re: Old DOS Game
Monday, December 31, 2001 at 4:47 pm
Windows 98 Annoyances Discussion Forum
Posted by Everett
(2940 messages posted)
Michael: now that the game's icon is in place we can move onto the next step; trying
to run the game without any further reconfiguration. Click on the icon to start
the game. Windows will recognize your game as DOS-based and will try to adjust to
the game's resource needs.If the game works properly at this stage you need go no
further. There are two principles involved in this process: 1. make changes only
if necessary, and 2. all changes are customized to apply to the specific game and
do NOT apply to other games nor to your system as a whole. You will have to repeat
the process for each and every DOS game.
It may happen, at this point, that Windows will produce a dialog box saying: " Program
requires MS-DOS Mode" and asking if you want to change the shortcut properties. Click
"Yes" and a dialog box will appear for "Configuration Options". The four options
are: 1. EMS: to load the EMM386 driver and upper memory blocks (UMBs). 2. Disk Cache:
loads the SmartDrv disk cache program to improve disk I/O performance. 3. Doskey:
for command line editing. 4. Direct Disk Access: enables the game to directly modify
disk data structure. At this point, enable EMS and restart the game. If the game
now works well, proceed no further. If not, enable SmartDrv. Restart the game...etc.
until all options are enabled. Now if you do NOT see the above dialog box and/or
you are still not happy with the game's performance, we move onto the next stage
which will be the subject of the next message. More to follow...
On Saturday, December 22, 2001 at 5:04 pm, Michael R. Walls wrote:
>
>Wow, Everett!!
>
> Thank you for the quick response. I'm sitting here reading your instructions,
>and breaking out in a cold sweat. I don't mean to sound stupid, but I will admit
>that I'm extremely ignorant when it comes to rewriting files. I'm going to give
>it my best shot, and just have some fun with it. ( I have a backup computer set
up).
> I'm a little confused when you talk of common variables, though, and would like
>a bit more info before I begin. This is the Holiday season, so I really don;'t
expect
>to hear back from you til next year, but let me say "Many, many Thanks" in advance!
> Respect Michael
>
>On Friday, December 21, 2001 at 10:23 pm, Everett wrote:
>
>Michael: first thing to try is to Restart in MS-DOS Mode and run the game from
>there.
> This works for some games that do not want to share resources with other programs
>such as Windows. The game you listed is probably in the next category which have
>their own graphic environment. These games require you to startup to the DOS prompt.
> You can boot to the boot menu by pressing F8 when Windows starts to load and then
>select Command Prompt Only, or you
>can boot directly to the DOS prompt by adding the command line: BootGUI=0 to the
>[Options] section of the MSDOS.SYS file (see Troubleshooting on the left of your
>screen for more about MSDOS.SYS). If this route is chosen, you should also set
>BootMenu=0.
> You can further automate the running of the game by entering a command in Autoexec.bat
>to start it. If you also want a choice to choose between the game and Windows,
>you
>can set up Config.sys to display a menu. Set up CONFIG.SYS as follows:
>[menu]
>menuitem=Windows
>menuitem=gamename
>menudefault=gamename,10
>
>[common]
>variables common to both programs
>
>[Windows]
>variables needed by Windows
>
>[program name]
>variables needed by gamename
>gamename pathname
>
>[common]
>more variables common to both programs
>
>For the AUTOEXEC.BAT file:
>
>Commands common to both programs
>goto %config%
>
>:Windows
>Commands needed by Windows
>goto end
>
>:gamename
>Commands needed by gamename
>C:\windows\win.com
>
>:end
>Commands common to both programs
>
>Note: for gamename substitute the DOS name for the game.
>Let us know how it works out.
>
>
>On Friday, December 21, 2001 at 4:29 pm, Michael R. Walls wrote:
>Hey, Folks,
>
> I have a REALLY old game that my daughters love, called "Are You Afraid of the
>Dark, The Tale of Orpheos Curse". It ran great back in 95, but won't do anything
>in 98. Is there anyone out there who has been able to get this game to work in
>W98?
> I'd be grateful to learn how to do it. Thanks
>
- Written in response to:
- re: Old DOS Game (Michael R. Walls: Saturday, December 22, 2001 at 5:04 pm)
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