DustyShinigami wrote on 2026-01-04, 14:47:

I can get the utility to load either without a game linked to it or via the Setup, but adding BMOUSE.EXE LAUNCH BLOOD.EXE seems to fail. Works perfectly fine with Duke though. I appear to get a command error, so I'm not sure if Blood requires a different version of BMOUSE...?

I get:

src\blood.cpp(1551): Invalid argument: -control.

I just tried the latest version with shareware Blood, did all as per the instructions in the readme file, and everything worked as expected. I did not notice any improvement in mouse controls though.

One thing though, this was in DOSBox, and the author of bMouse also mentions in the readme that the driver was not tested outside of DOSBox.

DustyShinigami wrote on 2026-01-04, 14:47:

Also, I've tried NOLFB with Duke3D and Blood to try and eliminate the flickering I get. However, now I get screen tearing. I did come across this thread - NOLFBLIM (updated NOLFB) - Enables VSYNC for DOS Games - but NOLFBLIM doesn't appear to fix it. I even tried both NOLFB and NOLFBLIM together. I get the same problem in Blood, too.

I'm not extremely tech-savvy, but it looks like not all video cards are compatible with NOLFBLIM:

;NOLFBLIM is a TSR that disables the linear framebuffer (LFB) in VESA 2.0 ;(and above) BIOS. In addition, it locks the frame rat […]
Show full quote

;NOLFBLIM is a TSR that disables the linear framebuffer (LFB) in VESA 2.0
;(and above) BIOS. In addition, it locks the frame rate to the refresh rate
;of your screen. Disabling the frame buffer will make some DOS games
;(including BUILD engine games and other demos on my website) run under
;Windows NT/2K/XP. Programs will run slower without the LFB, but at least
;they work! Locking the frame rate will only work if you have a VGA
;register-compatible card, and the default VESA driver supports the VESA
;protected mode interface.

Also running NOLFB and NOLFBLIM generally doesn't seem like a good idea that would bring any improvement.

MrFlibble wrote on 2026-01-04, 16:21:

I just tried the latest version with shareware Blood, did all as per the instructions in the readme file, and everything worked […]
Show full quote

DustyShinigami wrote on 2026-01-04, 14:47:

I can get the utility to load either without a game linked to it or via the Setup, but adding BMOUSE.EXE LAUNCH BLOOD.EXE seems to fail. Works perfectly fine with Duke though. I appear to get a command error, so I'm not sure if Blood requires a different version of BMOUSE...?

I get:

src\blood.cpp(1551): Invalid argument: -control.

I just tried the latest version with shareware Blood, did all as per the instructions in the readme file, and everything worked as expected. I did not notice any improvement in mouse controls though.

One thing though, this was in DOSBox, and the author of bMouse also mentions in the readme that the driver was not tested outside of DOSBox.

DustyShinigami wrote on 2026-01-04, 14:47:

Also, I've tried NOLFB with Duke3D and Blood to try and eliminate the flickering I get. However, now I get screen tearing. I did come across this thread - NOLFBLIM (updated NOLFB) - Enables VSYNC for DOS Games - but NOLFBLIM doesn't appear to fix it. I even tried both NOLFB and NOLFBLIM together. I get the same problem in Blood, too.

I'm not extremely tech-savvy, but it looks like not all video cards are compatible with NOLFBLIM:

;NOLFBLIM is a TSR that disables the linear framebuffer (LFB) in VESA 2.0 ;(and above) BIOS. In addition, it locks the frame rat […]
Show full quote

;NOLFBLIM is a TSR that disables the linear framebuffer (LFB) in VESA 2.0
;(and above) BIOS. In addition, it locks the frame rate to the refresh rate
;of your screen. Disabling the frame buffer will make some DOS games
;(including BUILD engine games and other demos on my website) run under
;Windows NT/2K/XP. Programs will run slower without the LFB, but at least
;they work! Locking the frame rate will only work if you have a VGA
;register-compatible card, and the default VESA driver supports the VESA
;protected mode interface.

Also running NOLFB and NOLFBLIM generally doesn't seem like a good idea that would bring any improvement.

I trust the latest version of bMouse is 0.6, right? That's the one I have anyway. Seems weird it worked for the shareware version, but not my registered copy. As you say, if it was only designed with DOSBox in mind, that could be related. I might have to try both the shareware and registered copies using 86Box and see what happens.

RE video cards - I must've missed that info. I'll have to give it a try with my Riva TNT and see what happens. That's the oldest card I have. I should point out that because you're not able to unload/uninstall NOLFB (at least from what I tried), that made some of my tests inaccurate. By rebooting and trying both Duke and Blood with the standard NOLFB, the screen tearing isn't as bad. In some cases it's not very noticeable. Whereas NOLFBLIM makes the screen tearing worse.

DustyShinigami wrote on 2026-01-04, 17:03:

Seems weird it worked for the shareware version, but not my registered copy. As you say, if it was only designed with DOSBox in mind, that could be related. I might have to try both the shareware and registered copies using 86Box and see what happens.

Just grab the preinstalled shareware version from dosgames.com as I did. Yes, I tried bMouse v0.6.

DustyShinigami wrote on 2026-01-04, 17:03:

By rebooting and trying both Duke and Blood with the standard NOLFB, the screen tearing isn't as bad. In some cases it's not very noticeable. Whereas NOLFBLIM makes the screen tearing worse.

I think both utilities have their ASM code available, so you could compare what is different between the versions. My very limited understanding is that Ken basically forced some of the low-level video card functions to shut down, the result being more or less "unnatural" in both cases.

Curiously, I remember playing NAM (which is basically a Duke Nukem 3D standalone TC) on my early-2000s PC natively under Win98 without any flickering issues. I had a NVIDIA 64MiB VRAM card in that machine, and the CPU was a P4, but I don't remember more clearly. There was no sound and/or music though, I was too lazy to use VDMSound to fix it.

MrFlibble wrote on 2026-01-04, 17:12:

Just grab the preinstalled shareware version from dosgames.com as I did. Yes, I tried bMouse v0.6. […]
Show full quote

DustyShinigami wrote on 2026-01-04, 17:03:

Seems weird it worked for the shareware version, but not my registered copy. As you say, if it was only designed with DOSBox in mind, that could be related. I might have to try both the shareware and registered copies using 86Box and see what happens.

Just grab the preinstalled shareware version from dosgames.com as I did. Yes, I tried bMouse v0.6.

DustyShinigami wrote on 2026-01-04, 17:03:

By rebooting and trying both Duke and Blood with the standard NOLFB, the screen tearing isn't as bad. In some cases it's not very noticeable. Whereas NOLFBLIM makes the screen tearing worse.

I think both utilities have their ASM code available, so you could compare what is different between the versions. My very limited understanding is that Ken basically forced some of the low-level video card functions to shut down, the result being more or less "unnatural" in both cases.

Curiously, I remember playing NAM (which is basically a Duke Nukem 3D standalone TC) on my early-2000s PC natively under Win98 without any flickering issues. I had a NVIDIA 64MiB VRAM card in that machine, and the CPU was a P4, but I don't remember more clearly. There was no sound and/or music though, I was too lazy to use VDMSound to fix it.

Cool. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. I'll grab that. 😀

And good to know. I'll give them a check over and see what's different. I am using a Geforce 4 Ti 128MB, so it is most likely too fast for it.

Can't say I've heard of Nam. It didn't look to be very well received when it came out, heh.

DustyShinigami wrote on 2026-01-04, 17:22:

Can't say I've heard of Nam. It didn't look to be very well received when it came out, heh.

People often bash it for frustrating difficulty in singleplayer campaigns, but I quite enjoyed the "Gruntmatch" mode against bots. There are nice, detailed maps with some extra features like stationary mortars you can fire if you find the ammo. But mostly it's just the regular Duke Nukem 3D botmatch in a reskinned environment.

I liked the original Platoon TC too, although generally I'm not a fan of anything Vietnam War-themed.

MrFlibble wrote on 2026-01-04, 18:12:

DustyShinigami wrote on 2026-01-04, 17:22:

Can't say I've heard of Nam. It didn't look to be very well received when it came out, heh.

People often bash it for frustrating difficulty in singleplayer campaigns, but I quite enjoyed the "Gruntmatch" mode against bots. There are nice, detailed maps with some extra features like stationary mortars you can fire if you find the ammo. But mostly it's just the regular Duke Nukem 3D botmatch in a reskinned environment.

I liked the original Platoon TC too, although generally I'm not a fan of anything Vietnam War-themed.

Ahh, I see. But no, a Vietnam War-theme doesn’t appeal to me either. But I get that there’s certain elements or quirks to some old games that make them a bit of a guilty pleasure. I have that with the FPS South Park game. 😄

MrFlibble wrote on 2026-01-04, 17:12:

Just grab the preinstalled shareware version from dosgames.com as I did. Yes, I tried bMouse v0.6. […]
Show full quote

DustyShinigami wrote on 2026-01-04, 17:03:

Seems weird it worked for the shareware version, but not my registered copy. As you say, if it was only designed with DOSBox in mind, that could be related. I might have to try both the shareware and registered copies using 86Box and see what happens.

Just grab the preinstalled shareware version from dosgames.com as I did. Yes, I tried bMouse v0.6.

DustyShinigami wrote on 2026-01-04, 17:03:

By rebooting and trying both Duke and Blood with the standard NOLFB, the screen tearing isn't as bad. In some cases it's not very noticeable. Whereas NOLFBLIM makes the screen tearing worse.

I think both utilities have their ASM code available, so you could compare what is different between the versions. My very limited understanding is that Ken basically forced some of the low-level video card functions to shut down, the result being more or less "unnatural" in both cases.

Curiously, I remember playing NAM (which is basically a Duke Nukem 3D standalone TC) on my early-2000s PC natively under Win98 without any flickering issues. I had a NVIDIA 64MiB VRAM card in that machine, and the CPU was a P4, but I don't remember more clearly. There was no sound and/or music though, I was too lazy to use VDMSound to fix it.

Yeah, so, I tested the shareware version with 86Box and it works, as you say. Then tried it with the UK/European retail copy and it still gives me that same invalid argument error. Very odd.