Will a game written for a XT 8086 work on a 80486 40Mhz or will it be too fast? Game in question is Gunship from Microprose; other Microprose titles are of concern as well. Thanks!
Test the game in DOSBox using differing number of cycles (and 386 versus 486 should provide an approximate test of cpu difference). Another has shown this is an effective test for Wing Commander, so it should work for other games.
There are XT games for which a 12 MHz 286 would start to be too fast. It all depends on the game.
Interested in Microprose games right now, others for sure, but can't think right now.
wrote:There are XT games for which a 12 MHz 286 would start to be too fast. It all depends on the game.
This is the reason for the turbo button. It slows the computer down to a 808X for programs that need it. Once people wrote software that wasn't dependent on just one speed of cpu the need for a turbo button disappeared quickly.
It is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems just with potatoes.
wrote:wrote:This is the reason for the turbo button. It slows the computer down to a 808X for programs that need it. Once people wrote software that wasn't dependent on just one speed of cpu the need for a turbo button disappeared quickly.
Took some time before this happened
*Cough* Ultima VI *Cough*
Most Microprose games will work fine, but the only way to know is trying the games.
VGA games used vsync for speed throttle, but earlier (CGA) games relied on loops inside code. If your game let's you choose a speed (80286/12, 8086/8, 8086/4.77) it won't work as intended on your 486, but keep in mind that there are some utilities like moslo that can slow down your computer (BTW, disabling cache will make your CPU a lot slower).
I have traveled across the universe and through the years to find Her.
Sometimes going all the way is just a start...
but certain XT game can even run almost flawlessly on post Pentium 4 CPUs, like "Cat" for example, but it was afected by turbo button though.
-fffuuu
If you're referring to Alley Cat, then that is a very rare exception.
Prince of Persia 1 and Gods run perfectly well on modern systems.
wrote:Test the game in DOSBox using differing number of cycles (and 386 versus 486 should provide an approximate test of cpu difference). Another has shown this is an effective test for Wing Commander, so it should work for other games.
Great idea! Never thought of trying that -- and its quite accurate; I tested A-10 Tank Killer 1.5 on Dosbox with cycles matching a 486DX 66mhz (verified with TopBench) then ran the same game on a actual 486DX 66 and it was pretty much the same. Going to try with others to see what results I can get.
