![]() One downside of this approach, of course, is that you only support a limited number of games, since you aren't recreating the DOS environment.įurther on this idea, you also have various engine re-implementations of old games that exist outside of ScummVM (or any other project, for that matter). Furthermore, you can end up with interesting new features, such as the ScummVM version of the Might and Magic game being able to use the mapping system and interface of M&M 4-5. This can lead to implementations that are actually very different from the original, although as far as I know most ScummVM games are actually pretty faithful. This one has a completely different approach, trying to reimplement the engine of each game they support. Other options include, as Unkillable Cat mentioned, ScummVM. There are a bunch of other forks as well, bit staging does seem to be one of the most accepted ones. The main draw of these forks seem to be to make the emulation better, making unsupported games or features work better or perfectly. I think he is probably the best to present what differences his project has, but you can check them here. Rincewind in this thread is a Dev of a DOSBox fork DOSBox Staging. Unkillable Cat gave a very good rundown of what your options are concerning collections.Īs far as DOSBox and whatnot, DOSBox is a DOS environment emulator. (Just don't ask me where to get all of these collections.) It wouldn't surprise me if the upcoming eXoDOS 6 crosses 700 Gb. Last time I checked, it was over 200 Gb in size.Īnd then there's eXoDOS, which is trying to be a middle-point in all of this, offering a user-friendly interface, as close a 'complete' collection as possible, while keeping itself within its boundaries. Ideal for the casuals who just want to get at the biggest hits and such. ![]() SCUMMVM is trying to build a 'virtal machine' around a few good games and/or companies, instead of providing a huge dump of everything. A full set of the latest MAME-releases totals over 3 Tb in size, but at least 2/3rds of that can be skipped if you focus on the arcades. MAME primarily covers arcade-machines, but has tried its hand at emulating other systems. ![]() Good to look for if you want something other than MS-DOS. No Intro primarily covers consoles, but also many home computer platforms, including the IBM PC. I honestly don't know how big the complete TOSEC-collection has become, but IIRC it's over a Tb if you add in the PIX-subcollection. Some of TOSEC's content is quite esoteric, and some of its collections haven't been updated in years. And not just the MS-DOS platform, but every platform out there, to such an obscure point that one wonders if those platforms were ever real or not. as in, everything it can get its hands on. The latest release crosses the 500 Gb-mark. While not as user-friendly as eXoDos, it contains a more 'true' experience, including cracks and cheats. Total DOS Collection (TDC) is one collection which attempts to cover Everything DOS-related. It was a lot more relevant in the early 2000s when the speed advantage of ScummVM mattered (DOSBox could barely run even LucasArts adventures on my Athlon XP, from memory, while ScummVM didn't break a sweat). It's a cool project, but non-PC engines are sketchy (e.g., the Amiga ones), and at the end of the day, some guys just reverse engineered and reimplemented most of the supported game engines (except in a few cases where the original devs donated the sources). I like ScummVM for the LucasArts FM Towns versions and for the odd game that was so buggy that it needs to be patched to death anyway (e.g., Bladerunner). Ironically, ScummVM then applies a hardcoded set of fixes and patches to the games themselves (although they document that to some degree), plus the engine reimplementation is usually not quite the same (some differences are minor, but technically if we're in "strict mode", playing games in ScummVM is not quite the OriginalExperience(tm) either). ScummVM is an interesting example because although they use the original data files, technically many ScummVM packs don't even include the EXE files. Now I have the original files, then what? Most have zero idea. Still, those projects don't help the average guy who just wants to play the game. But there is already TDC and TOSEC for that. Strictly speaking, I agree with you, though. The number of people who have the knowledge to configure DOS games properly is shrinking by year. DOS games are not console games where you insert a cartridge or CD and the game just runs. Watch the first linked video and you'll get it why this project is important.
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