It's a AGS adventure and as such isn't it limited to Windows only?

There are 2 versions, the windows version hasn't worked in a while, at least for me, i figure the dos version is the best bet. I attached a pic of the message I get when i try to execute it if this helps. Thanks.

Does that really work under real DOS?

It's been a while since I poked at it, but as I recall you can download the Windows version of AGS 2.23, point it at the DOS executable for QFG 4.5, and be on your way.

I also recall that the game is apparently a little bit broken even when you can get it running correctly.

give me a DOS version download link and I will try it for you on a real machine 😀

http://www.curlysworldoffreeware.com/games/view/238

it just crashes with the exact same errors like DOSbox. All are the same, numbers , addresses etc...

Tried different CPU types and core= in DOSBox?

I think I see the problem. You downloaded cwsdpmi like the game told you to, right? The first Google hit for cwsdpmi (after Wikipedia) is for http://www.dbit.com/pub/cwsdpmi/ . That is version 4. I get the crash in DOSBox with that version too.

Version 5 works, and so does version 7. The link to the binary distribution is right at the top of the page.
http://homer.rice.edu/~sandmann/cwsdpmi/index.html
(By the way, it takes quite a while to start up.)

there is no cwsdpmi with the game and it did not complain about it when I run it...

You must have it in your PATH somewhere on your DOS machine, then.

yes I do have it.... 😀