Future Wars

[ysorian]

hello all... i seem to b having trouble running Future Wars in Dosbox... on the smaller screen its fine but if i maximise the window every time i change scenes the graphics die... i have to minimise then maximise each screen to get the graphics back on line... anyone know if i can fix this?

[The Fifth Horseman]

What output mode, scaler, resolution and aspect correction settings are you using?
if i maximise the window every time i change scenes the graphics die.
Please define what you mean by "the graphics dying".

[ysorian]

i have no idea about any of those things so ill try to find out... although if it means that i woulda changed anythin in Dosbox i havent so it would just be the standard?

by dyin i mean when the new screen loads its either pitch black or very patchy but as u move the mouse around it slowly restores the graphics it passes over...

[The Fifth Horseman]

although if it means that i woulda changed anythin in Dosbox i havent so it would just be the standard?
Yes, that would mean you're running on defaults. Which isn't always the best thing.

by dyin i mean when the new screen loads its either pitch black or very patchy but as u move the mouse around it slowly restores the graphics it passes over...
Hmm. Let's open up DOSBox.conf with Notepad and change output=surface to output=ddraw.
Save the modified config, restart DOSBox and see if the problem still occurs.

[ysorian]

that works :) ... thank you 5th horseman... how often do those defaults tend to need to be changed for different games? and any basics on which games need to be changed to which settings?

[The Fifth Horseman]

how often do those defaults tend to need to be changed for different games?
Depends on the game in question. A lot of them do just fine on defaults.
The problem you've had was similar to what I had once with the CD version of Flashback (solved it the same way, too).
That's one reason why I have two shortcuts for "pure" DOSBox: the normal one and what I call the "Safe Mode", with every compatibility fix I've seen a game require so far chucked in (plus a simple text-based menu to enable or disable EMS, XMS and UMB).
And it's for the very same reason that I'm setting up most of the games I run in DOSBox with dedicated shortcuts and configs - once it's there and working, I never need to bother about it again, just double-click the shortcut and play the game.
and any basics on which games need to be changed to which settings?
Not really, this is on a case-by-case basis like I've told you. Perhaps if you give me some names I can check them against my current tweaks list and see if they need anything specific.

Oh yes, and there is probably a bunch that requires a restriction on available free HDD space to work right. To avoid that I just use the -freesize 700 parameter with my C mount per default - suggest you do the same, it's no apparent difference once you set it into your DOSBox autoexec but can save you from a lot of unneccesary hassle.

[ysorian]

much appreciated 5th... so far the other games ive d/l have run fine but dont u worry, ill let u know if i have any other probs :cheesy:

[Fubb]

Ah..I have a problem now

Havn't played this game in like...since i was 8..so 7 years...


Um, im in trouble at the copy right protection screenie thingy. What colors do I say? I got them wrong, will the copy right police eat me now?
NVM found a pic on internet, saved it, gooder now..

NOW, a NEW PROBLEM

How do I save? I dont own anymore working floppy discs...

[The Fifth Horseman]

You can use a blank floppy image mounted as your A drive with IMGMOUNT.

[Fubb]

ah...could you define that in english please?

I've only used DOSBox..

[The Fifth Horseman]

Grab the attachment and unpack it somewhere.
DDfloppy.ima is an image of an empty pre-formatted 720k floppy.
HHfloppy.ima is the same, except it's for a 1,44 MB floppy.

In DOSBox you can mount those images as if they were real floppies with the following command (of course, you'd replace the red part with the name and location of the image on your drive):
IMGMOUNT A [location and name of the floppy image] -t floppy

[ysorian]

im confused? did u d/l it from here or u own it? coz the d/l from here, thru dosbox, saved fine for me :-/

while this is bein discussed can someone plz check my entry (the latest) on the Future Wars discussion thingy coz i still need help :(

[Fubb]

I downloaded it from here, maybe I need to mount it differently when in dos boX? Cus my mount is...

Z:\>Mount C: C:\
(Mounting C:\ IS NOT RECOMENDED< YOU CRAZY!)
Z:\> C:
C:\cd \FUTURE
FUTURE>FW

And now game runs, but when i wanna save, it says

"Please insert Backup floppy disk in drive a:"
"No floppy disc in drive a:"

For some reason the save name thingy still goes yp though, the save name is fubb, and when I died, I tried to restore the game and it said

"Please insert floppy in drive A:
No floppy in drive A:
Unable to restore game"


...or something like that...do I need to have my Future Wars in a different directory? Right now it's just in C:\Future

Or am I using the wrong .exe? Because there is the FW.exe, the FW short cut, and the install.exe....im using FW.exe....

[ysorian]

im usin FW (.what i dont know) ... my stuff is on a D:\games drive so im mountin c: as d:\games then into \future... dont know sorry maybe 5th can help :D

[The Fifth Horseman]

And now game runs, but when i wanna save, it says

"Please insert Backup floppy disk in drive a:"
"No floppy disc in drive a:"

For some reason the save name thingy still goes yp though, the save name is fubb, and when I died, I tried to restore the game and it said

"Please insert floppy in drive A:
No floppy in drive A:
Unable to restore game"
Did you even bother to read my previous post? Try doing what I told you.