I've just released version 0.8.0 which adds a visual memory map which is shown when you press F4 which switches the right hand panel to this view

GameMinder is design to help you quickly find and play your games. So this is there to help determine how your conventional (along with EMS/XMS) memory is looking and what you might be able to swap out.

Each game allows you to run a command before and after. Which for example, allows you to load in and out a mouse driver

You can also specify how much conventional memory each game needs and it'll warn you if you don't have enough

"Add your games: run GameMinder and choose Add (or press Ins) to pick a game directory and fill in its details."

This seems like a "catch 22" situation. Why GameMinder can't run without any games added?

Thanks for the feedback @analog_programmer - that's an edge case I'd missed, as I've been retesting on my 386 which already has a library of games registered

I've released version 0.8.1 which addresses this issue

https://github.com/MaverickUK/GameMinder/rele … inder-0.8.1.zip

GameMinder starts when no games are found, rather than listing the directory it searched and exiting. The Info panel (F2) shows a welcome explaining how to add your first game with Add (or Ins), or to change ScanPath and choose Rescan. Until there's a game, Run, Filter, Sort, Edit and Delete are greyed out and skipped, and the sort keys (F5-F10), typing to filter and full screen do nothing. Removing the last game goes back to the welcome

Thanks for the quick fix, MaverickUK! GameMinder now works without any manually preset games.

And one trick for a better DOS executable build: use TPC's /B switch for better optimized compiled code. For example, my current DOS executable built with Turbo Pascal 7.1 (yes, there is an official latest Turbo Pascal for DOS version 7.1, not the older 7.01 and 7.00) is much smaller in size (~85,3 KB), since it was produced by using these batch-file commands:

1@ECHO OFF
2REM - Using Turbo Pascal v. 7.xx -
3
4CD EXECSWAP
5..\..\..\..\TASM\TASM EXECSWAP.ASM
6TPC /M /B EXECSWAP.PAS
7DEL EXECSWAP.OBJ
8COPY EXECSWAP.TPU ..
9DEL EXECSWAP.TPU
10
11CD ..
12TPC /M /B GAMEMIND.PAS
13DEL *.TPU

analog_programmer wrote on 2026-11-09, 19:50:

And one trick for a better DOS executable build: use TPC's /B switch for better optimized compiled code. For example, my current DOS executable built with Turbo Pascal 7.1 (yes, there is an official latest Turbo Pascal for DOS version 7.1, not the older 7.01 and 7.00) is much smaller in size (~85,3 KB), since it was produced by using these batch-file commands:

As far as I know there was no official Turbo Pascal 7.1 version. There are rebuilds (with Dosbox) which includes Turbo Pascal 7.1 (or even 7.3.3). But those are all community builds. But if you have an official source that it indeed exists please let me know.

Don't know what /B does in TP7.1 btw but in TP7.01 it only does this: -B = Build all units. It does not make the file smaller. It just compiles all unit files (which you always should use if your programs use units).

Yoghoo wrote on 2026-11-09, 20:27:

As far as I know there was no official Turbo Pascal 7.1 version. There are rebuilds (with Dosbox) which includes Turbo Pascal 7.1 (or even 7.3.3). But those are all community builds. But if you have an official source that it indeed exists please let me know.

It claims it is not a commercial release nor DOSBox community's build from the "abandonware" sites, but a real TP version 7.1 from 1997 released only for educational institutions in a particular states. Something like Turbo C++ 4.0J for Japan only.

Yoghoo wrote on 2026-11-09, 20:27:

Don't know what /B does in TP7.1 btw but in TP7.01 it only does this: -B = Build all units. It does not make the file smaller. It just compiles all unit files (which you always should use if your programs use units).

I didn't explain it well, but when using /M with /B (i.e. both /M and /B switches) all the included build modules are optimized too. Here is the proof:

analog_programmer wrote on 2026-11-09, 20:53:

It claims it is not a commercial release nor DOSBox community's build from the "abandonware" sites, but a real TP version 7.1 fr […]
Show full quote

Yoghoo wrote on 2026-11-09, 20:27:

As far as I know there was no official Turbo Pascal 7.1 version. There are rebuilds (with Dosbox) which includes Turbo Pascal 7.1 (or even 7.3.3). But those are all community builds. But if you have an official source that it indeed exists please let me know.

It claims it is not a commercial release nor DOSBox community's build from the "abandonware" sites, but a real TP version 7.1 from 1997 released for educational institutions only in a particular states.

Yoghoo wrote on 2026-11-09, 20:27:

Don't know what /B does in TP7.1 btw but in TP7.01 it only does this: -B = Build all units. It does not make the file smaller. It just compiles all unit files (which you always should use if your programs use units).

I didn't explain it well, but when using /M with /B all the included modules are optimized too. Here is the proof:

Tried the /M as well on my programs but didn't make any size difference (not even a byte). But then again I'm setting all compile parameters in the program itself. For example:

{$G-,N-,E-,F-,A-} { Size optimizations }
{$D-,L-,Y-} { No debug info }

Yoghoo wrote on 2026-11-09, 21:09:

Tried the /M as well on my programs but didn't make any size difference (not even a byte). But then again I'm setting all compile parameters in the program itself. For example:

{$G-,N-,E-,F-,A-} { Size optimizations }
{$D-,L-,Y-} { No debug info }

I will not argue here in vain. I provided the optimized build executable (/M and /B switches used) in my previous post. I also provided the building batch-file in my pre-previous post.

P.S. No Pascal code compiler directives was touched in the source (if there are any), I just added /B switch in the TPC's command line suggested in the "how to build manual".

Thanks for the advice analog_programmer

I decided to use Free Pascal for the GitHub CI build of GameMinder, so that I don't get into any licences issues. Perhaps a little over cautious, but I'd prefer to be safe 😀

Turbo Pascal certainly does seem to lead to smaller executables. That's what I tended to use originally for my local builds, it was just with the move to GitHub Actions I made the change in compiler but I didn't notice the change in compiled size

MaverickUK, so you're using Free Pascal cross-compiling instead of native DOS TP 7.xx and that could explain the drastic difference in the built executable size. I'm sorry for this misunderstanding.

Not a problem, I appreciate your time and thoughts

Let me know if you've any further issues with GameMinder or have any suggestions to improve the functionality or usability based on your experiences

Hi, MaverickUK, and thanks for asking!

Actually, I have a small problem with GameMinder, but I'm not sure if it's solvable with current game-config files scheme. I have a couple of single-file old DOS games (.exe and .com executbles) in GAMES folder, and there's no way to add them in current GameMinder release due to the !GM_INFO.TXT structure.

Anyway, GameMinder works good and I couldn't find any bugs in it.