DOS Games Discussion

Ok, now this is a problem with Wing Commander 2 Deluxe Edition on CD. Not only does it suffer the joystick problem from SC (minus the calibration), but for some reason the installer cant find files i dont mount. The thing that sucks is I cant mount the file it needs without blocking access to the installer. I then tried to see if I could mount it as an image, but then it said it couldnt find an image. I need to play it off of the CD, which is laggy because the disk spins down by the time it needs to load the next part of the cut scene. So then the disk needs to spin up, which also makes nice sound hiccups in the process. Also: is there anyway to emulate a DOS printer? I have Darklands on CD, and to be cheep they made it so you need to print out the manual. It's in text file format, but it's disorganized and put in a way that's a real pain in the ass to read. The only way to view it and not get lost every time you need to switch lines is through the menu that pops up when you start Darklands.

Can't help with the joystick problem, but a good site for manuals is replacementdocs.com ... see here for a couple versions of the Darklands manual:

http://www.replacementdocs.com/download ... d_name.ASC

About Wing Commander, you d'better get the HotU version instead of the CD version. The CD version was already bugged when released.
Here you can get the HotU one:
http://www.the-underdogs.info/game.php?gameid=2093

It includes WC, WCII and the secret missions. 73 Mb, so you will need time to download that, but this version works in dosbox 0.70.

Can someone tell me how to set up a label? I figured out that the install cant find the CD and that I need a label, but DOS Box doesnt give me any indication that a label is set. I read the readme and the intro. The readme only explains what -label does, and the intro wasnt very clear on what happens when it's done or whether "CDLABEL" is where I put the label or if that is the command I use. That is making me worry I'm doing it wrong.

*Gonna ask for a raise*

mount d x:\ -t cdrom -ioctl -label Put_Correct_Label_Here

Note: If you use the "label" you d'better also use the "ioctl" in NT/XP

You know what? Screw DOS Box! There, I said it. Almost every game I try to run on it has some sort of crippling problem which ends up ruining the game. I'll just try and set up the old IBM 300PL w/ a Pentium 2 I have laying around here with DOS 5.0.

You know, it's more that you try to run some games who are known for being bitchy on dosbox.
Most games will run pretty good ( even flawless) in dosbox. The Origin games however, Strike Commander and Wing Commander series :/.
Try some other games, and you will see dosbox is a good emulator.

For the Origin games you are better of with VPC2004 and MSDos 6.22.
That's what I use for those, runs flawless.

As for your P2: better use MSDos 6.22, much steadier and better memory management on a Pentium class than MSDos 5.

Other bad news for you:
I'm doubting SC and WC will run on a P2 without the same problems. And some other problems, (game speed, joystick .......). On too fast PCs those games are unplayable. You certainly will need slowdowners, and those cause those games to run extremely jerky.

Well, the P2 is the only thing I have access to. I do have older computers, but they're in the attic with rats and tons of fur and tons of rat crap. Plus we have a pull down latter thing to get up there so it's a real bitch trying to get things up and down. Origin games are the only good DOS games I have. Decent 2, SimCity 2000, Duke Nukem 3D, and Lemmings are the only other ones i know are good (mabey Darklands, but the only way to play that is to print out the 107 page manual). My family was mainly poor in the 90's, so we mainly got the crap that comes with PC Gamer or the cheap generic games. I also really want to play them because I have no memory of playing any of those besides Lemmings and Duke Nukem. My brothers and my dad do but not me. I dont care if I have to use slowdowners to play them (besides, the only game with speed up issues is WC2).

FYI: Duke Nukem 3D runs pretty good in dosbox 0.70, so don't throw dosbox away too soon. ;)

BTW: I'm talking about the full version, don't know about the demo, if you should have that one.

I think my dad picked up the Kill-a-Ton Collection in the clearance bin one day in the late 90's XD

Duke 3d,lemmings and sim city 2000 run great in dosbox. I use dynamic mode and have played those games and i got to say they run perfectly in dosbox 0.70. They don't crash or run slow. Sim city 2000 is a great game. I have never played any origin games or any games from blizzard. I mainly grew up with computer games published by softkey and sierra games. My favourite game published by softkey is strike base which has to be the best dos game ever. I have never played warcraft or strike commander or wing commander or ultima.

Getting back to WC2, I learned how to use the mouse and I'm dealing with the lag in the cut scenes, but for some reason once I kill all the enemies in the second mission it goes black and DOS box exits. 1 time the DOS box screen displayed a whole bunch of and error messages, but i thought just because I did a command at the same time it loaded the next part of the mission it crashed. Can anyone help me?

Think that's a bad sign.
Corrupt file maybe ? If is, you're screwed.
Seems as it can't load the next sequence or enemie spawn.
As you probably know WCI and WCII are scripted games, your position/actions/kills are the trigger for the game to continue.

You could:
-try to switch to autopilot directly after killing the last boogie, maybe, "maybe", you can get past that bad spot.
-Could also be a music or sound glitch, kill the ingame music.

If all fails, now yeah, down the HotU version, I know for sure this one works, played through WCI,WCII and the secret missions from HotU.

Here's what that other screen says when the Game screen goes black:



Yeah, sounds like an audio glitch or the corrupt file is an audio file.

This one had the same problem with the WCII cd, seems to be a solution:
http://vogons.zetafleet.com/viewtopic.p ... +commander

Needs a 'loadfix', it's all explained in that Vogon topic.

Good luck.

That did it. I'm doing great now.

Now yeah, that's what that guy on Vogon also said.

But .....
There is a new one (Icarus or so) now posting on pag 2, seems he's back in problems after some further missions.

Let's hope you're doing better.

dosraider wrote:Now yeah, that's what that guy on Vogon also said.

But .....
There is a new one (Icarus or so) now posting on pag 2, seems he's back in problems after some further missions.

Let's hope you're doing better.

........*starts praying to god that it stays fine*

Ok, I figured out how to calibrate the Joystick (it was buried in the tutorial section of the manual as a note), but every time I get to a place with enemies DOS Box crashes. I tried the same mission with mouse and it was fine. Any guesses?

I knew of somekind of a fansite with some more tricks, patches and stuff, must look for it ..... I'll be back.

(Don't hold your breath).

*Edit
Found it, lots to read, so you will be happy.

For starters:
http://www.wcnews.com/techsupport.shtml

Some more stuffies and patches:
http://www.wcnews.com/files.shtml#wc2

If you still have problems, remember that I said somewhere that you can play through WC1/2 in VPC with MSDos 6.22. (I've done so).