Let's try to start the Dune II game using DOSBox:

Mount the real directory in DOSBox C: \ Dosgames where in the folder Dune2 the game itself is located on the hard disk (you can also mount the game folder directly - as you like):

Mount C C: \ Dosgames

The first letter is a letter logical drive inside Dosbox, then - the real folder or disk on your computer.

By the way, it is better to allocate a separate folder for games, and not connect a whole disk in DosBox, so that later there will be no confusion. You can also add this line to the section autoexec file dosbox.conf, and it will be executed automatically every time you turn it on.

Cd Dune2

After that, we need to configure the game - select devices for playing sound and music and, possibly, something else. So we run the program settings file, in this case it is called setup.exe... In order to run * .com, * .bat and * .exe files in Dos, as well as in Dosbox, you need to type their name and press enter:

Setup.exe

In the window that appears, select 1. Setup Questions, then select the audio card Sound Blaster Pro(any other supported by DosBox is possible), in the next window we are asked whether we want to use "additional" xms memory. We answer positively (it is a sin not to take advantage of the opportunity). After that we say "YES!" to the question about using the mouse and press Y to save the settings. Press 2 to exit the setup program. Although various games use different programs settings, they almost do not differ in the interface.

And finally, we find the executable file of the game - DUNE2.EXE and start the game:

Dune2.exe

The Elder Scrolls: Arena

Let's try now to launch The Elder Scrolls: Arena, which is available on the CD.

Connect drive C:

Mount C C: \ Dosgames

and CD-ROM (D is the drive letter in Dosbox, F is a real or emulated CD-ROM in the system)

Mount D F: \ -t cdrom

Let's go to another drive by typing:

Let's run the program to install the game:

Install.exe

Next, select the installation path and configure the game ( Configure Game). Let's choose a device for playing sound - Sound Blaster Pro Or 16... Note that in this case, the program itself determines the IO \ IRQ \ DMA settings of the device and you do not need to select anything. Let's choose a device for playing music General Midi or MPU-401.

Many owners personal computers whose acquaintance with the world computing technology happened during the formation and heyday, they often remember those glorious days. Some even have a DOS folder on their hard drive - echo old system... Of course, there are no smartdrive, scandisk, keyrus and others utilities in it for a long time, since now there are completely different programs in this directory, but some users do not dare to rename it.

It should be admitted that the programs developed for the DOS environment differ from their modern counterparts for Windows and Linux in better performance. This is easily explained: many applications were developed directly in assembly language and were carefully optimized. Each programmer strove to make his creation unique and thoughtful. But progress does not stand still: operating systems, programs are changing, and support for old ones is discontinued. For example, if you try to run a DOS game under Windows on the NT kernel, a message will appear stating that it cannot be executed. Fortunately, there is a solution, even three.

The first is to install a real DOS on a disk partition or flash drive and run the corresponding programs. The second is to use a virtualization system such as VMware. Third, learn how to use DOSBox. Let us dwell on the latter in more detail.

Anyone who asked the search engine a question about running old programs (games) probably received links to a request like: "DOSBox - how to use." What is this DOSBox? It's simple. DOSBox is not such a large, but quite effective emulator that creates a virtual environment for running games (many commands of the command.com interpreter, IRQ, DMA, a sound card, some major video adapters are emulated).

That is, you first need to download DOSBox. We will tell you how to use it below. The emulator runs on Windows, Linux, Mac and many others. When loading, it processes its dosbox.conf configuration file, which contains all the parameters. Accordingly, by making changes to this file in a simple text editor, you can customize DOSBox in an optimal way. DOSBox configuration can be performed not only through dosbox.conf, but also by making changes "on the fly", but then they are saved only until the next boot.

So DOSBox. How do I use it? Downloaded, launched. To connect the game to the emulator, we type the "mount" command with parameters. So, the first letter will indicate the assigned disk designation in the DOSBox, and the second parameter will indicate the source. For example, if you need to "insert" a whole CD (D) with games into DOSBox, then write "mount d d: \ -t cdrom". By the way, you can connect the image right away - the IMGMOUNT command is used for this. You can connect not only the whole media, but also a simple directory: "mount c d: \ old" (drive C will appear in the DOSBox, the contents of which is the OLD folder on drive D). After that, you will have to recall the commands of the interpreter itself, for example, dir (reading a directory) and cd (moving, changing the level). In general, it is recommended not to be lazy and prepare the shell Norton (Volkov) Commander, Dos Navigator - this will greatly simplify the work with the file system in DOS. It remains to start the game itself.

Sometimes on the Internet you can find the question: "DOSBox - how to use?". This is often explained by the fact that in addition to starting the DOS program itself, I want to see a smoothed image, and not consisting of squares. In this case, the "scaler" parameter of the configuration file comes to the rescue. For example, by writing scaler = advinterp2x, you can achieve a significant improvement in the quality of the displayed image. Also, the speed detection built into the emulator does not work correctly, so the speed running program you can change "on the fly" - Ctrl + F11 (to slow down) and Ctrl + F12 (speed up).

Now several useful tips to all users of the DOSBox emulator:

In addition to the official version, there is a large number of assemblies offering additional functions;

You can download a customized configuration file.

Mount the game folder, launch the game:

So, DosBox is a program designed to emulate the hardware of old computers, as well as emulate MS-Dos itself. 1. Install DosBox (for example, I installed in D: \ DOSBox \ ).

The easiest way to launch the game, however, it is convenient to use it only when the game is pre-installed, or does not have an installer, and also does not need access from CD-Rom, Floppy, etc .:

2. Unpack the downloaded game to any place (For example, the Goody game, I unpacked it in D: \ Games \ goody \ ).

3. Create a shortcut from DosBox.exe say on your desktop.

4. Open the folder with the game (I have D: \ Games \ goody \), find the executable file (for example, I will have Goody.exe, sometimes there are start.bat, etc.), and just drag it to the DosBox shortcut "a.

5. Enjoy the game!

Manual start:

2. Unpack the game to any place (For example, the Goody game, I unpacked it in D: \ Games \ goody \). Note that it is better not to use the Cyrillic alphabet on the way to the folder with the toy, the DosBox emulator without Russification does not understand the Cyrillic alphabet (I will tell you how to Russify next time).

3. Run the DosBox emulator (dosbox.exe). All commands entered in DosBox are confirmed with the key .

4. Next, you need to mount the game folder as a local disk in DosBox (this is done so that we do not inadvertently damage the files of our OS, or any other important and necessary files;)). To do this, use the command: mount c: d: \ games \ goody \ . c:- we indicate what letter our local disk with the game will have, you can specify any Latin letter (except z), d: \ games \ goody- address to the folder with the game. If everything was done correctly, we get the message: Drive C is mounted as local directory d: \ games \ goody .

If the game is on a CD or floppy disk, then you can mount them using the above method, for example mount a: a: \... Sometimes a game, or a program, needs to know that it is a floppy disk, or an SD-rom, and not HDD(some games refuse to install), then we use the same command mount but with the parameter -t... For example, to associate a real drive with a virtual one, use the following command: mount d: g: \ -t cdrom, where d: is the address of the virtual drive, and g: \- correspondingly real. For floppy use the parameter -t floppy... Moreover, you can link not only the drive to the drive, but, for example, specify the folder C: \ MSDos \ as a 3.5a floppy drive. Using the command imgmount you can mount a disk or floppy image in iso, bin, img format. The command is similar to the mount command, but applies to images. Images in other formats can be opened for example with Daemon tools, and only then link virtual drive Daemon with DosBox drive. An example of using the command - we want to install the game from a disk image in iso format, for this we mount the image: imgmount d: c: \ downloads \ game.iso -t cdrom 5. If you need to install the game, then you need to go to the desired drive and run the installer, as a rule, this INSTALL.EXE... To start the game, go to DosBox in the directory with the game and launch the executable file. For example, for me it will be like this: Goody.exe... Then the game should start. Some games need to be run using the file start.bat(if any, or similar).

So we learned how to mount local drives... and launch toys. Of course, this is the very minimum that is required to run the game. This entire process can be automated by entering required commands to section autoexec in the DosBox configuration file, but then for each game it will be necessary to create a separate such file, or write all this to a .bat file

A little about the speed of emulation:

In the DosBox emulator, you can adjust the speed of the game. If your game is running too fast, then you need to reduce the number of cycles (cycles). In order to reduce the number of cycles during the game - CTRL + F11, in order to increase - CTRL + F12... It is also necessary to take into account that if you set the cycle value too high, then the DosBox itself will freeze, especially if your machine is "weak". If you set the number of cycles high enough, but the game still slows down, then you can try to set frame skipping. Frameskip can be configured with the keys CTRL + F7(reduce), and CTRL + F11(increase). Note, however, that the game will run less smoothly when dropped frames.

"Hotkeys:

Only the most needed (in my opinion):
ALT-ENTER- Go to full screen mode
ALT-PAUSE- Pause emulation
CTRL-ALT-F5- Start / end video recording
CTRL-F1- KeyMapper, used to customize the keyboard
CTRL-F5- Take a screenshot
CTRL-F6- Start / end audio recording
CTRL-F7- Increase frame skipping
CTRL-F8- Reduce frame skipping
CTRL-F9- Close DosBox emulator
CTRL-F11- Slow down emulator
CTRL-F12- Speed ​​up emulator

KeyMapper when not set \ , : etc.:

There are such problems when DosBox ignores the key press, and stubbornly does not want to put, for example, a slash ( \ ). This is due to the incorrect definition of the keys. You can fix this by running KeyMapper with the keyboard shortcut CTRL + F1... Next, on the keyboard shown on the screen, select the non-working key we need, i.e. click on it, then below click on DEL to remove the current binding, then click on ADD... We press once on the desired key on the keyboard, thereby linking the key from the screen with the key from the real keyboard. Then click SAVE, EXIT. Everything, the problem is solved. Thanks to MoR "y for providing a solution to the problem..

There is very, very little material in the article, some things are explained very confusingly, many things have remained without explanation at all, there are very few screenshots, and the design is simply disgusting, so it will gradually be improved. If you have any questions, please write;)

Time goes by, games get old. Computers change, operating systems change. It seems that in this life nothing stands still. Sometimes progress is leaps and bounds, like consoles. Other systems manage to improve smoothly - PC. The result, however, is an indispensable change in hardware and control software. Alas, not all games are able to exist in an alien environment, so the main obstacle to enjoying old games is often not outdated graphics, but banal launch problems.
With consoles, everything is clear, we are all used to launching outside the walls of a small box. But what about PC games. At first glance, it seems that PC games are the least affected here. Most of them can be safely played without using third-party tools, sometimes there are problems, but they can still be eliminated within the framework of the same system. But this is where the catch lies - the PC is a whole sea of ​​hardware and software, stretched out for many years, without sharp drops and jumps. And no emulators forcing all this to work with a good guarantee, as it happens on console emulators, has never existed and is unlikely to appear. But not everything is so bad, there are solutions, especially if you still decide to limit yourself to some kind of framework. For example, the framework of the DOS era.

This emulator will be discussed here, meet - DosBox.

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A little explanation. All materials are presented in the most accessible form. The main task was to describe everything in such a way that even those who did not see Dos in the eye could understand. So don't be overly surprised detailed descriptions like "how to open the configuration file" and "how to open the registry editor".
If someone is intimidated by the size of the description, it is in vain. In this case, the size of the instructions does not mean the wild complexity of the program. I just wanted to cover all areas and paint all the alternatives. For a minimum of acquaintance, reading the points is suitable: launching applications (one is enough), setting the speed and, in fact, downloading.

1. Downloading the emulator.

2. Launching applications

3. Setting up DosBox
3.1 Speed ​​setting
3.2 Enabling anti-aliasing


3.5 Button remapping
3.6 List of system buttons

3.9 We translate DosBox into Russian

4. Additional features

4. DosBox
- Alternative versions of Dos Box
- Dos Box 0.60
- Dos Box 0.61
- Dos Box 0.62
- Dos Box 0.63
- Dos Box 0.65
- Dos Box 0.70
- Dos Box 0.71,0.72

5. Shells
- DOSShell
- DOSBoxer
- D-Fend

It will be very helpful to read the Dosbox readme file. Especially for those who cannot do this in the language of the original source - English, I am posting its translation. See the section Translating DosBox into Russian.

1. Downloading the emulator.

I note right away that the program is free, which makes it even more attractive. In addition, the version is listed as 0.xx, that is, this is not the final version and, most likely, everything will be even better.

Latest version of DosBox

2. Launching applications

2.1 Most the simplest way launch

The easiest way to start the game is to open the folder with DosBox and bring its shortcut to the desktop (Drag the dosbox.exe file using the right mouse button, and after releasing it above the desktop, select "create shortcut"). Open the game folder. Then just take and drag the game file to be launched onto the DosBox shortcut with the mouse.

Please note that when dragging, not on the shortcut, but on the DosBox file itself. exe settings from dosbox will not be read. conf.

2.2 Launch standard means

After downloading, DosBox needs to be installed. I recommend placing it not in programm files, as the installer suggests, but in something simpler. Like C: \ Dosbox.

Let's start with a situation without a shell. When you launch Dosbox, you will see a DOS-style interface. The commands are appropriate here. First, put a game in a folder with a simple name and location. Some of the laws of Dos apply here. That is, 8 characters in the title, no spaces, no more than 3 subfolders, etc. True, all this applies only to Dos commands; when connecting, it is permissible to use such names. Let it be C: \ dosmode \ spques2 \

Now you need to tell the emulator where you will have a virtual disk with. To do this, we write mount with c: \ dosmode \ spquest2 (here the folders can have the normal size of names, but if there is a space, you need to write the path in quotation marks "c: \ dd dd")

Now we switch to this disk (That is, we write C :). Using the Dos commands, move on to the starting file (cd spquest2), (run start.bat). Everything, the game is running.

Please note that when you add / change files from Windows to DosBox, nothing will change in the already connected folders. Use the rescan command to update the content.

2.3 Using third-party launch shells

There are a large number of skins for Dos Box, which are able to run games in graphical form, without running to the text input of commands, their description can be found below. Note that shells are written for a specific version. On this moment there is no shell for the latest 0.65, so many shell items may not work correctly.

2.4 Alternative launch method

After a while, I found a more convenient way to run games in DosBox. You just need to add this item to the right-click menu. To do this, you will have to deal with editing the registry. Select start -> run. Type regedit in the window. The window for editing the registry will open. Go to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Classes \ * \ Shell \
If this directory does not exist, create it.
In this folder create the SETCMD1 directory (right click on the Shell folder -> create -> partition).
In the "default" key, write something like Open in DosBox (To write, the right button on the key -> change).
Now in the resulting path HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Classes \ * \ Shell \ SETCMD1 create the Command directory (using the same method).
The directory will also contain the default key. Change its value to:
"e: \ dosbox \ dosbox. exe" - conf "e: \ dosbox \ dosbox. conf" "% 1"
Where e: \ dosbox \ is the DosBox folder.

In connection with the appearance of the keyboard layout reassignment in version 0.62, it became necessary to register in dosbox. conf a line so that at startup the file with key settings (mapper.txt) from the folder with DosBox is used. Open dosbox. conf in any text editor and look for the mapperfile = item there. Change everything to the right of it to the full path to the mapper. txt. For example: mapperfile = D: \ DOSBox \ mapper. txt

If you take screenshots, or record sounds, then you need to immediately change the folder where they will be saved. We are looking for the captures = item and change its values ​​to any folder with the full path. Example: captures = D: \ DOSBox \ capture

You will end up with something like this:

If you want the launch point to appear only on those files that, in principle, can be launched in DosBox, then the described registry editing procedure should be done not in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Classes \ * (which corresponds to all file types), but in HKEY_LOCAL_MINE \ SOFTWARACHE \ Classes \ exefile, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Classes \ comfile and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Classes \ batfile.

2.5 Norton launch method

I think for many Dos is associated with the blue screen of the Norton Commander and the Commander's wolves. So why not make working with DosBox similar to the process? To do this, you only need DosBox itself and Norton. All you need to do is load Norton at startup. To do this, open the dosbox. conf in any text editor. At the very bottom there is a section. It is in it that we will write. First, you need to mount the norton folder with the command mount y d: \ dosbox \ nc, where y is an arbitrary virtual disk, and d: \ dosbox \ nc is the path to norton. Next, you need to start Norton with a simple DOS command (we write further in the section). y: \ nc. exe. Now when loading DosBox, Norton will automatically load. Basically everything. However, due to the need to mount disks, working in such a Norton is not very convenient. And what prevents us from connecting all the disks on the computer or some folders, from where do you always start dos-games? Nothing! Go back to the section and write down to the Norton load line.
mount c c: \ games
Now Norton has a real branch of the C drive.
You can also mount the root of the drive (c: \ for example), but this is not recommended. A crash in DosBox can result in the loss of all files at the root.

3. Setting up DosBox

3.1 Speed ​​setting

The question of setting the speed is probably one of the main issues that cause difficulties, therefore, we will consider it in detail.

By default in DosBox as a parameter cycles(speeds, that is, the number of commands per millisecond that the emulator tries to execute) is used by auto. In this mode, when the game starts, DosBox itself tries to determine whether the game needs maximum productivity or it should be limited to some fixed number of cycles. For example, in some games, more performance gives more frames per second, which means a smoother picture. In others, especially older ones, the extra power does not give anything, and sometimes it leads to the fact that the game goes too fast.

How does it look from the user's perspective? You start the game and you see either a percentage in the Cycles field (max means 100%) or a number. 100% is the maximum performance that DosBox can give on your computer.

You can adjust the speed on the fly. This is done using combinations:
CTRL + F12 (up) and CTRL + F11 (downward)... It is worth considering the fact that emulation works many times slower than programs executing directly. For example, to play properly with DosBox in games for a 286 computer, you need a Pentium 400 or more.
If the speed limit is reached, but this is still not enough, you can adjust the number of frames skipped by the emulator ( Frame skip- just like Cycles is displayed at the top of the window):
CTRL + F8 (Increase Skip) and CTRL + F7 (decrease)... This will make it possible to emulate the game faster, but you will lose due to dropped frames in the smoothness of the picture.
Frame Skip = 1 - means that 1 frame will be skipped, then 1 will be displayed. If the value = 2, 2 frames will be skipped, 1 will be displayed, etc.

Everything is clear with the percentage task of speed, but with the absolute one there are nuances. How to understand in this mode that it is impossible to process faster? The best option is to set such a speed that the load on your real processor reaches 90-95% (you can see the load in Win 2000 and XP by pressing Alt + CTRL + DEL). This is the fastest speed you can get for this game.
Attention, for real and virtual (with Hyperthreading) dual-core processors, the load limit is 50%, not 100%. DosBox only works in one thread.

Please note that if you set frame skipping in a non-percentage rate mode, then you will need to skip using CTRL + F12 and loops for emulation to go faster (up to the maximum level, as indicated above). In percentage terms, it will fit automatically.

In dosbox. conf, you can specify which mode and speed to set in the emulator at startup. This is the responsibility of paragraph cycles... For example, by writing cycles = 10000 you will get that many loops on startup. If you write cycles = max then DosBox will set the maximum speed every time. To leave the auto parameter (it is set by default), but set the settings for each mode, write the following:
cycles = auto 9000 95%
Such an entry will leave the choice of the mode to the DosBox. If the absolute mode is used, then the number of cycles will become 9000, if it is a percentage, then the emulator will set 95% of the maximum.

3.2 Enabling anti-aliasing

And one more thing about DosBox. The fact is that it has an atternative way of displaying an enlarged picture. This is area smoothing. The result is a non-squared picture, somewhat reminiscent of Flash graphics. I must say right away that all this is not for everybody (I personally prefer the normal display), but still. To enable this effect, you need to open dosbox. conf with any text editor and find the line in it:
scaler =
Write one of the following values ​​to the right of scaller =:
none - one-to-one display
normal2x - Just double magnification (default)
advmame2x - Sly anti-aliasing of single color areas. Since the resolution becomes twice as large, smooth corners are made in this mode. That is, one pixel, which would become a 2x2 square, is made not acute-angled but with cut edges. As a result, the graphics are not squared, but similar to Flash graphics.
advmame3x - As above, but with triple magnification
advinterp2x - As above, but with smoother transitions
interp2x - Just smearing, no squaring, but a very unpleasant effect
tv2x - Adding horizontal dark stripes, TV effect.
And many others (the number grows with new versions)

Compare 2 screenshots:

3.3 Useful items in settings

Open dosbox. conf and look for:
fullscreen = (true - loaded in fullscreen mode, false - in windowed mode)

autolock = (true - when the mouse is clicked on the DosBox, the mouse is docked in this window, false - is not docked)
At the same time, starting with version 0.65, the pinning system has been revised. Now, when you disable autolock (= false), the mouse will be simultaneously active both in the game and outside it. While the cursor is over the playing field - the game cursor is processed, as soon as it leaves the playing field - the mouse is detached from the DosBox.

sensitivity = (mouse sensitivity, default 100)

waitonerror = (true - if an error occurs, do not close the console immediately, it makes it possible to see what the error is)

priority = (the first value is the priority when the DosBox is active, the second is when the DosBox is minimized or inactive. The options are lower, normal, higher, highest in ascending order. By default, priority = higher, normal)

Sometimes machine is significant. It specifies what type of video adapter the DosBox will try to use. The default is VGA. This option is preferable, it will select best type graphics (from those present, of course). However, modes such as tandy and pcjr must be specified separately.

The output = clause may be important. If, when switching to fullscreen mode and returning back, DosBox gives you an error and crashes, change the default value of surface to ovelay or opengl.

3.4 Launching DosBox without an auxiliary window

Start DosBox with parameter - noconsole
(Create a dosbox.exe shortcut, right-click on the shortcut -> properties -> shortcut tab -> Object field: add at the end - noconsole. You get something like D: \ DOSBox \ dosbox.exe - noconsole.

If using an alternative way, change the line in the registry to
"e: \ dosbox \ dosbox. exe" - conf "e: \ dosbox \ dosbox. conf" "% 1" - noconsole
That is, add at the end - noconsole

3.5 Button remapping

Since version 0.62, any keys can be reassigned in the emulator (and since 0.70, you can reassign the joystick axes), even if this is not provided by the game. Well, for example, you want to play races not with arrows, but using w, s, a, d.
If you want - please. To do this, you need to slightly redefine the layout. There are two ways to call this function:

1. Start DosBox with the parameter - startmapper
At the same time, the key setting will be loaded at startup. (Create a dosbox.exe shortcut, right-click on the shortcut -> properties -> tab shortcut -> Object field: add startmapper at the end. It will look something like D: \ DOSBox \ dosbox.exe - startmapper.

2. After starting DosBox, press CTRL + F1. It works unstable. For each successful case, I got 6-8 flights from DosBox.

Now you are in the setup menu and there is such a screen in front of you.

Click on any key, the call of which you want to hang on a friend. For example, choose the up arrow. EVENT: Key_up BIND: Key_up appears at the bottom. That is, pressing the up arrow is triggered by the up arrow. We select either the DEL (delete) button, if it is necessary to change this option, or ADD (add) if you need to leave such a layout, plus add another one. We choose ADD. Now you need to press a key that will work as an up arrow (press the key physically, and not select it with the mouse!). Press W. EVENT: Key_up BIND: Key w appears. That is, the w button will act as an arrow. By pressing the NEXT button, you can cycle through the options. There will be two of them, that is, the up arrow will still work, plus you can use the w button instead. Now it remains to save the result (SAVE) and exit (EXIT).

If choosing the button you select mod1, then it will be a combination of CTRL + button, If mod2 is ALT + button. Mod3 is not set by default, but you can assign it like any other mode. For example, to use the combination p + knock. I have not yet understood the practical application of Hold. If you assign this item, then the button "sticks", and it is impossible to disable this button further. There is not a word about Hold in the descriptions.

By the way, note that you can reassign the system buttons as well. For example, hang on "+" to increase the speed, and on "-" to decrease.

3.6 List of system buttons

ALT-ENTER Go to full screen
ALT-PAUSE Pause emulation
CTRL-F1 Button remapping
CTRL-F4 Flip a mounted disk image. Refresh the directory cache for
all drives!
CTRL-ALT-F5 Start / Stop creating a movie from the screen
CTRL-F5 Take screenshot
CTRL-F6 Start / Stop audio recording
CTRL-ALT-F7 Start / Stop recording OPL commands
CTRL-ALT-F8 Start / Stop recording MIDI commands.
CTRL-F7 Increase frame skipping
CTRL-F8 Decrease frame skipping
CTRL-F9 Close DosBox
CTRL-F10 Grab / Release Mouse
CTRL-F11 Slow down the emulator
CTRL-F12 Speed ​​up emulator
ALT-F12 Remove speed limit (turbo button)
When you press this button, the game is accelerated to the limit. Acceleration continues as long as the combination is pressed. It can be very useful for scrolling cutscenes, speeding up waiting, even if the game does not provide it. Unfortunately the combination is not very stable. The most common symptom with such acceleration is the disappearance of sound later.

3.7 Connecting CD-Rom and floppy drive (including images)

DosBox has the ability to connect both a CD-Rom and a floppy drive, or even simple folder but for the program to treat it as a CD-Rom disk. If you just need files from disk, then you can perform the usual operation, as for any folder:
mount with e: \ (where c is the virtual disk and e: \ is the path to the CD-rom)
If there is a need to connect a disk or folder exactly as a CD, you must run the following command:
mount with e: \ - t type (where type is the type of media. This is either dir - folder, or cdrom - CD disk, or floppy - drive)
By writing mount with e: \ - t cdrom we will mount the E: \ drive as a CD-Rom as a virtual drive for DosBox. Instead of e: \, the path to a specific folder may not even be on CD-Rom disk... Likewise with a floppy drive.
Not necessary. To mount CD-Rom at a low level, you need to write mount - cd. You will receive a list of CDs with their numbers. Then enter mount with e: \ - t cdrom - usecd 0 (where 0 is the CD number)

Images are connected by the following method:
imgmount with d: \ pop_instal. mdf - t iso (where c is the virtual disk, d: \ pop_install.mdf is the path and name of the image, - t is the type of the included file - in this case the CD image, that is, iso)
Usually images are stored in a file with the * .iso extension. However, if it is not, then this does not mean that it will not be recognized by DosBox. In this example, the extension was * .mdf

Floppy images are also connected by imgmount with d: \ disket. img -t floppy (only type changes to floppy)
To connect images hard drives use hdd type.

3.8 Sound settings in games with DosBox

This item will mainly be of interest to people who are not familiar with the setting. sound device Sound Blaster. First of all, it is worth remembering that sound tuning was usually done using a separate tuner program. The most common names for such configuration programs are: setsound, setup, install, sound, snd and others.
Next, you need to select an item with a change in the sound device. In it, from the number of options, eyes may start to scatter. However, everything is simple here, look for the Sound Blaster - the most the best way sound. If there is no such item, it is worth looking for Adlib. Finally, DosBox supports options such as Tandy and the most standard, but most primitive, PC Speaker (a buzzer that is preserved even in modern computers).

With music, too, everything is very tricky, here you can either leave Sound Blaster, or use Gravis Ultrasound or the MPU-401 interface. The latter two give a noticeably greater instrumentality to the music and in many cases it sounds better. But if Gravis Ultrasound requires additional customization and third party files(and is not yet covered in this manual), then with the MPU-401 everything is much easier. When configuring sound from under DosBox for music, you can safely choose this option. In the game settings, it is found in three versions - this is either the General Midi standard or the Roland LAPC1 and Roland MT32 devices, the latter two are preferable. Simply put, when choosing a device for outputting music, look for one of these inscriptions.

Samples of music from Lord of the Rings obtained with: Roland, Adlib and PC Speaker.

The hardest part is further setting up the Sound Blaster. Sometimes you can find an automatic determination of the parameters of a sound device, more often you have to enter it with pens. I must say right away that the settings can be anything, so the list below is valid for DosBox with the default configuration:
base I / O address - 220 (sometimes you need to write 220h)
IRQ number - 7
DMA channel - 1
These parameters mean: base I / O address, interrupt number and DMA channel, respectively. However, it is not necessary to understand the meaning of these terms.
In DosBox, these parameters are configured in the section.

In the second part of the section, we will consider the sound volume settings in DosBox. There is a built-in mixer for this. It can be accessed with the mixer command when you are in the DosBox test environment. If you just type mixer, you will get a small table showing the volume of each device. The default is 100: 100. Two digits represent the volume of the left and right speakers. Thus, the sound is adjusted individually for each device and individually for each speaker. Rich set! To configure you need to write mixer<устройство> <уровень звука>... Rewrite the device name from the output table.
mixer sb 30:50
This command means - reduce the sound of the Sound Blaster to 30% for the left speaker and 50% for the right speaker.
mixer spkr 50
Reduces PC Speaker sound by up to 50 percent for both channels (one digit can be written). Its loud beeping is sometimes very annoying.
Well, and finally, in order not to sit and figure out what kind of sound is in front of you, you can simply reduce the entire sound output by DosBox.
mixer master 10
Reduce all sound by up to 10%

If you are too lazy to readjust the volume every time you start, you can fix it once and for all. To do this, open the dosbox. conf, in which go to the last point. In it, you need to add a command with a sound setting, similar to that described above. For example, mixer master 10. Now, at startup, the sound will be set to the specified level.

3.9 We translate DosBox into Russian

DosBox has the ability to translate it into different languages. This does not give much, but it is still nice to contemplate the native letters in the shell. To do this, you need two things: a program that connects the Russian encoding and a file with a translation, which is not included in the package bundle. However, do not be alarmed, I have already made the translation. So, download the translation: documentation and translation of the shell for DosBox 0.63 or documentation and translation of the shell for DosBox 0.65 or documentation for DosBox 0.70 or documentation and translation of the shell for DosBox 0.72. Now you need to connect all this. Open the dosbox. conf in any text editor and look for the language = line. Add the path to the translation file to the right of the "=", for example d: \ dosbox \ rus. txt. Now, if you start DosBox, you can see the hieroglyphs. This is due to the lack of Russian encoding in DosBox.
There are two options to enable Russian encoding:

1. In version 0.70 there is a built-in feature. Search in dosbox. conf clause keyboardlayout = none and change to keyboardlayout = RU. That's it, the encoding is plugged in. Language switching: LEFT-ALT + RIGHT-SHIFT - to type Russian text, LEFT-ALT + LEFT-SHIFT - to type English text.

2. You can use the program. In the archive lies, but there are also Keyrus and other options. In the same dosbox. conf we look for a section and write in it: mount y d: \ dosbox
Where "y" is an arbitrary disk, and d: \ dosbox is the program folder on your real disk. Remember, if the folder contains spaces, it must be enclosed in quotation marks ("d: \ dos box").
Then you just need to run the program. To do this, add the line there: y: \ (start from a mounted disk). You should end up with something like this:

Attention, when connecting a program that provides Russian encoding (not a translation, but a program, in our case), situations may arise that some games supported by DosBox will stop running. This problem rarely occurs, but it does exist. Solution - just disable the encoding program. Observations have also shown that different programs (rk and keyrus) interfere in different cases. If the encoder causes malfunctions, but you still need a Russian font, try running a different encoder.

3.10 Customization for each game

Starting with version 0.65, it became possible to adjust the parameters for each game using standard tools. To do this, you need to create a run file in the game folder. bat (name can be anything. Create a simple text file and rename), open it in any text editor and write down those parameters that should differ from the standard ones. This is done by the CONFIG command with the SET parameter. For example, we want Dave 2 to run at 3000 speed with the PC speaker disabled:
CONFIG - SET cycles = 3000
CONFIG - SET pcspeaker = false
dave. exe (the game launch file should be here)

Please note that this is an abbreviated notation, in full the first line would look like:
CONFIG - SET "cpu cycles = 3000" (That is, the name of the section in the settings comes first)

By saving such a file and running it in DosBox, you will get the desired result. Now you can run Dave with exactly these settings, without having to reconfigure DosBox every time. Unfortunately, DosBox starts to glitch when trying to set a graphics filter in this way (for example, CONFIG - SET scaler = advmame3x). This is an obvious glitch. If you write this command already in the shell itself, it will work.

4. Additional features

4.1 Taking screenshots, recording sounds and music, creating videos

DosBox allows you to do that too. The CTRL + F5 combination allows you to take a screenshot. It will be created in its original resolution (even when enlarged and using filters) and recorded in png format... Here it is worth paying attention to the fact that the folder specified in the config (dosbox. Conf, captures item) exists. If there is no such folder, the screenshot will not be created. This is especially true when using the right-click launch method. In this case, the full path must be specified. That is, instead of "capture" - "D: \ Dosbox \ capture".

Midi recording is done with CTRL-ALT-F8. After the first press, the DosBox will go into waiting for recording. The recording itself will start only after the start of playing directly to the midi. Press the combination again to finish. The advantage of this recording is that in most cases only music can be recorded, despite the presence of other game sounds. But this mode only records Midi commands. Therefore, if the music is playing, and the recording has not started, this is not Midi.

Recording to wav starts immediately after pressing the CTRL-F6 combination. And it stops by pressing again. Unlike the previous method, all sounds are recorded in wav. The truth and the size is much larger.
The sound is saved in the same folder as the screenshots.

It's the same story with rollers. Recording starts and stops using the CTRL-ALT-F5 combination. In this case, you must just stop recording, and not just close DosBox, otherwise the video will turn out to be broken. The clips are saved to the same folder as screenshots. At the same time, if during the recording the game changes the resolution, then at this moment the next video will begin to be created - the resolution in one video must be the same. To play, the zmbv codec must be installed. It lies in the zmbv folder. Right click on zmbv. inf and select install. The format is good because it records without loss of quality (though it takes a lot).

4.2 Running games from bootable floppies

Some of the first games to run on a PC didn't run under DOS at all. The floppy disk with such a game was bootable and contained, in some way, an operating system. Everything that the game needed was loaded from the game's floppy disk itself, so no third-party operating systems were required to run. It is clear that now it is unrealistic to launch such games using standard methods. So the ability of DosBox to load such floppy disks from images is very useful.

First of all, you need to mount the folder where the floppy image is located. Most often, floppy images have the. img or. ima. We write mount d c: \ game (we will assume that our image is in this folder)
Now you need to download the image from the folder. To do this, use the boot command:
boot d: \ spacestr. img (image file name)

That's it, DosBox uses this virtual diskette as a boot disk, and if everything goes well, its contents will start working. Try Launch similar applications you can use the example of the game Space Strike from this site.

4.3 Network play on the local network and the Internet in DosBox

DosBox supports network mode in Dos games over IPX. Moreover, the exchange actually takes place not via IPX, but via TCP / IP. This means that old games can now be played not only on the local network, but also via the Internet. Support was also available in version 0.63, but only in 0.65 it became really workable.

Now how to include all this. First of all, you need to open dosbox. conf in the folder with DosBox, find the line ipx = false there and replace it with ipx = true. This will enable IPX support in DosBox. The built-in IPXNET program is responsible for working with IPX. One of the players needs to create a server. This is done with the ipxnet startserver command in the running DosBox. Now another player should connect to this server. To do this, use the ipxnet connect command<адрес>... The address can be either IP or domain or computer name. For example ipxnet connect 192.168.0.1

The server can check if the player is connected by typing ipxnet status. If one player is connected, then there will be two inscriptions in the list. This is because DosBox automatically connects the player who created the server. When two or more players have communicated with each other, you can launch a game that supports IPX and go in search of the item network mode or multiplayer (Note that direct connection or Direct Link are completely different network modes that will not work over TCP / IP) ... Disconnection from the server occurs by the ipxnet disconnect command, and the server itself is shut down by ipxnet stopserver. The ping can be viewed by typing ipxnet ping.

4. DosBox versions

Alternative Dos Box builds

Dos Box is not only free, but also does not hide its source code. Everyone can have a hand in creating their own versions and assemblies. At least everyone understands something in this matter. In the development of alternative versions, restless Korean programmers, located on the site http: // ykhwong, went the furthest. / (DosBox itself in the DosBox CVS section, some patches and additions in the Data section) and riveting one version after another.

A lot of add-ons, goodies and fixes for specific games. Support for Glide, SVGA mode, the ability to mount files from ZIP archives, auto-tuning of the maximum speed, speed display in MHz, a menu with a graphical selection of some items. But do not forget that the stability of these builds is significantly inferior to the standard ones. With the naked eye, imperfections and, let's say, non-lick of innovations are visible. To contemplate all this disgrace, and even more so to test it as well as official versions, there is no way. Therefore, in this manual, this DosBox branch will not be considered. But if you have a desire or problems with specific games, you can always turn to alternative versions yourself.

So, what's new in this version. First of all, this is the long-awaited support for protected mode. Earlier, if you met the Dos4gw file in the package, then you could definitely say that the game would not work in the emulator. And so it was with every mgro using memory expanders. Now these games are working. Of the innovations, there is also support for the Vesa graphics mode. Actually, in theory, with the new version, you can play games such as Settlers 2, Duke Nukem and others. However, I did not write "in theory" for nothing.

The fact is that with the advent of support for Protected Mode, powerful (relatively, of course) games began to run. And the problem of the speed of emulation surfaced. In addition, according to the assurances of the developers, the aforementioned mode itself is emulated in DosBox very slowly. As a result, even Settlers 1 slows down on my Celeron 1.7. And it is unlikely that many have a computer that will run the second part normally.

But in any case, DosBox 0.6 is better than its predecessor, so download and enjoy your old games:

This time the changes in the emulator are not so global.

Added hardware and opengl overlay (this output mode)
- Added hercules graphics graphics mode
- CGA / TANDY modes are more compatible
- Some improvements in keyboard and mouse handling
- Internal modem support
- Some shell improvements
- Ability to change the step size in the config when increasing / decreasing clock cycles
- Many other small changes (many of which are simply incomprehensible to the uninitiated)

DosBox 0kb (outdated version, new version see below)

Once again, the DosBox developers have delighted fans of old games. A long list of changes and fixes suggests that all this time the creators did not sit idly by. If you discard too specialized items, you get the following:

Improved x86 kernel, increased its stability, increased speed
- Added "smart" MPU 401 emulation
- Added Soundblaster 16 emulation
- Improved PC Speaker emulation
- Added support iso images CD-Rom and floppy images
- Added the ability to load another version of DOS
- Now it is possible to pause DosBox
- Added the ability to set different priorities for DosBox when it is active and when it is minimized or inactive
- Added the ability to display images in Direct Draw mode.
- Added the name of the running game in the title bar
- Added new filters advmame3x, tv2x
- Improved Numpad support
- Improved Tandy graphics mode
- Added support for 132x25 and 132x45 text modes
- Now you can change the keyboard
And many more

Now about some points in more detail
First of all, it's worth talking about keymapping, that is, the keyboard layout. Read about it in paragraph 3.5.
Further about the image filter settings in paragraph 3.2
Then on how to disable the sub window 3.4
About some useful items in settings 3.3
And about a small change in the alternative launch method due to the addition of button remapping 2.3
To pause DosBox use the PAUSE key

DosBox kb (outdated version, see new version below)

Differences from previous version Little. There are even fewer noticeable ones. However, a good "Bugfix" is never superfluous.

Fixed crash when calling the key remapping window
- Added disassembly
- Added checking if NumLock and CapsLock are enabled at startup
- Now commands are easier to edit, previously only insert mode worked
- Improved Wave and OPL recording
- Many small fixes

Fixed some VGA detection schemes. (For example, previously Neverending Story 2 refused to see this mode)
- Now you can set the speed as auto.
- Added a command that allows you to change settings on the fly.
- Improved Joystick emulation. Four-button joysticks are supported.
- Improved many things in the boot code. Most bootloaders are working now.
- Many improvements in IPX emulation.
- Rewritten modem support. Should work with many games.
- Improved palette control in CGA. (For example, earlier, if machine = cga was not specified in the config, then the standard colors were chosen, and not those that were actually defined)
- Added support for PCjr system
- Now you can replace the built-in mouse driver. Fixes several games that work with their built-in driver.
- Added the function of recording clips
- Added support for 15/16/32 bit video mode.
- Added the ability to make the mouse not sticky in the DosBox window. (In config autolock = false)
- Added turbo button (when pressed, removes all speed limits - ALT-F12)
- Improved a bunch of other things.

As you can see from this very short list, the protracted wait since the release of the previous version was not in vain. DosBox has made a significant leap forward. Now it can even run PCjr boot games.

DosBox 0kb) - (outdated version, see new version below)

New version of Dos Box 0.70

The dynamic core has been accelerated.
- Improved loop autodetection system
- Improved support for joysticks, introduced more settings
- Added null modem emulation
- Improved CDROM detection and support system
- Accelerated rendering
- Added support for various keyboard layouts
- Edits in emulation (C / E / V) GA
- Expanded and improved emulation of all types of memory (umb / ems / xms)
- Added new graphic filters
- Some other

The version is aimed at optimizing and speeding up work, which is an essential direction - the requirements of DosBox to emulate many late games may be overwhelming for modern machines. Again, the introduction of a full-fledged autodetection of cycles allows you not to suffer with the selection of the emulation speed. Keyboard layouts have been added, including Russian, so that Russian fonts can now be displayed and typed without special programs... Unfortunately, they were met and negative points, some games that worked fine with the previous version of DosBox were emulated in 0.70 with no image. The conditions of occurrence and the reasons for this phenomenon, alas, are not clear.

New version of Dos Box 0.71, 0.72

Fixed some bugs with the joystick, a number of improvements (the ability to choose one of the four-axis joysticks, etc.)
- Improved cdrom support
- Improved detection and display of SVGA and VESA modes
- Fixed text modes and improved ansi emulation.
- Fixed pcspeaker effects and other types sound effects.
- Fixed a bug in the keyboard layout code
- Added new keyboard layouts
- Fixed a crash associated with changing the scaling method before the screen was created
- Added some shell hints for inexperienced DOS users
- And much more

These two releases are essentially big bug fixes with some improvements. For example, the glitch I described earlier with the output of a picture in some games in here completely disappeared.

DosBox 0kb) - download from the official site. Select Windows (if you have such operating system, Certainly). The page will be loaded, which will start the download automatically, otherwise click "this direct link" In the Download column, select any item. The page will load and the download will start. If not, use the link at the top of the page. If it doesn't work again, try another mirror.

For a complete list of changes, see the DosBox website

5. Shells (for 0.65)

A very simple, if not primitive, shell. DOSShell makes it easy to add executable files to a grouped list, but does not allow you to configure any individual parameters for these games and programs. And this is actually the main purpose of the shell. DOSShell actually repeats the method of launching by dragging and dropping an executable program onto the Dosbox icon. exe.

A simple, straightforward, but ineffective shell that does not allow you to adjust the speed and other things for each game.

Download DOSShell

Not so much a shell for creating a base of launched games, as a shell of configs. The main disadvantage- there is no graphical selection of the file to be launched. That is, it is possible to create a shortcut for the game, but this will have to be done in text form using Dos commands. From the point of view of settings, everything is again not too rosy. The list is very small, the rest still needs to be edited in the text config. In short, the value of the shell is questionable.

Download DOSBoxer

Unlike the programs described above, D-Fend stands out for a lot of settings and points for classifying games. Despite the external congestion of the menus, it is very convenient to use the shell. For each game, you can configure individual parameters in the graphical shell itself. In addition, the shell has everything to create even a large base of games. You can set the year of release, genre, developer, publisher, mark as favorite. For each of these items, the shell allows you to sort the content. The need to indicate not only the game being launched, but also which folder needs to be mounted (although this gives additional features on setting). However, the Auto Create button saves the situation by selecting the same game folder. Finally, D-Fend has the ability to very quickly create a shortcut to the desktop for any game, so it won't even be necessary to launch the shell itself in the future.

The best of the presented casings for latest version DosBox. A lot of parameters and some visual trickiness can give the impression of the complexity of the program, but in fact, everything is very convenient.

Download D-Fend

Old version of the article

It used to be better - it's not a secret. And the grass is greener, and the sun is shining, and the sand is loose, and computer games deeper. Now, due to the graphics capabilities, every second trick on the PC and every first on the consoles resembles a crookedly made movie, there is no soul left in them, there is no gameplay! These are not my words, in fact, I have a diametrically opposite opinion. But if you like this idea, then be sure to read this article to the end. After all, I will run directly on Android games that came out in the golden time for the PC. It's MS-DOS time! I will do this through DosBox, of course.

What is DosBox in general? This is an application that emulates MS-DOS, of course. Why do you need it if Windows has a command line that performs all the necessary functions? For games, of course! When the oaks were young and the carrots stood firm and upright, there were huge problems with the various technical components of the PC. Dozens of companies gnawed each other's pedipalps to stay afloat, dozens of video cards and dozens sound cards competed with each other. The trouble is that because of this, games were often made only for one or two sets, and practically did not go to the rest.

Yes, I am exaggerating, the situation was not so sad then, but I hope I managed to convey the essence. Modern equipment It does not always have compatibility with old games, and you can launch a new Battlefront on your monster along with The Witcher 3, but some Dangerous Dave released when you were not yet born will send your supercomputer into a pedestrian erotur. And maybe BSOD will show that it was discouraging.

To avoid such troubles, and old games were running smoothly along with new ones, DosBox was created. It allows you to emulate not only the MS-DOS environment itself without original files, but also old hardware. And the best part is that the application is almost omnivorous, and there is a port of it even on Android. DosBox Turbo is the fastest MS-DOS emulator on the Android market and is a must-buy if you are into retro gaming.

It is a bit difficult to work with, especially for those who have not found MS-DOS, or have found it, but have already forgotten about it. I'm from the second category, if that. And today I will sort out the most simple examples in working with this application. No mounting Windows through separate images - we will run only pure MS-DOS applications.

So, after starting the program, you should see a terrible black screen with letters. There is no mouse cursor, no on-screen keyboard. Everything is fine, it should be so! There should also appear a line with the text a la "Drive C is mounted as local directory / storage / emulated / 0 / Download". It means that main drive DosBox considers Downloads folder. If you plan to upload games to this same folder, then everything is fine, but if they are in the root directory, then it is better to redo this moment.

"Settings"> "DosBox Settings"> "Autoexec.bat", in the line "mount c: / storage / emulated / 0 / Download" remove "Downloads". Next, fill in the game folder in the root directory. By the way, it is better to immediately rename it to something short. Let's say Warlords 2 Deluxe became W2D. The main thing is not to forget what is going to what and where.

The most important command at this stage of emulation is "cd", which is also "change directory". The command is registered according to the principle "cd * folder name *". To return to the directory above, there is the "cd .." command. Files in folders are started by simply typing their name into a string. That is, if the folder contains the XCOM.BAT or XCOM.EXE file, then it is enough to enter its name without the extension.

Basically, this is all a beginner needs to know. Calling the keyboard in DosBox Turbo works in portrait mode, just like the joystick. Now about the games. Apparently, my streak of misfortunes will haunt me for a long time, because some digital fun, intended for DOS, decided not to run on DosBox. TES Redguard ran out of video memory, Warlords 2 gave a sound error, the demo version of Heroes of Might and Magic crashed without declaring war ... But Bard's Tale and UFO: Enemy Unknown started quickly and pleasantly. Screensavers are skipped, the keyboard works, but the mouse is in both cases are a little nasty, and needs some tweaking.

This is where we can finish. With the article, but not with the topic, of course, since there is also DosBox Manager for discussion, mounting images and games that will not start without mounting, as well as launching through the Windows emulator. I will focus on step-by-step strategies that do not require a quick and sharp response from the user. After all, a smartphone usually doesn't have a keyboard or mouse.