PC Games & DOSbox & Bootcamp

[Washac]

I like to run and play old RPGs in DOSbox via Boxer.

They look OK and run not to bad but not understanding PCs and DOS etc I have what some may perceive as a stupid question.

I have a Drive all setup with Bootcamp and Windows 7, can these games be run under Windows 7 in anyway and if so would they run better ?

 

[zgwortz]

I have a Drive all setup with Bootcamp and Windows 7, can these games be run under Windows 7 in anyway and if so would they run better ?

Probably not. To run DOS games under Windows nowadays, you need... DosBox. Older versions of Windows (Win95/98) could run DOS games natively, but that hasn't been true for a decade. Boxer is actually pretty good as such things go -- I use it myself.

There was a period where people were releasing games labeled for Dos/Windows 9x. Some of those games were simply DOS games with a Windows wrapper, but a few included both DOS and Windows binaries.

Some of those games might actually run better on Windows 7, but since many Windows 9x games were poorly coded (especially when it comes to copy protection schemes), many of them can't run at all in later versions of Windows, including Windows 7. I'd Google any game you are considering like that with something like "<game> Windows 7 compatibility" and you ought to be able to find out if it runs under Windows 7 or not.

But for DOS games, stick with Boxer on the Mac -- it's not only just as good as what you'll run in Windows, in many ways it's better, and has a very nice UI. IMHO, YMMV.

 

[Washac]

Probably not. To run DOS games under Windows nowadays, you need... DosBox. Older versions of Windows (Win95/98) could run DOS games natively, but that hasn't been true for a decade. Boxer is actually pretty good as such things go -- I use it myself.

There was a period where people were releasing games labeled for Dos/Windows 9x. Some of those games were simply DOS games with a Windows wrapper, but a few included both DOS and Windows binaries.

Some of those games might actually run better on Windows 7, but since many Windows 9x games were poorly coded (especially when it comes to copy protection schemes), many of them can't run at all in later versions of Windows, including Windows 7. I'd Google any game you are considering like that with something like "<game> Windows 7 compatibility" and you ought to be able to find out if it runs under Windows 7 or not.

But for DOS games, stick with Boxer on the Mac -- it's not only just as good as what you'll run in Windows, in many ways it's better, and has a very nice UI. IMHO, YMMV.

OK, thanks..........

 

[MagnusVonMagnum]

Has anyone had trouble with their keyboard not working on a MBP with DosBox in Boot Camp? I bought Dark Forces on Steam to play in Boot Camp for like $2.50 and it starts up OK and my mouse works, but I get no keyboard response at all. I turned off Steam overlays and no joy. I remember having a similar problem with a version of the arcade emulator Mame that didn't like the internal keyboard (but worked OK if you used an external USB one). I can't find any references about people having trouble with DosBox and notebook keyboards, though.

 

[doh123]

Has anyone had trouble with their keyboard not working on a MBP with DosBox in Boot Camp? I bought Dark Forces on Steam to play in Boot Camp for like $2.50 and it starts up OK and my mouse works, but I get no keyboard response at all. I turned off Steam overlays and no joy. I remember having a similar problem with a version of the arcade emulator Mame that didn't like the internal keyboard (but worked OK if you used an external USB one). I can't find any references about people having trouble with DosBox and notebook keyboards, though.

I've never had a want or desire to use Windows to run Dosbox... but Dosbox on OSX never has a problem with my keyboards.

 

[MagnusVonMagnum]

I've never had a want or desire to use Windows to run Dosbox... but Dosbox on OSX never has a problem with my keyboards.

Well, it's what Steam uses to run ancient games like Dark Forces. I suppose now that I bought it, I could grab a torrent version to use in OSX instead with DosBox, but in any case, it was a focus problem. Pressing the Command (Windows) key brought up the taskbar and clicking back on DosBox solved the problem.

OTOH, I just updated my video drivers for Windows in Boot Camp from NVidia and it has full hardware acceleration for HD Video, even for things like Flash (Apple never supported acceleration for 3rd parties for the 8600M GT to my knowledge; they added support AFTER that generation). I think it's ironic that my Macbook Pro runs more efficiently in Windows than OSX and it's entirely Apple's fault for not keeping older hardware drivers current in the OS. They want you to buy a new Macbook Pro instead of supporting the features that already exist in the one you have.

 

[doh123]

If its Dosbox from steam, you should be able to find the actual DOS version of the game somewhere in the download and just use that on Dosbox in OSX.