VOGONS


First post, by mzduffy

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Hi all. I am running an old DOS mode game called "Gateway 2". It is mixed text-mode and mouse driven. Nominally it runs in 640x480. For some inputs, it 'simulates' a space-alien computer screen. When this happens, DOSBOX drops to half dimensions. Attached is the combination of 3 screen grabs, as well as the 5x7 Font Win 7 DOSBOX status window for reference (80 cols x 25 rows).

Top left is the 'normal' game mode. When the user types 'examine console', on a real DOS system he would get a full screen emulation of the space alien computer terminal shown on top right. But under DOSBOX, it is squeezed to the point where the alien symbols are a bit difficult for my human eyes to read.

What is *really* vexing is that if I click on DOSBOX "Video / Resolution / Window / User-Defined", I get exactly the size that I want it to be, (bottom screen grab), but I cannot figure out what Sdl configuration I need to enter in order to keep it that way.

Note: It just occurred to me after making the attachment and typing the above paragraphs that the DOSBOX status window might have a clue.

The attachment i0.gif is no longer available

Reply 1 of 6, by PhilsComputerLab

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Can you post the config file?

I'd try opengl or openglnb as output, and maybe a scaler setting (2x or 3x).

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Reply 2 of 6, by collector

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Two things.
1) The version of DOSBox you are using is unsupported and broken. Try official DOSBox from http://dosbox.com
2) You should ask DOSBox questions in the DOSBox forum. A mod might be kind enough to move it for you.

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Reply 3 of 6, by mzduffy

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1) 0.74 works fine. It may also have been the suggestion from "PhilsComputerLab" in addition to using 0.74; I have not tried 0.74 with my original config. Thanks to both of you!

2) Sorry. I did read the description, but misunderstood it to mean that the DOSbox forum was for people who had trouble getting DOSBOX itself to run on a host. It seemed to be okay except with the a/n game. I will post in the correct forum in the future. But how does one know if the problem is with a bad DOSbox config or with an improper misconfig of a particular game?

-- Mike Duffy

Reply 4 of 6, by Stiletto

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Well, I guess I'll move it to DOSBox Games/Apps, let's see what Dominus thinks. 😀

"I see a little silhouette-o of a man, Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you
do the Fandango!" - Queen

Stiletto

Reply 5 of 6, by collector

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No need to apologize, mzduffy. Just letting you know for the future. Consider VOGONS as a database of troubleshooting info for old games. It helps searching for this info if things are 'filed' properly. The DOS forum is mostly for DOS games in real DOS, but not exclusively. Rarely is there an issue with simply running DOSBox.If you are using DOSBox just post in the DOSBox forum, even if it seems to be a problem with the game itself. if your problem is a a compatibility issue with DOSBox, the devs will want to know so they can fix it and they will be more likely to see your post in the DOSBox forum.

The Sierra Help Pages -- New Sierra Game Installers -- Sierra Game Patches -- New Non-Sierra Game Installers

Reply 6 of 6, by Stiletto

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The DOS forum within "The Guide" forum on VOGONS was originally for "Getting old DOS games working on new systems" - which were typically systems running an NT-based OS such as Windows 2000 and Windows XP. "New systems" DID NOT mean "a system I just built running MS-DOS", nor did it mean "Getting DOSBox to get old DOS games working on new systems". At the time of creation of VOGONS, DOSBox hadn't even had its first public release, and the DOSBox support forums did not get moved here for several months.

So supporting DOS games on VOGONS in that subforum mainly meant (until DOSBox was developed) supporting running games natively within Microsoft's NTVDM, and all the patches and workarounds required there. (VDMSound, for example, plus talk of speed patches, slowdown utilities, Glide wrappers, and many other things - many topics of which ended up getting their own threads in other subforums, or even their own subforums.)

As the forum grew, VOGONS became the official support forums for DOSBox. The "DOS" forum within "The Guide" section started becoming more than a bit overrun with DOSBox related threads regardless, so over time the moderators became a bit more strict about making sure these posters got admonished and their threads moved to the DOSBox section of VOGONS.

I would still argue that the DOS section of "The Guide" is NOT for talking about how to configure DOS games on a system running MS-DOS (for that, there's always Marvin). I suppose a DOSBox mention in passing in The Guide is okay, just as it is in the PC Emulation forum, but heavily DOSBox-centered threads should be made in the DOSBox section of the forums. Basically, in the DOS section of "The Guide" emulation is just one of many means to an end, in PC Emulation it IS the main focus, and in DOSBox section it's specifically DOSBox.

But collector is correct that "Consider VOGONS as a database of troubleshooting info for old games". That was purely the intent of the DOS and Windows section of The Guide, and eventually that users would end up making definitive write-ups of tutorials to fix compatibility issues etc. that could then be moved to an (infrequently used) section of the forums called Heart of Gold.

Anyhow, that's enough off-topic history (and I hope it all makes sense!): thread's been moved to the DOSBox Games/Apps forum for now. 😀

"I see a little silhouette-o of a man, Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you
do the Fandango!" - Queen

Stiletto