08:25:

Anyway, as I mentioned before, DOSBox emulates old PC video standards. Although vDos is based on DOSBox, it throws out the video emulation and uses font-based text rendering like the NTVDM. You can, of course, try to contact the vDos (or vDosPlus) maintainers about adding or improving sound emulation.

thanks, i've tried that, but they blame the program i'm running. though i've not tried vDosPlus yet so i'll give it ago if the font suggestion you have doesnt work.

ripsaw8080 wrote on 2020-07-02, 08:25:

My last option for you is to load a different font. For this you use the default machine=svga_s3 setting and run the attached program in DOSBox. The font in this case is an alternate one from the IBM CGA video card, and has a more "thin" appearance than the well-known "fat" font, but also has slashes that make nice diagonals. I'm not sure you'll like it better, though.

will try that and let you know.

EDIT: the font worked but alas it wouldnt have been "right". i downloaded vdosplus and that works great.

thanks for your help