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    Solved Confused Over Dos Games

    Emulator Arcade/PC/Console
    confused dos
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    • kaz69
      kaz69 last edited by

      Hi all

      I have Recalbox 4.1 and looking to get Dos games installed but i'm not understanding the readme file and just need a basic step by step guide as to create a directory for a .pc extnesion and also the dosbox.bat command line how do I do this?

      Thanks

      abunille 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • abunille
        abunille @kaz69 last edited by

        @kaz69

        Hi,

        what game file format do you have?
        Is it an image file or a folder with many files inside?

        Wenn ihre Frage beantwortet wurde:
        Themen-Werkzeuge -> ask as question + Themen-Werkzeuge -> mark as Solved

        Bei hilfreichen Antworten darf man den jeweiligen Beitrag auch gerne positiv bewerten ;)

        kaz69 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • kaz69
          kaz69 @abunille last edited by

          @abunille

          It's a folder with many files

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • Dragu
            Dragu Banned last edited by Dragu

            @kaz69
            I have running a lot of old dos games on 4.1. So perhaps can help.
            you must create a folder .pc for every game, in general because also assignement of keys and mouse are different from one game to next.
            And important, no names bigger as 8 characters in the names, this is dos6.1 clone.
            And believe me, the flexibility of the key/mouse mapper in dosbox is far beyond retroarch. You can as example define second joystick as mouse for player 1 and so on....
            When your gamefolder xxx.pc is installed under the dos rom folder, 2 files are first important. dosbox.bat and dosbox.cfg.
            Under Dosbox.bat, you define in general the same as in the original dos bat-file.
            If he just have inside game.exe, it will also work as simple with dosbox.bat. If you have VESA call before, also put it in dosbox.bat.
            For dosbox.cfg, you just copy the file dosbox.conf to your game folder and rename it dosbox.cfg. Very important because without you can also not define different joystick/button layout for a specific game. You must edit some datas inside (depending also sometimes on the game) and before all "mapperfile=yourgame.map"
            Thats it in general.
            You can find a copy of one dosbox.cfg here
            https://forum.recalbox.com/topic/8795/dosbox-duke-nukem-i-simple-selection-menu
            To call the keymapper, works with Ctrl+F1 after game is started, I also edit manually the file xxx.map

            kaz69 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • kaz69
              kaz69 @Dragu last edited by

              @dragu said in Confused Over Dos Games:

              dosbox.bat and dosbox.cfg.

              Thanks, i'm still new to this so i may get something wrong here. I have created my folder horde.pc (game is called horde), now with the dosbox.bat and dosbox.cfg files are these files I need to download from a website and then copy to every .pc folder I have?

              and with Under Dosbox.bat, you define in general the same as in the original dos bat-file, what does this mean?

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • Dragu
                Dragu Banned last edited by Dragu

                You will need an editor to create the files, or copy them from elsewhere, like dosbox.cfg from the above link, and the black frame. And modify.
                The original dosbox.conf is found under
                \recalbox\share\system\configs\dosbox\dosbox.conf
                In the example from the link you have already some important modifications inside. Also change name of keymapfile to horde.map.
                And create a text file dosbox.bat with (horde.exe?) inside, or if existed in old game directory horde.bat, the content of it.

                kaz69 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • kaz69
                  kaz69 @Dragu last edited by

                  @Dragu

                  I think im getting it, but im needing to break it down. so the below is about the .pc file and the dosbox.bat file.

                  So I have created a folder named horde.pc in the dos rom folder (recalbox/roms/dos)

                  in the horde.pc folder I have extracted all the game data (see image for files extracted) and created a dosbox.bat file which has the command line
                  :horde.pc/horde.pc/horde.EXE

                  is this all correct? I want to make sure this is before I attempt creating the dosbox.conf part.

                  thanks

                  0_1506420216373_Horde.JPG

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • Dragu
                    Dragu Banned last edited by Dragu

                    Just "horde.exe" under the bat file, no directory because at the moment that dosbox start, we are already in horde.pc, and anyway linux.
                    Now, also necessary to look into install.bat and install2.bat, depending what he make there, you need first installation ...

                    kaz69 voljega 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • kaz69
                      kaz69 @Dragu last edited by acris

                      @dragu

                      install.bat reads

                      @echo off
                      if %1!==! goto USAGE
                      set COLON=
                      :VALIDDRIVE
                      if %1 == c: goto INSTALL1
                      if %1 == d: goto INSTALL1
                      if %1 == e: goto INSTALL1
                      if %1 == f: goto INSTALL1
                      if %1 == g: goto INSTALL1
                      if %1 == C: goto INSTALL1
                      if %1 == D: goto INSTALL1
                      if %1 == E: goto INSTALL1
                      if %1 == F: goto INSTALL1
                      if %1 == G: goto INSTALL1
                      if %1 == c goto NEEDCOLON
                      if %1 == d goto NEEDCOLON
                      if %1 == e goto NEEDCOLON
                      if %1 == f goto NEEDCOLON
                      if %1 == g goto NEEDCOLON
                      if %1 == C goto NEEDCOLON
                      if %1 == D goto NEEDCOLON
                      if %1 == E goto NEEDCOLON
                      if %1 == F goto NEEDCOLON
                      if %1 == G goto NEEDCOLON
                      goto USAGE
                      :NEEDCOLON
                      set COLON=:
                      :INSTALL1
                      diskfree %1%COLON% 14200000
                      if ERRORLEVEL==5 goto USAGE
                      if ERRORLEVEL==4 goto DIRPROBLEM
                      if ERRORLEVEL==3 goto NEEDSPACE
                      if ERRORLEVEL==2 goto INSTALL2
                      if ERRORLEVEL==1 goto USAGE
                      goto end
                      :INSTALL2
                      cls
                      echo ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ»
                      echo º    The Horde(tm) Hard Drive Installation Utility    º
                      echo ÌÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͹
                      echo º                                                     º
                      echo º    This utility will decompress files from the      º
                      echo º    Horde floppy disks to to your hard drive.        º
                      echo º                                                     º
                      echo º    If you don't want to install The Horde           º
                      echo º    on your hard drive, press CTRL-C now.            º
                      echo º                                                     º
                      echo ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ
                      pause
                      echo making directory %1%COLON%\HORDE...
                      md %1%COLON%\HORDE 
                      :BEGIN
                      snoop
                      if ERRORLEVEL 66 GOTO LOGB
                      :LOGA
                      SET DRIVE=A
                      goto INSTALL3
                      :LOGB
                      SET DRIVE=B
                      :INSTALL3
                      copy install2.bat %1%COLON%\HORDE 
                      %1%COLON%
                      cd \HORDE
                      call install2.bat
                      del install2.bat
                      set COLON=
                      set DRIVE=
                      goto end
                      :USAGE
                      echo 
                      echo ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ»
                      echo º      PROBLEM:  Valid hard drive not specified.      º
                      echo ÌÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͹
                      echo º   Please specify the drive (C-G) to which you       º
                      echo º   would like the Horde copied. For example:         º
                      echo º                                                     º
                      echo º         install C:                                  º
                      echo º   or                                                º
                      echo º         install d                                   º
                      echo ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ
                      echo 
                      goto END
                      :DIRPROBLEM
                      echo 
                      echo ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ»
                      echo º       PROBLEM:  Couldn't make HORDE directory       º
                      echo ÌÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͹
                      echo º   Please check that you specified a valid drive.    º
                      echo ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ
                      echo 
                      goto END
                      :NEEDSPACE
                      echo 
                      echo ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ»
                      echo º  PROBLEM:  Not enough disk space on selected drive. º
                      echo ÌÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͹
                      echo º   To install the Horde you will need                º
                      echo º   14,200,000 bytes free on your hard drive.         º
                      echo º                                                     º
                      echo º   Try deleting unnecessary files on your hard       º
                      echo º   drive and then run INSTALL again.                 º
                      echo ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ
                      echo 
                      goto END
                      :END
                      

                      install2.bat reads

                      echo Decompressing files from Disk #1... 
                      %DRIVE%:part1.exe > nul
                      :DISK2
                      echo ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ»
                      echo º          Please Insert The Horde Disk #2            º
                      echo º          and then press any key.                    º
                      echo ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ
                      echo 
                      pause
                      if not exist %DRIVE%:part2.exe goto DISK2
                      echo Decompressing files from Disk #2... 
                      %DRIVE%:part2.exe > nul
                      :DISK3
                      echo ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ»
                      echo º          Please Insert The Horde Disk #3            º
                      echo º          and then press any key.                    º
                      echo ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ
                      echo 
                      pause
                      if not exist %DRIVE%:part3.exe goto DISK3
                      echo Decompressing files from Disk #3... 
                      %DRIVE%:part3.exe > nul
                      :DISK4
                      echo ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ»
                      echo º          Please Insert The Horde Disk #4            º
                      echo º          and then press any key.                    º
                      echo ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ
                      echo 
                      pause
                      if not exist %DRIVE%:part4.exe goto DISK4
                      echo Decompressing files from Disk #4... 
                      %DRIVE%:part4.exe > nul
                      :DISK5
                      echo ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ»
                      echo º          Please Insert The Horde Disk #5            º
                      echo º          and then press any key.                    º
                      echo ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ
                      echo 
                      pause
                      if not exist %DRIVE%:part5.exe goto DISK5
                      echo Decompressing files from Disk #5... 
                      %DRIVE%:part5.exe > nul
                      :DISK6
                      echo ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ»
                      echo º          Please Insert The Horde Disk #6            º
                      echo º          and then press any key.                    º
                      echo ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ
                      echo 
                      pause
                      if not exist %DRIVE%:part6.exe goto DISK6
                      echo Decompressing files from Disk #6... 
                      %DRIVE%:part6.exe > nul
                      cls
                      echo ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ»
                      echo º            The Horde has been installed!            º
                      echo ÌÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͹
                      echo º            To start the game, type HORDE            º
                      echo ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ
                      
                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • voljega
                        voljega Banned @Dragu last edited by

                        @dragu how do you escape dos games ? i tried a very simple one but htokey+start didn't exit the game ? do you need a keyboard ?

                        kaz69 Dragu 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • kaz69
                          kaz69 @voljega last edited by

                          @voljega said in Confused Over Dos Games:

                          @dragu how do you escape dos games ? i tried a very simple one but htokey+start didn't exit the game ? do you need a keyboard ?

                          Try Control + F9 thats what it says on the read me folder, you may need to plug in a keyboard

                          voljega 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • voljega
                            voljega Banned @kaz69 last edited by

                            @kaz69 ok thanks didn't see it in the readme although i read it

                            kaz69 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • kaz69
                              kaz69 @voljega last edited by

                              @voljega said in Confused Over Dos Games:

                              @kaz69 ok thanks didn't see it in the readme although i read it

                              Yeah i missed it before but was right at the end

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • kaz69
                                kaz69 last edited by

                                @Dragu

                                Manage to run a quick test for the game and when I select the game Dosbox comes up and the dos screen shows it found the horse.exe file but then stops and goes back to recalbox screen. So I'm guessing it's something on the install.bat command line then?
                                0_1506432488822_IMG_5562.PNG

                                Dragu 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • Dragu
                                  Dragu Banned @voljega last edited by Dragu

                                  @voljega said in Confused Over Dos Games:

                                  @dragu how do you escape dos games ? i tried a very simple one but htokey+start didn't exit the game ? do you need a keyboard ?

                                  Hi, voljega,

                                  The Hotkey is under Dosbox nothing that a normal key. As long as you are not back into ES (game title display), your buttons and joysticks function after the definition in the keymap file.
                                  So as example, I put directionnel keys on joystick 1, mouse on joystick 2, select as ESC, Enter on player buttons and so on. So I even definded Shooting in Nukem 1+2 on hotkey button from player 2, because on my bartop, you keep hand lying on the table, very suitable.
                                  But as you are back in ES, again you are in the ES button definition.
                                  Now, for Save Games or special actions, it is sometime tricky, but you arrive.
                                  I just put you an example about Nukem I
                                  alt text

                                  voljega 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • voljega
                                    voljega Banned @Dragu last edited by

                                    @dragu so there is no quick way to quit a game ? you have to escape through the menu of the game ?

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • Dragu
                                      Dragu Banned @kaz69 last edited by

                                      @kaz69 said in Confused Over Dos Games:

                                      @Dragu

                                      Manage to run a quick test for the game and when I select the game Dosbox comes up and the dos screen shows it found the horse.exe file but then stops and goes back to recalbox screen. So I'm guessing it's something on the install.bat command line then?
                                      HI kaz69,

                                      do you already define the dosbox.cfg file in the horde.pc directory. Compare with the description that I made in the link before. There can be memory issues that are defined in the cfg file, not in the bat.

                                      kaz69 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • kaz69
                                        kaz69 @Dragu last edited by

                                        @dragu

                                        Should I just copy the command line from the two install.bat files and create them as dosbox.cfg?

                                        abunille 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • Dragu
                                          Dragu Banned last edited by Dragu

                                          @kaz69
                                          You mean dosbox.bat, I suppose.
                                          I am not sure, because I dont know what is Snoop?

                                          In general it seems that it is necessary to unpack part1.exe to part6.exe.
                                          Ok, I think you can make this in a first version of dosbox.bat, putting all part1-6.exe, seems they are just auto-decompressing.
                                          I would try to unpack before by 7zip or something like 7zip on my pc and just copy the result on horde.pc. I guess, its just zip files.

                                          kaz69 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • abunille
                                            abunille @kaz69 last edited by abunille

                                            @kaz69

                                            I have seen an 8MB file (1993) and a 500MB file from 1994.
                                            Are you sure you have a good one?
                                            This part1.exe etc..... does not look normal for "me personally".
                                            I have not the time at the moment to check your problem, i try to test this weekend.

                                            Wenn ihre Frage beantwortet wurde:
                                            Themen-Werkzeuge -> ask as question + Themen-Werkzeuge -> mark as Solved

                                            Bei hilfreichen Antworten darf man den jeweiligen Beitrag auch gerne positiv bewerten ;)

                                            kaz69 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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