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Question about DOS Games that requires IBM ROM BASIC (games that wont work on PC clones)

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First post, by clownwolf

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I have been reviewing the differences about DOS Versions, and came across this article Important DOS versions for PC Gaming

In the DOS 1.1 section it reads:
...if a game requires ROM BASIC, it will not run on a non-IBM system. Several early BASIC games, including IBM's, assume that you are running them on an IBM PC, XT or AT. Virtually any IBM PC or PS/2 machine made during the 1980s will work with games requiring ROM BASIC. While some may be able to be run with a non-IBM machine using an OEM GW-BASIC, this can be tricky due to copy protection schemes and direct accesses to the ROM.

I myself never encountered this issue, does this only affect self-booting games? Would King's Quest 1 an example of this? Would the 1984 PC boot-loader not work on clones?

Reply 2 of 3, by konc

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I didn't read the full article, but isn't this limited to

clownwolf wrote on 2023-06-21, 22:27:

Several early BASIC games

thus .BAS, interpreted games and not games like King's Quest?

Reply 3 of 3, by clownwolf

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Oh! I remember those .BAS games. I remember a submarine game, like a reverse space invaders.

I'm not sure how it got in our computers though. Might be freeware?

In any case, then I guess the compatibility issue isn't really significant if even King's Quest 1 didn't suffer from it.

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