The nested IF tests may be outside the shell's current capability. Have you tried with 4DOS?

I had never heard of 4dos before. it doesn't seem to be compatible with win7 x64 though.

It's an alternative shell that you run inside DOSBox...

Alright, I'll give it a shot. In the meantime

If the nested statements are the issue, then my first inclination is to wrap my head around why they are necessary.

if errorlevel 9 if not errorlevel 10 goto madden_load

This makes no sense to me. First it is saying, if it is level 9. then it turns around and makes sure it is not level 10. I understand that errorlevels will match to the highest value (ie: if errorlevel = 3 will actually grab errorlevels of 3 and above). But if you want errorlevel 9 or above, but not 10.... I don't know, seems like there is a simpler way to have done that.

Off to try 4dos.

4dos didn't work either.

I installed it and then ran the 4dos.com file. This changed the title bar in dosbox to state 4dos, which I presume means it was working.

Same exact issue with the batch file though.

Seems like the "screens" program is bailing out without producing an errorlevel, if I'm understanding the flow of the batch file correctly. Do you see anything meaningful in debug messages after that program executes?

No, but that is probably my fault. When I run the debug, where the messages are it says you can scroll w/ the home and end keys, however this never works for me.

So I can't seem to scroll back up and see what message occurred right when it kicked.

Doing a log output just seems to output the code overview. Is there a way to capture the Output/Input section to a log file?

In debug builds there is a [log] section in the conf file with a logfile= setting; change that to logfile=c:\dblog.txt or whatever and the file will be created.

Press Alt-Pause to activate the debugger then click on the debugger window to make it the active window, you should then be able to scroll through the log messages. Press F5 to resume emulation. Note that the message buffer is limited, so if there are many messages you may need a log file.

The game appears to run OK in 0.74 with default settings. Make sure XCOPY is in the path and run INSTALL.EXE from the CD, then run SETUP.EXE from the install directory to configure sound and joystick, then run MADDEN.BAT to play the game.

really,... it works fine for you??

I did put copy in the path already to get the install working. Without it, it just creates a bunch of empty folder.

I just did a total reinstall and I get the same issues.

When I click exhibition game, it immediately kicks to the prompt.

The conf file is the only variable I can think of here, but I swear it is a standard conf:

1
2[sdl] 
3fullscreen=false 
4fulldouble=false 
5fullresolution=original 
6windowresolution=original 
7output=surface 
8autolock=true 
9sensitivity=100 
10waitonerror=true 
11priority=higher,normal 
12mapperfile=mapper-0.74.map 
13usescancodes=true 
14[dosbox] 
15language= 
16machine=svga_s3 
17captures=capture 
18memsize=16
19[render] 
20frameskip=0 
21aspect=false 
22scaler=normal2x 
23[cpu] 
24core=auto 
25cputype=auto 
26cycles=auto
27cycleup=10 
28cycledown=20 
29[mixer] 
30nosound=false 
31rate=44100 
32blocksize=1024 
33prebuffer=20 
34[midi] 
35mpu401=intelligent 
36mididevice=default 
37midiconfig= 
38[sblaster] 
39sbtype=sb16 
40sbbase=220 
41irq=7 
42dma=1 
43hdma=5 
44sbmixer=true 
45oplmode=auto 
46oplemu=default 
47oplrate=44100 
48[gus] 
49gus=false 
50gusrate=44100 
51gusbase=240 
52gusirq=5 
53gusdma=3 
54ultradir=e:\ULTRASND 
55[speaker] 
56pcspeaker=true 
57pcrate=44100 
58tandy=auto 
59tandyrate=44100 
60disney=true 

61[joystick] 
62joysticktype=auto 
63timed=true 
64autofire=false 
65swap34=false 
66buttonwrap=false 
67[serial] 
68serial1=dummy 
69serial2=dummy 
70serial3=disabled 
71serial4=disabled 
72[dos] 
73xms=true 
74ems=true 
75umb=true 
76keyboardlayout=auto 
77[ipx] 
78ipx=false 
79[autoexec] 
80cd .. 
81cd .. 
82mount c .\games\MaddenFo 
83imgmount d .\games\MaddenFo\cd\madden96.cue -t cdrom 
84c: 
85path=c:\;z:\
86@cd madden
87#cls 
88#@call madden
89#exit 

I have the last few lines commented out until I get the game running. For now I am just typing them in manually.

[quote="exofreeze"]if errorlevel 9 if not errorlevel 10 goto madden_load

This makes no sense to me. First it is saying, if it is level 9. then it turns around and makes sure it is not level 10.[/quote]

It's saying if errorlevel >= 9 then if errorlevel is not >= 10.
ie it wants only 9.
There isn't another way to do that, because there is no "if errorlevel ==".

yes, I see that. My current confusion is why it works for ripsaw but not me 😒

I tried using the conf you pasted, just different source paths for C and D. Made sure my emulated C drive is completely empty except for XCOPY in the root (I assume you put it there because of the PATH= you use). Install to default directory, run setup to choose SB16 and no joysticks (automatic because no joystick is detected), run the batch, clicking on Exhibition Game takes me to the game options screen, clicking on Play starts the game.

What steps do you go through when running SETUP.EXE?

Well, I don't recall there being many steps.

I run the install.exe file
it says the install will take 15 megs
i click ok
it copies files for a short while
then says, to play madden type madden.

I don't recall it giving me any options.

I'll run the install again when I get back to that machine in the morning.

ok, so the install shows these default options:
Drive: C
Directory: \MADDEN
Space Required (15 Megs)

My options are Begin Installation or Cancel Installation.

I hit Begin.

The screen scrolls by as several files appear to be unpacked to various folders. I am then told "Installation Successful" and to type madden to play the game.

I type madden and I am taken to a soundset type config screen. It auto detects a SB16, and during the "test sound" phase it plays dramatic nfl music.

I click ok, and then I click done. It then attempts to detect joysticks, neither of which are found.

Now the NFL logo and various other logos come up with the aforementioned dramatic music.

Now I'm at the main menu. Football is rotating in the sky, madden's happy face keeps spinning on the nfl logo, and the music keeps playing.

I move my cursor over to exhibition game, click on it, it says "loading", fades out, some guy grunts, and then I see my dos prompt.

So frustrating.

Is it possible that the copy of xcopy I am using isn't behaving properly? I have two games from stormfront studios (madden and espn) that are both acting up, and both required xcopy to install. I am going to try and find a different version of it to try.

note: just checked, the copy I am using is the most recent version of xcopy available from freedos.

I thought about differences in XCOPY, so I tried the FreeDOS version 1.4a of it, but it seems to work fine. Still can't reproduce the problem, game just works.

It seems the issue is somehow dependent on host factors, as troublesome as that can be. I suggest experimenting with all the host-related settings, like changing output=, core=, cycles=, etc.

Also, do check the debug log messages after trying to start an exhibition game for possible clues.

SOLVED IT!

It was the damn xcopy. The freedos version only seemed to recurse one directory. I went and got a copy of xcopy from ms-dos 5.0, re-ran the install, and it worked.

I noticed during the install that it was writing files several folders deep this time, but was not doing it the first time using xcopy.com from freedos.

http://www.freedos.org/software/?prog=xcopy

The latest FreeDOS version of XCOPY is 1.4a from 2009, and I have verified that it works with the game. I think your problem is that you were not using the version you should have been using.