Hi
Can this Dosbox program be unistalled if something goes wrong?

Also, is this program only for DOS games or it needed for older Win95/98 games like Crystal Key 1
and Shivers 1 and 2 and others that I can't think of at the present moment.

I started playing games on XP - never had DOS, Win95/98 so this is Alien talk for me.

Thanks

Retired

Retired at last, hi,

DOSBox is like a UNIX install. It deosn't take over your machine like a Windows install does. All you have to do is delete the C:\DOSBox-0.6x folder, and it is gone, gone, gone...

But, it does provide an uninstall.exe file there for the anal retentive amongst us

Cheers,
MetzO'Magic

Hi Metzomagic

Thanks for the response

One more question.
When playing older games -- do I have to launch this program before installing or playing them - i.e. Shivers 1 and 2, Crystal Key 1 and many more.

Cheers

RAL

Retired at last, hi again,

Good question. The answer is [consults the magic 8 ball] not always. Some DOS games can be installed without DOSBox running. It mostly depends on if you need to set up the sound during the installation process...

I suppose since these games were meant to be installed and run in DOS, it's always best to crank up DOSBox before you install. Of course, it goes without saying that you need to start up DOSBox before you run a game

Cheers,
MetzO'Magic

I am sorry to bother you, but I am very confused. I am trying to install Elder Scrolls: Arena for free from elderscrolls.com(10th aniversarry thing). I have it installed, and I aso have the DOSBox. But I can not get it to run. The instructions are here: http://www.elderscrolls.com/tenth_anniv/Arena106%20Setup.pdf I am typing CD\ARENA Can you walk me through this or something? I'm at the window that says: "DOSBox 0.61, CPU Cycles: 2500, Frameskip 0" What do I do from there?

morbidgamer, hi,

And welcome to GameBoomers

It's getting a bit late here in Ireland, and I shall be of more help tomorrow. But a few quick tips in the meantime:

1. You are running a very old version of DOSBox. Try downloading the latest, version 0.65.

2. Your cycles= setting (2500) is probably too low, for what I recall is a 3D game. Should be somewhere around 9000.

3. Please read the GameBoomers 'DOSBox FAQs'. There's a link to it at the top of this forum if you exit this topic. Also, the link in my sig contains much useful info pertaining to DOSBox, VDMSound, and getting old games to work in XP in general.

All for the moment,
MetzO'Magic

(happily shouting)... THANK YOU Jenny100 for keeping this thread near the top! Your foresight is to be commended

I just ordered Are You Afraid of the Dark: Orpheo's Curse, an old DOS game, and am anticipating running into possible roadblocks. I still have a '98, but also use an XP... so if one doesn't work, maybe the other will with DOSBox. I'm one of the ones who needs to be 'walked through' something like this. Having this thread handy is like holding my hand.

Hey, problems might not come up, but I'm expecting the worst, just in case. Again,

Carrie, hi,

Hmm. You might be better off using VDMSound for this one. I just had a look at Inferno's DOSBox setup for this game:
http://home.earthlink.net/~infernofilecabinet1/XpSetUpWalkthroughsA_E/Guest/AreYouAfraid.htm

and she has a 3.4GHZ processor, with cycles= cranked all the way up to 18000+. So if you don't have at least a 3GHZ processor, I'm afraid this might run quite choppily on your machine. Of course, you can always try it.

If you need info on VDMSound, just follow the link in my sig to Steve's XP Games Corner, and look for the VDMSound FAQ there.

Good luck,
MetzO'Magic

Just checked the specs on the XP... 4GB maximum so it may not be a problem. The other computer (Win98) may allow for an easy install; easy play... and all this pre-installation worry will have been for naught! Remains to be seen, but some fun may be in the offing when the game finally gets here, Metz.

I've bookmarked your link & will check at Steve's place for help (VDMSound included). Thank you for the referral.

Carrie, hi again,

Sorry, but I don't think you understood what I was saying there. I was talking about the *speed* of your processor (in gigahertz: GHZ) not about how much RAM you can *potentially* fit into your PC chassis (in gigabytes: GB).

Regards,
MetzO'Magic

Update on installation of "Are You Afraid of the Dark: Orpheo's Curse". Was able to install it on my '98 & am able to play. So far, the only minor problem is: The EXIT button doesn't exit me out of the game. Ctl-Alt-Del is my interim remedy. The game itself plays well, and is engaging and fun.

Thank you MetzO'Magic for the clarification, & I do see the difference. In an earlier response, I did ask you about gigahertz & gigabytes ("GB" was on game descrip), but I editted it out.

Again, many thanks for your help.

Sorry I'm such a dummy but Still trying to install and play "pandora" on my XP laptop. When-ever I go to my command prompt and try to do something I get a message similar to this one I get when trying to install w/ cd 1 from "Pandora". "install is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file". I was trying to follow the insructions on Steve's XP Games Corner The Pandora Directive in VDMSound.

Ron,

You might want to post your note as a new topic in this forum; this thread, while looked at, is sometimes not looked at regularly. You might get better results if you start a new topic in this section.

Thanks for doing this tutorial, I am going to give it a try,
I use to play more games, early 90s, went away for a long time, didnt play alot of game, missed them, now want to try them, and am kicking myself, for giving my last two pcs away, that would run DOS who new, I just needed space LOL, ok, going to try this out anyway , on to download will be back, if I have questions
Joy

Hmm, am I the only one who never got ROTH running in DosBox? It just exited the game all the time.

Edit: Wow, it works on this computer....but very very stuttering...and the sound also stutters. It is pretty much unplayable...and it doesn't seem to matter what number of cycles I set it to.

Drizzt, hi,

Firstly, how fast is your processor? You really need a 3GHZ or faster processor in order to run ROTH in DOSBox without a lot of stuttering. But ROTH works so much better in VDMSound, no matter what your PC's speed is, that I usually recommend that approach.

Secondly, if you send me your dosbox.conf file, I might be able spot if you have something wrong in there.

Regards,
MetzO'Magic

Hi metzomagic.

It is a 2,66Ghz...I suppose it wasn't fast enough. I played it through using VDMSound about a year ago, but the "stuck key"-bug using that approach was so annoying I hoped I would be able to play it on DosBox...

I uninstalled DosBox yesterday as a result of a virus scare I had...Norton complained about everything, so I deleted lots of stuff.

Guessing it's the processor, then.

Dizzt, hi again,

You just need to find the right cycles= setting, which can be tricky. You need to be able to sustain a setting somewhere around cycles=20000 in order to get a playable frame rate. Could be a little higher, or lower. Definitely not possible with a 2GHZ processor, but with 2.66GHZ you should be able to do it.

BTW, there is a little-known trick for getting around the "stuck key" problem in ROTH when using VDMSound. You can map the movement from the cursor keys to the ASWD keys, which is more natural anyway

Cheers,
MetzO'Magic

How do I map the movement from the cursor keys? Is it possible without using VDMsound (playing it on an old computer with Windows 98 at the moment).

Drizzt, hi,

I replied to this question in the Adventure Games Discussion forums. ROTH allows you to remap the keys, for sure.

Regards,
MetzO'Magic

Hi. I installed Pandora but when I get to the 'sound' stage, the cursor disappears (or the computer locks up, not sure which), and I can't do anything. The cursor was there as I installed the game, what gives? The exact same thing happens with 'Under a Killing Moon'. Can you help, please?

TopherAce, hi,

That's the kind of thing that happens if you don't run DOSBox before you start up the game!

You might want to run through the DOSBox setup for either Pandora Directive or UAKM in Steve's XP Games Corner. Just follow the link in my sig below.

Regards,
MetzO'Magic

Hi MetzO, I just left all that part out to not bore you. I did it all, mounted my 'F' and did install for the game. (Neither game would install before) Then I tried to set up sound using the game's setup. Nada.

You have to start the sound setup and play the game from within DOSBox. Is that what you're doing?
Also, can you navigate the screen using your keyboard arrows?

Sorry for being so long responding. I go to Dosbox where the drive is mounted, install and when the install is completed it goes directly to sound setup. When I get there I have no cursor and cannot get one no matter what I do.