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[Luchsen]

DOSBox's status window is (ine)vita(b)l(e).

[Eagle of Fire]

I agree. DOSBox without a DOS interface would simply not be the same anymore.

[Japo]

I don't mean the DOS command line. If it's a DOS emulator of course it will have the command line, otherwise it would be a game launcher--which would be better for the purpose of this thread. I mean the log console that appears alongside the main Windows by default. I think Luchsen got me right, but I disagree with him. The log console is OK for debugging but in a release it's unprofessional. DOSBox is freeware but no program for sale would use it, and no other freeware I know does either.

[Eagle of Fire]

I am not sure what you refer to the console then. But for the command prompt, this is the main reason why newbies don't like to use DOSBox. Anybody who is not used to DOS dislike using DOSBox command prompt.

To get back to the thread subject, one thing we could do though would be to ask for members to post their favorite or best settings for a given game and then add them to the first post of the respective game thread. That might help a lot.

[dosraider]

Originally Posted by Eagle of Fire

To get back to the thread subject, one thing we could do though would be to ask for members to post their favorite or best settings for a given game and then add them to the first post of the respective game thread. That might help a lot.

Yes and no, you would get a lot of specific 'user setting' problems I'm afraid.
Some possible (probable) problems:
Joystick settings?
Output?
Window size?
Mouse specific settings?
[autoexec] section? (I know that can be avoided, but how many know ...?)
OS differences? (Vista-W7 specific mounts...)
CPU settings (not all are on a high end PC)
And a lot more.

Originally Posted by Japo

I mean the log console that appears alongside the main Windows by default. I think Luchsen got me right, but I disagree with him. The log console is OK for debugging but in a release it's unprofessional. DOSBox is freeware but no program for sale would use it, and no other freeware I know does either.

I have to disagree with you, the console is extremely helpful when you run into problems.
And as it seems a lot of peeps have problems .....

[Scatty]

Originally Posted by dosraider

I have to disagree with you, the console is extremely helpful when you run into problems.
And as it seems a lot of peeps have problems .....

It is relatively useful, however I doubt those people who have bigger problems would be able to gain any help from the console window. If they already have troubles with operating DosBox itself...

[Japo]

Don't forget that whenever you disable the console by passing -noconsole parameter, if you need to you can read the same information that would otherwise appear in it, in the stdout.txt and stderr.txt files.

Originally Posted by Eagle of Fire

To get back to the thread subject, one thing we could do though would be to ask for members to post their favorite or best settings for a given game and then add them to the first post of the respective game thread. That might help a lot.

We already introduced a place for that, the optional

and other sections of the reviews. We usually include necessary DOSBox settings found by the reviewer or updater to be necessary for the game to run correctly.

Also as I said, something that I've started to do lately, to make the archives ready for the drag'n drop method (which is the only newbie friendly way to use DOSBox), is including a batch script whenever the game wouldn't work by just drag'n dropping the original executable onto the DOSBox shortcut. This script may include image mounting, loadfix, or even changing DOSBox settings (with the "config -set" DOSBox command) whenever the game won't run with the default settings. I include this information below the review, for the people who want to set things up themselves, but first of all I recommend using the supplied batch script.

You can see an example in Daggerfall, reading the "how to run the game", "notes" and "DOSBox infor" sections of the review, and inspecting the archive:

http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/27...ll%2C+The.html

[Eagle of Fire]

So... Are you saying that we are discussing an idea which is already in effect on site?

[Japo]

To a little extent, and even so in each case depending on the updater's discretion.

[DarthHelmet86]

Give a man a game set up to run instantly in Dosbox and he will enjoy that game, teach him how to use Dosbox and he will enjoy all the games.

We provide a ton of support for all the games onsite, including walking people through how to set them up. We have tutorials of all different kinds on how to set up Dosbox. We include details on trouble games on their review pages detailing how to get them to run. And some of our games include bat files that set up Dosbox to run the game for the people.

At the moment I think we provide enough support to allow anyone willing to read/watch/pay attention to get the games they want up and running in a matter of a few moments. The next step would be doing what GoG does and setting it all up for them and we don't have the staff or the time to do that. As such the point is moot, we provide all the support we can (and that is a damn lot) and until we get more active Updaters or people willing to set all these games up we aren't going to provide anymore.

On top of that let's face it no matter how much we preset up these games we will always get people asking questions that we have already answered or solved. So in the end all that work will lead us right back to the same place as we are know. I have no objection if people want to set this up as a side download, but if someone puts it up we will need to maintain it, update the version of Dosbox if needed, change the config to deal with common problems. I see this as causing only more work for people already over-worked with other things on the site.