Hi. Is there an easy-to-use program to create some sort of start menu?
Like, to make a menu in text mode, run it in DOSbox instead of a commander, or using a front-end.
I tried one such program, but it was a bit too complex, yet disallowed sub-menus
/FIXED Font size
Sad fat people are never good at using complex programs.
I want it to run right inside DOSbox - some sort of a program that uses a simple config for the list of items, preferably with sub-menus
Writing a lengthy batch can be troublesome, that's why I want it to be a simple "menu tool".
It should be a tool with easy management of entries. Sub-menus are wanted for genres.
Sad fat people are never good at using complex programs.
This one is shareware, but is the absolute *BEST* (and *highly* customizable) DOS menu utility hands-down... NeoSoft's "QuikMenu III" GUI menu shell for DOS.
Hmmm... seems that NeoSoft has recently removed *ALL* of their older programs and utilities from their web site at http://www.neosoftware.com .
DAMN... the end of an era! They must have recently (only within the past few months or so) discontinued their older product line, and utilities and programs for DOS 🙁🙁
Anyhow, I had used QuikMenu III for literally DECADES on my older DOS/Win3.x rigs, and had tossed around the idea on several occasions of using it under DOSBox 😀
P.S. Back in my DR-DOS days I used an oldie called "Point and Shoot" (can't remember the company who developed/sold it), but it too was a quite-capable DOS menu utility (with a text-mode GUI, unlike QuikMenu III's 16-color graphics GUI).
Anyways, I recommend either of those, but I think you'ld like QM3 better 😀
Well, QM3 is a whole desktop, I could've used any other desktop for that. Would Point-and-shoot work properly in DOSbox?
Yeah, no reason why it shouldn't. But it too, is a "desktop" menu shell sort of thing... only it has a text-based GUI.
The thing is with QM3; it's REALLY easy to set up and operate (hehe like Windows, you can eben create/use your own icons), it supports submenus, and requires NO memory whatsoever to run anything (your games and apps). It simply writes temporary batch files to do it's magic, requiring no overhead when any given game or app is run from it.
Hehe, now I'm really reminiscing here <grin>.
I copied over my customized version of QM3 (from a backup drive) that I used to have running on my old 486, and fired it up under DOSBox... man, those were the days 😀
P.S. My customized main-menu was simply my way of thumbing my nose at Windows 95 at the time 🤣! 😀
P.S. Here are screenies of "Point and Shoot v3.0" (the company was "Varteck, Inc."), and another that I just remembered, "Direct Access v5.1" (by "Fifth Generation Systems").
A buddy of mine used Direct Access back in the day (late 80's/early 90's or so), but I never cared much for that one... it was a memory hog when running games and programs from it.
Point and Shoot wasn't a memory hog like DA was, but it too required precious memory (back in the day) when running programs from it.
Anyhow, QM3 doesn't any require memory at all when stuff is run from/under it, it's EXTREMELY easy to set up and operate... at it looks quite pretty as well 😀
P.S. Your only other alternative is a batch file. But, of course, that can be sort of a PITA. Something along the lines of this (note that this requires DOS/Window's "CHOICE.COM"):
1@ECHO OFF 2 3:Top 4CLS 5@ECHO Your Main Menu 6@ECHO -------------- 7@ECHO Option [1] 8@ECHO Option [2] 9@ECHO Option [3] 10@ECHO Option [4] 11@ECHO Option [5] 12@ECHO. 13@ECHO [Q]uit 14@ECHO. 15CHOICE /C:12345Q 16IF ERRORLEVEL 6 GOTO Quit 17IF ERRORLEVEL 5 GOTO Option5 18IF ERRORLEVEL 4 GOTO Option4 19IF ERRORLEVEL 3 GOTO Option3 20IF ERRORLEVEL 2 GOTO Option2 21IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO Option1 22 23:Option1 24CLS 25@ECHO This is Option 1! 26@ECHO Press any key to return to the main menu... 27PAUSE>NUL 28GOTO Top 29 30:Option2 31CLS 32@ECHO This is Option 2! 33@ECHO Press any key to return to the main menu... 34PAUSE>NUL 35GOTO Top 36 37:Option3 38CLS 39@ECHO This is Option 3! 40@ECHO Press any key to return to the main menu... 41PAUSE>NUL 42GOTO Top 43 44:Option4 45CLS 46@ECHO This is Option 4! 47@ECHO Press any key to return to the main menu... 48PAUSE>NUL 49GOTO Top 50 51:Option5 52CLS 53@ECHO This is Option 5! 54@ECHO Press any key to return to the main menu... 55PAUSE>NUL 56GOTO Top 57 58:Quit 59CLS 60@ECHO Hasta la vista, Baby!
Access seems to be a cheap block at the tip of win3
Gekko - too bad it's DE, plus still GUI. =_!_=
Couldn't find PAS, so I am trying QM3 now (I even found a serial for it)
Sad fat people are never good at using complex programs.
I am looking for a (preferably) CLI program that lets you make simple menus (or a program that writes a batch-menu based on your list entries)
For now, my [autoexec] section looks like:
1@echo off 2mount a ../install 3mount c ../disk 4c: 5cd qm3 6qm
@echo off - hides some "set" commands at startup
../install is where I throw diskette installers (like QM) into
(../install and ../disk are d:\games\dosbox\install and d:\games\dosbox\disk, respectively)
c: - go to c: drive
qm3 - QM3 folder
qm - execute the QM desktop
For testing, I only have Kyrandia II icon there. 😐
Sad fat people are never good at using complex programs.
And I seriously doubt that you will. I dunno if it was all that popular back in it's day (that's all that we used back when I used to work for Milgo down in Miami (now, simply called "Racal" after they bought Milgo out)... but I don't think that I've EVER heard a mention of it anywhere on the Internet.
DonutKing wrote:
Quikmenu III Supremacy 😁
You betcha! 😀
Sadist boar wrote:
For testing, I only have Kyrandia II icon there. 😐
Trust me... if you spend a little time with QM3, you WILL come to the darkside and be assimilated <grin> 😀
["Those who control Norton Commander and QuikMenu III will control the world!"] 🤣!