just another comment about the newest dosbox. in thh game black cauldron by sierra, all sprites move in very weird ways and multiply across the screen in 0.61, whereas the game works fine in 0.60. not sure if it's a setting problem but i tried the same conf with both.
Same thing happens in the KQ compilation version of KQ2. KQ1 works fine.
Don't forget to try the "machine" variable in dosbox.conf.
wrote:Don't forget to try the "machine" variable in dosbox.conf.
I did, and the results are rather queer. When using "auto", the results resemble those of the original poster.
When using "cga", BC uses some 16 color mode, but the colors are rather weird (Taran has purple hair) and all text is partially cyan/magenta. Probably the cga-emulation is still not perfect.
When using "tandy", BC uses 16 color mode, but it sometimes displays horizontal black lines across the screen, and the bottom part isn't cleared (the copyright text stays visible).
When using "vga", BC runs as expected (16 color mode), no problems there. Same for "hercules".
What I find really weird is the differences between "auto" and the other options. I couldn't make BC duplicate the faulty screen with the other options, and besides, BC can only detect CGA, EGA, HGC and JR (= Tandy). Is seems that DOSbox defaults to some unknown (and in this case uncompatible) mode.
JAL
Dosbox defaults in auto mode where games can detect tandy graphics too, but for some stupid reason sierra developers fucked up and use tandy routines while they select ega output. Well at least that's my guess, so go blame sierra.
A little update:
I tested the following games:
BC version 2.00, AGI 2.439
KQ1 version 2.0F, AGI 2.917
KQ2 version 2.2, AGI 2.917
DDPG version 1.0C, AGI 2.272 (Donald Duck's Playground)
LSL1 version 1.00, AGI 2.440
SQ1 version 2.2, AGI 2.917
Of those games, all with an AGI version lower than 2.917 (i.e. BC, LSL1 and DDPG) display the faulty behaviour.
Also funny is that DDPG asks for joystick calibration when selecting auto or Tandy, but doesn't when selecting cga, vga or hercules. Also, DDPG doesn't seem to support Hercules, and defaults to CGA.
My provisional conclusion is that DOSbox emulates some Tandy registers in auto mode, to trick the older AGI games into believing Tandy is present, without fully switching into Tandy-compatible mode.
IMHO, Tandy should never be "auto detected", since it never was part of normal PCs. I think DOSbox needs better machine configuration capabilities, being able to select basic machine type (PC, Tandy), and subselect all other types of hardware (e.g. processor type, graphics card etc.).
JAL
wrote:Dosbox defaults in auto mode where games can detect tandy graphics too, but for some stupid reason sierra developers fucked up and use tandy routines while they select ega output. Well at least that's my guess, so go blame sierra.
Of course, it's very easy to use strong language when blaming others, while in fact DOSbox creates an environment that never existed in the real world (i.e. cohabition of Tandy and PC graphics). See my thoughts on that in my previous post. However, your thought that Sierra somehow "fucked up" seems correct, since later versions of AGI do not display the faulty behaviour, but instead switch to EGA. Supposedly, the later AGI versions where fixed for VGA, but that is mere speculation.
JAL
At least now i know about the machine variable. Although some games stil give me trouble. The updates for ultima 3 and 2 that update graphics to 16 colours give an odd error. When directions etc are written out as the char walks around or performs actions, they arent written on more than one line, with the consequence that previous lines remain and are covered and mixed with new. machine settings all give the same error this time. this doesnt affect the original cga versions.
