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Shaders for DOSBOX


Retrofrogg

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I'm currently working on DOS emulation using the excellent eXoDOS packs. In LB I've been using shaders and screen overlays with other systems to recreate the original visual experience as much as possible.

My question is, is it possible to use these (shaders in particular) with DOSBOX? I know that there was an SVN build of DOSBOX called SVN Daum which had shaders, though this build is no longer supported.

Thanks!

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That I'm not sure of. I don't think so but admittedly it's not something I've ever looked into for Daum. Something to keep in mind though is that unlike some platforms DOS games have a pretty wide range of resolution modes at their disposal, so you're not going to be able to have a one-size-fits-all overlay even if you could use them - the amount of unused screen space to the left and right of the image varies depending on the resolution mode of the game.

Retroarch has both shaders (the best around) and overlays at its disposal, but none of the other bells and whistles like save states, voodoo emulation, etc. The biggest issue for me, however, is that it doesn't have access to midi software devices like Munt or VirtualMidiSynth which makes it a complete non-starter for me for any games where those can be taken advantage of (which is quite a few). This is also beside the fact that working in DOSBox within Retroarch can be a bit of a nightmare at times.

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It's doable, I've setup a few specific games to do it - mostly newer DOS games that use CD audio. Just keep in mind that you'll have to setup .confs for each of them with autoexec lines directed to the game, and you'll then essentially use the .conf as your "rom" in Retroarch. Also keep in mind that if you do this you won't be able to use the "Use DOSBox" function for them in LB if you want RA to be the primary method of play. What I do is just leave my games with the normal DOSBox setup in LB and then add the .conf for Retroarch as an "additional application" for the game, directed to Retroarch. This way you can still start it through standard DOSBox normally or right-click on it and start it with RA.

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