Fix Fake Broken Watch

DosBox

After many delays we are finally arrived at the special dedicated to DosBox, then no more talk and let's get started ...

Introduction

As I said in previous post (if you have not read, I invite you to do before you start this article!) With the evolution of Microsoft operating systems mother , Compatibility with good old MS-DOS swarming has gradually making it impossible to play the old glories of the past. In order to enjoy the end of gameplay Alley Cat , fans retrogaming PC had to jealously preserve an old computer (equipped with a maximum Windows 95/98) or in the complex world barcamerasi of multi-boot to start multiple operating systems (functional solution but requires restarting the computer whenever you want to enjoy a bit 'of the past as well as gaming, to take the risk of seeing the games splash at speeds unheard of).
short, no end of trouble until July 22, 2002 when, as a brilliant insight Peter Veenstra, began to circulate on the Internet DosBox the first (and probably only) PC emulator MS-DOS x86 architecture-based . Unlike other software similar at first sight, such as dosemu the DosBox does not just provide a compatibility layer based on the virtualization capabilities of the processor and operating system 'host "But it is a true CPU emulation feature that makes the program independent of the system that is running (in fact DosBox is available, as well as Windows, Mac OS X for , Linux, OS / 2 on x86 architecture and on different architectures as PowerPC, SPARC , MIPS and ARM ).
addition to almost perfectly emulate the CPU 80286, 80386 and 80387 coprecessore mathematician, the DosBox emulates with good quality

• graphics adapters: Hercules (monochrome graphics adapter), CGA (including composite mode 160x200x16 colors), EGA, VGA (including its tweked mode) VESA ( of these standards will speak to you soon )
• sound cards: AdLib , Creative Music System (CMS), Sound Blaster (from 1.x to 16), Gravis Ultrasound, MPU-401 and even the legendary PC Speaker
• old protocols (IPX) and device ( modem and network cards) to networking to allow Internet gambling

For more details on the level of compatibility hardware of DosBox I invite you to see the summary table on the official website .

Using DoxBox

Well, after this large but unavoidable technical preamble, we turn to flab ... After downloading and installing the software , launch the program in the manner prescribed by the acquired version (for Windows , double clicking the icon, which appeared as if by magic, on desktop ). We will at this point in front of a black box desolately, which features the character sequence:

Z: \\>

followed by the flashing cursor. Ladies and gentlemen here comes the prompt , or the infamous command line will use to interact with the operating system (a customized and simplified version of the good old MS-DOS ).

The "scary" screen of DosBox

The prompt well as allow the insertion of commands us some information: The first letter identifies the drive on which we position, while the sequence of characters after ':' and before '>' display the path of the current (at the beginning We are located on the root folder, identified by the character'/'). As I mentioned earlier the DoxBox incorporates a simplified version of 'MS-DOS which "inherits" a score of command (type HELP / ALL and press enter for complete list). If twenty commands may sound a lot to master, know that in most cases there will be enough to make two satisfaction with this superb piece of software :

• DIR (directory ): displays the contents of the folder current. Particularly useful are the two modifiers / P and / W by postpone the command separated by a space, to obtain, respectively, the list page and multiple columns. The output of the DIR command, brought in the figure, in the order shown: the file name, extension, size in bytes and the date and time of creation. The file extension is very important, because executable files (those that start a game, just to understand) are identified by extensions: EXE, COM, and BAT (do this as a valuable information!). If the name is followed by \u0026lt;DIR> , it is actually a folder in which we can get through to the next command ...

Sample output of the command DIR

• CD (change directory ): changes the current folder. If the disk, for example, folder is DOOM, DOOM command CD, followed by prompt delivery move the specified directory.

addition to commands derived by MS-DOS, DosBox offers some ad-hoc commands , of \u200b\u200bwhich the most important is MOUNT that allows you to "attack" as virtual drive, folder the local filesystem. The command syntax is as follows:

MOUNT lettera_drive percorso_cartella_locale

So if our computer Games create the folder (eg the C: drive), the command

MOUNT CC: \\ GAMES

will appear as by magic, a new disk (C), in which we could access all file and directory contained in the local folder. To access the new disc simply type C: followed by enter, to land on the new disk and start hacking away (in general, to access a drive , simply type the drive letter, followed by ':' and then sending). Being able to use as a virtual disk to a local folder, allows you to manage content through visual tools provided by modern operating systems (the only advice to you and not to create files and folders, with names longer 8-character ... gamer favors the prepared). You will then need to copy the file , in the "shared" and then, using the shell , go to launch the game.

Since I feel good, do a complete example:

• Abandonia Go to the site (nice site to download games released as abandonware ) and Alley Cat download
• In C: \\ GAMES ALLEY create the folder and unzip the contents of inside
• Start the DosBox
• use the command mount cc: \\ Games for create the virtual drive
• type C: to access the new disk, use the command
• CD ALLEY
• to access the folder via the command DIR , view the contents of the folder and finally
• , type CAT.EXE

to start the game as easy as drinking a glass of water: o)

Before moving to the next paragraph, I remind you that the DosBox running caching the contents of the disk, so if you run similar operations as described above, use the command ReScan to synchronize the contents of the cache .

dosbox.conf

The default settings of DosBox ensure good compatibility with most games. In some cases you may need to change the configuration file to get the most out of the way we are going to play. Access to the configuration file is through the icon inside the folder DosBox in the start menu (on Windows systems do not , you may need to manually log file ... but little change). The file is presented as a series of key / value pairs, each of which governs one of the characteristics of the emulator. The keys are so many but each one is present, in the same configuration file, including a brief description of the values \u200b\u200bit can take. Here I will mention those that I consider most interesting.

• output: Allows you to configure how rendering. The value of default ( surface) is what provides the better compatibility but does not support filtering, and rescaling . On Windows, work with most modern graphics cards is that opengl ddraw (DirectX, Direct Draw).
• windowresolution : Sets the resolution of the DosBox window running in windowed mode . The default value ( original ) uses the original resolution of the game that you are using, or you can specify a different resolution in format width x height (eg 1024x768). The value setting is ignored if output = surface.
• fullresolution : like the previous key, but used in full-screen mode .
• scaler : Allows you to select the algorithm used to "scale" the image from the original resolution that specified in the two previous keys. Possible values \u200b\u200bare nearly twenty of them and each provides a different image rendering ... fiddle and you choose the one that best suits your taste (watch that the filter is more complex and more resources will be drained from the DosBox your computer )
• machine: it allows to define the ' graphics hardware emulated. In most cases the default value works fine, but to enjoy the splendor of CGA Composite Video Mode you set this key value cga .
• cycles : Sets the number of instructions that the CPU emulated run every millisecond. Changing this value can slow down the processor to adapt to the needs of some older games that are not able to adapt to the excessive power of current processors. The default value ( cars), makes the DosBox wheels automatically adapt to the needs software running. If the program is too fast, you can specify a fixed value with the notation fixed number #, where # number indicates the number of instructions executed every millisecond. This value is displayed in the title bar of the window.
• frameskip : Sets the number of frames the program skips before drawing the next. The default value (0) does not skip any frame a different value can be set to increase performance.

I close the configuration file to highlight the section [autoexec] (found in bottom of the same), where you can specify commands that run at startup DosBox useful, for example, to mount the disks that store your games.

For further guidance on file dosbox.conf , the controls and the secrets of DosBox please read the official documentation (unfortunately only in English) which can be found at the following address .



Tips & Tricks

Before moving on to the rightful conclusion, we report some key combinations that you can use to take advantage of this fantastic emulator:

• ALT + ENTER : switching from windowed than full-screen and vice versa
• CTRL + F5 : Capture a snapshot in PNG (as captured is stored in a folder accessible from the folder DosBox the Start menu)
• CTRL + ALT + F5 : the first press starts to acquire the video, the second stops. The stored file requires a codec apposot to be displayed (this is also the usual folders in the Start menu). The format is supported by YouTube and then you can have fun to "shoot" your sessions game and share them online (I myself use this feature to capture video and fit it in the back review).
• CTRL + F6 : the first press starts to acquire digital audio, the second stops.
• CTRL + ALT + F7 : as above but to capture sound synthesized (OPL)
• CTRL + ALT + F8 : as above but to capture the audio MIDI
• CTRL + F7 / Ctrl + F8: Decrease / increase the frameskip
• CTRL + F11 / Ctrl + F12 : Decrease / increase the number of instructions per millisecond, so you can adjust on the fly performance of the emulated system

Conclusions

Well, we have reached the end of this SpecialOne which I hope will serve as encouragement for start enjoying the joys and pleasures of DosBox. I know, purists might turn up a little 'nose because it was judged "unworthy" to use an emulated machine than a real but DosBox allows anyone to start enjoying this world for many unknown and mysterious. Also touring on eBay 'll see it's much easier to buy a Commodore 64 than an old 386.
For the record, I inform you that there are different front-end that simplify the use of DosBox but I invite you to use it in the way it "native", at least in part to enjoy the good old days.

Good retrogaming ...


PS Everything I've told you is for the latest version of DosBox , namely 0.74.