[fiffi]

Hello. This is my first post here. I must start by saying thank you very much for this amazing emulator. I discovered it a few weeks back and am now busy working to learn all the ins and outs of configuring it. I love the idea of using my tablet as a gamic PC anno 1995.

I made myself a profile for Might and Magic 4/5 World of Xeen that I’m very happy with. For me it plays better than using mouse and keyboard. Maybe I should share it? It’s made for a 12.4 inch tablet and has a little different approach than the other one on this forum. I’m playing on a Samsung Galaxy Tab S7+.

However, I have a problem. The game comes with two CD-images, GAME1.GOG and GAME2.GOG, with associated files with the extension INST that can be mounted. I ran the GoG installer and then copied the game over to my DosGames folder that is C:\ on my regular DosBox for Windows. I wanted to make sure it ran there first, before copying it over to my tablet. My regular DosBox did not like the 4 letter INST extension, so I renamed the files to extension INS. I the added this line from the GoG configuration file to the BAT file that I use to start the game, modified to fit:
imgmount d game1.ins game2.ins -t iso
This seemed to work fine so I copied it over to my tablet and started gaming.

The problem occurs when you try to change worlds. The game is actually two games merged, with the possibility to change between the two gaming worlds. This is done by activating certain pyramids that is scattered around the worlds.

When you do this, you get prompted to press Ctrl-F4 and then Enter. On the normal DosBox, this flips you over to the other world after a few seconds. On Magic DosBox the game just freeze.

The way I understand it from a little research, this keyboard combo makes DosBox swap between the two disc images. There is one image per world, I guess. This seems to be a feature that GoG added, to make it work in DosBox.

I copied my save games over to my PC, switched worlds there, saved the game and moved the saves back to my tablet. When I tried to load it I was immediately prompted for the Ctrl-F4, Enter combo and the game froze. I then added two CD’s on my M&M profile in Magic DosBox, D: as Game1.Ins and E: as Game2.Ins. When I activate E: on the profile, I can load and play the save game from world 2. This is a workaround, but it is cumbersome. I was hoping I could play the entire world 2 before doing this again, but when I tried to enter a tower in the first city in world two, the dreaded Ctrl-F4, Enter prompt returned, and the game froze again.

Sorry for a long post, but I wanted to get all the information in here. Is there any way I can make this work properly in Magic Dosbox?

[admin]

Hi,

many thanks for warms words, I will be very happy if you post your layout, I am sure many people will find it useful. GoG does sometimes weird things. Can you please attach dosbox config files from installed game directory? Will be much easier to understand what GoG did.

[fiffi]

Hi again. Thank you for a very quick response.

I will see if I can put together a presentation of my MGC and post it. How do I post files and images on this board? Do I need to host them somewhere? Can I use Dropbox or Google drive?

For now I just copy the content of the config files here, sorry for another long post. Hope this is what you need.

The command line on the icon in Windows is:
“E:\GOG Games\Might and Magic 4-5\DOSBOX\DOSBox.exe” -conf “..\dosboxMM4-5.conf” -conf “..\dosboxMM4-5_singleCD.conf” -noconsole -c exit

The content of dosboxMM4-5_singleCD.conf is:
[IPX]
ipx=false
[autoexec]
# Lines in this section will be run at startup.
@ECHO OFF
mount C “..”
imgmount d “..\game1.inst” “..\game2.inst” -t iso
c:
cd world
cls
xeen.exe
exit

The content of dosboxMM4-5.conf is:
# Lines starting with a # are commentlines.
# They are used to (briefly) document the effect of each option.
[sdl]
# fullscreen — Start dosbox directly in fullscreen.
# fulldouble — Use double buffering in fullscreen.
# fullresolution — What resolution to use for fullscreen: original or fixed size (e.g. 1024×768).
# windowresolution — Scale the window to this size IF the output device supports hardware scaling.
# output — What to use for output: surface,overlay,opengl,openglnb,ddraw.
# autolock — Mouse will automatically lock, if you click on the screen.
# sensitiviy — Mouse sensitivity.
# waitonerror — Wait before closing the console if dosbox has an error.
# priority — Priority levels for dosbox: lowest,lower,normal,higher,highest,pause (when not focussed).
# Second entry behind the comma is for when dosbox is not focused/minimized.
# mapperfile — File used to load/save the key/event mappings from.
# usescancodes — Avoid usage of symkeys, might not work on all operating systems.
fullscreen=true
fulldouble=false
fullresolution=original
windowresolution=original
output=overlay
autolock=true
sensitivity=100
waitonerror=true
priority=higher,normal
mapperfile=mapper.txt
usescancodes=true
[dosbox]
# language — Select another language file.
# memsize — Amount of memory DOSBox has in megabytes.
# machine — The type of machine tries to emulate:hercules,cga,tandy,pcjr,vga.
# captures — Directory where things like wave,midi,screenshot get captured.
language=
machine=svga_s3
captures=capture
memsize=16
[render]
# frameskip — How many frames DOSBox skips before drawing one.
# aspect — Do aspect correction, if your output method doesn’t support scaling this can slow things down!.
# scaler — Scaler used to enlarge/enhance low resolution modes.
# Supported are none,normal2x,normal3x,advmame2x,advmame3x,hq2x,hq3x,
# 2xsai,super2xsai,supereagle,advinterp2x,advinterp3x,
# tv2x,tv3x,rgb2x,rgb3x,scan2x,scan3x.
# If forced is appended (like scaler=hq2x forced), the scaler will be used
# even if the result might not be desired.
frameskip=0
aspect=false
scaler=normal2x
[cpu]
# core — CPU Core used in emulation: normal,simple,dynamic,auto.
# auto switches from normal to dynamic if appropriate.
# cycles — Amount of instructions DOSBox tries to emulate each millisecond.
# Setting this value too high results in sound dropouts and lags.
# You can also let DOSBox guess the correct value by setting it to max.
# The default setting (auto) switches to max if appropriate.
# cycleup — Amount of cycles to increase/decrease with keycombo.
# cycledown Setting it lower than 100 will be a percentage.
core=auto
cycles=fixed 20000
cycleup=1000
cycledown=1000
[mixer]
# nosound — Enable silent mode, sound is still emulated though.
# rate — Mixer sample rate, setting any devices higher than this will
# probably lower their sound quality.
# blocksize — Mixer block size, larger blocks might help sound stuttering
# but sound will also be more lagged.
# prebuffer — How many milliseconds of data to keep on top of the blocksize.
nosound=false
rate=22050
blocksize=2048
prebuffer=80
[midi]
# mpu401 — Type of MPU-401 to emulate: none, uart or intelligent.
# device — Device that will receive the MIDI data from MPU-401.
# This can be default,alsa,oss,win32,coreaudio,none.
# config — Special configuration options for the device. In Windows put
# the id of the device you want to use. See README for details.
mpu401=intelligent
device=default
config=
[sblaster]
# sbtype — Type of sblaster to emulate:none,sb1,sb2,sbpro1,sbpro2,sb16.
# sbbase,irq,dma,hdma — The IO/IRQ/DMA/High DMA address of the soundblaster.
# mixer — Allow the soundblaster mixer to modify the DOSBox mixer.
# oplmode — Type of OPL emulation: auto,cms,opl2,dualopl2,opl3.
# On auto the mode is determined by sblaster type.
# All OPL modes are ‘Adlib’, except for CMS.
# oplrate — Sample rate of OPL music emulation.
sbtype=sb16
sbbase=220
irq=7
dma=1
hdma=5
mixer=true
oplmode=auto
oplrate=22050
[gus]
# gus — Enable the Gravis Ultrasound emulation.
# gusbase,irq1,irq2,dma1,dma2 — The IO/IRQ/DMA addresses of the
# Gravis Ultrasound. (Same IRQ’s and DMA’s are OK.)
# gusrate — Sample rate of Ultrasound emulation.
# ultradir — Path to Ultrasound directory. In this directory
# there should be a MIDI directory that contains
# the patch files for GUS playback. Patch sets used
# with Timidity should work fine.
gus=false
gusrate=22050
gusbase=240
irq1=5
irq2=5
dma1=3
dma2=3
ultradir=C:\ULTRASND
[speaker]
# pcspeaker — Enable PC-Speaker emulation.
# pcrate — Sample rate of the PC-Speaker sound generation.
# tandy — Enable Tandy Sound System emulation (off,on,auto).
# For auto Tandysound emulation is present only if machine is set to tandy.
# tandyrate — Sample rate of the Tandy 3-Voice generation.
# disney — Enable Disney Sound Source emulation. Covox Voice Master and Speech Thing compatible.
pcspeaker=true
pcrate=22050
tandy=auto
tandyrate=22050
disney=true
[joystick]
# joysticktype — Type of joystick to emulate: auto (default), none,
# 2axis (supports two joysticks,
# 4axis (supports one joystick, first joystick used),
# 4axis_2 (supports one joystick, second joystick used),
# fcs (Thrustmaster), ch (CH Flightstick).
# none disables joystick emulation.
# auto chooses emulation depending on real joystick(s).
# timed — enable timed intervals for axis. (false is old style behaviour).
# autofire — continuously fires as long as you keep the button pressed.
# swap34 — swap the 3rd and the 4th axis. can be useful for certain joysticks.
# buttonwrap — enable button wrapping at the number of emulated buttons.
joysticktype=auto
timed=true
autofire=false
swap34=false
buttonwrap=true
[serial]
# serial1-4 — set type of device connected to com port.
# Can be disabled, dummy, modem, nullmodem, directserial.
# Additional parameters must be in the same line in the form of
# parameter:value. Parameter for all types is irq.
# for directserial: realport (required), rxdelay (optional).
# for modem: listenport (optional).
# for nullmodem: server, rxdelay, txdelay, telnet, usedtr,
# transparent, port, inhsocket (all optional).
# Example: serial1=modem listenport:5000
serial1=dummy
serial2=dummy
serial3=disabled
serial4=disabled
[dos]
# xms — Enable XMS support.
# ems — Enable EMS support.
# umb — Enable UMB support.
# keyboardlayout — Language code of the keyboard layout (or none).
xms=true
ems=true
umb=true
keyboardlayout=none

[admin]

Hi, sorry for delay.

This is important

mount C “..”
imgmount d “..\game1.inst” “..\game2.inst” -t iso
c:
cd world
cls
xeen.exe

Copy might and magic folder from pc to android phone, let’s say to folder GAMES. In Magic dosbox create new profile, fill name and set “drive c” to GAMES folder. Scroll down to main program option and pick xeen.exe from might and magic folder. Scroll to cd-rom option and add both cd files game1.inst and game2.inst. If magic dosbox does not see these files then rename them to ins. Check first cd and check on whole cdrom. That should be all.

One warning if might and magic folder name has more then 8 letters then rename it to something shorter, for example mm45

[fiffi]

Hello again. No worries, by all means.

Thank you very much! Now I’m able to play the game, including the switch between the worlds. The solution was ALMOST the same I have tried before, but not quite. We live and learn.

When the Ctrl-F4, Enter prompt appear, I can now switch cd images in the Magic Dosbox interface, and send the keypresses. Then the game continues as it should.

I have a follow up question. I have now added two buttons to my gaming screen. One Special that change the cd image, and one Deadly Strike that sends Ctrl-F4 and Enter, with a little pause between. I press both buttons when the need arise, and it works very well.

The question is: Can I somehow make one virtual button that executes both of these actions, one after the other?

Thanks again for your help!

[admin]

What exactly does ctrl+f4? Dont remember now from desktop dosbox…in the game profile, under cd-rom section, set which cd is inserted on startup. Then you can switch between CDs from general settings or with special widget.

I think ctrl+f4 does nothing.

If you want execute multiple actions then use deadly strike/combo widget. Check deadly strike documentation here on website, there is little video guide

[fiffi]

Hi again

I assure that Ctrl-F4 and Enter is necessary. If you look at the picture, it clearly says what you should do. In normal Dosbox on the PC that makes the program switch CD images. In Magic Dosbox I need to switch images myself before sending the combo. If I just switch images, nothing happens before I press Ctrl-F4 and Enter.
I’m using the current version of this game from Good Old Games.

If you look at the bottom of the picture, I have added two controls (circled in red).
The Special switches CD images.
The Deadly Strike sends Ctrl-F4, and after a short pause Enter.
Pressing these controls, one after the other, takes care of the problem. So the game is now fully playable for me.

What I am hoping to achieve is to combine these two controls into one, so I can make the switch with one tap.. Is this possible?
I would think a Combo is the way to go. I can add a Deadly Strike to a Combo, but I see no way to add a Special.

[admin]

Ah ok, I understand now. Hm, Combo widget has not this action, Special widget has it. I can update Combo widget in next version.

Just now you can try align widgets on same place, so first widget will cover the second widget. Then, the top widget should be non-blocking, you can set it in widget’s properties. This way you press both widgets at once. Try it this way.

[fiffi]

That is one solution that I don’t think I would have thought of myself. It works perfectly. Thanks again for your help!

I’m having great fun trying to make the most of Magic Dosbox. One thing is to know about the different elements, another thing is to figure out how it all can be put together. So I started out with a simple pinball game, and then moved on to moderately advanced games such as Might and Magic. But I surprised myself by getting so hooked on this game. I had great fun with it 25 years ago, but I honestly thought it had aged too much to be very interesting in 2021. Oldies are goldies, I suppose.

My big goal is to be able to play Ultima 7 and the Ultima Underworld games comfortably on my tablet. These are some of my favorite games of all time, but they seem to be difficult to play without a mouse. I have played around with the designs posted here, especially JaglanBeta’s design for UW2 looks amazing and very advanced. I’m trying to dissect it to find out what it does. I got a feeling that if I understand that, I will be close to mastering Magic Dosbox.

By the way, did the picture I posted in my last post show up ok? It shows for me, but that may be because I was already signed in to DropBox.

[admin]

Might and magic serie is my favorite rpg, this year I finished first part, I was having a lot of fun by creating maps.

Alex is expert on Ultima, maybe he can give valuable hints. Problem is with absolute mouse, but in some cases you can pretty good experience with relative mouse + enabled two point tap gesture. I finished this way mm6 and Albion. I can say, for these games it was better then with absolute mouse.

Your images shows perfectly:)

[fiffi]

I will have a good look at the Ultima games, in between my Might and Magic. I have some ideas I will test. I have a big screen, so I plan to use a smaller, uncluttered gaming window with controls on the side and underneath.

By the way, I tested a little more on Might and Magic. You were correct earlier, the Ctrl-F4 is NOT needed in Magic Dosbox, only in normal Dosbox. In my profile switch image followed by Enter is good enough. A little confusing when the game tells you to press Ctrl-F4.

I will finish polishing my design and post it in a few days.

[Al ex]

Ultima 7 is actually very easy to run in Magic Dosbox. It’s all built around mouse input, so you can control it really well. I think I’ve posted my layout here a couple of years ago already.

The Underworld games are trickier, they are quite a pain in the butt to control even on real pc hardware. I started working on a portrait mode layout some time ago, but somehow never got round to finishing it. 🤷‍♂️

[fiffi]

My problem so far has been trying too many games at once. But now I’ve started working for real on Ultima Underworlds 1, and plan to finish that before I move on. Hopefully, a UW1 profile should be easily portable to UW2, but I’ll see.

I play on a big tablet, so I use a part of the screen for the game window, and the rest of the screen for widgets. I aim to play as much of the game possible by using only one finger. Using both hands is impractical, since I need one hand to hold the tablet.

The right-click and drag for manipulating and picking up objects is my biggest concern. Is it possible to somehow lock the right mouse button? What I hope to achieve is to put the mouse cursor over an object in the game world, and then activate a grab widget that locks the right mouse button and then move the cursor via a target on to the inventory area. I’m not sure if this is possible, but I haven’t tested much yet. Any hints would be welcome.

[SongJiang]

Looks like a great layout ! I never played Ultima series or Might and Magic, but now I want to try !
For your mouse concern, the Mouse widget allow you to do that (setting the duration to ‘permanent’). It should work but I never tested.
I encourage you to finish your layouts. You look like to be able to say you mastered Magic Dosbox soon. Pixel Traps will be the next level of your mastering XD.

[fiffi]

Thank! But I still have a way to go before mastering this program, even if my Might & Magic template works pretty well. I will see if I publish it here this weekend.
I tested Pixel Traps a little yesterday, and it gave me a couple of ideas. Very interesting. But first I must learn how to control the mouse.
Ultima Underworld is much more mouse driven than M&M, with right-click and drag, and other mechanisms. And I can’t even get Target to work properly.
For instance, there are three spots on the game screen where you can click and get some information. So I thought it would be nice to have a widget to do these clicks for me. I use relative mouse, so I made a Deadly Strike that:
1) Change to absolute mouse.
2) Use a Target to click where I want it to.
3) Change back to relative mouse.
The problem is that it doesn’t work properly! Sometimes it hits the right spot, often it does not. It seems that if I move the cursor to the top left corner before activating my widget, it gets a better chance of hitting the spot, but no guarantee. Any tips on this?

[Author]

Posts