Yepp you can do this with the command

Config -set <section> <attribute>=<value>

So let's say you want to change the amount of cycles tp 100000, then you have to type

Config -set cpu cycles=100000

Hope that's what you're searching for.

Awesome! That's exactly what I needed to know. Thanks so much! This should be enough to get me going. I will let you know if I need any additional help.

EDIT: Actually yes, one more question. can I read an entirely different .conf file this way, or would I need to manually change each parameter? Looking at CONFIG commandline within the wiki, it seems I can write an entire config file, but it doesn't look like I can load one.. 🙁

thanks,
..dane

Loading a separate conf is done with a parameter when you first launch DOSBox.
Changing settings from within DOSBox would be done one at a time. Though you can use a batch file with the relevent commands to automate it.

Yea, and that makes total sense. But with as portable as DOSBox is, you need a different build for each platform. So it would make sense for a front-end to be within dosbox itself, as a portable front-end as well. (Otherwise you need a front-end for each platform if you wanted a front-end for all your many dozens of games.)

I was thinking about a dos based front-end that would run well in dosbox, that could then update the instance settings before running each game. In my particular setup each game already has its own dosbox.conf file in the game folder. I was hoping to just load it with each game.

Unless someone believes such a load feature would be a useful thing to add to dosbox, I guess I'll pause to consider the level of effort before diving into this dos based frontend idea..

thanks,
..dane