First post, by almeath
I have been trying to get Silent Thunder working in DOSBox using Windows 3.11 and Windows 95. This is because none of my Windows XP or 7 virtual machines will run it. It spits out an error saying "New GFXSurface failed".
Before I go any further, for the record, I already know that Windows is not supported in DOSBox. I am neither expecting nor demanding that anyone responds to this post at all. Please only do so if you are interested in this subject, and/or willing to offer any constructive suggestions.
With that disclaimer aside, the game actually runs flawlessly in Windows 95 within DOSBox SVN, apart from the music not working. The game is on a mixed mode CD and I do not know if there is a way to get the resulting bin/cue image working in a Win9x environment in DOSBox. If anyone has had success with this I would be grateful for any pointers. I know that Alcohol 52% does the trick within Windows XP, but I cannot find a version that will work with Windows 95 or 98. The physical CD cannot be used due to the limitation of DOSBox not being able to access optical drives directly from within Windows 9x.
I also tried within Windows 3.11 but I end up getting several errors that prevent the game from running. Immediately after the game installs, two errors are displayed by the Sierra setup program:
1. DOWIN95REGISTRY command when not under Win 95
2. INSTALLDIRECTX command when not under Win 95
The Sierra program group is installed, but the icon for "A-10 II" has an MS-DOS icon and double-clicking it does nothing.
It seems it was one of those games that straddled the DOS/Win9x transition, so I doubt I can get it running in the Windows 3.11 environment. I suppose the only hope is if there is a mixed mode CD solution for virtual drives in Windows 95 or 98?
DOSBox SVN for macOS (x86-64) - customized with Munt MT-32, Nuked OPL3, 3dfx Voodoo, Extra RAM, Large HD, and more.
https://github.com/almeath/DOSBox-SVN-64-bit-for-macOS