DOSBox, how have you configured it?


Wally

I am a banana!
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Hi all,


I'm curious how people have personalised DOSBox with menus and stuff.


I have gone the route of using QuickMenu as it seems touch screen friendly and fairly configurable.


Windows 3.11 might be better but it uses a lot more memory where as QuickMenu removes itself from RAM before running the target program.
 
I tend to use DOSBox with DboxFE.. It's easy enough to make specific profiles and such, you can make it launch the programs automatically by adding it to the autoexec section...


But, I don't tend to need any front ends to launch games specifically as I spent a bit of my childhood navigating through DOS..
 
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I don't use graphical menus or the frontend, I just type. Has nothing to do with nostalgia or anything like that (I never even used DOS as a child, first system I used was Windows 3.1), I just like the command-line interface better. Partly because the touch screen doesn't work with DOSBox (or, at least, I haven't figured out how to get it to work) due to DOSBox using relative mouse values instead of absolute values for positioning, and partly because typing is so simple (I feel like a frontend or graphical interface would just complicate things unnecessarily).
 
Well I do use the Dosbox Frontend to configure the major stuff as I can't be bothered with EMS / XMS / Conventional Memory crap as that haunted me as a kid :p


I don't mind typing but sometimes a menuing system helps. I did happen to use DOSShell quite frequently also but I dunno about that one. :p
 
I used my "make pnd out of dosgame" maker, until it "broke" due to the switch to the new kernel, I hope I can find some time+motivation to make a workaround in the coming weeks
 
Out of curiosity: Is it possible to scale the image so that the whole Pandora screen is filled? I know it somehow works, because Streak integrated it into Dosbox EX when you choose 'touchscreen control mode'. But in this mode you can't use the nubs for mouse control, which i would prefer. Is there any option in dosbox.conf which lets you choose a scaling method?
 
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Yes, it is possible but only for Games/Applications that use a Resolution of 320x200 or 320x240


(i'm not sure if it works with both Resolution i've mentioned), there are four important lines to


change inside "dosbox-SVN.conf" to make it streched nearly Fullscreen.


Normal/old settings:



Code:
fullresolution=original

output=surface

aspect=true

scaler=normal2x

New settings to get filled Pandora Screen:



Code:
fullresolution=800x480

output=overlay

aspect=false

scaler=none


Also the Touchscreen should nearly work with this setting, if the Touchscreen goes wrong


do once "Alt+Enter" (Windowed) and once more "Alt+Enter" (Fullscreen), after that it work again.


Games that using a 640x480 Resolution stay at 4:3 aspect ratio, and will not be streched.


By disabling the aspect and scaler Line, it will increase a "little bit" the performance in DosBox.


( Note, by using the Line "output=overlay" TV-Out doesn't do work .)
 
Thanks Shaokahn, it works! But i recommend for everyone to keep the scaler (normal2x). Otherwise the image of some games will not be fully visible on the screen.
 
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Ah, how it was phrased I figured he was complaining about DOSBOX itself.


Well some games are very picky and require special setup. so you need multiple configs. There is no super config file that fits everyone's needs.
 
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With DboxFE (which you will find on the repo) you can create a profile for every single game with its own config and mapper file (for assignment of keys).
 
I would like it if there was a good free alternative to dosshell for dosbox. During my dos days, this was where it was at for me.


I also made some fancy shell script files I can't seem to find anymore or else I would link them... they were pretty fancy and scaleable for multiple game genres and stuff.
 
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One question not necessarily on-topic, but dosbox EX is basically unusable for anything involving mouse control : using touchscreen there are several pixels offset so you are never clicking where the pressure actually is, and the nubs get stuck in a small box in the screen.


Does the same thing happen with this Dosbox+DboxFE in the repo ? Anyone found a way out of this issue?


I am looking forward to replaying some adventure games not supported by ScummVM, and unfortunately they do not work well currently.


Tahnks for your help.
 
Does the same thing happen with this Dosbox+DboxFE in the repo ? Anyone found a way out of this issue?
I used Pickles build (directly) to play through M&M 4+5 using the touchscreen without much problems (there was a slight vertical offset now and then, but it was only 5-10 pixels)
 
Is there reallly no way to add, via the firmware, or better, via the app, an offset to the touchscreen in order to counter balance this.or at least get the nubs working as a mouse?
 
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