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XCOMUFO & Xenocide

Getting Xcom Dos Version To Work


j'ordos

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When I try execute the .bat for XCOM1 it gives me a list of errors or sometimes acts as though I am trying to do a cd command. Dosbox gives me shuckeroonies like try cd ufo .... If I type directory the bat is in my current directory and there should be no problems. If I do go to the subdirectory that has the main batch file and run that in dos box it just spits out a list of errors Edited by zepho
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  • 3 weeks later...
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HELP! I'm running vista (my first mistake) and I can't for the life of me figure out how to use dosbox. When I downloaded the first program (xcom) I got sound and the black screen. So after much ado I loaded safe mode and turn the graphics et al all the way down and I was able to see my beloved game for teh first time in a long time but no sound and the graphics were too fast and the mouse was overly sensative. So I went to dosbox and thats where I'm stuck. I did download the dos version, I mounted the correct folders (to the corrosponding dos c: drive) but I can't get the game to play or load or anything. Please help me get this game back on! Arg!

 

nevermind...I was trying to run the .exe and really I needed to run full.bat...(I am lost on dosbox, but learning)

 

I am running dual amd 64x2 3800+ (I don't know how fast that is) 1024mb mem and winvista. and after reading all the posts i can get the game to operate pretty smooth, full screen, etc, but I have tried and tried to get the sound to work to no avail. Any help? THanks for all of the hard work of the previous posts- much appreciated!

Edited by lungpai
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  • 2 months later...

If I could just reiterate a question asked on the preious page: What Cycle speed would you reccommend?

 

It seems quite trial-and-error to find a comfortable balance between keeping the geoscape speed comfortably low, yet keeping the tactical map smooth.

Besides, I'm new to dosbox. I was running a CE version fully tricked out with all the mods, up until a driver upgrade messed my tactical map speed (only the shots, mind you).

 

I'm running a 2ghz AMD btw, although if I understand correctly this only makes a difference to the maximum cycle speed you can run.

10,000 is 10,000 on any system, right?

 

 

edit:

Oh, also, I presume there's no way to use things like xcomutil with the dos version, right?

I do miss my breaching demo charges. They made ufo-storming an almost palateable option.

 

In fact, if any significant differences between CE and Dos could be pointed out, that'd be just dandy.

Edited by Munkeh
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That's the "auto" setting :)

You can also try using "max", which works much better!

 

With the latest version, you can use "auto" for core and "max" for cycles, it is your best bet for optimal performance

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Hmm, it's ok, still a little unbalanced.

That is to say, Geo is still a little fast, and Tac is still a bit slow and stuttery, both in movement and sound.

 

TBH I could live with the slightly fast (5sec setting runs at what 5mins should run at....so not bad) geoscape if it were possible to smooth out the tac map a bit.

 

Or is the stutteryness just the way the game goes?

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  • 2 months later...

Not sure if anyone is still here.. but..

I have a question on running X-COM1 DOS version 1.2 using DosBox

Everything runs, I got sound and music.. but the sound comes with a bit of lag.

The lag is about 0.5 second, so I can see the laser flew across the screen first, then I hear the sound.

I have the good luck to get the CE running on my machine as well. In this version the sound is perfect. No lag, sound appearing right on cue. But speed is too fast.. and the 'turbo' program didn't work for me. So I opted for the DOS version.

I know this is not a big deal, but I got a more than enough specs to run DosBox running X-COM to have this caused by hardware.

Just wondering if anyone have similar problem and has a solution

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Not sure if anyone is still here.. but..

I have a question on running X-COM1 DOS version 1.2 using DosBox

Everything runs, I got sound and music.. but the sound comes with a bit of lag.

The lag is about 0.5 second, so I can see the laser flew across the screen first, then I hear the sound.

I have the good luck to get the CE running on my machine as well. In this version the sound is perfect. No lag, sound appearing right on cue. But speed is too fast.. and the 'turbo' program didn't work for me. So I opted for the DOS version.

I know this is not a big deal, but I got a more than enough specs to run DosBox running X-COM to have this caused by hardware.

Just wondering if anyone have similar problem and has a solution

 

You gotta edit a dosbox config file and adjust the "speed" (instructions per second?). By default, it should be set at max. (saved a copy of your config file first), edit the max setting to around 2000-4000. Keep playing around with the number until sound/music is in sync with graphics. Yes, I had the same problem.

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...

You gotta edit a dosbox config file and adjust the "speed" (instructions per second?). By default, it should be set at max. (saved a copy of your config file first), edit the max setting to around 2000-4000. Keep playing around with the number until sound/music is in sync with graphics. Yes, I had the same problem.

 

Thanks for the reply, and sorry for my late re-reply..

What config line is that one? Is it the CPU settings? I tried messing around with that with no luck -.-"

For now I am content with slightly delayed sound effects..

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You gotta edit a dosbox config file and adjust the "speed" (instructions per second?). By default, it should be set at max. (saved a copy of your config file first), edit the max setting to around 2000-4000. Keep playing around with the number until sound/music is in sync with graphics. Yes, I had the same problem.

 

Thanks for the reply, and sorry for my late re-reply..

What config line is that one? Is it the CPU settings? I tried messing around with that with no luck -.-"

For now I am content with slightly delayed sound effects..

the config file is dosbox.conf. It's a simple text file, so use your favourite text editor to open it.

 

Look for this section

================================

[cpu]

# core -- CPU Core used in emulation: normal,simple,dynamic,auto.

# auto switches from normal to dynamic if appropriate.

# cycles -- Amount of instructions DOSBox tries to emulate each millisecond.

# Setting this value too high results in sound dropouts and lags.

# You can also let DOSBox guess the correct value by setting it to max.

# The default setting (auto) switches to max if appropriate.

# cycleup -- Amount of cycles to increase/decrease with keycombo.

# cycledown Setting it lower than 100 will be a percentage.

 

core=auto

cycles=4000

cycleup=500

cycledown=20

 

================================

 

Here, you just edit the value under 'cycles'.

 

[edit] I would make a copy of the dosbox.conf file first, in case you need to undo.

Edited by chowchow
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  • 4 weeks later...

Ok maybe someone had answered this question already. But its late I'm annoyed and I don't have the time right this second to read all the posts. I just joined the forum and I was wondering how can I get the CD of the Dos version of Xcom to work I have Dosbox and I can get the game to run all the way up to the point I land at my first mission. And then it freezes when I hit ok to land. I'm desperate I havn't played this game in years, since I as in highschool, more than ten years ago, and I would love to play this game again.

 

If there is someone who could help me out or point me in the right direction I would appreciate it. Thank you.

 

I also tried downloading the version from the frist post and my computer didn't know what to use to open it, any ideas. I'm not programer savy in much of any of this back end stuff. Its a .rar file and I don't even have a clue as to what that is. Also I can't save the game and there are no save game folders in the files for the game do I just make a folder for game 1 or something like that, as I said I am a tatal noob at all of this and hopefully someone will help me out that last post here was months ago. I hope I don't have to wait that long. Thanks in advance for any help I'll keep trying and wait for any new posts.

Edited by Pointman
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  • 3 weeks later...

Hey Pointman, I feel your pain. I'm not sure if something in DosBox .72 has changed things or if I've not found the right config combination but I can't get it going either. I'm working my way through this thread hoping I will find something that will get it going, but as of now I my DosBox session locks up each time I enter a mission as well.

 

I'll post if I make any progress.

 

- Brian

Edited by bfitzhugh
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I also tried downloading the version from the frist post and my computer didn't know what to use to open it, any ideas. I'm not programer savy in much of any of this back end stuff. Its a .rar file and I don't even have a clue as to what that is. Also I can't save the game and there are no save game folders in the files for the game do I just make a folder for game 1 or something like that, as I said I am a tatal noob at all of this and hopefully someone will help me out that last post here was months ago. I hope I don't have to wait that long. Thanks in advance for any help I'll keep trying and wait for any new posts.

RAR is a compression format much like ZIP. But in order to decompress those files you need the WinRar utility (you can get it here). It comes in handy because it can handle most compression formats out there. :)

 

If you don't have saved game folders anywhere, you could reconstruct them by creating them: "GAME_1" to "GAME_10". But it sounds like you have deeper problems. Try reinstalling the game and then try it again. And by reinstalling I mean copy everything from the disc and pasting that into a folder. ;)

 

- Zombie

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  • 1 month later...

i have a two part question concerning x com.

one i have verson .65 of dosbox and roughly a year ago i was able to make it work. now i am able to get the program prompted in dosbox but i can not remember the word or whatever to make it work.

 

also i have the windows verson and the patch to fix the triple screen effect, but i when i open it i see only about one half of the game screen and can't actually do anything.

i'm using windows xp and i was at one time able to make both versions work. i have both game files backed in .zip files but i have searched the internet and not really found anything useful concerning either problem.

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First of all, get the newest version of DOSBox (0.72 last I checked). To get it running, you do something like this:

 

Run DOSBox, then type in the following:

 

mount c [path to the root folder of the game]

c:

ufo

 

You may need to run setup.exe instead of "ufo" if it doesn't work. Try setting the sound and music to none and see if it works then. If it does, you'll need to properly configure sound. For that, simply select SoundBlaster Pro, with the following values: IRQ 7, DMA 1, Base Port 220, and sound channels 4. That should work.

 

For the Windows version... can you post a screenshot? Use the Prt Scr button on your keyboard, then open Paint and pres Ctrl+V, save the picture and post it here. The way you describe it, it sounds like your screen is off, which you would need to fix with the monitor controls.

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I am new to the whole world of DosBox and running old games, but found my way fairly easily. This morning I loaded up Xcom1 via dosbox and had no problems. I could run the program, exit, and then return to it at a later time.

 

However, after i tried putting an additional file in (to help with the game speed in the geoscape), i have yet to be able to reopen the game. One of two things happens:

 

1. Dosbox goes into a "Not Responding" mode, and won't open

 

or

 

2. I get the following error message:

 

Illegal command: D:ufoexe\black.

Illegal command: D:sound\sndstart.

Illegal command: D:intro.

Illegal command: D:ufoexe\black.

Illegal command: D:ufoexe\geoscape.

Illegal command: D:sound\sndend.

C:\Xcom1\ufo>

 

Any thoughts?

 

(btw, i'm running v. .72 on vista 32bit and didn't have any problems until i loaded in that other file (which i have since removed as well as completely reloaded xcom several times)

Edited by Switchfoot55
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i tried as you suggested and it said illegal command. i also tried setting up the sound and what do you do for the sound after just sound effects?

for the windows version. when i try to play i see only about half the screen but when i take the screen shot i see the whole image. below where my mouse is is where the screen turns black

x_com_problem.bmp

Edited by spazeroid
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switchfoot: In the commands there's a \ missing after D: Possibly there's none or perhaps you use something in which the character '\' has a special meaning and so to be interpreted as the char and not as the command flag '\\' or some other symbol should be used.

 

Also the fact it says D:... and then goes out to C: may point it's asking a CD or something?

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