VOGONS


First post, by ntalaec

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I would like to know DOS games which required installation and the installer was Windows-only. After install the game should run fine in DOS.
I'm excluding re-releases with no additional game content.

Windows 3.x
Chex Quest (1996) [game can run without installation but configuration can't be saved]
Zoop (1995)

Windows 9x
Pył (1999) [Polish game]
Rayman Designer (1997) [new levels based on Rayman (1995), level editor is Windows-only]
The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard (1998)
Tyrian 2000 (1999) [re-release of Tyrian (1995) with a new episode]

Last edited by ntalaec on 2025-08-03, 09:28. Edited 6 times in total.

Reply 1 of 19, by dominusprog

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Guts 'n' Garters in DNA Danger is another one.

https://www.mobygames.com/game/31185/guts-n-g … 8/cover-112525/

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Reply 2 of 19, by AppleSauce

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Didn't the elder scrolls redguard also fit this criteria?

Reply 3 of 19, by wierd_w

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While not vintage, this applies to every GoG installer for DOS titles. (For completeness, and pedantry purposes)

Reply 4 of 19, by ntalaec

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dominusprog wrote on 2025-07-28, 17:09:

Guts 'n' Garters in DNA Danger is another one.

https://www.mobygames.com/game/31185/guts-n-g … 8/cover-112525/

I have checked it and it has two installers: INSTALL.EXE for DOS and SETUP.EXE for Windows.

AppleSauce wrote on 2025-07-28, 17:15:

Didn't the elder scrolls redguard also fit this criteria?

Good find!

wierd_w wrote on 2025-07-28, 18:25:

While not vintage, this applies to every GoG installer for DOS titles. (For completeness, and pedantry purposes)

Well, I was looking for games of that era. But GOG uses an emulator (DOSBox) which is a native Windows application. So technically, GOG games are Windows games.

Reply 5 of 19, by dominusprog

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ntalaec wrote on 2025-07-29, 19:26:
dominusprog wrote on 2025-07-28, 17:09:

Guts 'n' Garters in DNA Danger is another one.

https://www.mobygames.com/game/31185/guts-n-g … 8/cover-112525/

I have checked it and it has two installers: INSTALL.EXE for DOS and SETUP.EXE for Windows.

I don't know, the copy I have only run the setup under Windows.

Duke_2600.png
A-Trend ATC-1020 V1.1 ❇ Cyrix 6x86 150+ @ 120MHz ❇ 32MiB EDO RAM (8MiBx4) ❇ A-Trend S3 Trio64V2 2MiB
Creative AWE64 Value ❇ 8.4GiB Quantum Fireball ❇ Win95 OSR2 Plus!

Reply 6 of 19, by dr_st

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Most of the bundles / spinoffs of the original Rayman (Designer, By His Fans, 60 Levels...) included Windows-only installers for a DOS-only game.

The Gamefest: Redneck Classics collection only had Windows installers for games that run in DOS, although the original releases probably had DOS installers.

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Reply 7 of 19, by LSS10999

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Some classic ORT Software titles such as AstroFire, TerraFire had Windows installers but the games themselves are DOS-based.

When the game exits it would try launching something that require Windows (about ordering info and such), so playing it from pure DOS would lead to a harmless error message saying this program cannot be run in DOS mode.

Reply 8 of 19, by ntalaec

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@dominusprog
I have found two versions of the game: DOS game with DOS and Windows installers and Windows game with Windows installer, but I haven't found a version with DOS game with only a Windows installer

@dr_st and @LSS10999
I am looking for original releases. These are re releases, like DOS games released in GOG.

Reply 9 of 19, by akula65

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You might want to look at Silent Hunter: Commander's Edition. Per the README.TXT file:

FEATURES ADDED IN the Commander's Edition and V1.31 - […]
Show full quote

FEATURES ADDED IN the Commander's Edition and V1.31 -

Silent Hunter Commander's Edition is the compilation of the original
Silent Hunter and patrol disks 1, 2, and 3. Patrol disk 3 addes (sic) two more
patrol zones, Aleutian Islands and Java Sea. Fifteen additional historical
scenarios are included.

The original game and the subsequent patrol disks were DOS affairs, but Silent Hunter: Commander's Edition indicates that it is for Windows 3.1 (see this link for the back of the package). The README.TXT file indicates the following:

WINDOWS 95 ISSUES. Since Silent Hunter was developed as a DOS game, you should avoid playing Silent Hunter directly from Window […]
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WINDOWS 95 ISSUES.
Since Silent Hunter was developed as a DOS game, you should
avoid playing Silent Hunter directly from Windows 95. Silent
Hunter should be run from DOS directly or thorough a DOS session.

The game manual that comes with the package is an Adobe Acrobat file (Manual.pdf), and the disk includes acroread.exe.

There is an INSTALL.EXE file in the SH sub-directory, but I don't know if you can actually perform a DOS install or not. The disc has the usual Windows autorun mechanism.

Reply 10 of 19, by leileilol

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Of the games I have, I can only think about Chex Quest. That had a 16-bit Wise installer (no DEICE or any install program for DOS), does partially depend on Windows to invoke smacker videos for intro and post-game. DOS can enjoy it without them. (AOL drove this disc and AOL only cares about Windows)

I'm pretty sure there's been some Smartsaver Softkey releases of some korean dos games that probably fall under this.

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Reply 11 of 19, by ntalaec

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@akula65
It seems that this version it's a re release. The installer for the original release is DOS-only (INSTALL.BAT). It's version 1.31.
SSI.png

@leileilol
Thanks! Installer requires Windows 3.1. Game can run without installation (from CHEX.EXE) but configuration cannot be saved.

Reply 12 of 19, by dr_st

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ntalaec wrote on 2025-07-30, 19:36:

@dr_st and @LSS10999
I am looking for original releases. These are re releases, like DOS games released in GOG.

I believe that at least for the case of Rayman Designer, the Windows-only installer was already present in the original release (the one that didn't include the base game, and so cannot be seen as 're-release'). You can check Rayman Designer ISOs on the Internet Archive, for example.

I'm not sure the other spin-offs or Rayman 1 were ever released separately from the base game, though. Possibly "Par Ses Fans" was, only in France.

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Reply 13 of 19, by Garrett W

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Pyl ("Dust" in English) from 1999 also has a Windows installer but is a strictly a DOS program.

Reply 14 of 19, by ntalaec

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@dr_st
Rayman Designer it's an expansion, not a full game. But I'm going to include it

@Garrett W
Added!

Reply 15 of 19, by marxveix

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Actua Soccer: Semi-Finals (also VR Soccer 96)

The Actua Soccer: Semi-Finals ATI 3D RAGE version was bundled with with IBM computers based on Ati Rage II family video card.
This game have a Win9x installer, but the game itself is a DOS game, needs DOS or DOS mode (with DOS CD-ROM and mouse drivers).

https://gona.mactar.hu/ATI3DCIF/

30+ MiniGL/OpenGL Win9x files for all Rage3 cards: Re: ATi RagePro OpenGL files

Reply 16 of 19, by ntalaec

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@marxveix
It's a re release. The original game has a DOS installer

Reply 17 of 19, by LSS10999

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ntalaec wrote on 2025-07-30, 19:36:

@dr_st and @LSS10999
I am looking for original releases. These are re releases, like DOS games released in GOG.

IIRC ORT Software already used those Windows-based installers when the games were still shareware. The freeware releases are simply their respective full versions.

Reply 18 of 19, by dr_st

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ntalaec wrote on 2025-08-02, 10:20:

@dr_st
Rayman Designer it's an expansion, not a full game. But I'm going to include it

I would call it a spin-off, not an expansion. It doesn't require the base game to run, and cannot be integrated into the base game either (they are really completely separate programs, although with a common game engine).

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Reply 19 of 19, by ntalaec

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@LSS10999
I'll try to exclude shareware games by now.

@dr_st
You're right. I have change the description.