you mean like a frontend ? Checkout DBGL or any of the others.

Qbix wrote on 2020-01-12, 12:05:

you mean like a frontend ? Checkout DBGL or any of the others.

I dont use any frontend, im talking inside dosbox. I just open dosbox and work like in a real PC, and this force me to make batch files for a lot of games with parameters

I was thinking a database the user can do in the config file will be a much better way for example

thanks

1st unnecessary bloat, most games run without fine tuning.
2nd the batch files are quick and easy, just always add a run.bat to each game and set the needed things and then let it start the game.

And you are likely to change this per game anyway to what you like, so whether you fill the config or a batch file is almost identical

Dominus wrote on 2020-01-12, 23:37:

2nd the batch files are quick and easy, just always add a run.bat to each game and set the needed things and then let it start the game.

Hi

No quick and easy, because i need to

1 - rename executable, for example lotus.exe to lotus1.exe
2 - make a batch file with same name of old executable lotus.bat in this example

Plus i need to make a second batch !rename.bat that will delete lotus.bat and rename lotus1.exe to lotus.exe to unpatch

A lot of work for every game

Thats why i was asking if someone knows a way, i was checking sourcecode, because in dosbox window the executable name is printed, i think maybe dosbox is able to detect the executable name..? or maybe is not possible, in this case, i will not check anymore and just do the batchs

thanks

Dominus wrote on 2020-01-12, 23:37:

1st unnecessary bloat, most games run without fine tuning.

I don't think it's true… even the most popular DOS games need tweaking. For games from 80s it's rather unavoidable and that's fine, but for popular games from early 90s? I can't remember a single game I tried in last ~6 months that didn't need manual tweaking (thankfully, GOG does great job of preparing configuration, but publishers dumping on Steam do terrible job; .conf files shared on Lutris are terrible on average).

Some examples:

- Almost all games using 320x200 (if I had to guess, around 90% of them) require user to switch to aspect=true. (e.g. Dark Forces, Doom)
- cycles=auto needs an improved heuristic - existing one does not work well for titles such as Wolfenstein 3D (and all derived games) or X-Wing series - users need to manually raise cycles count beyond 3000 otherwise games are unplayable; even when heuristic decides to use full CPU it does not work very well. I found that hardcoding 'max 90%' works the best for a wide range of games, at the cost of making games from 80s run too fast.
- output=surface is the default!
- fullresolution=original should probably be changed to fullresolution=desktop (even documentation in .conf file suggests it…) - most users nowadays use LCD or IPS displays and would benefit from it (although it's broken due to SDL 1.2 bug on multi-monitor setups... but fullresolution=original seems also broken on those setups, switching Linux DEs to mirror mode)

The combination of output=surface and fullresolution=original makes perfect sense if you think about it; output modes other than surface aren't always available and using a larger resolution with a mode that can't scale is just going to put a postage stamp sized image in the middle of the screen.

You are likely playing real mode games which use the normal core in DOSBox. The issue with using max cycles with DOS games is you are likely to encounter issues such as speed and audio detection issues among others. There are thousands of DOS games so setting max by default is not a good idea. Until/if DOSBox is cycle accurate then a low value by default is the best solution. Even then there wouldn't be a perfect config for all games so in such a future there would likely be specific recommended PC profiles to boot DOSBox with.

If DOSBox were to detect executables and assign a cycle and/or core value then it would also have to take into account processor model, speed, executable and store that information somewhere without contacting the Internet and it would need to be updated since new processors are released all the time and it would need to do that for all the thousands of executables out there. It would also have to assume no crazy power management tricks by host hardware and software and no extra processor utilization on the host.

If you were using a real pc then you would have speed issues anyway depending on the games and hardware you are using and have to either have seperate computers and/or modify CPU speed via hardware or software and you'd still have to use batch files with either a menu system in autoexec.bat or ones for each game unless you wanted to do it all manually.

If you are playing games in DOSBox on one computer and not multiples ones with different specs then you can setup what each game needs in a frontend like DBGL with all the settings saved.

Also you shouldn't be using the same DOSBox session anyway for multiple applications. DOS programs are very buggy so yet again another reason to use a frontend.

dreamer_ wrote on 2020-01-13, 00:39:

Dominus wrote on 2020-01-12, 23:37:

1st unnecessary bloat, most games run without fine tuning.

I don't think it's true… even the most popular DOS games need tweaking.

pff, you need some defaults, not to mention these are settings you change ONCE in your dobsox config, not something that needs to be changed per game.
What Steam/Origin/Gog do is an entire other topic as well and hard to avoid if they mess things up.
Point about bloat and ease of making batch files still stands and DosFreak is right, too. Needless sidetrack of this thread.

Especially when there seems to be something else going on entirely:

theelf wrote on 2020-01-13, 00:30:

Hi […]
Show full quote

Dominus wrote on 2020-01-12, 23:37:

2nd the batch files are quick and easy, just always add a run.bat to each game and set the needed things and then let it start the game.

Hi

No quick and easy, because i need to

1 - rename executable, for example lotus.exe to lotus1.exe
2 - make a batch file with same name of old executable lotus.bat in this example

Plus i need to make a second batch !rename.bat that will delete lotus.bat and rename lotus1.exe to lotus.exe to unpatch

A lot of work for every game

Thats why i was asking if someone knows a way, i was checking sourcecode, because in dosbox window the executable name is printed, i think maybe dosbox is able to detect the executable name..? or maybe is not possible, in this case, i will not check anymore and just do the batchs

thanks

What are you talking about? Why would you need to do all the renaming? That's totally unneeded.
Just place a batch file in the game or app folder, call it run.bat. In there do the settings and call the game, e.g.:

1cycles=15000
2core=dynamic
3game.exe

No need for that error prone renaming scheme you are thinking about.

What are you talking about? Why would you need to do all the renaming? That's totally unneeded. Just place a batch file in the g […]
Show full quote

What are you talking about? Why would you need to do all the renaming? That's totally unneeded.
Just place a batch file in the game or app folder, call it run.bat. In there do the settings and call the game, e.g.:

Copy code to clipboard

1cycles=15000
2core=dynamic
3game.exe

No need for that error prone renaming scheme you are thinking about.

The problem is you have a bat and a exe in same directory with same name, the exe will be executed

lotus.bat
lotus.exe

c:\games\lotus\lotus will execute lotus.exe

In windows there is the PATHEXT, but i think not in DOS (i can remember now) but in dosbox for sure not, i tried already

My only exeptions to use a different name than the original is the cracks, for example for ages, in Dangerous Dave i always execute 1.exe... i know..is not the original executable... but just nostalgia jeje

If not a crack, i always want to execute the game with original name, not run, start, or whatever different name

theelf wrote on 2020-01-13, 14:19:

What are you talking about? Why would you need to do all the renaming? That's totally unneeded. Just place a batch file in the g […]
Show full quote

What are you talking about? Why would you need to do all the renaming? That's totally unneeded.
Just place a batch file in the game or app folder, call it run.bat. In there do the settings and call the game, e.g.:

Copy code to clipboard

1cycles=15000
2core=dynamic
3game.exe

No need for that error prone renaming scheme you are thinking about.

If not a crack, i always want to execute the game with original name, not run, start, or whatever different name

I see but I really don't understand why it *HAS* to be like this. Sorry, but I doubt the developers want to invest *hours* in unpaid work to implement this, just so you can start the game with the exe name instead of run or start...

Dominus wrote:

I see but I really don't understand why it *HAS* to be like this. Sorry, but I doubt the developers want to invest *hours* in unpaid work to implement this, just so you can start the game with the exe name instead of run or start...

I dont want they implement, for this personal stuff i have my personal dosbox build, with all modifications i like. Just ask if exist a function, before start working in sourcecode

I dont want to spend time implementing something already exist

theelf wrote on 2020-01-13, 14:19:

The problem is you have a bat and a exe in same directory with same name, the exe will be executed […]
Show full quote

The problem is you have a bat and a exe in same directory with same name, the exe will be executed

lotus.bat
lotus.exe

c:\games\lotus\lotus will execute lotus.exe

Just use the full name of the batch script (with extension):
c:\games\lotus\lotus.bat will execute lotus.bat

zirkoni wrote on 2020-01-13, 15:19:

theelf wrote on 2020-01-13, 14:19:

The problem is you have a bat and a exe in same directory with same name, the exe will be executed […]
Show full quote

The problem is you have a bat and a exe in same directory with same name, the exe will be executed

lotus.bat
lotus.exe

c:\games\lotus\lotus will execute lotus.exe

Just use the full name of the batch script (with extension):
c:\games\lotus\lotus.bat will execute lotus.bat

Oh, this will destroy the magic... a batch file when original file was a exe... something is not right jeje

This is when i play lotus in my Pentium 2 that give a overflow... and i need to do a batch file with cpucache to off... every time i play lotus if i need to execute a bat file, will remember me im not in my harris 286, but in the pentium 2

No problem this in real hardware, but if i do emulation, is something i feel i can fix

Even though I also use batch files, there's another reason to use some frontend with different config files per game that none mentioned yet: not everything can be adjusted on runtime, like the machine type to play a cga game with the correct palette for example.

konc wrote on 2020-01-13, 17:37:

Even though I also use batch files, there's another reason to use some frontend with different config files per game that none mentioned yet: not everything can be adjusted on runtime, like the machine type to play a cga game with the correct palette for example.

Yes, i did in Pascal different executables that exaclty mimic the boot process of my computers. I capture and reproduce exactly, resolution, timing, etc of my IBM XT 4.77, Tandy 1000, 286 with EGA and a 486DX2 with VGA

I have different config for Hercules, Tandy, EGA, and VGA, that execute the boot program and go back to prompt

theelf wrote on 2020-01-13, 14:19:

The problem is you have a bat and a exe in same directory with same name, the exe will be executed […]
Show full quote

What are you talking about? Why would you need to do all the renaming? That's totally unneeded. Just place a batch file in the g […]
Show full quote

What are you talking about? Why would you need to do all the renaming? That's totally unneeded.
Just place a batch file in the game or app folder, call it run.bat. In there do the settings and call the game, e.g.:

Copy code to clipboard

1cycles=15000
2core=dynamic
3game.exe

No need for that error prone renaming scheme you are thinking about.

The problem is you have a bat and a exe in same directory with same name, the exe will be executed

lotus.bat
lotus.exe

c:\games\lotus\lotus will execute lotus.exe

In windows there is the PATHEXT, but i think not in DOS (i can remember now) but in dosbox for sure not, i tried already

My only exeptions to use a different name than the original is the cracks, for example for ages, in Dangerous Dave i always execute 1.exe... i know..is not the original executable... but just nostalgia jeje

If not a crack, i always want to execute the game with original name, not run, start, or whatever different name

You could type out the filename with the extension or you could rename the batch file to a different name.

DOSBox command.com does COM, EXE and then BAT and cannot be changed except in the code..

DosFreak wrote on 2020-01-13, 18:34:

DOSBox command.com does COM, EXE and then BAT and cannot be changed except in the code..

ah interesting, i was looking in code about this, but i did not find the execution order. I will check again and build again dosbox

thanks for the tip, very useful