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DOS Gamebase

Discuss any other databases that use the GameBase Frontend, whether in pre development, development or publically released.

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pondo198
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Fri Dec 09, 2011 10:43 pm

Dear Santa Claus,

All I want for christmas is a complete DOS gamebase, with all the bells and whistles, wrapped in a nice package with a cool DOSBOX emulator, full color screenshots, lots of user manuals, cheats, tips, and anything else you could possibly throw in...

oh, and with a cute little red bow on top...
CarlosTex
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Sat Dec 10, 2011 12:03 pm

pondo198 :D


Let's see how things go, i'm working on it gonna try a release assoon as possible. I'm probably relese privately at first this meaning one person interested in downloading i'll give them the torrent file so he/she can download. This is because i have little bandwith to spare and cannot keep the PC on every hour so i'll seed to one of you and then release the torrent on public basis (Underground Gamer). This way i can assure more people can download the torrent with decent seeding.

As far as the project goes, i'm still working on it, been losing a lot of time with one specific PCjr title which is killing me, but i'm gonna get help soon so that will be sorted. For now i'll keep adding titles that i don't have. But it's going and i hope to release it this month still.

Cheers
CarlosTex
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Sun Dec 25, 2011 6:44 pm

I am sorry to say guys these past 2 weeks, i worked very little on the project so i'm afraid i won't meet release this month afterall.

Happy Holidays everyone!
marz2
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WTG Carlos

Fri Jan 13, 2012 4:37 pm

Hey Carlos
This sounds like a great project.
Would you like me to create some blank DOS hard images or DOS and Win16 hard disk images?
Also Carlos: I'm working on a Win3.x\Win NT 3.x Driver CD\DVD Project. maybe the ISO of this could be included?
pondo198
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Sat Jan 14, 2012 6:06 pm

There are a few people working on a DOS based gamebase here. I have personally tried integrating a few Win 3.x games, but it is rather complicated since you are essentially running windows inside an emulator (DOSBOX) and then attempting to start the game (or app) directly. I have got it working for a couple of games by messing around with the windows config files, but like I said - its complicated.

Could you provide some more information as to what it is exactly that you are working on with this Win3.x\Win NT 3.x Driver CD\DVD Project?
marz2
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Win 3.x NT 3.5 drivers

Wed Jan 18, 2012 10:08 pm

Pando: In answer to your question about win 3.x driver database...
I had problems running some games with highest resolution ( and getting networking to work in WFW 3.11 ) so I started hunting down Win 3.1 drivers ( and DOS Drivers too ). I have
31 NT 3.51 video drivers and 80 Windows 3.1 video drivers...
I still have yet to find many ( i think i have one or two NIC drivers ) of the NIC and network layer drivers ( eg NetBUI, Network, etc ) for Win 3.1.
Would it be required to have drivers for Sound cards, MIDI synths, Firewire, and SCSI drives as well?
pondo198
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Wed Jan 18, 2012 11:10 pm

Marz2

Running WFW in DOSBOX has been a heavy discussion for quite some time at the DOSBOX forums.

http://vogons.zetafleet.com/viewtopic.php?t=9405

Having a compilation CD of as many drivers as you can certainly could help ones cause. And, because WFW was essential used as a gateway for multiplayer applications (as oppossed to Windows 3.0), the use of the latest SVN build of DOSBOX which supports NIC directly would definately make use of the WFW drivers when emulating that OS.

Now, all that said....

Most games (that I am aware of anyway) had support for multiple sound card/video/input devices since no two pc's where ever created exactly the same. And the developers of the games were trying to reach as many potential customers as they could, so they included as much versatility as possible in most titles. So having the standard configuration that DOSBOX supports, along with a standard set of WFW drivers should suffice probably 90% of the time.

I, however, am definately no expert in the subject. And even though I have managed to get almost all games working that I have personally played around with through DOSBOX, there is still a lot of grey area to cover.

I am working on a DOSBOX gamebase now. I'll open the Windows can of worms sometime in the future. After I finish my DOS gamebase.

BTW.

If you have a UG account, you may want to upload the project there once completed. Im sure there are several people that could take advantage of all you hard work... and I'm sure that I could certainly appreciate the CD as well, once I get more involved with the Windows gamebase.
marz2
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Thu Jan 19, 2012 10:39 pm

Ah.
I'm also adding NT 4 drivers ( I have a legit copy of NT4 still ).
BUt mostly its 3.1\NT 3.51 drivers
As for uploading, I don't have a Underground Gamer account..
I'll probably upload it to Megaupload or post it on my site and send some of the members here my link.
Also some Windows 3.1\WFW 3.1x drivers work for MS-DOS too.. ( The Tseng ET3000 and E4000 drivers are compatible with Morraffware DOS games for example )
CarlosTex
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Sun Jan 22, 2012 1:22 pm

As of this moment i have no intention including games for Win 3.x platform. The project has been stopped for a due due to personal problems, but i intend on finishing it.
pondo198
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Sat Jan 28, 2012 7:56 am

Testers Needed Please!

Could someone please download this small sample of my DOS gamebase and test it out for me. I am only looking to make sure the configuration is generic enough to work for as many people as possible.

The gamebase is only a very small sample of the W.I.P. right now, and by default will only show the games available. You can select one of the other views to see the complete list as to where I am currently at if you want.

The gamebase includes only the games beginning with the word 'Battle' for this test. I have zipped the screenies and extras for those games as well.

Also, I did not include any of the CD files in this upload since it is only for test purposes, and I wanted to keep the file as small as possible.

Just unzip the file to your gamebase directory, edit the emulator.ini, and path.ini files in the DOSBase subdirectory so that they point to the correct path.

This is the culmination of the past years work, and by my estimate will take another 2 to 3 years to complete this massive project.

Enjoy

https://rapidshare.com/files/3040159248 ... t280112.7z
pondo198
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Sun Jan 29, 2012 5:58 am

Now that a few people have downloaded the sample, let me say just a couple of things before anyone asks any of these questions.

First, I didn't notice the missing screenshots until after I had uploaded the file. There are only 4 games, everything else is there. I use the GB 'autoname' feature, and it saves files like 'anything here, the' as 'the anything here'. So those missing screenies were down in my 'T' filemane area, and I completely missed them.

Secondly, for anyone who has looked at the full games list (per one of the other views, all games, shareware/freeware, etc), you may have noticed some repeating titles. Here's why: A lot of titles you may see listed are actually compilation disks or CD's. Almost none of which are actually included in the final product. In fact, the only ones actually included are those that were on diskettes and took up very little space (like really old games, or text adventures). Also, you may notice some (RIP) versions of games listed along with a CD version. Rips are only included to give you some level of playability when the original CD version was not available. If a CD becomes available sometime during the project, the Rip version will be removed.

I know that it may appear that there are a lot of games missing from just the letters that I have worked on so far, but, this database is far from complete. So far, I have managed to find (and catalog) about 97% of the games listed currently. And I have a 'missing' list that details all of the missing titles that have not been included in the database (about another 100 or so)

I am trying to make this database as complete as possible for the collectors out there, as I am one myself. So it may not be for everyone, as some will only want non-CD games, while others may want just the CD games, and maybe no one will want the shareware stuff. Anyway, Once the project is finished, I will release the main database with extras and screenies. Then the software will be released in seperate packs. They will be:

Basic (Commercial disk games)
Shareware/Freeware (apoggee, Epic Megagames, etc, etc,etc)
CD games (games that were only available as CD)
International (games from other countries, mostly in other languages)

All that said - I am open for suggestions for improvements, or missing pieces that anyone would be willing to offer up.
marz2
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Quick question for pando

Mon Jan 30, 2012 4:04 pm

Pando: Is the CD Base going to be used for games that were only released on CD-ROM or include games that were released on Floppy and CD-ROM?
( Return to Zork and Alone in the Dark 2 were released on both media ) also I know King's Quest V & IV were as was Leisure Suite Larry 6 and probably a few other DOS CD-ROM games....
pondo198
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Mon Jan 30, 2012 7:25 pm

The CD version is available when there is a difference between it and the floppy. For example, if the CD version had FMV intro that was left off the floppy version, It will be included, even though the gameplay is the same. There were a few CD versions of games that were released in the early 90's that were exactly the same as the CD version. Those, will most likely not be included.

The CD Pack will be released as a torrent, and will be torrent-zipped so that you can download only the CD files that you would like, or all of them if you want. I did this because some people may only want 1 or 2 CD's, but hardcore collectors may want evryone they can get.

Compilation CD's will not be included (there may be a couple in the torrent, but thats just because I had them here, and I decided to upload them). You wont be missing anything off of the Compilation disks, as all the games will be available individually (theoretically, anyway)
throwingmuse
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Progress?

Fri Mar 30, 2012 10:46 pm

Has there been any progress on this GB?
pondo198
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Sat Mar 31, 2012 6:25 am

It is a slow, and constant progression...

a very daunting task, indeed.


I will be posting a detailed update in a new thread in the coming weeks. I had intended on releasing the information by now, but I run a rather large haunted attraction in the fall, and we always start our prop building and buildings maintenance between March and September, so work on the database is slower during that time. I still work on it every night, so expect some new information soon.

Also, This thread was originally started by CarlosTex, who had a near complete DOS gamebase. I don't know what happened to him lately though, as he has not made any other updates.

.mad was also working on a DOS gamebase for quite some time, so maybe he'll post some new info on it too.

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