VOGONS


First post, by NetPCDoc

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I am new to DOSBox - and I have a couple of problems ...

For supported games - is there a way to get recommended configuration settings? (values to "plug into" / "change in" dosbox.conf?)
(The answers I am looking for might be amoungst these recommended settings...)

Then with the DOS install of Sim City 2000 Special Edition (I actually had the original cd gathering dust on a shelf!)
Using DOSBox-0.74 - with default .conf - on an HP Laptop running Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit OS
The game plays great ... until I try to exit out (or run the WILLTV videos) ... when exiting SC2K the systems hangs on a blank screen with a cursor flashing on/about line 2
seems that the .exe is not properly returning control back to the .bat - is this a known issue with a known fix?

I have SC2K's SCURK.com working fine - and it exits properly! - the readme would lead one to believe SCURK would be giving most problems.
Having made an .iso of the cdrom - WILLTV will run properly, if run independantly of the main game's .bat file (which runs SC2K's exe before giving option to do WILLTV).

And in Sim City (the classic DOS 3.3 or better build) - the mouse (or touchpad?) appears to be a bit irratic, jumping around and just about anything except moving smoothly in any given direction; I suspect that the proper .conf values will fix this - if I could just find said proper values!

Reply 1 of 4, by ripsaw8080

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The hang when quitting SC2KSE can be fixed with a LOADFIX allocation (e.g. the command "loadfix -20"). I also find that freeing the few blocks reserved by DOSBox avoids the hang (e.g. the command "loadfix -f").

The mouse is fine for me in original SimCity with default settings in DOSBox. You can try changing the sensitivity= setting, but that may make things worse rather than better. Maybe try hooking up a real mouse instead of using a touchpad.

Reply 2 of 4, by NetPCDoc

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Thanks - SimCity2KSE - the LOADFIX -20 worked ... "loadfix -f" caused a hang right after DOS/4GW displayed its' copyright line/info?
Why do I get the thought that the SC2K.exe is expecting an "environment" copy to be in memory - just below it's code-segment - that DOSBox isn't providing?
(Wonder if a debug.exe from an old dos diagnostic diskette would work in DOSBox-0.74?)

The sensitivity helps - (some) but the mouse movement is still not what I would call stable/smooth. I may have to break down and plug in a real mouse ... if I can still find one.

No place to look for recommended settings to go with specific supported games - from the DOSBox compatibility link/page?

Reply 3 of 4, by ripsaw8080

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It's been awhile since I tried it, so the loadfix -f may have worked in 0.73. In any case, the game is apparently sensitive to load address, and just having different environment variables can cause different results because it changes the load address. Using loadfix often involves trying various allocation sizes until you find one that works, but I always try -20 to -25 because it makes the load address similar to real DOS.

Are you using default cycles with original SimCity? Increasing cycles too high could cause mouse pointer movement to be less smooth.

The compatiblity list may have suggested settings, particularly if they're not obvious. Otherwise, the general rule should be used: start with default settings, change only what is necessary (emphasis on necessary, e.g. don't increase the memsize just because it seems like a good idea to you.)

Reply 4 of 4, by Jorpho

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NetPCDoc wrote:

For supported games - is there a way to get recommended configuration settings? (values to "plug into" / "change in" dosbox.conf?)
(The answers I am looking for might be amoungst these recommended settings...)

FYI, the overwhelmingly vast majority of games do not require any kind of digging into dosbox.conf before they will run correctly.