On Sat, Nov 20, 2021 at 4:15 AM Eric Auer <[email protected]> wrote:
> > Hi! There is a thread about freedos game compatibility on BTTR, > started by liljames2k: > > https://www.bttr-software.de/forum/forum_entry.php?id=18483 > > Zyzzle suggested making sure that all DOS extenders are in PATH > (not sure why Zyzzle said DPMI extenders) but in any case, I do > think Commander Keen 6 works in FreeDOS :-) So not sure what is > going wrong here. Note that 6 GB RAM is quite a lot and that half > of the errors are about not finding files. I have sorted the BTTR > table by type of error. Maybe some of you can share their experience > regarding the use of any of those games? Maybe you remember which > trick to use. I could imagine that some of them use DOS4GW and run > into some problem with too new hardware and work better with DOS32A? > > Regards, Eric > > > > > GAMES RESULTS LIST: > > All Games are placed in C:\GAMES\ in their own Folders... > > > > > > Game name | Result > > ---------------------+--------------------------- > > ALIEN BREED | WORKS FINE! > > ELITE | WORKS FINE! > > PAC MAN/PC MAN | WORKS FINE ! > > FATE OF ATLANTIS | Shows Error: "UNABLE TO FIND GAMEFILE > "ATLANTIS.000" (But its there!) > > DOOM | Shows Error: "Problem EXECing DOOM.EXE! Probably > not in same directory!" or "DOS/4GW Game mode intermiinate." and jumps back > to DOS... > > DOOM 2 | Same errors like previous Doom... > > EMMANUELLE | Shows Error: "I/O error 01, PC=9BF9, Program > aborted." > > GODS | Shows Error: "fatal error - unable to locate .EXE > file" > > COMMANDER KEEN 6 | Shows Error: "can't open GAMEMAPS.CK6" (But its > there!) > > LEISURE SUIT LARRY | Shows Error: "can't open GAMEMAPS.CK6" (But its > there!) > > LEISURE SUIT LARRY 2 | Shows Error: "Can't load RESOURCE.MAP!" (But its > there!) > > MANIAC MANSION | Shows Error: "Unable to find file 00.lfl" (But > its there!) > > MONKEY ISLAND | Shows Error: "Unable to find '000.lfl'" (But its > there!) > > FIRST SAMURAI | Shows Error: "Disk Error!!..." > > SHUFFLE PUCK COFFEE | Shows Error: "No Disk or wrong Drive..." > > CHAOS ENGINE | Intro works but stucks on Loading Screen... > > MECH WARRIOR | Blackscreen... > > WHEEL OF FORTUNE | shows a glitch and won't start. > > WOLFENSTEIN 3D | system reboots... > > LEISURE SUIT LARRY 3 | Not starting and jumps back to DOS > > MS FLIGHT SIM 4 | Not starting and jumps back to DOS > > POLICE QUEST 2 | Not starting and jumps back to DOS > > COMANCHE | Shows Error: JemmEx: exeption 0D occured at... > (in safe mode it crashes!) > > POLICE QUEST | Shows Error: JemmEx: exeption 0D occured at... > (in safe mode it freezes!) > > TEST DRIVE 2 | Shows Error: JemmEx: exeption 0D occured at... > (in safe mode it jumps back to DOS!) > > [..] I think many of the issues here are probably due to how the games were unpacked or installed. Not being able to find files is a big clue there. I don't know what to suggest except to run the game from the game's directory. Many DOS games expected that. For example, I have Tomb Raider 1 (demo) installed on my FreeDOS machine. If I go into C:\TOMBRAID and run TOMB, the game runs fine. If I set my PATH to include C:\TOMBRAID, then back up to the C:\ directory and run TOMB from there, the game tries to start but the aborts with "Cannot find file 'data\titleh.pcx':No such file or directory." So it's not that Tomb Raider doesn't run on FreeDOS, but that I have to be in the Tomb Raider directory to play it. And that was common on DOS. Also, I've recorded gameplay videos for the FreeDOS YouTube channel using several of the listed games, all running on FreeDOS, and they worked fine. Here's the list: Commander Keen 1 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zuU_eGLEYg) Commander Keen 4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEUs3Gyg9DQ) Duke Nukem 3D (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jE00saw1Jes) Duke Nukem 1 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joMYgIJdgyo) Little Willy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qs83FbNAplk) Doom (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71_ox6BMErs) Freedoom (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyOo-rIaSNw) Oregon Trail (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgdMTaLw8HQ) Raptor (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BGgdx5wkjU) Number Munchers (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwbVyQ1NY7o) Ford Driving Simulator (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVrAxsknoVw) Golden Flute IV (developed by a 12 year old) ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWlRIZ5qdNs) Dark Forces (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YII4QKdjIds) Blood (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=595W6wkkkCk) And newer DOS games (not classic era games, but games developed more recently for DOS): RetroFuel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0bX3cEtPKU) Acronia (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aq3y616Rp34) Double Pacman (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNysxAjI-Yw) Post Apocalyptic Petra (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGxn0Bl9U4A) Dr Mind (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfTl1IiOJn4) Lacewing (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rn-KyIo3eEQ) And I haven't recorded a video for it yet, but the other day I was playing other DOS games on FreeDOS, including Tomb Raider 1 (demo), and a newer DOS game called RCross that Vojtěch shared on the FreeDOS Facebook group. The problem is that FreeDOS is DOS, but people sometimes expect FreeDOS to do things DOS wasn't designed to do. It's not like Linux or Windows or Mac, with a hardware abstraction layer (including abstracting sound to a driver layer). I still get emails from people asking if we can add "emulation" for sound cards in FreeDOS.That's why an early video on the YouTube channel talked about how sound cards worked, and showed how to do sound setup for Doom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXSyn_6WB04 A lot of folks who didn't grow up with DOS expect DOS will "just work" with whatever software or games. And for most programs, FreeDOS does work fine. But like any DOS, you sometimes need to tweak your config to get things to work. It was not uncommon to have a special config for each game. I had a boot floppy that was just to run X-Wing (I think it was EMS only?) and another boot floppy to run other games. It was all about saving memory so the game could get as much as it could. That's not to say that FreeDOS is perfect. For the life of me, I cannot get the Wolfenstein 3D installer (1wolf14.zip) to run on FreeDOS. Even with nothing loaded, INSTALL.EXE aborts with "Runtime error 200 at 0774:0091" Jim
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