How do I run DOS games on my Windows 98 PC? \ VOGONS

How do I run DOS games on my Windows 98 PC?

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First post, by Snookeroo

Posted on 2021-08-26, 12:47

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Greeting Vogons!

I am an absolute noob to the retro scene. In the last couple of months I have amused myself during covid lockdown by building a sweet Windows 98 gaming PC, and I'm loving it. Playing old games like Warcraft 3 and The Sims has been a breeze.

However, I would like to go even further back, to before my time, and try out some old DOS classics.

I downloaded Duke Nukem 3D, Atomic version from here:

but I am completely clueless on how to install/run it on my Windows 98 PC. I have copied the files over via CF card, but I don't know what to run or how. Could someone please give me a few pointers?

I tried running the DUKE3D.BAT file in DOS, but it just got stuck in this weird recursive loop. I think it was failing to find an executable in some directory, so it was infinitely retrying.

Save me Vogons, you're my only hope!

Cheers!

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Last edited by DosFreak on 2021-08-27, 10:20. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 1 of 9, by Bondi

Posted on 2021-08-26, 13:30

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Usually all you need is to run DUKE3D.EXE
You may also want to run setup.exe to set display and sound optoins. What sound card do you have?

PCMCIA Sound Cards chart
archive.org: PCMCIA software, manuals, drivers

Reply 2 of 9, by Snookeroo

Posted on 2021-08-26, 13:34

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I did run the setup.exe and was trying to do a sound test, but it was saying it couldn't find the sound card. I'm running a Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 Digital (model SB0220). I can get some screenshots tomorrow so you can properly see what I'm getting when I try to run it.

Reply 3 of 9, by Gmlb256

Posted on 2021-08-26, 13:55

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Make sure that the VXD drivers for the SB Live are installed as by installing it by default through the CD will use WDM which has a lot of issues. You should have a SB16 Emulation driver on the Device Manager if using the VXD ones.

Snookeroo wrote on 2021-08-26, 12:47:

I downloaded Duke Nukem 3D, Atomic version from here:

-- abandonware link --

Download the shareware version of that game instead.

Reply 4 of 9, by chinny22

Posted on 2021-08-27, 10:12

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If your intending to play alot of dos games and have a ISA slot its definitely worth while to get an ISA sound card as well.
PCI cards for dos are mre of a secondary "legacy" feature which don't sound great and have compatibility issues.

But to get going with what you have (or no ISA slot) then the above advise is definitely correct.

Reply 5 of 9, by MrD

Posted on 2021-08-27, 16:08

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Go to https://www.philscomputerlab.com/sound-blaster-live.html and take a look at the section labelled 'Audigy 2 ZS drivers for Live!'.

There's two screenshots there, the left one shows the set of five driver installs for Sound Blaster Live! cards, and the right one shows the devices that appear in Device Manager when you've installed all five. If you have 'Creative SB16 Emulation' showing as a device, that's good.

You may have to manually set up the sound card in the Duke3d setup rather than relying on autodetection. For starters, try telling it you have a Sound Blaster (not Pro or 16), IRQ 7, DMA 1. If that works, then try the Sound Blaster 16, for stereo and 44khz sound.

Reply 6 of 9, by leileilol

Posted on 2021-08-28, 19:53

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since live + Duke3d's involved, check Ken Silverman's website for that SBLive fix program to avoid the segfault when you enter the sewers

long live PCem

Reply 7 of 9, by Warlord

Posted on 2021-08-28, 21:34

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You probably didn't install the VXD drivers with the dos emulation for your live card and have been just using the WDMs that's your problem. 2nd what leileilol said. There are updated procedures for this posted in the sound section of the forum. Look for using Audigy drivers on Live. Guide: Installing Windows 9x and DOS drivers on Sound Blaster Live! cards (version 3.1)

Theres also a more accurate SF now than the patch 93. for SC55. It's called SC-55.SoundFont.v1.2b.sf2

Last if you want to play dos games, consider getting an ISA card. PCI cards tend to work ok in windows with various degrees of compatibility. The only ones that work reliably have SBLINK provided you have a header on your mobo.
Creatives emulation isn't that bad but its probably not as good as A3Ds at least compatibility wise. XGs is probably the best but not without a SBLINK, and the A3d is the only one that I know that midi works in pure dos.

Reply 8 of 9, by Jo22

Posted on 2021-08-29, 08:50

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If audio is an issue only, you may like to try VDMSound for Windows 9x..

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