VOGONS


First post, by a.roSe

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

i have downloaded several old DOS games... some of which DOSBox will run and others which it won't.

Keen 4, Jill of the Jungle, and Scorched Earth all are able to be read by DOSbox and work fine.

Secret Agent and Crystal Caves, for some reason, i can't even get them installed. i set up my DOSBox directory just the way it said to in the tutorial on this site... with C:\oldgames as my directory, and then i made a folder for each individual game. in order to get the games to work, i've been typing in the following, as it said somewhere on this site, probably in the same tut:

Z:\ mount c c:\

Z:\ C:

C:\cd oldgames

C:\OLDGAMES> cd keen

**when i type to change the directory to one of the game's folders it worked with the games i said worked above... but with the other two i got this message: "unable to change to directory 'x' "....

i was wondering, what makes DOSBox able to read certain game folders as directories, but unable to read others?? and how can i fix that problem??

i'm a major n00b, so i may not have given you all the info u need to help me... if that's the case, please tell me what else u need to know in order to help !! 😕

thanks!!

.:a.r@Se:.

Reply 1 of 3, by gulikoza

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

DOSBox much like DOS itself is limited to 8.3 character length of filenames and directories (8 charaters for name, 3 for extension). If you name the game directory "keen" it will be named the same in dosbox, but if you name it "Secret Agent" it will be more like "Secret~1" in dosbox. Use dir to find exact name of directory or even better - get used to using TAB for name completition: type the first letter of the directory, press TAB and dosbox will automatically fill in the rest (press tab multiple times to cycle through all names).

Reply 2 of 3, by DosFreak

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++

To sum it up. When you want to use DOS applications, in Windows or in DosBox you should always use 8 character directory names.

LFN's are for wimps. 😀

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

Reply 3 of 3, by a.roSe

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

🤣 wow guys i feel like a dork for not figuring out something that simple.

all my games are working now!! 🤣. i love you all. thanks for having patience with lil n00bs like me 😀

now i can play the games i havent even seen since grade school... secret agent and crystal caves were my favorites!! thanks guys!! i'll remember that about the short filenames 😜

.:a.r@Se:.