You're right it doesn't work. I just get dumped right back at the command line after selecting "2" from the menu. It's strange because some years ago I also tested a bunch of Tandy games, including Outrun, in order to hear the music that I'd missed out on by owning a PC, and everything ran/played as expected.

My copy of Outrun was taken from the original 360kb diskettes that I used to own. (I wrote a hack to remove the copy protection)

Edit: aha, I got it to work. I used the 'reset options' option to clear my configuration, which was probably messed up somehow. It runs great now. (I had forgotten about the spoken intro.)

when I start Outrun (using the only option that works for me: option 3, EGA) then I hear the Tandy sound effects/music,

Here's your problem. Why are you selecting "3" instead of "2"?

Options 1, 2 and 4 never do anything, only 3 starts the game audio in Tandy mode. I'll have another play later on. Does your copy have multiple .exe files or just one?

It has just one .exe file. Options 1/2/3 all work for me. I'm testing Hercules (4) now but it doesn't seem to work.

The graphic files all come in pairs, one .PES and one PCS, presumably for EGA (inc. Tandy) and CGA. I'm guessing there were originally a third set of files (.PHS) for Hercules, but they're missing from my copy. They were probably left out due to lack of space on the disks (The combined game files come to about 600kb. Adding a third set of graphic files would probably have taken the total size over the 720 kb limit for floppy disk releases.)

Edit: Moby has a picture of the original box cover: http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/outrun/cove … CoverId,275105/. Unfortunately the watermark covers the system requirements, but you just make out most of the text:

Out Run IBM 5.25" IBM PC & Compatibles Tandy 1000/3000 Family 512K Supports MCGA/VGA/EGA/CGA/Tandy Dos 2.0 or [equivalent?] req […]
Show full quote

Out Run IBM 5.25"
IBM PC & Compatibles
Tandy 1000/3000
Family 512K
Supports MCGA/VGA/EGA/CGA/Tandy
Dos 2.0 or [equivalent?] required

So there was never Hercules support, at least not in the 5.25" release.

What was the Family 512k? A PC clone?

Googling this Hercules problem brought me right back to this forum: is there Hercules support in DOSBox?

OutRun also works fine with hercules graphics, but as with TD2 you may be trying to run the EGA/VGA executable because you have an incomplete copy. There should be an OUTRUN.EXE launcher program and OUTCGA.EXE, OUTTDY.EXE, and OUTEGA.EXE executable files. However, there is one version of OutRun that has broken hercules support due to an oversight in the launcher program where it doesn't pass the "herc" parameter to the launched executable. If you have an OUTRUN.EXE file that is larger than 1024 bytes and CHEVY.PES (CGA and Hercules), BEETLE.PES (Tandy), and CORV.PES (EGA/VGA) executable files, then you have the version with broken hercules support. As a workaround you can copy CHEVY.PES to CHEVY.EXE and run the game with the command "chevy herc".

So there IS Hercules support, but it was glitched on the release I had. And those three .PES files are actually disguised executables (magic bytes MZ), not graphic files. And the .PCS files also contain the Hercules video, which is just modified CGA, so there were no files missing after all.

I finally got Hercules mode to run using this workaround

2fort5r wrote:

(I had forgotten about the spoken intro.)

If I remember it correctly, there are two different versions of the spoken intro. One with a male voice and another one with a female voice.

My version sounds like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrpPW0X2vc8

An abandonware version I found has all those executables, but still doesn't do much if you select Tandy. I tried it on DOSBox Daum, but could try original 0.74 perhaps. To the guys who got it running, what's your DOSBox conf file got in it?

Just default settings + 'tandy' option. I was having problems as well until I reset settings to default, and also disabled running the autoexec.bat file which was loading junk I didn't need into memory. This was with plain vanilla 0.74.

I assume that these files are identical

OUTCGA.EXE = CHEVY.PES (AA24AE70)
OUTTDY.EXE = BEETLE.PES (E5068F00)
OUTEGA.EXE = CORV.PES (6472D349)

CRC-32 values in brackets. The original files were disguised because the copy protection routine was activated by the launcher/menu program, and if folks knew about these executables they could bypass it and run copies of the game without the original floppies.

The CGA executable takes a 'herc' argument for Hercules mode.

Okay I tried abandonware versions from several locations, and yes, the Tandy mode is selectable in some of them! I think my original Kixx budget copy has some files shaved out of it (as you reckoned), to fit on the floppy disk. In fact the instructions mention the 2 disc 5.25" version, saying that disk 1 has the EGA/Tandy files and disk 2 has CGA and Hercules.

I'll try to work out exactly what's missing from my version, perhaps, as when I run it (with DOSBox as Tandy) options 1-4 do nothing apart from EGA where I hear the Tandy sound, so there's something messed up somewhere!

Cool, I've got all versions working now. I can't say where I got the abandonware version from (which works with Tandy, etc), but if you search for the game with a file size of 392.69 you might find it too!

edit: just tested some more, it just comes down to the outrun.exe file on the Kixx budget version being bad. Replace it with the one from the specific abandonware version (as many abandonware versions are broken or ripped from the 5.25" version with missing files) and bingo, CGA, Tandy, Hercules (okay you need to rename the file mentioned above then do a command line with "herc" to get the full black&white Hercules effect).

Congrats. Tandy owners were really spoiled in the 1980s.

Ok just taking this further, as I see other games support Tandy. I was playing with Indy500 and the Tandy sound is much better, but the graphics far worse. Is there any way to run Tandy sound but not Tandy graphics? I tried setting graphics to the standard S3, and seeing Tandy sound to "on", and even setting Soundblaster to "none", but it doesn't seem to work. Any ideas?

Oh yes, Tandy didn't support VGA graphics, which would have been a problem. I don't think that's possible unless the game was written to support it. Was it common for Tandy owners to have VGA cards in their machines? If this was a common configuration then some games might have supported it.

http://pics.mobygames.com/images/covers/origi … 89466627-00.jpg
http://pics.mobygames.com/images/covers/origi … 02869421-00.jpg

It was not rare for Tandy 1000 series owners to have upgraded their built-in video with a VGA card. Support for this exists in the 1986 SX and EX machines and every model released thereafter.

Indy 500 can be run with a VGA card and Tandy sound by using the proper command line switches. Many games released during the late 1980 and early 1990s allowed for this, but not all. Outrun can also be run with an EGA or VGA card installed in a real Tandy, but you only get 16-color graphics. If the game runs too slowly in 16-color Tandy mode, you could try CGA (will have to check on Hercules). The version I have requires you to select your graphics adapter from a menu when you start the game each time.

ripsaw8080 wrote:

OutRun also works fine with hercules graphics, but as with TD2 you may be trying to run the EGA/VGA executable because you have an incomplete copy. There should be an OUTRUN.EXE launcher program and OUTCGA.EXE, OUTTDY.EXE, and OUTEGA.EXE executable files. However, there is one version of OutRun that has broken hercules support due to an oversight in the launcher program where it doesn't pass the "herc" parameter to the launched executable. If you have an OUTRUN.EXE file that is larger than 1024 bytes and CHEVY.PES (CGA and Hercules), BEETLE.PES (Tandy), and CORV.PES (EGA/VGA) executable files, then you have the version with broken hercules support. As a workaround you can copy CHEVY.PES to CHEVY.EXE and run the game with the command "chevy herc".

One version of the game does not support Tandy 3-Voice music or sound effects or the Tandy DAC at all, just the PC Speaker.

Do not use the Daum or DOSBox-X branches for Tandy DAC support, its never worked. Use a clean SVN build instead.

Damn, wish I would have found this thread earlier, that would have saved me the time.
Searched here, but apparently not good enough 😉

TLDR:
Download .zip file and copy OUTRUN.COM into your game folder
Press 4. to play in hercules mode.

1ORG		0x100
2
3START:
4		mov	sp,300h
5		mov	bx,30h
6		mov	ah,4Ah
7		int	21h
8
9		mov	ax,2
10		int	10h
11
12		mov	dx,MENU
13		mov	ah,9
14		int	21h
15
16		xor	dx,dx
17KEY:
18		xor	ax,ax
19		int	16h
20ESC:
21		cmp	al,1Bh
22		je	EXIT
23@1:
24		cmp	al,'1'
25		jne	@2
26		mov	dx,CGA
27@2:
28		cmp	al,'2'
29		jne	@3
30		mov	dx,TAN
31@3:
32		cmp	al,'3'
33		jne	@4
34		mov	dx,EGA
35@4:
36		cmp	al,'4'
37		jne	CHECK
38		mov	dx,CGA
39		mov	word [PARAMS+02],HERC
40CHECK:
41		cmp	dx,0
42		je	KEY
43RUN:
44		mov	bx,PARAMS
45		mov	[bx+04],cs
46		mov	[bx+08],cs
47		mov	[bx+12],cs
48		mov	ax,4B00h
49		int	21h
50EXIT:
51		push	00
52		ret
53
54MENU	db	'		   OUT RUN',13,10
55	db	'		   -------',13,10,10,10
56	db	'	    1.  CGA/TANDY (4 COLOUR)',13,10,10
57	db	'	    2.  TANDY    (16 COLOUR)',13,10,10
58	db	'	    3.  EGA/VGA  (16 COLOUR)',13,10,10
59	db	'	    4.  HERCULES',13,10,10,10,10
60	db	'Press 1,2,3 or 4 to play OUTRUN or ESC to return to DOS',13,10,'$'

61CGA	db	'CHEVY.PES',0
62TAN	db	'BEETLE.PES',0
63EGA	db	'CORV.PES',0
64HERC	db	5,' herc',13
65PARAMS	dw	0
66	dd	80h,5Ch,6Ch

(Yes, I am aware this is an old thread.)

@2fort5r : As far as I know *.phs files specifically for Hercules graphics wouldn't be a thing because CGA and Hercules despite their outward appearance are apparently similar enough in their internal workings that any games I know of use their CGA data for Hercules as well.

Also, if anyone insists on running a game in Hercules mode, you must either be using an actual Hercules graphics card or emulate one because CGA/EGA/VGA aren't compatible with Hercules.

PS:
My copy of Outrun runs fine when emulating Tandy. And, I never knew Tandy games supported FM sound. 😀 This has me wondering which other games use it too.

EDIT:
Of all the games I tried these will have better sound when using Tandy emulation:
Ducktales
King's Quest I (AGI)
King's Quest II (AGI)
King's Quest III (AGI)
King's Quest IV (AGI)
Leisure Suit Larry I (AGI)
Low Blow
Outrun
Police Quest I (AGI)
Space Quest I (AGI)
Space Quest II (AGI)
The Black Cauldron (AGI)

2fort5r wrote on 2014-09-11, 19:59:

Oh yes, Tandy didn't support VGA graphics, which would have been a problem. I don't think that's possible unless the game was written to support it. Was it common for Tandy owners to have VGA cards in their machines? If this was a common configuration then some games might have supported it.

Tandy 1000rlx had VGA + 3 voice right from the factory