DOS Games Discussion

[godsvalkyrie]

I can't seem to get DOSbox to install properly. The readme says to send the 8 digit hexadecimal number to ntvdm.hotmail.com, but I'm not seeing an 8 digit anything. I get an error message when trying to install...Regsvr32 Loadlibrary("LaunchPad.dll") failed - the specified module could not be found

I am completely DOS illiterate. The only thing I remember about DOS is "bad command or file name...abort,retry,fail." It would be really great if I knew more, but I was a wee child at the time.

[godsvalkyrie]

just an FYI, your http://ntvdm.cjb.net/ link isn't working for me either.

I must say, I'm really impressed with your site as a whole. I'd completely forgotten about some of these games! It's like reliving a part of my childhood.

I can't wait to get these games to work so i can try some of the other suggestions and games I'd never heard of.

Thanks guys!

[Wally*Won_Kenobie]

this sounds like VDMsound to me

Are you sure you are using dosbox??

BTw dont try to install VDMsound with dosbox as it wont work, trust me i have tried it

[godsvalkyrie]

You know what, I'm not sure of anything. I'm pretty sure it WAS VDMsound. So.....how to run DOSbox, since I'm obviously an inane noob?

[godsvalkyrie]

Oh, and just so you know, I do have DOSbox installed. No prob there. But when I try to open games, it gives me an error message saying it's not suitable to run in windows apps. AND when I right click on hte compressed gamefile, there's no "play with DOXbox" option. You see, I'm about as intelligent as I look

[Wally*Won_Kenobie]

yeah thats agreeable..

Dosbox is a whole new program..

I suggest you try using D-Fend (front end for dosbox)

And viewing this post http://www.dosgames.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4786

[godsvalkyrie]

where do you type this in?

"Type these instructions below (remember this example uses L: and keen1)
mount l c:\games - This tells dosbox to place your folder as an L drive in dosbox. Should say successful. (If not successful then try again and make sure that c:\games exists) "

specifically the mount l c:\games bit. Mine's saved on hte desktop in a file called downloads. So do I open up the DOSbox and type it into the prompt there? Because if so, I can't type anything into the prompt. it sez "press any key to continue" and then the prompt dissappears when I type (go figure). So I'm assuming there's another place i need to be typin this info?

[godsvalkyrie]

I should probably mention that I don't get the whole bit about the L drive. And what is D-Fend, where do i find it and how do I use it? Remember, I'm a complete dinkus that can't figure this stuff out on her own. Speak to me as you would a small child.

[emmzee]

D-Fend is a Windows frontend for DOSBox that tries to make it a bit more userfriendly. That is, you don't have to use the DOS promt to run the games. Of course, D-Fend is still confusing, with all its options nstuff But you can download it and try it out here:

http://members.home.nl/mabus/dfend.htm

Now, as for DOSBox ... I really need to write up a full DOSBox tutorial. Maybe I'll start work on that tomorrow. For now ... a brief DOSBox lesson combined with a tiny DOS command primer

Here's how to properly setup DOSBox, IMHO. Start up Notepad. (Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> Notepad ) Open the file C:\Program Files\DOSBox\dosbox.conf ... that's the default folder (I think). If you installed DOSBox someplace else, you'll have to figure out where it is

When you open that file you'll see a bunch of stuff. Don't change any of it ... skip to the very bottom where you'll see:
[autoexec]
# Lines in this section will be run at startup.

Add the following to the very end of the file:
MOUNT C C:\

So it should look like:
[autoexec]
# Lines in this section will be run at startup.
MOUNT C C:\

Save and close that. Now when you run DOSBox you will be able to use your C drive just like 'normal' DOS. Of course, if you don't know DOS commands, that won't help you much Sooooo here's how to get around:

Say for example the game you want to play is in the folder C:\Games\Keen1 ... you would play it by typing (while in DOSBox):

CD C:\GAMES\KEEN1 [enter] (capitals don't matter; CD means "change directory")
then type the name of the "executable file": KEEN [enter]

The "executable file" is the name of the file you run to play the game. There's two ways to find out what that is:
(1) In Windows Explorer, go to the folder where the game is stored. (In this example that'd be C:\GAMES\KEEN1) Look for a file ending in .EXE ... usually it's named something close to the name of the game. Like for Commander Keen the file will probably be called KEEN.EXE or something like that. For Pharaoh's Tomb it's called PTOMB1.EXE.
(2) In DOSBox, after CDing to the directory (folder) where the games files are stored, type: dir *.exe [enter] You'll see a list of all the .EXE (all of the runnable) files. One of those is the one to start the game.

Hope this helps. Note that DOSBox generally works very well, but not all games run properly in it. Check the compatibility list here:
http://dosbox.sourceforge.net/comp_list.php

Last tip: While in DOSBox, you can press Ctrl-F12 to speed it up, and Ctrl-F11 to slow it down. If this post doesn't make much sense thats probably because I'm tired ... I really need to update the help page for the site, so hopefully by the end of the week I'll be able to rework all that.

[godsvalkyrie]

I got the D-Fend program to run UGH...I'll have to search for the exe files for all the other games....dunno where they are. However, the D-Fend prog doesn't do sound. Does the sound config work for D-Fend the way it does for DOSbox?

And as for running DOSbox itself, when I tried to open the prog in notepad, it gave me readme, news, install and a couple other options with a "capture' folder at the top that lead to nothing. The options didn't give me the text stuff you said would be at the bottom, so I'm wondering if I've missed part of hte installation process. Betcha didn't think someone could have so many problems with one program did you.

[Wally*Won_Kenobie]

Dosbox has sound setup already.

try looking at dosbox.conf

[godsvalkyrie]

okay...so I finally figured out how to get DOSbox running, but when I type in the cd c:\downloads\cosmo, it tells me it's an illegal command. It does the same thing if I type in \downloads\keen1 too. It even said typing L:\ was an illegal command. soooooo....I'm officially confused again.

[dosraider]

There seems to be a problem here with what you see as member or as guest.
Logged members see cd c:\downloads\cosmo in " bold"
Guest see: < b >cd c:\downloads\cosmo <b/> ,all in normal.
so valkyrie you have to take all the < b > and < b /> and everything that looks like < > out of the command lines.


PS: emmzee and wally look once to emmzee's message as guest, you will see it different . Seem to be a problem when you don't loggin.

Should be a nice line in the complaining and annoyance topic ! Isn't it Gamer_5 ?
************************************************************

I will permit myself to repeat emmzee's message for valkyrie, as guest you should must get it oké now:

D-Fend is a Windows frontend for DOSBox that tries to make it a bit more userfriendly. That is, you don't have to use the DOS promt to run the games. Of course, D-Fend is still confusing, with all its options nstuff But you can download it and try it out here:

http://members.home.nl/mabus/dfend.htm

Now, as for DOSBox ... I really need to write up a full DOSBox tutorial. Maybe I'll start work on that tomorrow. For now ... a brief DOSBox lesson combined with a tiny DOS command primer

Here's how to properly setup DOSBox, IMHO. Start up Notepad. (Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> Notepad ) Open the file C:\Program Files\DOSBox\dosbox.conf ... that's the default folder (I think). If you installed DOSBox someplace else, you'll have to figure out where it is

When you open that file you'll see a bunch of stuff. Don't change any of it ... skip to the very bottom where you'll see:
[autoexec]
# Lines in this section will be run at startup.

Add the following to the very end of the file:
MOUNT C C:\

So it should look like:
[autoexec]
# Lines in this section will be run at startup.
MOUNT C C:\

Save and close that. Now when you run DOSBox you will be able to use your C drive just like 'normal' DOS. Of course, if you don't know DOS commands, that won't help you much Sooooo here's how to get around:

Say for example the game you want to play is in the folder C:\Games\Keen1 ... you would play it by typing (while in DOSBox):

CD C:\GAMES\KEEN1 [enter] (capitals don't matter; CD means "change directory")
then type the name of the "executable file": KEEN [enter]

The "executable file" is the name of the file you run to play the game. There's two ways to find out what that is:
(1) In Windows Explorer, go to the folder where the game is stored. (In this example that'd be C:\GAMES\KEEN1) Look for a file ending in .EXE ... usually it's named something close to the name of the game. Like for Commander Keen the file will probably be called KEEN.EXE or something like that. For Pharaoh's Tomb it's called PTOMB1.EXE.
(2) In DOSBox, after CDing to the directory (folder) where the games files are stored, type: dir *.exe [enter] You'll see a list of all the .EXE (all of the runnable) files. One of those is the one to start the game.

Hope this helps. Note that DOSBox generally works very well, but not all games run properly in it. Check the compatibility list here:
http://dosbox.sourceforge.net/comp_list.php

[godsvalkyrie]

You guys are gonna hate me....I'm just waiting to be asked never to return.

Ok...I've gotten rid of all hte <> and stuff contained therein. However...I'm still getting "unable to change to c:\downloads\cosmo" or that it's an illegal command. I've tried several variations. including but not limited to c:\downloads, cd c:\downloads, c:\downloads\cosmo, c:\downloads\start.exe among others. My computer hates me. And apparently all of you as well.

By the way, would it be easier for you guys if I just created a login? Is there a better way for me to post? I don't want to annoy you too much with these posts. I appreciate the help at all.

[Guest]

"My computer hates me. And apparently all of you as well."
Short respons: NO.

For a login you just need to register, and no ,you don't annoy us (yet)
If ever we getting annoyd we have a specific topic on this board to get rid of those annoyments, thank you Gamer_*5* .

The problem seems to be you don't know the precise whereabouts of your folder.
First things first:
You have downloaded cosmo. Have you run the INSTALL.EXE ?IF you have: where have you installed the game?
Give the PRECISE path and we help you out from there,step by step.
If you haven't run the install yet:tell us what you have done t'ill now.
(download?to folder?unzipped?folder?path?)

The first steps are the most dificult, once you get started it's a piece of cake.Don't give up, you may harass us, keeps us young and to the point.