First post, by mrmercy82
I'm a long time user of the great DBGL DOSBox Game Launcher by Ronald Blankendaal (https://dbgl.org). My contribution to his project in the last few years was providing the updated german translations. Since Ronald - after 20 years - unfortunately decided to pause or stop the development of this great piece of software, but has kindly provided the source code of the latest "official" DBGL v0.100 beta 17, I have decided to update it with some new features and compatibility upgrades for current DOSBox versions, with the help of AI.
***DBGL - Extended Edition*** is an unofficial continuation of Ronald's DBGL 0.100 beta 17. Ronald is - for now - not involved in the DBGL Extended Edition; the foundation and almost everything in it is his work: about 80 % of the program code is unchanged from his 0.100 beta 17.
Be aware that it is still in alpha state, so you might encounter bugs which I would be happy to fix if you post me a detailed bug report in this topic (see next post).
INSTALLING AND COPYING
1. If you don't already use it, download the original DBGL v0.100 beta 17 first, because it is a requirement for running DBGL - Extended Edition. You can find the download link for DBGL v0.100 beta 17 (dbgl0100beta17.zip) in this post: Re: DOSBox Game Launcher (DOSBox Frontend)
2. BACKUP your whole DBGL folder first.
3. Download the most up-to-date version of DBGL - Extended Edition from https://github.com/mrmercy82/dbgl-extended-edition/releases
4. Unzip dbgl-0.101alphaXXX-update.zip over your DBGL folder and replace existing files. It only contains dbgl.jar, language files and changelogs.
5. Start DBGL with double-click on dbgl.jar. The database is upgraded automatically; profiles and settings are kept.
6. Optional: In menu "DOSBox" → “Download DOSBox…” for Staging or DOSBox-X, then switch your profiles.
The Extended Edition is tested mainly on Linux, with real configurations of Staging 0.82/0.83, DOSBox-X 2025/2026, ECE and Daum. Feedback from Windows and macOS is welcome.
The complete list of changes is in CHANGELOG-en.txt.
Who should switch?
• You use DOSBox Staging 0.83 or newer, or a recent DOSBox-X and want every setting in the profile dialog instead of text files.
• You have many profiles and want to find problems, compare, change several at once and undo changes.
• You play PC-98 games or use paths with spaces that did not work in 0.100 beta 17.
Your profiles, database and settings are kept when updating. On first start the database gets one extra column for play time.
MAJOR NEW FEATURES (future updates will support most current versions of the most common DOSBox releases)
1. Full support for DOSBox Staging 0.83. Renamed settings (e.g. glshader → shader, windowresolution → window_size) and on/off switches are converted automatically when switching. Every 0.83 setting has its own field, including CRT colour profile, deinterlacing, dedithering, image adjustments, Sound Canvas, denoiser and drive noises.
2. DOSBox-X up to 2026.10.01. About 100 common settings have real fields in “Additional options” groups (VESA modes, EMS/UMB, VCPI, Fluidsynth reverb and chorus, ISA/PCI bus clock and more). The configuration is now generated completely; in 0.100 beta 17 about half of the settings were missing.
3. Every setting of every DOSBox version is reachable. Settings without a field of their own sit on the page they belong to, in a collapsible “Further settings” group: with description, a list of the documented values, bold for changed values and a reset button. New pages appear only when the version has matching settings (e.g. Mainboard and BIOS, PC-98, VESA / SVGA, Windows Sound System).
4. The profile dialog adapts to the DOSBox version. Option lists come from the configuration the installed DOSBox writes itself. Pages without matching settings disappear, unsupported fields can be hidden. The search box finds descriptions, tooltips and values too.
5. Download DOSBox directly. DBGL checks daily for new versions of Staging and DOSBox-X and can download them from GitHub, unpack them, add them as a DOSBox version and switch profiles over (Windows and Linux).
6. An automatic update notification for updates of DBGL - Extended Edition can be activated in the general settings
7. PC-98: hard disk images (.HDI, .NHD) and floppies (.FDI, .D88) can be browsed, started and booted, e.g. Windows 95 for PC-98 in DOSBox-X.
8. more to come...
MORE NEW FEATURES
Keeping profiles in shape
• Check profiles: finds invalid values and missing folders or files, removes invalid values and repairs moved paths for all profiles at once (e.g. a new drive letter).
• Warning sign in the profile list: marks profiles with problems. The tooltip shows the problem, a click jumps to the setting. A “With problems” tab shows only those profiles.
• Earlier versions: the last five configurations of every profile are kept and can be viewed with their differences and restored.
• Compare profiles: two profiles side by side, all effective differences.
• Statistics: total play time, most played, recently played and never started games.
Many profiles at once
• Presets: Windows 95/98, Windows 3.1, slow XT/286 games, fast games and demos, Tandy, PC-98, plus your own. Only settings the DOSBox version knows are set. Usable in the profile dialog or on all selected profiles.
• Switch to another DOSBox version: for one, several or all profiles, with preview and report. Only your own changes are kept, the rest comes from the new version.
• Edit several profiles including the further settings; differing values are marked red.
• Undo last bulk change: restores configuration and DOSBox version of all profiles concerned.
Safety and comfort
• Create and restore backups (database, profiles, templates, settings as a zip), optionally automatic daily or weekly.
• Status window: shows DOSBox output (also for Staging 0.83 and DOSBox-X on Windows), highlights errors and warnings, can be copied and saved. Messages about a setting are clickable and open the profile at that setting. If DOSBox ends right after starting, the window stays open with the messages.
• Take over a dosbox.conf: drop a configuration file on a profile to take over its settings after a preview.
SMALLER IMPROVEMENTS
• Play time: DBGL counts how long each game runs; new sortable “Play time” column.
• Translations: German is complete, and about 7,000 texts that were still English are translated in the 17 other languages.
• Profile context menu: open profiles folder, check profile, fix problems, earlier version, take over settings from a dosbox.conf.
• “Differences from defaults…” lists every setting of a profile that differs from the DOSBox default.
• Before starting, DBGL checks mounted folders and images and, optionally, invalid values.
• Version check at startup: if a DOSBox entry does not match the executable, DBGL offers to fix it and to rewrite the configuration if needed (the old file is kept as .bak).
• Newer DOSBox versions DBGL does not know yet are mapped to the nearest known generation.
• Shader lists for Staging and DOSBox-X include shaders you installed yourself.
• New “Sound Blaster 2” page for DOSBox-X.
• Status window remembers position and size and folds many identical lines into one.
• Failed boot: the DOSBox message stays visible instead of DOSBox closing at once.
BUG FIXES (compared to 0.100 beta 17)
• DOSBox-X 2024.10.01 and later: the configuration was generated without “-all” and held only about half of the settings.
• Paths with spaces (e.g. “M & M\M&M 3\MM 3.EXE”) work. DBGL cut the file name at the space; it now writes the 8.3 short names exactly as DOSBox does. Old profiles are repaired on first start.
• Empty entries such as “locale_period=” or “file_locking=”, which overrode DOSBox defaults, are no longer saved.
• Boot lines with a Windows path (boot "C:...\win95.hdi") were misread and created a broken “imgmount A” mount.
• Reader for older DOSBox configurations fixed (58 instead of 23 value lists recognised for Staging 0.82.2).
