DOSBox

DOSBox is a free DOS computer emulator. It emulates the entire machine, even CPU, sound card and graphics card, so it does not suffer from ills of Windows' DOS emulator, such as speed bugs. It is also easily configurable with its configuration file, dosbox.conf. It has been ported to other platforms (Linux and Mac) allowing users on these other Operating Systems to play DOS games.

The future of DOSBox is also very promising. The next version will be able to run Windows 3x. This will be especially important as users start to migrate to 64 bit versions of Windows, since these versions of Windows can't run 16 bit code (almost all of Sierra's classic games.)

DOSBox can be downloaded from here.
 

DOSBox Guides

Be sure to see the DOSBox README for help with using DOSBox. More help can be found in the guides below and the DOSBox Guides section of the DOSBox forums on VOGONS.

• DOSBox Quick Guide page
• Mounting drives in DOSBox
• Installing Games in DOSBox
• Creating Shortcuts to Launch games in DOSBox
• DOSBox tips page

If you need further help, you can ask on the the DOSBox forums on VOGONS.
 

Windows 3x in DOSBox

You can now install Windows 3x in DOSBox .065 or greater. Current CVS builds will also work and might offer greater compatibility or added features. You will need to have the Windows 3x install disks. to do this. Windows 3x will add to the load placed on DOSBox, but will let you run 16 bit Windows games (and a few 32 bit games with the Wins32 add-on) that will not run natively in XP.

This will be increasingly more important as 64 bit Windows replaces 32 bit Windows, as Windows x64 does not have NTVDM (XP's built-in DOS emulator) and cannot run 16 bit programs.

See these step by step guides for help installing Windows 3x in DOSBox.

• Installing Windows 3x in DOSBox.
• Installing Graphics Drivers in Windows 3x.
• Installing SoundBlaster Drivers in Windows 3x.
• Downloads for Installing Windows 3x in DOSBox.
  

CVS Builds

CVS Builds are experimental versions of DOSBox compiled from the latest code and patches. These might have new features, bug fixes or optimizations. They might not be as stable as the official release.

CVS Builds of DOSBox can be found on this VOGONS thread. (From a post by HunterZ on VOGONS. Note: these builds are unsupported):

ykhwong's CVS build - This build incorporates vasyl's experimental emulation of various SVGA chipsets as well as OpenGL-HQ, Direct3D, "smart screen update", and other experimental patches.

CVS-Compile (AKA AEP Emulation) build - A direct build (i.e. no modifications or unofficial patches) from the official CVS source code. Good for testing games that have problems in 0.63.

gulikoza's build - This build has lots of experimental patches - most noteworthy is probably the timesync patch, which allows DOSBox to adjust its cycles setting automatically. Another popular feature of this build is Direct3D rendering support, which is being developed by gulikoza himself. Individual patches are also available on gulikoza's site as diffs for those who compile their own versions.

Moe's build - Moe's been working on using shaders in OpenGL to do advanced filtering (smoothing) of DOSBox output. He's recently abandoned his DOSBox build in favor of maintaining a modified version of SDL.dll that included his OpenGL-HQ modifications, which can now be used with DOSBox, ScummVM, and many other programs that use SDL.

Canadacow's MT-32 build - This build is now dated; it was made before DOSBox 0.63 came out and contains MT-32 emulation code that is much older than the current Munt releases.

You can help keep The Sierra Help Pages alive by helping to defray some of the costs of hosting this site. If it has been of help to you, please consider contributing to help keep it online. Thank you.