Simple DOS menu creator software ? \ VOGONS

Simple DOS menu creator software ?

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First post, by red_avatar

Posted on 2020-02-15, 22:37

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I'm working on getting DOS games added to my arcade machine. Most games are not a good match for arcade controls due to either needing too many different buttons or a mouse but I'm having fun adding stuff like Halloween Harry, Commander Keen, Dizzy, etc. which all work great.

I'm running into problems when I get to Shareware games however. Shareware games often split up the game in different .exe files (biomenace1.exe, biomenace2.exe, etc.) so when I pick one of these games from the Bigbox menu, I can only link to one of these files unless I add duplicates which is a mess. Basically I want to link to one executable that offers a choice of which "chapter" I want to run.

I have software that asks for input (press A for ...) but since this is supposed to be user friendly for everyone and arcade keys aren't labelled like that, I need a menu that can be navigated using the cursor keys and confirmation by space, enter, ctrl or alt. The software I found is all way too over the top - does anyone know a tool that creates a simple .exe or .com file that is easy and quick to setup that does what I need it to i.e. let's you chose between certain options from a simple menu using cursor keys and standard selection keys?

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Reply 1 of 6, by Robin4

Posted on 2020-02-15, 22:46

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Hmenu ? Its only in dutch language.

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Reply 2 of 6, by red_avatar

Posted on 2020-02-15, 23:13

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Robin4 wrote on 2020-02-15, 22:46:

Hmenu ? Its only in dutch language.

I gave that a go but it's a very unwieldy program - you can't edit anything, you have to redo everything and it's very slow to work with. 3DMenu is more what I had in mind but 3DMenu doesn't work with multiple menus - it always looks to the same folder for its files.

Reply 3 of 6, by leileilol

Posted on 2020-02-16, 03:07

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There was this recent one
New MS-DOS Games Launcher / Menu System App

Doesn't do choice splitting (It's something i've requested already) and you're better off adding entries for each episode's binary anyway

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Reply 4 of 6, by cyclone3d

Posted on 2020-02-16, 03:57

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Well.. you could always just use config.sys and autoexec.bat menus. Then you can do choice splitting as much as you like.

Yeah, a pain to set up initially, but once it is set up how you like it, you are golden.

The other thing you could do for choice splitting via a .exe is to write a simple batch file and then use a utility like Bat to Exe..
https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/bat_ … _converter.html

Back in the day I had no idea about any of the different DOS menu programs so I did everything with config.sys and autoexec.bat.

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Reply 5 of 6, by red_avatar

Posted on 2020-02-16, 09:43

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leileilol wrote on 2020-02-16, 03:07:

There was this recent one
New MS-DOS Games Launcher / Menu System App

Doesn't do choice splitting (It's something i've requested already) and you're better off adding entries for each episode's binary anyway

Thanks! This works fine - similar to 3DMenu in approach but you can edit entries and correct them at least. Only wish you could hide the menus and buttons to make it look a bit simpler but for now this will do.

Reply 6 of 6, by red_avatar

Posted on 2020-02-16, 09:55

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cyclone3d wrote on 2020-02-16, 03:57:
Well.. you could always just use config.sys and autoexec.bat menus. Then you can do choice splitting as much as you like. […]
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Well.. you could always just use config.sys and autoexec.bat menus. Then you can do choice splitting as much as you like.

Yeah, a pain to set up initially, but once it is set up how you like it, you are golden.

The other thing you could do for choice splitting via a .exe is to write a simple batch file and then use a utility like Bat to Exe..
https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/bat_ … _converter.html

Back in the day I had no idea about any of the different DOS menu programs so I did everything with config.sys and autoexec.bat.

In DOSBOX, that's a lot harder to do than in true DOS though and I'd like something that is quick to add games to. I'll just use the Launchbox app for now - I just have to edit a text file for each game so takes minimal effort.

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