My guess is that DOSBox doesn't like the "Ñ" and then the game failks to load.

Right, those characters are not supported in filenames.

but then the game asks to be reinstalled from floppies.

Has it been installed in the first place?

To the extent of my knowledge, it has. And it also has been de-protected using the included cracks.

The first game has an easy fix: rename the .AVT file to change the N with a tilde to a plain N, and then edit the .BAT file that runs the game to change the .AVT filename the same way.

The second game seems to have a bit of its copy protection remaining. You may notice there is a "blank" filename in the archive; this is in fact a filename of 0xff with no extension that the game tries to open, and DOSBox doesn't work with a null filename. The game code goes to some length to hide how that filename is chosen for opening, but if you hexedit MUS1.EXE offset 0x9bc5 from 0xff to 0x41, you can rename the strange file as just "A", and the game then works in DOSBox.

The last game has a host of problems. The first is that it uses wildcard renaming of files, which DOSBox doesn't support. You can work around that with the 4DOS shell by setting the COMSPEC environment to point to the 4DOS executable. Then there is a problem with files that have N with tilde, but you can rename the files and change the BASIC source to match. Lastly there is an error message about memory being exhausted (out of memory) when it tries to shell out to run RENAME commands in DOS. I tried LOADFIX and changing EMS/XMS settings, but couldn't easily get around the memory error. Might work in real DOS where 4DOS isn't needed to get wildcard rename support.

Thank you, I'll send that information to the webmaster.

Here's a fix for the rename problem in Pirateer. Run the piratfix.com instead of start.bat.
However, the n-tilda character problem remains. As ripsaw noted, both data\caban~a and fonts\n~.fon must be renamed, and the basic code edited appropriately.

Thank you very much, guys. That's a lot of useful info. I've sent it to Karnevi, the webmaster, and says "Niño malo" is ready to play again. He also mentioned another game with issues, "El Poder de la Kimbreton" (It's on letter "P").

El Poder de la Kimbreton checks the segments of the vectors for INT 10 (video BIOS) and INT 70 (RTC) to see if they're the same. In real systems they typically would not be the same, but DOSBox has them both in the system bios segment by default. Apparently there is a cheat program called "Game Wizard" that hooks the interrupts, and the game considers the equal segments to mean that it might be installed. The attached loader program merely hooks INT 10 so the segments will not be equal. Put the program in the game folder and run it instead of EUDOXIO.EXE, and the game's anti-cheat check will be satisfied.

Thank you!

I have another petition: could any of you provide me with a patched MUS1.EXE from "PC Mus"? I tried to follow ripsaw8080's instructions, but I've never hex-edited anything in my life, and subsequently failed miserably.

Here is a small program that will patch the file. However, there is a slight complication: it must be run after cracking the executable, or the cracking program's CRC check will fail.

Neville, are you sure that the game can be legally distributed? Copy protection and cracks are usually not part of freeware releases; and the more I see of that CEZ site, the more I notice all the warez site links...

Thanks for the fix.

As for the website, AFAIK it is entirely legal. The newest comercial game available ("PC Calcio") is from 1996, and its been discontinued for at least 10 years. I can't state that every game in the website has a written permission from its publishers, but I doubt any of them still exists anymore.

aren't you describing abandonware ? I mean copyright lasts longer than 10 years.

That would be more like it. And I'm starting to feel a little embarrased here, because CEZ's terms about what's freeware and what's abandonware may be more relaxed than VOGONS and I don't want to get anybody in trouble for helping me.

Of all the games I've asked help for, "PC Mus" is the only commercial one, and I'd be surprised to hear its for sale anyware or that its publisher, Círculo ASM, still exists.

There's no VOGONS-definition of abandonware. It's no legal term and
distributing copyrighted software is illegal per se.