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First post, by 3803

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Would it be possible to add in an option into dosbox that's adjusts the cycles automaticly? I know this might be hard since best results with this might vary from game to game...

And a second thing...I'm aware of the workaround for foreign keyboards (using the / instead OR change settings in the control panel)
However, I have found this to be tedious at times so is it possible to implement keyb.exe (or com, dunno)
It would seem weird to me that this feature hasn't been considered yet.
Is there a reason why KEYB isn't used in dosbox?

Thank you 😀

Reply 1 of 7, by mirekluza

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1. Automatic speed setting
It is easier said then it is done. The problem is that it is not defined what is the best speed:
- increase in speed speeds up game, but it can lead to bad sound (if the speed its too high)
- frameskip and speed: bigger frameskip allows bigger speed, but it worsens visual quality (frames are being lost). What is acceptable compromise?
If there is enough processor power, then most DOS games stabilize themselves on certain speed (apart from the oldest ones which do not check real speed).

2. Keyboard
Sometime in the future DOSBOX keyboard will be fully remappable. This should solve the problems. I do not know when this will be finished.

Mirek

Reply 2 of 7, by MiniMax

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3803 wrote:

And a second thing...I'm aware of the workaround for foreign keyboards (using the / instead OR change settings in the control panel)
However, I have found this to be tedious at times ...

Yes, it is irritating. But you can set up a hot-key to shift between you normal keyboard layout and an English. The default is Left-ALT + SHIFT. If you also have the little icon in the systray, to check the current layout, it is not that bad.
--
MiniMax

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Reply 3 of 7, by jal

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3803 wrote:

Would it be possible to add in an option into dosbox that's adjusts the cycles automaticly? I know this might be hard since best results with this might vary from game to game...

Personally, i'd like to see a "Speed" parameter in the config file, so I could boot the machine at a fixed speed (in MHz). Now I have to adjust cycles, and it all depends on the speed of the host machine.

JAL

Reply 5 of 7, by jal

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Qbix wrote:

not possible
keeping track of that would slow dosbox down

Well, maybe not dynamic then, but one time at startup, based on a quick test of the host processor speed. But I agree this could pose some problems, depending on the core implementation of the CPU...

JAL

Reply 6 of 7, by mirekluza

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> based on a quick test of the host processor speed

Not possible. Why? Some things are emulated quicker that others (DOSBOX does not keep the time relations as they existed on real PC!). You can have two programs which run with the same speed in normal DOS, but with different speeds in DOSBOX. In short: the equivalent Mhz value you want is program dependent, so there is no point in defining it.

Mirek

Reply 7 of 7, by jal

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mirekluza wrote:

Not possible. Why? Some things are emulated quicker that others (DOSBOX does not keep the time relations as they existed on real PC!). You can have two programs which run with the same speed in normal DOS, but with different speeds in DOSBOX. In short: the equivalent Mhz value you want is program dependent, so there is no point in defining it.

Nevertheless, it would be possible. I'm writing an emulator at this moment, that does exactly that. DOSBox has the advantage that, since PCs had never one standard configuration, almost all programs can cope with at least some degree of variation in processor speed, hardware config etc., so DOSBox can be a DOS-machine emulator, while it isn't a true PC emulator.

JAL