VOGONS


First post, by Foxhack

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I recently got an old DOS package called "Arcade Hits" while I was in Tennessee on vacation. (MobyGames listing here). The package contained one floppy disc with CGA versions of Cabal, Street Fighter, and Side Arms.

I can get Cabal to work fine on DOSBox; in fact, it's a pretty good conversion! Street Fighter is a godawful game and I don't think it even ran right on the proper system. My issue is with Side Arms.

I never really had a computer until the late 90's so I'm not sure how this game is supposed to run. Hell I didn't even know there was a DOS version out until I got that package! Has anyone ever played this game, or know how to get it to run properly? Installing the game works, but I can't seem to figure out the proper cycles value to get it to run right. I think the emulation gets the program confused because I get assaulted with tons of bullets I can't avoid.

The box doesn't mention a specific CPU requirement, just that it needs a Tandy or IBM PC/XT/AT with 640k memory and CGA Hercules display.

Thanks. 😀

Reply 1 of 3, by eL_PuSHeR

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[MOVED]

Intel i7 5960X
Gigabye GA-X99-Gaming 5
8 GB DDR4 (2100)
8 GB GeForce GTX 1070 G1 Gaming (Gigabyte)

Reply 2 of 3, by leileilol

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Side Arms is an early shmup designed for 5150 era machines, try cycles 720.

apsosig.png
long live PCem

Reply 3 of 3, by Foxhack

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It -still- goes way too fast.

I started messing with the cycles value, and the only one that produced somewhat playable results was... cycles: 50. I wish I was kidding. Anything lower than that caused DOSBox to go kinda bonkers on me. I'm not sure if it's related to my video drivers or if my machine is causing it to behave oddly. (I'm using the standard 0.73 release from the official site, btw.)

Thanks for your help. All this DOS stuff is from way before my time so I don't quite get everything in the config menus.