Dosbox: A way to improve MOO gameplay slightly

[Ingos]

Dosbox is an open source DOS emulator capable of running most DOS games in many platforms

It also offers the possibility of enhancing audio and video quality of the games

[SIZE="4"]VIDEO: Enhancing quality with Scalers[/SIZE]

http://www.dosbox.com/wiki/Scaler

Comparison between Normal and 2xSai Scalers

Normal


2xSai


You can change the scalers by opening the file Dosbox.conf (located where Dosbox is installed) and changing the line

[render]
scaler=YOUR CHOICE

Possible values: none, normal2x, normal3x, advmame2x, advmame3x, advinterp2x, advinterp3x, hq2x, hq3x, 2xsai, super2xsai, supereagle, tv2x, tv3x, rgb2x, rgb3x, scan2x, scan3x.

2x and 3x represents the multiplication of the normal resolution of the game, for example: Master of Orion runs at 320x200, so normal2x runs master of orion with no scalers at the resolution of 320x200*2 witch is 640x400


[SIZE="4"]SOUND: Increasing audio quality[/SIZE]

You can increase the default sound rate of 22050 up to 49716 by changing the line

[mixer]
[b]rate=YOUR CHOICE

and

[sblaster]
oplrate=YOUR CHOICE

Possible Values: 22050, 44100, 48000, 32000, 16000, 11025, 8000, 49716

If Dosbox is running slow, change those lines from

core=auto
cputype=auto
cycles=auto

to

core=dynamic
cputype=auto
cycles=max


To start your game automatically every time you start dosbox, add the commands at the end of Dosbox.conf file, under [Autoexec], for example: Running master of Orion (Assuming its located on C:\GAMES\MOO)

[AUTOEXEC]
MOUNT C C:\GAMES\MOO
C:
ORION

If you mess your .conf file and want to start over, delete the file, open dosbox and type

config -writeconf dosbox.conf

The file will be recreated with default values


[SIZE="4"]SHORTCUTS: Starting Different games, with different configurations, by shortcuts[/SIZE]

Example
How to run “Master of Orion” with one scaler and one resolution, but run “Syndicate” with a different configuration, without changing the .conf every time

First, create your configuration files for each game, open Dosbox and type

config -writeconf synd.conf

And again

config -writeconf moo.conf

Edit the files as you like, including [autoexec] to auto start the game

now, create a Shortcut of the Dosbox.exe file, right click on the shortcut, select properties and add a line

<location of dosbox.exe> -conf <location of conf file>\moo.conf

example:

c:\dosbox\dosbox.exe -conf c:\moo.conf

This way you can auto start any dos games with Dosbox, having a custom configuration and custom icon if you like.


Links
Dosbox Includes download and front-ends
Dosbox WIKI
Dosbox Wiki Page Referring to Scalers with examples
Dosbox Forum
Jon Sullivan Master of Orion Site One great MOO I site, contains the game, manual in PDF and TXT format and more.
Unofficial Patch made by Kyrub
Sirian Master of Orion Site Very Interesting
Bladrov's Palace Other Great MOO I Site
Wikipedia Article of Master of Orion