It seems that you're using an outdated browser. Some things may not work as they should (or don't work at all).
We suggest you upgrade newer and better browser like: Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer or Opera

×
I've had some success with playing some DOS games on my Droid 2 using aDOSBOX, but so far it has been by copying the files straight from my old x486. (and by "straight" I mean a horribly complicated workaround using floppy disk and my old Pentium 2 which has a floppy drive and 4x CD read/write that errors a lot when burning a disc faster than 1x speed)

Due to the way the GOG istaller inputs command lines I'm going to have to put a bit more work into getting those to run. Also I have been unable to figure out a good way of altering the dosbox config file without rooting my phone. I would like to up the memsize so that I can try out some of the more complicated games, like Fallout or Starcraft.

So on the plus side I spent last weekend playing Wasteland on my phone, next I might try either Police Quest or Jagged Alliance.
avatar
Miaghstir: ...
I always wondered: There are DOS games that can work with absolute mouse coordinates and those should work just fine with touchscreen, however there are also those that work with relative movement. Don't you know how well does DosBox emulate that on touchscreen? Is it sufficient to just tap the screen, or do you literally need to drag your finger over it to move the mouse? :D
avatar
Tormentfan: Seeing that DOSbox now runs on Android is there anyway to use the files that come with gog dosbox games and use them in an android dosbox install?
DOSBox Turbo has been the best for me. With it I have almost been able to get Daggerfall to work on my HTC Desire Z.
avatar
Fenixp: Is it sufficient to just tap the screen, or do you literally need to drag your finger over it to move the mouse?
To be honest, I have no idea. I would guess that depends on wether DOSBox translates the touch/click event to "move from previous location to here in one frame" or not. I would guess that it doesn't, but I haven't actually bothered with DOSBox on any of my android devices.
avatar
Miaghstir: ...
avatar
Fenixp: I always wondered: There are DOS games that can work with absolute mouse coordinates and those should work just fine with touchscreen, however there are also those that work with relative movement. Don't you know how well does DosBox emulate that on touchscreen? Is it sufficient to just tap the screen, or do you literally need to drag your finger over it to move the mouse? :D
Both aDosBox and DosBoxTurbo have onscreen gamepads, 8 way directional pad and 4 buttons. In aDosBox the buttons are programmable as to which keyboard key they represent and you can have up to 6 on the screen. I've not yet played with DosBoxTurbo but I do know that it has some touchscreen functionality for using the mouse, that is tap, hold and swipe should make the mouse behave like it was made for touchscreen. From what I have read it works most of the time. In aDosBox you have to move your finger across the screen to move the mouse and then either tap the screen to left click or keep your finger on the screen and tap with a second finger to right click.
avatar
Stevedog13: I would like to up the memsize so that I can try out some of the more complicated games, like Fallout or Starcraft.
Of course, neither is a DOS game, and so would require installing Windows 95 on top of DOSBox (doable, I've heard).
avatar
Stevedog13: I would like to up the memsize so that I can try out some of the more complicated games, like Fallout or Starcraft.
avatar
Miaghstir: Of course, neither is a DOS game, and so would require installing Windows 95 on top of DOSBox (doable, I've heard).
Well Fallout originally had both DOS and Windows installers on the disc when it first came out, but for Starcraft you are absolutley right. I don't think I want to put too much stress on my poor phone (I might want to try making phone call on it sometime) so maybe I'll just try Warcraft instead.
Android dosBOX would be awesome for mouse interface games, like Master of Orion.
Been following this discussion. There is another thread over in the Kindle Fire section about DosBox running on Android with some great game suggestions. I use dosbox turbo and can recommend it.

I originally started off with aDosBox cause its free and tried following the gaming suggestions in the above thread, and was left very frustrated, as the OP of the thread was using DosBox Turbo and talking about his great experience running those games, while I was struggling on my Samsung Galaxy SII (a theoretically faster device) to run some of the even simpler games mentioned in his thread with aDosBox.

I finally bit the bullet and got AnDosBox for $3.99. I figured, if it costs more, maybe its better than DosBox Turbo. Well, big mistake. In order to use the virtual 8-way DPAD shown in the photo's, you have to spend another $2.50 just for their keyboard. I felt ripped off, and rather than spend that much on just a keyboard, I picked up DosBox Turbo for $2.99 which comes with a free virtual DPAD add-on.

SInce then (about 2 weeks ago), there have been about 4 additional releases of DosBox Turbo, each one adding new features and functionality. Recently, DosBox Turbo got a Game Profile Manager that looks really sweet and works a lot like the D-Fend frontend on the PC. I can now make profiles with all my control settings and launch any DOS game at the click of a button. I was also able to play all the games mentioned in the above thread at full speed. I'm not sure how, but DosBox turbo is significantly faster than aDosBox, and its even faster than anDosBox.

Hope this message saves you from spending an additional $3.50 ($1.00 + $2.50).

Some games I've played recently:
Fallout
Daggerfall
Master of Orion 2
Warcraft II
Post edited April 11, 2012 by mirage2005
Thanks for pointing out that other thread, more information is always better. I have been looking at both AnDosBox and DosBox Turbo in order to replace aDosBox. They have both achieved faster speeds by using almost the exact same methods. Basically they each emulate faster CPUs by expanding throughput.

WARNING!! Geeky science content ahead!
CPUs process packets of data, each packet can contain data or a command. For example in the early days of computing a simple problem like 1+2=3 would take 5+ packets to perform, this is what we call throughput. There are different ways to speed up the proccesor. One is to increase bus speed, many people do this by overclocking thier machine. The other method was to make the data packets bigger, this is what AnDosBox and DosBox Turbo do. Of course modern computers have drastically increased speed by adding more processors, hence dual and quad core machines.

Anyway, back on subject, I think I'll be upgrading to DosBox Turbo in order to see what this phone of mine can do.
avatar
Stevedog13: WARNING!! Geeky science content ahead!
CPUs process packets of data, each packet can contain data or a command. For example in the early days of computing a simple problem like 1+2=3 would take 5+ packets to perform, this is what we call throughput. There are different ways to speed up the proccesor. One is to increase bus speed, many people do this by overclocking thier machine. The other method was to make the data packets bigger, this is what AnDosBox and DosBox Turbo do. Of course modern computers have drastically increased speed by adding more processors, hence dual and quad core machines.

Anyway, back on subject, I think I'll be upgrading to DosBox Turbo in order to see what this phone of mine can do.
Thanks for the explanation. I was wondering how they made dosbox turbo literally 5-10x faster than adosbox.
I can get to the Master of Orion 2 start screen, but I cannot start a new game. Please advise.

I've tried both AnDOSBox and DOSBox Turbo.

I'm using a Samsung Stratosphere unrooted.
Post edited April 14, 2012 by douglance
avatar
douglance: I can get to the Master of Orion 2 start screen, but I cannot start a new game. Please advise.

I've tried both AnDOSBox and DOSBox Turbo.

I'm using a Samsung Stratosphere unrooted.
No problems at all with Master of Orion 2 on DosBox Turbo here...I'm running v1.3.3 of DB Turbo. Have you tried setting Input Mode to Touchscreen mouse and the Mouse Tracking to absolute?
avatar
douglance: I can get to the Master of Orion 2 start screen, but I cannot start a new game. Please advise.

I've tried both AnDOSBox and DOSBox Turbo.

I'm using a Samsung Stratosphere unrooted.
avatar
mirage2005: No problems at all with Master of Orion 2 on DosBox Turbo here...I'm running v1.3.3 of DB Turbo. Have you tried setting Input Mode to Touchscreen mouse and the Mouse Tracking to absolute?
That allows me to move the mouse until the control panel flips down, but after that it freezes.
Just to toss my two cents in, take a look at Dropbox. I typically install my games locally (on my Linux box) and will sometimes symlink the folder for a game I'm currently playing (Zork, ATM) to a Dropbox folder. Then download/sync it on my phone (N900 with Maemo, but would be the same for Android essentially) and I can continue my game on the go. Just a little tidbit for anyone looking into DOSBox on their mobile device.