60 seconds guide to getting your game to run in DOSBox

Got it running, having though a problem which I have no idea how to resolve. The graphic looks a bit coarse, or ugly if you will, so I wonder if someone could advice what to do to get better graphics in this game?

Very greatful for answers,
rikard

My computer:
P4-3.2E, 19" wide screen (win resolution = 1440x900)

My DOSBox Cfg regarding graphics:
[sdl]
# fullscreen -- Start dosbox directly in fullscreen.
# fulldouble -- Use double buffering in fullscreen.
# fullresolution -- What resolution to use for fullscreen: original or fixed size (e.g. 1024x768).
# windowresolution -- Scale the window to this size IF the output device supports hardware scaling.
# output -- What to use for output: surface,overlay,opengl,openglnb,ddraw.
# autolock -- Mouse will automatically lock, if you click on the screen.
# sensitiviy -- Mouse sensitivity.
# waitonerror -- Wait before closing the console if dosbox has an error.
# priority -- Priority levels for dosbox: lowest,lower,normal,higher,highest,pause (when not focussed).
# Second entry behind the comma is for when dosbox is not focused/minimized.
# mapperfile -- File used to load/save the key/event mappings from.
# usescancodes -- Avoid usage of symkeys, might not work on all operating systems.

fullscreen=false
fulldouble=false
fullresolution=1024x768
windowresolution=original
output=surface
autolock=true
sensitivity=100
waitonerror=true
priority=higher,normal
mapperfile=mapper.txt
usescancodes=true

[dosbox]
# language -- Select another language file.
# memsize -- Amount of memory DOSBox has in megabytes.
# machine -- The type of machine tries to emulate:hercules,cga,tandy,pcjr,vga.
# captures -- Directory where things like wave,midi,screenshot get captured.

language=
machine=vga
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.
# Supported are none,normal2x,normal3x,advmame2x,advmame3x,hq2x,hq3x,
# 2xsai,super2xsai,supereagle,advinterp2x,advinterp3x,
# tv2x,tv3x,rgb2x,rgb3x,scan2x,scan3x.
# If forced is appended (like scaler=hq2x forced), the scaler will be used
# even if the result might not be desired.

frameskip=0
aspect=false
scaler=normal2x

Edit: Sorry for the mixed colors, changed to bold and italic instead. /rikard

ouch, those colors do NOT help reading your settings, really my eyes hurt. Next time try to limit the highlighting to just printing it bold 😀

But anyway, first off, what is your problem with the graphics? I don't know the game but maybe you could do a screenshot and elaborate on what you dislike.
Then you could try your hands at the settings

fullresolution=1024x768 (maybe set this to your native resolution)
windowresolution=original
output=surface (I prefer ddraw but you have to test this, there is no definite rule what looks and more importantly behaves best)

you could also set scaler to none or the other scalers, just be aware that some scalers do take a power toll and make Dosbox slower (disregard if you have powerfull machine 😀).

thx for the responce Dominus, I will do some testing, and after that return with feedback.

- rikard

Ok, after some testing and reading in these forums, I realize that my troubles must be a "widescreen-issue", so right now I am trying to find a "CVS Build" so I can enable "Output = Direct3D"

Anyone that knows where that build can be found?

Brgds rikard

It was Creepin's post which made me curious about "output=direct3d", and that this might be the solution.

Edit: Found some CVS Builds, installed them all, but none of them worked good for me, some of them made my ingame-sounds stutter, others disabled the whole keyboard. Common for all these CVS:s were that the graphics looked good (got 4:3) ... such irony ... For the moment I have no idea what to do really. Looked on SF for patches, but afaik none of them enables direct3d? .. 🙁

rikard

Found them where? Here?
DOSBox SVN Builds

Yes, I followed those links, installed them one by one, but no luck. Also checked the list of patches on SourceForge.

rikard

rikard, no-one can tell you if your troubles are wide screen related, because you failed to describe or screenshot what your troubles _are_.

The graphic looks a bit coarse, or ugly if you will

<sarcasm>The game is from 1994, so of course the graphics do not look as pretty as in a modern game.</sarcasm>

"Ugly" or "coarse" are not very precise descriptions.

Btw, just curious: according to MobyGames, F14 Fleet Defender is a DOS game, and the "Gold" version (which we're discussing here i believe) is a Windows 3.x game. Which version are you trying to run?

There are several builds with the D3D output, my favourite one is ykhwong's. On my system (P4 2.6Ghz, X1650), this output method doesn't work very well, though - DOSBox crashes quite often, and there are other strange effects. That's why i'm using ddraw again.

oh, I edited my post in the same time you posted your reply Addict (see the time stamps), therefore you couldn't possibly know that I got it confirmed that it was the 16:9 ratio graphics which bothered me (discovered this while testing those CVS:s, got some other troubles in exchange though so I uninstalled them again).

Well, I understand that the game is 13 yrs old, but as I remeber the game, the graphics looked better on my 486DX-33 than on my actual computer, therefore initial post 😉

My version is from a multiple games CD, released by EA Games and MicroProse together (contains the games Pacific Air War, Fleet Defender and Wings of Glory), believe that I bought it in 1996 or so. I cannot tell if this is the Gold-version or not, but if my memory serves me right, then the game could be started in Win 3.11 by means of "f14-2win.exe". The game is patched to v1.2, so perhaps that executable came from the patch, cannot tell for the moment.

I am considering doing another "round" with those CVS:s and play around with its settings and see if that helps. Anyway, thanks for the input - I'll be back with my new findings later 😀

rikard