Total DOS Collection #19 not working with DOSbox Pure

[SiriusVI]

Hey everyone,

as stated in the title I cannot launch many DOS games from TDC collection that I tried using DOSbox pure in Retroarch. The screen just turns black for a second and then I'm back at my Launchbox library. I downloaded a few games from a different DOS collection and most of them work fine. Any idea why the TDC games won't work? 

I also use the excellent ExoDOS collection but wanted to separately include the Total Dos Collection into my setup.

Edited May 11, 2022 by SiriusVI

[midd]

Not sure why your font is black.  But anyway, check your retroarch under manage emulators.  Go to your MS-DOS and ensure extract zip files in unchecked. I had the same problem a  few days a ago.

[SiriusVI]

On 5/8/2022 at 5:08 PM, midd said:

Not sure why your font is black.  But anyway, check your retroarch under manage emulators.  Go to your MS-DOS and ensure extract zip files in unchecked. I had the same problem a  few days a ago.

I set up everything correctly. I don't auto extract anything. Apparently  DosBox pure cannot handle the way many TDC archives are set up. They need to be installed and then repacked, someone on reddit said. I'm not sure however. The roms from Alvro work no problem. So I guess I'll just use those. TDC has a larger collection however... bummer.

[Your Friendly A.I Overlord]

8 hours ago, SiriusVI said:

Apparently  DosBox pure cannot handle the way many TDC archives are set up. They need to be installed and then repacked

It's possible the game 's zip file only contains an install.exe or setup.exe or something like that. Have you checked? As a zip file usually contains multiple executable files is is possible for Dosbox Pure to pick the wrong one. Have you tried pointing Dosbox Pure to a different one? Test your game in RetroArch directly (so not through LaunchBox) and force opening the Dosbox Pure start menu. From the Dosbox Pure website:

"If you have assigned an auto start item in the start menu but want to go back to it, hold shift on the keyboard or L2 or R2 on the gamepad while selecting "Restart" in the core menu."

Also Dosbox Pure can load a game from a dosbox.conf file. From the DosBox Pure website:

"If a file named "dosbox.conf" exists in the loaded game directory (for example inside the ZIP file), DOSBox Pure will load the settings in that file and run the autoexec lines from it (if set). It is also possible to load a .conf file directly with the core and it will mount the directory of that file as the 😄 drive and then load it the same way."

I believe D-Fend Reloaded can auto-generate dosbox.conf files for your games, but it has been ages since I last used that. More information on the Dosbox Pure website.

 

[InvaderJim]

On 5/8/2022 at 10:08 AM, midd said:

Not sure why your font is black.  But anyway, check your retroarch under manage emulators.  Go to your MS-DOS and ensure extract zip files in unchecked. I had the same problem a  few days a ago.

First time using Retroarch or DOSBox Pure and this tip allowed me to get Number Munchers working, thanks!