Post by The_Guy222 in Castle of Viana - Capiroto's Revenge comments

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The_Guy222195 days ago

This looks to be really amazing and authentic.

However, I am having significant trouble with DOSBox, which doesn't usually happen.

With DOSBox Staging, I get:

Load error: no DPMI - Get csdpmi*b.zip

And in DOSBox-X, I get:

Page Fault cr2=0040a0d0 in RMCB at eip=a0d0; flags=3016

It seems very vulnerable to crashing when DOSBox cycles / processor speed is adjusted, which isn't usually the case with most applications.

I wonder if this is very sensitive to certain ways that DOSBox is configured. I may have to try this game on real hardware to see what happens.

Daniel "MontyOnTheRun" Monteiro195 days ago (1 edit)

The DPMI error is because you need to download CWSDPMI (or run under Windows 95).

As for the dosbox-x, crash, that's really odd! I've tested on 486s and Pentiums, but there's always a chance a bug sneaked in. I will look into it.

Thank you for your interest...but please, bear in mind the grunt of the work done for this game was only a 2 week effort 😇

Edit: Ah yes, as for the authenticity, I think Trixter said it best: this deserved to be a Real Mode game. But given that this was one of my first DOS games, it is protected mode (386+) instead. At least I eventually did make a 8088+CGA game, but damn, it was hard work!

The_Guy222195 days ago

Thanks!

Yours was one of the first "new Retro" DOS games, I think. There are some similar efforts even today, such as Anzu Castle Gracula and Gold Miner.

DOSBox Staging actually had trouble with Anzu Castle Gracula until a recent DOSBox update, so it seems like some emulators are having trouble with new homebrew. (Makes sense, since DOSBox forks would not have been tested very much with new games).

386 is available to me, so maybe this will be tested eventually. I just learned of your 3D Dungeon game, and my hardware is just enough to meet requirements!

I found out about Viana in a 'history of CGA' topic somewhere. There's been a lot of questions about CGA recently - why it was the way it was - and they are being answered.

It's really great that you made your games actually run on classic video cards.

Daniel "MontyOnTheRun" Monteiro194 days ago

My understanding is that people never really stopped creating DOS games - it just slowed to a crawl.

I always try to make code that's very "boring" in the sense that I use standard DJGPP functions for almost everything. This make the keyboard handling a tad "bad", but also makes it very compatible, for example. I will give Staging a try (but I was always partial to DOSBox-X).

Since you have a 386, can I ask you to try a WIP version of the RPG I'm working on (1) ? Its much more optimized than Dungeons of Noudar (which very much prefers a 486). This evolution of the engine is much more optimized and even runs well enough on a GBA!

CGA is a funny topic for me. My first PC had a CGA and I hated the colours with a passion (and I kind of still do), but I have to agree it is the kind of limitation that makes you try hard to make something good out of it. Give me a 486 with VGA any day and I will be happy - but at the same time, it is not far from a (very slow) modern PC; some people would even say it's boringly normal.

Currently, I'm downsizing my retrolab and might finally go for one of those modern portable 386s. Is this what you have?

(1): https://montyontherun.itch.io/tragedy-of-the-uncanny

The_Guy222194 days ago

I'd be happy to help you!

Yes, I have the Book386, which has 8 MB DRAM and 40 Mhz processor.

My first computer was an 8 or 12 Mhz 286, but it is long-since sold! So the Book386 is the closest thing I could get.

DOSBox Staging is very new, and I can understand why many people wouldn't have adopted it yet. The reason I started using it is because a vintage enthusiast recommended it for its ability to self-configure to very compatible sound and graphics configs.

0.81 did not show certain graphics in Anzu Castle Gracula, but it was mostly fixed by 0.82. But there is still flickering with that game in both Staging and SVN, probably other DOSBox as well.

Seems that DOSBox was bugfixed for the OG DOS catalogue, and not modern retro.

I started using the 286 in 1989. Mine, fortunately, was VGA. Most of the games available for 286 were still CGA / EGA, though, so I suffered through CGA a bit. I remember those times well! Pharoah's Tomb was one of my first games, on a 5 1/4 floppy.

Your thoughts on limitations breeding creativity have a lot of support. I don't think we've really pushed CGA to its limits. There's the rarely-used 160px 16-colour mode, and the ability to change Colour 0 in the normal 4-colour palettes.

Look at this beautiful chart:

https://mastodon.social/@cyningstan/109326743745572940

I enjoyed trying the various graphics mode options for DOS games on startup, but it was years before I would see a SoundBlaster.

I haven't played around much with the Book386. Just tested in upon receiving it, and it seems to work. What's holding me back is trying to find a spare 4:3 monitor suitable for it. I'd want to display your games on something bigger than the 7" Book386 screen! But I'd be happy to accelerate things for you, and get this thing running with modern retro software. I have vintage peripherals for it, too!

Daniel "MontyOnTheRun" Monteiro193 days ago

Hey - I think we need to continue our conversation over a private channel; how would you prefer to proceed?

The_Guy222190 days ago

Sure. Are you on Discord?

Daniel "MontyOnTheRun" Monteiro189 days ago

Yep. Reach me at 405715828345012235

The_Guy222184 days ago(+1)

You got it. You'll hear from me soon.

The_Guy222183 days ago

OK, I think I just sent you a friend request on Discord.

Name is 7 digits, fourth letter is U.