I always liked hassle free the click & run (touch & run) approach of mobile devices so I derived this project for ease of use my dos games collection. I know there are many good preservation projects like eXoDos, but the aim and scope of this project is far more different and simple than those; Creating just click & run executables to enjoy retro games.

Since it was released as freely distributable game, Beneath a Steel Sky (BASS.exe), provided as an example output product of this project. You can download it from https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Buyukcaglar … output/BASS.exe and start to play.

🔗 https://github.com/Buyukcaglar/DOSBoxPureStandalone
⬇️ https://github.com/Buyukcaglar/DOSBoxPureStan … ases/tag/Latest

AI assistance disclosure: This project was developed with substantial AI assistance. The implementation, build results, and release behavior were reviewed and tested by me.

TL;DR — For the impatient

DOSBox Pure Standalone packages selected a DOS game and DOSBox Pure into a single Windows .exe.
Give makegame.exe a ZIP/DOSZ archive, and it creates a portable, one-click game executable with optional custom icon, fullscreen mode, scanlines, CRT filtering, and DOSBox configuration defaults.
The game archive runs directly from memory—no installer and no temporary extraction. Saves and custom user configuration remain persistent between launches.
makegame.exe includes its own .NET 8 runtime, so users do not need to install .NET separately.

END RESULT SINGLE EXECUTABLE FILE CREATED WITH THIS PROJECT DOES NOT REQUIRE ANY OTHER DEPENDENCY SUCH AS .NET ETC.

Detailed description - For the initiated

DOSBox Pure Standalone is a downstream project built on DOSBox Pure, DOSBox Pure Unleashed, and ZillaLib. Its purpose is to turn a properly prepared DOS game archive into a dedicated Windows application.
The package builder combines:
• The DOSBox Pure Standalone runtime
• A ZIP or DOSZ game archive
• Package identity and startup metadata
• An optional PNG application icon
• Optional DOSBox configuration defaults
• Optional fullscreen, scanlines, or CRT-filter settings
• Windows executable version information
The result is one game executable that can be copied to another Windows computer and launched directly.
Unlike conventional self-extracting packages, the embedded game archive is not reconstructed under %TEMP%, AppData, or the executable directory. DOSBox Pure reads the archive directly from the executable’s PE resources through a memory-backed, random-access path. Files inside the archive—including supported disk images—remain compressed and are accessed through DOSBox Pure’s existing filesystem and image-handling code.
The embedded base package is immutable, but save games and settings can still persist. Writable data is stored under:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\DOSBoxPureStandalone\<package_id>\
If that location cannot be created or written, the runtime falls back to a DOSBoxPureStandalone directory beside the executable.
Automatic startup can use:
• A root-level DOSBOX.BAT
• A selected .EXE, .COM, or .BAT
• A startup target supplied through package configuration
Batch files can also provide command-line parameters, mount internal disk images, or prepare multiple DOS drives before starting a game.
Graphical packages hide the DOSBox splash screen, command shell, and temporary text-mode startup screens. Text-mode games such as KROZ are supported through an explicit package marker.
The included makegame.exe supports both command-line and JSON manifest workflows. It validates archive paths, startup files, configuration data, PNG icons, package metadata, and generated Windows resources before producing the final executable. Existing output is protected unless overwriting is explicitly requested.
The current release targets Windows x64. It includes a clean DOSBoxPureStandAlone.exe runtime template, a self-contained .NET 8 makegame.exe, detailed documentation, examples, build information, upstream attribution, and license notices.
No games are included. The project does not grant permission to redistribute DOS games, artwork, ROMs, operating-system images, or other copyrighted material. Package authors are responsible for ensuring they have the necessary rights to use and distribute their content.