Prosystemsearch Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 I have DOSBOX and I noticed that while picking through the graphics modes for CALGAMES, it won't do some graphics modes correctly and instead display garbage graphics. Examples: Tandy 1000 mode, and Hercules monochrome mode(This mode doesn't display garbage graphics, instead nothing displays at all). Why is this? Also, I got the zip files for the enhanced floppy disk version(aka MS-DOS Version 2) of Maniac Mansion, but all the things I tried won't make the enhanced version boot at all! Instead, I still get the standard DOS version that uses the 5160 speaker for sound and music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 Dosbox is old and hasn't been updated in years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 Is there a successor or have they abandoned it? Dosbox was an important emulator. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 There is no successor. It hasn't been abandoned, it's considered largely finished because it handles a lot of games. There may be 1 or 2 updates this decade. Kind of like AppleWin - we only see updates every year or so at best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 There is no successor. It hasn't been abandoned, it's considered largely finished because it handles a lot of games. There may be 1 or 2 updates this decade. Kind of like AppleWin - we only see updates every year or so at best. There's some independent builds but you'd have to dig them up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 Really? I thought it was more like 85%-90%. Then again I haven't looked into it in a year or two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 I don't know what the compatibility level percentage wise is.. But they do tell you not to use non-game programs with it. It's strictly meant for gaming. Having said that I can run Windows 3.1 on it just fine for "vintage" word processing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prosystemsearch Posted December 17, 2015 Author Share Posted December 17, 2015 ST Fanboy? You appear to like the ST WAY over Amiga. Nothing wrong with that at all, but DAMN, you really think the Amiga and a lot o the people behind it are full of crap. Yes, many units of the earlier models have had problems with different bugs, but other models, such as the Amiga 600 and 2000, have most of them fixed up or at least not occuring as often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatta Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 Should work. See if you can replicate it with other games that use the same mode. Ask at Vogons for better info, some of the devs hang out there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osgeld Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 (edited) I find dos box to be fairly poor emulator, especially considering 9 out of 10 times its running on a machine that will still boot and run MS-DOS. While it has ran every program I have thrown at it, it never runs them right, without witchcraft, fiddledicking and sheer luck so It does not surprise me it does not handle two very common video modes, I have had it fail on others as well like MCGA Edited December 18, 2015 by Osgeld Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prosystemsearch Posted December 18, 2015 Author Share Posted December 18, 2015 I find dos box to be fairly poor emulator, especially considering 9 out of 10 times its running on a machine that will still boot and run MS-DOS. While it has ran every program I have thrown at it, it never runs them right, without witchcraft, fiddledicking and sheer luck so It does not surprise me it does not handle two very common video modes, I have had it fail on others as well like MCGA Maybe the Rom you got that had MCGA support is corrupt in certain liines? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 Dosbox is more a wrapper than an emulator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prosystemsearch Posted December 18, 2015 Author Share Posted December 18, 2015 Dosbox is more a wrapper than an emulator. It isn't a wrapper. If you aren't very fond of DOSBOX that is okay, but take your tearing at it to another site or at least another thread! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great Hierophant Posted December 19, 2015 Share Posted December 19, 2015 (edited) DOSBox handles all common video adapters, CGA, PCjr., Tandy 1000, Hercules, EGA, VGA, and several popular SVGA chipsets (Tseng ET3000 & ET4000, Paradise, S3). MCGA is a subset of VGA, and no game supports MCGA without supporting EGA and VGA. Make sure you have the correct machine type set in the dosbox.conf file. For California Games, you also have to tell the game the proper mode to use. There is a configure option in the main menu you use to change the video mode. For Maniac Mansion, make sure you have the tandy machine type set in the dosbox.conf file and delete any PREFS file in the directory. For the past five years, DOSBox has been kept regularly updated, but no new official version has been released. You can compile it yourself or find a compiled version. Here is where you can find a barebones version of the latest code snapshot : http://www.emucr.com/search/label/DOSBox?&max-results=12 Official DOSBox is a complete emulator, it is no wrapper. It emulates most of the basic hardware of a generic PC, the CPU, the NPU, multiple graphics and sound cards, the timer, interrupt and DMA controllers, floppy, hard and CD-ROM drives. It has its own BIOS and version of DOS, but can run MS-DOS or Windows up to and including 3.1 officially. It can make mount folders on your PC as emulated drives or use disk drive images. Edited December 19, 2015 by Great Hierophant 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted December 19, 2015 Share Posted December 19, 2015 Is dosbox 100% register compatible with all its video adapters? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asaki Posted December 19, 2015 Share Posted December 19, 2015 (edited) Also, I got the zip files for the enhanced floppy disk version(aka MS-DOS Version 2) of Maniac Mansion, but all the things I tried won't make the enhanced version boot at all! Instead, I still get the standard DOS version that uses the 5160 speaker for sound and music. As far as I know, the Enhanced version just has better graphics than the original. Sound and music should be the same. Edited December 19, 2015 by Asaki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shannon Posted December 19, 2015 Share Posted December 19, 2015 Also keep in mind that some of the "abandonware" versions out their are either incomplete, or messed up due to missing data or poorly done "cracks" of protected software. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted December 19, 2015 Share Posted December 19, 2015 Is dosbox 100% register compatible with all its video adapters? Since it's not, expect some thing to simply not work. And the bogus builds haven't fixed the problems yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great Hierophant Posted December 19, 2015 Share Posted December 19, 2015 Since it's not, expect some thing to simply not work. And the bogus builds haven't fixed the problems yet. DOSBox is sufficiently video register compatible to play just about any game. It may have some issues with demos, but it is designed for games. If you can find an compatibility issue with a specific game that did not come from an abandonware source, then make a post on the VOGONS forum and it will most likely be fixed at some point and then you can download an unofficial build like the one I have linked or compile a version with your fix. As far as I know, the Enhanced version just has better graphics than the original. Sound and music should be the same. The Enhanced version of Maniac Mansion has improved music and sound effects compared to the unenhanced version. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asaki Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 But it's still all PC speaker, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osgeld Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 no its tandy 1000 / pc jr sound which uses a AY based sound chip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prosystemsearch Posted December 20, 2015 Author Share Posted December 20, 2015 no its tandy 1000 / pc jr sound which uses a AY based sound chip The sound chip found in the PC jr and Tandy PCs are not AY based. They are chips from Texas Instruments, NOT General Instruments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great Hierophant Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 But it's still all PC speaker, right? no its tandy 1000 / pc jr sound which uses a AY based sound chip Maniac Mansion unenhanced uses PC Speaker sound for all systems that are not Tandy 1000s and Tandy sound for all Tandy 1000s. Maniac Mansion Enhanced uses different PC Speaker sound for all systems that are not Tandy 1000s and different Tandy sound for all Tandy 1000s. In total there are four different varieties of music and sound effects you can hear depending on the version you have and the system you run it on. Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders uses the same PC Speaker and Tandy 1000 music/sound effects whether you are running the unenhanced or Enhanced version. So for Zak, there are only two varieties of music and sound effects. The IBM PCjr. and Tandy 1000 uses a TI SN76496 or compatible clone, not the somewhat superior AY-3-8910/YM-2149 series chips. However, Maniac and Zak will treat the PCjr. like a PC with CGA graphics unless hacked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 You can compile it yourself or find a compiled version. Here is where you can find a barebones version of the latest code snapshot : http://www.emucr.com/search/label/DOSBox?&max-results=12 Be careful if you visit there. One of the links provided wanted to open like 7 browser windows and run flash and java stuff. The others were just plain spammy and didn't work. Another one wanted to download a downloader.. Ughh.. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted December 26, 2015 Share Posted December 26, 2015 It isn't a wrapper. If you aren't very fond of DOSBOX that is okay, but take your tearing at it to another site or at least another thread! For a long time I used DosBox to run an old version of MAME so I could play Liberator till they fixed Level 19 and 22. I also use to to play the Original DOOM and DOOM II with the original executable and textures just like in the 486 days. Saying it is a wrapper (no matter how incorrect) DOES NOT IMPLY I DISLIKE IT. Please read critically, it's a skill lost on many in this day and age. DOSBox handles all common video adapters, CGA, PCjr., Tandy 1000, Hercules, EGA, VGA, and several popular SVGA chipsets (Tseng ET3000 & ET4000, Paradise, S3). MCGA is a subset of VGA, and no game supports MCGA without supporting EGA and VGA. Make sure you have the correct machine type set in the dosbox.conf file. Official DOSBox is a complete emulator, it is no wrapper. It emulates most of the basic hardware of a generic PC, the CPU, the NPU, multiple graphics and sound cards, the timer, interrupt and DMA controllers, floppy, hard and CD-ROM drives. It has its own BIOS and version of DOS, but can run MS-DOS or Windows up to and including 3.1 officially. It can make mount folders on your PC as emulated drives or use disk drive images. 1- You really have to fiddle with graphics modes and skipping cycles to sometimes get it just right. Each game will be different. 2- I seem to have been mis-informed a long time ago. Considering it works on OSX it would have to be an emulator I suppose. And that's alright. You appear to like the ST WAY over Amiga. Nothing wrong with that at all, but DAMN, you really think the Amiga and a lot o the people behind it are full of crap. Yes, many units of the earlier models have had problems with different bugs, but other models, such as the Amiga 600 and 2000, have most of them fixed up or at least not occuring as often. I don't believe I have ever posted an opinion on the ST. But I rather kinda sorta liked the ST, never got into it. Same with the MAC, liked it but never got into it. By the time the 600 came out I was using PC hardware which was light years ahead in real practical situations. For the record, The Amiga never lived up to the hype it was presented to me with. I disliked the marketing and overenthusiastic salespeople surrounding the whole Amiga fiasco. To realize the potential of the Amiga one had to spend several thousand dollars on additional hardware like the Toaster. Out of the box capabilities came nowhere near what I was made to believe. There were many fatal flaws in the Amiga design that prevented it from growing and evolving as the industry matured. In all fairness when WinUAE improves I'll perhaps enjoy the Amiga in a different light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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