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Guardacostas
Gunner
Posts: 966
10041 Gold -
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 Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2022 1:23 am Post subject: A brand new laptop and DOS Box |
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Is it worth trying to run up a game of pirates! gold? yes, no, 1993 is in my veins so why not? |
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Pirate
Helmsman
Posts: 5589
109759 Gold -
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| Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2022 2:13 am Post subject: |
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If it was me and someone told me not to play it because it’s to old I’d tell them to kiss my ass and do it anyway. Old retro games can still be fun and 30 years from now somebody’s gone to fire up some ancient console made way back in the dinosaur era and play a game of PAC Man and say boy this is fun. |
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Guardacostas
Gunner
Posts: 966
10041 Gold -
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| Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2022 1:44 am Post subject: |
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No i just meant can a brand new laptop handle dos box and an old game? I'd love to play it but w0ould it run ok on a brand new computer |
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corsair91
Sailing Master
Posts: 8182
205830 Gold -
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| Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2022 2:17 am Post subject: |
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A new laptop, would expect to be able to handle Dosbox & Pirates's Gold
(not knowing the laptop model no or spec)
(MS-DOS was effectively replaced by Windows 95/98
& Dos was typically never run on Systems faster than say a 486
or early Pentiums CPUs, around 100-133 Mhz Clock Speed back then.
Modern CPUs are around say 4 GHz now,
assuming no reduced performance cooling optimization running)
With an emulator, the faster the CPU the better for performance
although that may cause gameplay timing issues with old games.
Latest game patches & fixes recommended
It is typically with later Windows games and the required DirectX Shader
graphics & Video memory that a laptop may be an issue.
AMD or Nvidia Integrated Graphics are much preferred over Intel.
PC Game developers typically don't even bother play testing with laptops
unless a casual or mobile game.
If you don't already have the game,
now available on GOG or Steam with DOSbox emulator included
as Pirates! Gold Plus bundle.
(Game was previously abandonware, but should have been pulled
as now on retail sale again, certain sites may have neglected to do this.
It is up to the Game IP holder to contact the various abandonware
sites and request a game takedown. Some sites will pull the game
once aware of a GOG or Steam re-release without waiting for a
takedown request.
There was an unofficial fan game release with Pirates Gold
& Dosbox integrated for a later Windows OS.
Essentially similar to a GOG release only with the original retail latest
patched game release)
Retroism - Sid Meier’s Pirates! Gold Plus
https://retroism.com/sid-meiers-pirates/
GOG
Pirates! Gold Plus
https://www.gog.com/en/game/pirates_gold_plus
https://www.gog.com/forum/pirates_gold_plus
Includes the 1987 original Sid Meier's Pirates! and 1993's Pirates! Gold.
This game is powered by DOSBox pre-configured
Steam
Sid Meier's Pirates! Gold Plus (Classic)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/327380
https://steamcommunity.com/app/327380/discussions/
https://steamcommunity.com/app/327380/guides/
https://store.steampowered.com/manual/327380
DOSBox included pre-configured
Read User Review comments recommended
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Pirate's gold has a flags Doc copy protection check
Pirates! Gold (piratesg-flags.jpg)
http://www.goodolddays.net/file/file%2C89/id%2C229/type%2Cdocs/
or
Pirates! Gold Fansite - The lost Tavern
http://frigate.free.fr/
http://frigate.free.fr/manual.html
http://frigate.free.fr/downloads.html
Useful info
https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Pirates!_Gold
(paste entire link into Browser)
https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/DOSBox
https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Sid_Meier%27s_Pirates!
Sid Meier's Pirates! - Resources Links
http://www.hookedonpirates.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8336
see 1st post - Previous Sid Meier Pirates Games Section
Scroll down for 5th post - Original Pirates Game post
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If you already have the DOS game,
have to manually configure Dosbox
(command line emulator)
https://www.dosbox.com/
also useful is a Graphical Front End, such as say
D-Fend Reloaded is a graphical environment for DOSBox.
http://dfendreloaded.sourceforge.net/
(includes DOSbox)
other front end links on the Dosbox site
DOSBox Tutorial
https://www.dosbox.com/wiki/Basic_Setup_and_Installation_of_DosBox
https://www.dosbox.com/wiki/Dosbox.conf
Quick Start for Windows
Windows users have an option of dragging the EXE of their DOS game onto the DOSBox program (or shorcut pointing to the DOSBox program). This will automatically start the game. If this doesn't work, then I would recommend reading the rest of this article.
DOSBox Manual
https://www.dosbox.com/DOSBoxManual.html
DOSBox Pirates Gold Compatability listing
https://www.dosbox.com/comp_list.php?showID=1163&letter=P
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DOSBox Tutorial 1 – Getting Started.
https://www.play-old-pc-games.com/dosbox-tutorials/
DOSBox beginners tutorial
Videogame Bucko
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE2B2A2FC554371C3
DOSBox Tutorial 2 – Custom configuration files
https://www.play-old-pc-games.com/compatibility-tools/custom-configuration-dosbox/
Creating and using custom configuration files in DOSBox
https://youtu.be/JcFb60IJ3aw
Videogame Bucko
As you add more old DOS games to your PC, you will encounter some titles that need specific configuration options in order for them to run optimally (or at all) with DOSBox. In this tutorial we look at how you can create and use custom configuration files with the emulator.
Last edited by corsair91 on Sat Feb 19, 2022 2:34 am; edited 36 times in total |
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corsair91
Sailing Master
Posts: 8182
205830 Gold -
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| Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2022 12:54 pm Post subject: |
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Forgot to mention this earlier
laptop keyboards typically use a Function Fn key for the numeric keypad layout
also mouse pointer pad may not lend itself well to gaming
Redefining Game keys tends to be an issue with laptops & various games
Some games do assume a full-sized keyboard
You may find that say a Wireless Full Size Keyboard & Wireless Mouse
may be useful, if gaming on a laptop
Laptop keypads aren't really built to take gaming key press abuse,
a full size keyboard is much cheaper to replace than a laptop keypad.
(A laptop may have a limited number of USB ports, my preference would be USB rather than Wireless if you have the available ports, especially if
using a WI-FI internet connection, a wired network connection is preferred.
A wireless keyboard & mouse if bought as a boxed bundle should only need a single USB port for the wireless transmitter/receiver.)
Cooling tends to be an issue with laptops, so a cooling stand to improve air flow may be useful.
A set of headphones may also prove useful in the home environment
A monitor may be an option to give a larger screen
--------------------------
a google search on say
laptop best practice
some hits
Dell Laptop Best Practices for Care, Use, and Handling
https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-ie/000124304/laptop-care-guide
Mostly generic recommendations
10 Best Practices to Enhance the Laptop’s Longevity, No More Expenditure on a New One
https://businesspartnermagazine.com/best-practices-enhance-laptops-longevity-no-more-expenditure-new-one/
"Top 10 List" of Good Computing Practices
https://its.ucsc.edu/security/top10.html
Working from home? Here’s how to take care of your laptop
https://www.siliconrepublic.com/advice/working-from-home-take-care-laptop-how-to
Using laptops – A good practice guide PDF
https://unihub.mdx.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0026/559115/Using-laptops-A-good-practice-guide.pdf
Your old laptop could last longer if you give these tips a try
https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/your-old-laptop-could-last-longer-if-you-give-these-tips-a-try/
Last edited by corsair91 on Thu Feb 17, 2022 3:31 pm; edited 5 times in total |
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fleetp
Boatswain
Posts: 3724
36072 Gold -
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| Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2022 6:00 pm Post subject: |
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I use a USB keyboard and mouse with my laptop. It's much easier to play Pirates! with them.  |
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Pirate
Helmsman
Posts: 5589
109759 Gold -
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| Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2022 1:16 am Post subject: |
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I’m thinking later I might get a new Apple laptop to do business, teaching and perhaps vlogging. Is there any good way to play a windows version of SMP and use the mod tools on it without a partition of the drive and installing Windows on the other half. Sounds like that would be hard on it. I’m not familiar modding executables etc for a Mac and I already have the windows game. I want a good laptop when I go like something I can depend on for a while because most electronics are expensive in SE Asia compared to the USA. |
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corsair91
Sailing Master
Posts: 8182
205830 Gold -
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corsair91
Sailing Master
Posts: 8182
205830 Gold -
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Guardacostas
Gunner
Posts: 966
10041 Gold -
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| Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2022 6:42 pm Post subject: |
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What im basically asking will it crash my computer or just not work, running DOS box and for a game that came out 29 years ago |
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corsair91
Sailing Master
Posts: 8182
205830 Gold -
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| Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2022 7:32 pm Post subject: |
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No crashing as far as I Know, and expect it to work, as has been tested to work, as Pirates Gold is now sold in a pre-packaged bundled with Dosbox by
GOG & Steam.
People have gotten the original retail game release to work
with Dosbox manually configured.
There is every indication the game should work, if Dosbox is properly
configured for the game.
Would expect any possible problems to affect the Dosbox emulator
application only (sandbox) and not your Windows OS.
To see the Game emulated in your Browser
Pirates Gold Streaming (play in your Internet browser)
https://classicreload.com/pirates-gold.html
will take a while to initially load, loading progress is displayed on screen
(refresh the webpage if any problems loading due to internet connection issues)
May be sluggish due to internet connection issues,
the only real solution to this, is to source the game & run emulated locally
May need the game flags documentation to hand
as unsure if game has been tweaked not to require this
(PC versions contained a copy protection scheme requiring the player to identify the flag of a pirate ship sighted on the horizon)
Emulator will capture your mouse pointer into the game window
on the webpage.
press ESC to release the mouse pointer
Last edited by corsair91 on Mon Feb 28, 2022 11:17 am; edited 3 times in total |
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Guardacostas
Gunner
Posts: 966
10041 Gold -
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| Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2022 8:48 pm Post subject: |
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Ill give it a chance. No computer damage you say? Just a possible CTD? |
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