VOGONS


First post, by 97scoobydoo@gmail.co

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Hi everyone,
I’m looking for someone with experience in retro Windows game preservation, DirectDraw quirks, and XP virtualization to help me build a modular Windows‑11‑friendly wrapper/launcher system.

What I need right now
I’d like to start with Orly’s Draw‑A‑Story as the first integrated game.
The wrapper should:

Use a small, preconfigured Windows XP VM (or similar environment)

Have Orly pre‑installed and fully working

Include fixes for DirectDraw, cursor issues, audio, and CD‑checks

Launch the game directly from Windows 11 without showing the VM

Exit cleanly back to Windows 11

What I want long‑term
I’d like the wrapper/launcher to be modular, so I (or the same developer) can add more adapted games later without rebuilding the whole system.

Something like:

A “games” folder where new titles can be added

A simple config file per game

The launcher automatically updates to show new entries

Depending on cost (and how much I like them) I have around 17 to 40 Windows games (1996–2006 era) that I’d eventually like to integrate, but for now I only need the system built and Orly added as the first game.

Budget
Based on similar projects, I’m estimating:

$150–$250 for the base system (XP VM + launcher + modular framework)

$50–$100 to integrate Orly as the first game

Total initial budget: $200–$350
(With the option to add more games later at ~$10–$30 each.)

What I can provide

The iso files for the games.

Preferences (fullscreen/windowed, scaling, etc.)

Testing feedback

Clear communication and flexibility

If this sounds like something you’d enjoy working on — or if you’ve built similar GOG‑style wrappers before — I’m happy to consider offers from anyone with the right experience and work with them.

Thanks in advance.

Reply 1 of 5, by myne

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l33t

Not to rain on your parade, but have you tried dxwnd?
We (mostly BEEN_Nath_58) got it to make a win95 game work pretty well and yes, from an "invisible" shortcut.
See sig.
I'm sure the dev would appreciate your help if you were to assist in getting this working.

https://sourceforge.net/projects/dxwnd/

I built:
Convert old ASUS ASC boardviews to KICAD PCB!
Re: A comprehensive guide to install and play MechWarrior 2 on new versions on Windows.
Dos+Windows 3.11+tcp+vbe_svga auto-install iso template
Script to backup Win9x\ME drivers from a working install
Re: The thing no one asked for: KICAD 440bx reference schematic

Reply 2 of 5, by BEEN_Nath_58

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myne wrote on 2026-05-16, 06:15:
Not to rain on your parade, but have you tried dxwnd? We (mostly BEEN_Nath_58) got it to make a win95 game work pretty well and […]
Show full quote

Not to rain on your parade, but have you tried dxwnd?
We (mostly BEEN_Nath_58) got it to make a win95 game work pretty well and yes, from an "invisible" shortcut.
See sig.
I'm sure the dev would appreciate your help if you were to assist in getting this working.

https://sourceforge.net/projects/dxwnd/

We started too:
https://sourceforge.net/p/dxwnd/discussion/ge … ad50a533c/#fe80

previously known as Discrete_BOB_058

Reply 3 of 5, by myne

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Ah cool. Fair progress so far by the looks.

I built:
Convert old ASUS ASC boardviews to KICAD PCB!
Re: A comprehensive guide to install and play MechWarrior 2 on new versions on Windows.
Dos+Windows 3.11+tcp+vbe_svga auto-install iso template
Script to backup Win9x\ME drivers from a working install
Re: The thing no one asked for: KICAD 440bx reference schematic

Reply 4 of 5, by BEEN_Nath_58

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l33t

Game works if you turn off sound. Maybe an issue in waveOut

previously known as Discrete_BOB_058

Reply 5 of 5, by BEEN_Nath_58

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Works now. Was an issue with PAGE Guard?

previously known as Discrete_BOB_058