Post by Daniel "MontyOnTheRun" Monteiro in Castle of Viana - Capiroto's Revenge comments

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Daniel "MontyOnTheRun" Monteiro147 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_Guy222146 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" Monteiro145 days ago

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

The_Guy222142 days ago

Sure. Are you on Discord?

Daniel "MontyOnTheRun" Monteiro142 days ago

Yep. Reach me at 405715828345012235

The_Guy222136 days ago(+1)

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

The_Guy222135 days ago

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

Name is 7 digits, fourth letter is U.