A few questions \ VOGONS

A few questions

Topic actions

First post, by manelgm

Posted on 2011-07-06, 23:00

manelgm Offline

Rank Newbie

Rank: Newbie
Posts: 7
Joined: 2011-07-06, 22:43

Hello,

I just got a new computer, yet I have an urge to play some old games! Indiana Jones FoA, Mixed up mother goose and even HoMM2 which doesn't work on win7 64bit.

So I found dosbox. Looks really cool, but I do have a few questions.

First, I'm kinda paranoid...🤣. So I don't want to harm my comp or the raid-0 drives I would be installing dosbox on... Am I creating a new virtual drive when I mount a folder or is it transforming a part of the real drive into a virtual drive? Any issues with raid? This raid drive has important stuff so I can't afford to lose it. 😖

2nd, should I use the original cd's, create ISO's or extract the contents onto the drive and run it through a folder? When reading an ISO it's hard drive speed, not optical drive speed right?

Lastly, if I want to create shorcuts to play the games quickly and not mount everytime, is this the best way?

If you have more than 60 seconds to spare, go to Start => Programs => DOSBox-0.73 > Edit Configuration. That should start Notepa […]
Show full quote
If you have more than 60 seconds to spare, go to Start => Programs => DOSBox-0.73 > Edit Configuration. That should start Notepad on the (semi-hidden) configuration file.

On Windows Vista the file will be something like C:\Users\your-user-name\AppData\Local\DOSBox\dosbox-0.73.conf.
On Windows XP, it will be %UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\DOSBox\dosbox-0.73.conf.

Add the mount commands to the section named autoexec (at the bottom of the file):
Code:
1[autoexec] 
2mount C "C:\Users\your-user-name\Documents\DOSBox stuff\MyGame" 
3mount D "D:\" -t cdrom 
4C:
That way, the mount commands will automagically be executed by DOSBox everytime you start DOSBox.

OBS: If you have a lot of games, a single configuration file will often not be enough.

You have 2 solutions:
Copy the dosbox-0.73.conf file to somewhere in your Documents folder and name it according to which game or configuration you want, e.g. MyGame-0.73.conf.

What I'd like is some way to run the game with a double click of an icon, that's it.

Thanks in advance!
Manel

Reply 1 of 7, by collector

Posted on 2011-07-06, 23:49

collector Offline

Rank l33t

Rank: l33t
Posts: 4490
Joined: 2003-01-15, 10:39

DOSBox will not harm your PC. Some frontends can create Windows shortcuts for you. Fate of Atlantis can also be played with ScummVM. For Mixed-up Mother Goose you can use this installer:

http://sierrahelp.com/Patches-Updates/NewSier … ers.html#MMGAGI

For HoMM2 you will need to manually set it up or use a frontend. Be sure to read the README that comes with DOSBox as well as take a look at the official guides here, especially the 60 sec. guide.

Reply 2 of 7, by VileR

Posted on 2011-07-07, 03:28

VileR Offline

Rank l33t

Rank: l33t
Posts: 2215
Joined: 2003-05-14, 22:11
Location: 1-01-80 0:00a

manelgm wrote:
First, I'm kinda paranoid...🤣. So I don't want to harm my comp or the raid-0 drives I would be installing dosbox on... Am I creating a new virtual drive when I mount a folder or is it transforming a part of the real drive into a virtual drive? Any issues with raid? This raid drive has important stuff so I can't afford to lose it. 😖

not sure exactly what you're asking about the virtual drives, but i guess it's the latter - DOSBox treats the mounted folder on your HD as the virtual drive, and any changes you make to files within a DOSbox session will be made on your real drive as well.
RAID should be transparent on the operating system level so I really don't think DOSbox is going to have any issue with it.

2nd, should I use the original cd's, create ISO's or extract the contents onto the drive and run it through a folder? When reading an ISO it's hard drive speed, not optical drive speed right?

try and see what works best for you. I recommend creating an image, just for the sake of speed (you're right about that), but ISO is not the best format, especially if the game cd has audio tracks. For that, better use a .cue/.bin image.

Lastly, if I want to create shorcuts to play the games quickly and not mount everytime, is this the best way?

a frontend would probably be the most convenient way.
However, even without one, you have command-line options for DOSBox to load a specific configuration file - you could create one for each game with specific sound / video / input / cpu / etc settings, as well as the [autoexec] section you already mentioned to do the mounting/running. See the readme, wiki, and guides forum for further info.

Reply 3 of 7, by Mau1wurf1977

Posted on 2011-07-07, 05:13

Mau1wurf1977 Offline

Rank l33t++

Rank: l33t++
Posts: 7652
Joined: 2010-08-27, 04:15
Location: Western Australia

Most of the Lucasarts games can be bought on Steam. They run on Vista/W7 64 bit with no issues!

The other place to check out is GOG.com

They have a ton of old games which come with an installer that does everything for you...

In terms of frontend I can highly recommend D-Fend reloaded.

Reply 4 of 7, by manelgm

Posted on 2011-07-07, 18:41

manelgm Offline

Rank Newbie

Rank: Newbie
Posts: 7
Joined: 2011-07-06, 22:43

If I could install as little extra software as possible that would be best. I had read a bit into ScummVM, but if I can get 1 program to play all games (dosbox) that would be best. Same thing with frontends also actually, if I can just make a few config files instead of installing yet another program, that would be ideal...

Yeah, it's stupid and nothing to worry about, I was just thinking "WHAT IF it screws up because it sees there are 2 drives but it's making 1 virtual one...".

I feel it would be kinda silly to buy the games again if I already own them. And speaking of games 🤣, I found other games I'd play, Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego junior detective edition and Muppet treasure Island, but they are not listed under compatibility. Do you know if they would work?

Thanks!

Reply 5 of 7, by collector

Posted on 2011-07-07, 21:05

collector Offline

Rank l33t

Rank: l33t
Posts: 4490
Joined: 2003-01-15, 10:39

Most DOS games work well in DOSBox. If you want a frontend with a small footprint on the system, try DOSBox Game Launcher. D-Fend Reloaded sinks its roots too deeply into the system for my taste. DBGL writes no system files nor makes any registry entries.

Reply 6 of 7, by megatron-uk

Posted on 2011-07-08, 08:10

megatron-uk Offline

Rank l33t

Rank: l33t
Posts: 2258
Joined: 2010-09-07, 10:53
Location: UK

manelgm wrote:

First, I'm kinda paranoid...🤣. So I don't want to harm my comp or the raid-0 drives I would be installing dosbox on... Am I creating a new virtual drive when I mount a folder or is it transforming a part of the real drive into a virtual drive? Any issues with raid? This raid drive has important stuff so I can't afford to lose it. 😖

You have important stuff on a RAID-0 volume? You do know that if anything happens with either one of those drives you're screwed, right?

My collection database and technical wiki:
https://www.target-earth.net

Reply 7 of 7, by manelgm

Posted on 2011-07-11, 16:40

manelgm Offline

Rank Newbie

Rank: Newbie
Posts: 7
Joined: 2011-07-06, 22:43

Haha
Yeah, I know, it's risky I guess. I do have a large external drive to back stuff up. I still want to make sure I only install safe stuff on it. 😀

Been a bit busy lately so haven't had the time to install anything yet (old school gaming is fun, but not a priority...hehe). Will do it soon and hope everything works out!

Go to top of page Go to top of page

Back to DOSBox General