DOSBox

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Key points

DOSBox allows DOS-based games to run properly on modern systems.

For a list of games using DOSBox see games re-released using DOSBox.

General information

Official DOSBox site

Official DOSBox wiki

Issues fixed

Black screen in fullscreen mode

With some video cards, DOSBox's default output mode will render with a black screen in fullscreen mode.

Edit DOSBox configuration file (non-GOG.com versions) • Link Edit the DOSBox configuration file (dosbox-0.74.conf, dosbox.conf, or similar). Change output=surface to output=overlay Save your changes and run the game again. If the problem persists, edit it again and try different modes until you get one that works.

Run Graphic Mode Setup (GOG.com versions) • Link Run the game's Graphic Mode Setup in the Start Screen/Start Menu. Change Graphic mode to "Overlay" or "DDraw". Choose Save Settings and run the game again. If the problem persists, run it again and try different modes until you get one that works.

Character/camera/cursor constantly moves in one direction

Change joystick timing setting • Link Edit the game's DOSBox configuration file. Change timed=true to timed=false (if it is already set to this, try timed=true instead). Save your changes and run the game again.

Disable joystick support • Link This fix is only suitable if you don't want to use a controller with the game. Edit the game's DOSBox configuration file. Change the joysticktype value to none Save your changes and run the game again.

Can't remap keys/joystick

Some games have fixed inputs. Use the DOSBox Mapper to remap the controls.

Printer support

Official DOSBox builds don't support printing in games that use it.

Enable printer support • Link Download the latest version of DOSBox SVN-Daum. Install it over top of the game's existing DOSBox version. Edit the game's configuration file and add the following lines at the bottom: [printer] printer=true dpi=360 width=85 height=110 printoutput=printer multipage=false docpath=. timeout=0 [parallel] parallel1=printer Start the game normally. When you are ready to print, first switch into windowed mode (Alt+Enter) for best results. If a menu bar is visible in fullscreen mode after making this change, ensure output= is not set to OpenGL. The printer selection window is only shown once per session; relaunch the game to change printers.

General information

Unofficial builds

There are various unofficial builds of DOSBox which provide additional functionalities such as support for Glide.

Windows installation

Windows 95 and Windows 98 can be installed inside DOSBox however this is unsupported and instability issues occur.

Example input

DOSBox running in Windows:

Z:\>
Z:\>mount c c:\game_directory
Z:\>imgmount d d:\game_disc.iso -t iso
Z:\>cd d:\
D:\>game_install.exe
D:\>cd c:\
C:\>
C:\>game.exe

Substitute the pathways with the given conventions of the host operating system.

Alt+Enter to maximise the window; Ctrl+F4 to switch between mounted disc images. Use double quotes, " ", when mounting directories with spaces ("c:\game directory"); For mounting multiple disc images, -t iso is required only once at the end of the last disc image, this defines how DOSBox should emulate the volume and iso defines the type of volume.

DOSBox configuration

DOSBox stores configuration information in *.conf files. Individual conf files can be create for each piece of software used and additional parameters can be appended.

To modify a configuration option within Dosbox, use the config command. For example, config cpu cycles fixed 30000

Mapper

The DOSBox Mapper (Ctrl+F1/Command+F1) can be used to re-assign keyboard, mouse and joystick commands.

Joystick

DOSBox has several virtual joystick modes which affect what inputs are seen in-game and also what inputs can be remapped using the Mapper. See the DOSBox manual for details.

Related

• Bochs
• QEMU