Zomb's Lair - Reviving Old Classics

[Zombeaver]

So here I am basically ready to package this thing up, and I realized there was a way to improve it.

The method I had in place for changing disks on multi-disk games was functional but had a couple flaws:

1) Because the script was based on finding the correct, specific position in a long list of files for a specific game, if you were to add games into that list that were in the same letter of the alphabet (it jumped to the first file starting with the relevant letter, then went down the list from there), the script is now essentially broken because now the number of positions to move down the list would have changed - not a big deal for this isolated set, but I want to give this treatment to my entire C64 collection, not just these 128, and even if I had them all squared away, adding new games down the line would break the scripts because of this.

2) Games that are more than 2-disks required more manual work on the part of the player as I don't know how to make AHK remember whether or not you've used a hotkey previously, so instead I just made it take you to the first disk for the game, and then you could move up or down and select the one you wanted.

Both of these can be fixed by making the following change:

Instead of having all the files in one giant list, move them into their own subfolders for each game, and set that folder as its own "Drive" in DOSBox to load from.

Now it no longer matters where in the alphabet the game falls, because as far as CCS64 sees, it's the only game it has access to. Now it's always going to be the same position for disk 1 and disk 2 because they're always in the same spot for all games (down twice from the top for disk 2 and down once from the top for disk 1), because they're in their own folder.

Now it no longer matters that I don't know how to make AHK remember whether or not you've pressed the next/previous hotkey previously, because CCS64 itself stays in the last position you were on in the disk list when you pull it up again later. Technically I could have done this with the previous setup because of this, but it too would have broken if a new game was added because of the reasons above.

So after making lots of folders, moving lots of files, and replacing lots of text strings in those files... it seems to be working just fine. I've still got to update the locations in LB and then do some more final testing with it, but I should have a new version out tonight.

[Zombeaver]

Alright, final version of the LB import package is now done. I implemented the above change, updated the readme, reset all the play counts to 0 and added a few more manuals that were sorely missing (Supremacy, Project Firestart, Times of Lore, Shadowfire, etc.). The Supremacy and Shadowfire ones I had to assemble manually from individual images 

The standalone package, writeup, and Zomb's Lair entry should be up tomorrow... err... today since it's now 1:40 AM.

Download Link

[Zombeaver]

I forgot one thing - if you want to use in-game saving in Project Firestart, you'll need a save disk. I took a blank c64 disk image and formatted it in the game so it's setup and ready to go. It just needs to be placed in the folder with the rest of the game files, and then selected when you want to save.

If you were to ever need a different blank c64 disk for something, I've included it as well.

Saves.zip 

EDIT: Here's an update package that includes the save and blank disks, as well as an updated Readme and updated C64 Dreams platform XML - I added some additional controls notes to the description for Project Firestart.

Update.zip

 

[Zombeaver]

Okay, the standalone and import versions are now up on Zomb's Lair.

[Porl Hendy]

Have you got any more classics for us @Zombeaver? Cheers

[Zombeaver]

1 minute ago, Porl Hendy said:

Have you got any more classics for us @Zombeaver? Cheers

Absolutely! Got a bunch of stuff left to do. I just needed to take a bit of a break. That C64 set took a lot out of me - that was about two solid weeks of work that absorbed 100% of my free time during that period. Been taking a bit of a rest and actually playing some games for myself the last week 

I think Star Trek: A Final Unity will likely be up next.

[Porl Hendy]

lol great stuff, i was a console kid so alot of the stuff u have put up i have never seen before. I love to go back to these classics after some 10 year old kids beat me on COD or fortnite lol

[JamesBond@ge]

Yep, I haven't forgotten about Zombie Beaver's great work here. I've been finishing of my MS-DOS section in LaunchBox. More specifically, moving all my DOS GOG games, and the stand-alones over to DOSBox Daum......ever since I found out that 'mofo Daum does Save States!

The C64 is one of the last platforms left that I have yet to import into LaunchBox. I tinkered with CCS64 and Hoxs64 but could never get them quite right. So in a few weeks, I am looking forward to the C64 Package you put together to get me started. Thanks Zombie Beaver for putting that together.

Edited April 6, 2018 by JamesBond@ge

[Zombeaver]

Star Trek: The Next Generation - A Final Unity has now been added to Zomb's Lair.

[roy1975]

13 hours ago, Zombeaver said:

Star Trek: The Next Generation - A Final Unity has now been added to Zomb's Lair.

I seem to be having an issue of the game not recognizing my mouse? I get to the opening scene and the cursor just won't move. Not sure what, if anything, I've done wrong...

[Zombeaver]

I'm not sure what to tell you there. It's working normally here. There's nothing unusual about how the mouse is handled for it - it's just default DOSBox settings for that.

You can try pressing Ctrl+F10 - that's the capture/release mouse hotkey in DOSBox.

[Suhrvivor]

I'm a total noob when it comes to MS-DOS games. Are there any games that can be fully played with a gamepad or an arcade stick? I prefer to don't add games that need keyboard and or mouse.

[damageinc86]

40 minutes ago, Suhrvivor said:

I'm a total noob when it comes to MS-DOS games. Are there any games that can be fully played with a gamepad or an arcade stick? I prefer to don't add games that need keyboard and or mouse.

I don't really think there is much in the way of native gamepad support.  I know I could very seldom get a gamepad to be recognized when I used dFend reloaded's options to activate joystick.  For most of the games I play though (Commander Keen, Cosmo, crystal caves, original duke nukem) I have made keymapper profiles in rocketlauncher, and it works great.  But if you just go straight dosbox, i'm sure that you'll be using a lot of keyboard/mouse combo.

[Lordmonkus]

 

[Zombeaver]

If the game natively supports a gamepad, you can use something like a 360/XB1 controller (and presumably other Xinput controllers) by editing the .conf and changing joysticktype=auto to joysticktype=fcs and timed=true to timed=false. This works for things like Commander Keen, Bio Menace, Alien Rampage, etc.

If controllers aren't supported by the game natively, you can use DOSBox's keymapper to achieve the same thing. You just press CTRL+F1 while DOSBox is running, choose the key that you want to send, then press add and then press the button you want to send that input; so, for example, selecting the up arrow, pressing add, and then pressing up on the left stick. Press save once you're done making your changes.

A lot of games weren't designed for controllers so you'll just have to kindof create your own control scheme. Some games, like a lot of RPGs, aren't going to be very conducive to a controller layout regardless.

[roy1975]

10 hours ago, Zombeaver said:

I'm not sure what to tell you there. It's working normally here. There's nothing unusual about how the mouse is handled for it - it's just default DOSBox settings for that.

You can try pressing Ctrl+F10 - that's the capture/release mouse hotkey in DOSBox.

Yeah, that's not working...I'm just going to have to try uninstalling and reinstalling to see what happens...thanks anyway!

[Zombeaver]

Uninstalling and reinstalling's not likely to do anything. It's just moving files. If it doesn't work now it's not going to work when it moves the same files. Whatever the issue is, it's something on your end, but I don't know what it would be. There's nothing different about the mouse settings in the .conf than any other game I've done. There's very little configuration to speak of when it comes to the mouse and DOSBox. The only mouse-relevant settings in the .conf are:

autolock=true
sensitivity=100

Autolock makes the mouse lock to the DOSBox screen if you click on it. Sensitivity is... well sensitivity. Both of these are default settings.

Now, you might be able to make some adjustments to the mouse in the game's own setup program, I don't recall. I can take a look later today.

[Zombeaver]

There aren't any mouse configuration options in the game's setup program.

I've tested on 3 computers and the mouse is working correctly on all three. Restart your computer, and if it's still not working maybe lookup your mouse model and see if anyone's reported issues with it in conjunction with DOSBox or this game specifically; beyond that there's not much else I can tell you. I can't fix something I can't replicate.

[Zombeaver]

One last thing you can try if that doesn't work (and I don't know that this will help, but it's worth a shot) is to swap out DOSBox for DOSBox Daum. I've made a little update package that you can use for this, but you'll need to delete some files as well.

Go into the installed folder and delete the following:

Documentation [folder]
Video Codec [folder]
DOSBox.exe
DOSBox 0.74 Manual.txt
DOSBox 0.74 Options.bat
Reset KeyMapper.bat
Reset Options.bat
Screenshots & Recordings.bat
SDL.dll
SDL_net.dll

Then import these files into the folder and try again:

DOSBox Daum STTNG.zip

[roy1975]

I think I've got it fixed. I just switched the output to ddraw and now it's working. Not sure why since I've used that setting for other games with no problem *shrug* Thanks for the help, though!