dosbox's configuration is in start menu

try timed=true/false

What do you mean by "there's no config file"?

there's no dosbox.conf in main dosbox directory. Don't ask stupid questions 😉

Tried the timed=true/false switch but has no effect in terms of my problem.
To clarify - with 0.72 there was a dosbox.conf in the same directory as the executable. With 0.73 there was not. Either way the problem is that dosbox can detect my joystick but not get it to work, and d-fend cannot even detect it.
Will post a response if I figure this out.

Cheers

try game with different fixed cycles, with both timed: true and false

Wait a minute - you're not supposed to put a dosbox.conf in the same folder as dosbox.exe any more. It goes somewhere under your user folder structure instead, and you can access it via the Edit Config shortcut in the Start Menu.

If you try putting a config file in the same folder as dosbox.exe instead, I'm not sure which one will take precedence...

Of course the one next to dosbox.exe will take preference. Makes sence for "portable" installations.

hal it is not that simple. For example in win vista and win 7 the one in VirtualStore will take preference over the one nest to dosbox.exe 😀 It is nicely f***** up...