Help wanted testing \ VOGONS

Help wanted testing

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First post, by middlenibble

Posted on 2026-01-29, 17:35

middlenibble Offline

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Rank: Newbie
Posts: 1
Joined: 2026-01-29, 17:10

Hi all!
I'm writing a combat flight simulator for the target platform DOS, 8088 @ 8 MHz and EGA. I have no access to that hardware platform and went as far as I could with DOSBox-X (500 cycles, 5500 vmemdelay, 2000 iodelay seems to best match the closest entry in the topbench database I could find). I think I'm at the point of a badly needed reality check and would like to test it on the target platform before sinking more time into this project. Anyone inclined to help is deeply appreciated!

To run the demo, download the f99-demo.zip file, extract, run:

1f99 /vblank /demo

Let it run for about a minute, quit by hitting the escape key.
Then please send me the

1F99.LOG

file or attach it here, mentioning your platform specs. If you run the program without the

1/demo

parameter you can fly around a bit, the

1/static

parameter switches to stationary mode. Keys: up/down/left/right/+/-/w/s/,/.

Apologies if this is the wrong section (or even forum!), it seemed like the closest pick to this topic.

Reply 1 of 5, by asdf53

Posted on 2026-01-29, 18:23

asdf53 Offline

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I don't have such a system, but I suggest using 86Box or PCEM for testing. In layman's terms, these are much more sophisticated emulators than Dosbox, allowing you to emulate an exact CPU model, motherboard and graphics card to see how your program would behave on real hardware.

Reply 2 of 5, by vetz

Posted on 2026-01-30, 04:58

vetz Offline

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Posts: 4527
Joined: 2012-04-23, 17:13

The closest I have is an Olivetti M28, 286 @ 8mhz with EGA. Its a bit quicker than an 8088, but, can give it a go.

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Reply 3 of 5, by cyclone3d

Posted on 2026-01-31, 04:29

cyclone3d Offline

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Location: Huntsville, AL USA

I think I should have working hardware that meets these specs. However, I have not actually tested any of the EGA cards I have so no idea if they actually work. Then comes the fact that I am not sure if I have a working EGA monitor.

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Reply 4 of 5, by Kekkula

Posted on 2026-01-31, 09:37

Kekkula Offline

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Joined: 2022-07-03, 17:04

I have commodore pc10-III with genoa superega card on my bench just now.
It's got nec V20 installed and can run at 4.77/~8/~9 Mhz speeds... don't remember exact speeds.
Btw 8088 and ega isn't common setup, 8088 is usually paired with cga/plantronics graphics.
I will try your software during weekend... if I remember 🙃

Edit:
Game doesn't start with my setup, gives just random lines to screen, doesn't hang escape exits program still.

Last edited by Kekkula on 2026-01-31, 17:22. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 5 of 5, by Ozzuneoj

Posted on 2026-01-31, 11:05

Ozzuneoj Offline

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Posts: 3907
Joined: 2016-03-16, 21:33
Location: USA

I have an IBM 5150 with a 4.77Mhz 8088, but it has 7Mhz 286 upgrade card in it too. It is also running an EGA card. Sadly, the last time I powered it on the hard drive wasn't working (again). If I am able to get that working I will test your game with and without the 286 enabled.

What EGA resolution does the game use? EGA 640x350 will require a monitor that is almost impossible to find, where as the lower res EGA modes will work on CGA monitors as well.

Now for some blitting from the back buffer.

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