Windows Vista and DOSBox

[GCIVP]

Hello gents,
 does anyone run PS1 on Vista ( :evil: ) with DOSBox? I set it all up and it runs ok in full-screen as well, however frame rates and mouse control is a bit sluggish and it's not easy to point and click etc (e.g. sometimes before start to fire up the APU and then put the GENs online it will take a left click or a right click, sometimes I have to click twice before the input has effect). Haven't tried the joystick yet even! I just wondered if anyone has any experience of running it in a similar environment with any tips/hints on optimising it.
Cheers,
Frank

[Phil Bunch]

I was able to run PS1 under  32-bit Vista using DOSBox.  This was over a year ago, and I have forgotten many of the details.  I do recall that the frame rate was normal but mouse control seemed to **sometimes** have a little lag.  However, I have a gaming PC rig with dual video cards, quad-core CPU, and both the video cards and the CPU are water-cooled.  Also, the CPU is overclocked.  Thus, my good frame rate experience may be an accident of the PC specs and may not be typical of an average non-gaming PC.   Yet at the same time I don't know if DOSBox uses all these hardware resources while it runs PS1.  I did not attempt to set up or use any of the add-on or network-based components.

I do remember being basically encouraged by the experience.  Sorry I couldn't provide more details - I hope this limited information is still somehow useful.

[ivan]

Hi Frank.

http://www.dosbox.com/wiki/Basic_Setup_and_Installation_of_DosBox#Performance

You need to tune your DOSbox using the 4 key strokes (Ctrl-F7, F8, F11, F12) -- read the above link for the gory details.  Once you've found the optimal settings, you can save the numbers into the DOSbox config file so that they are always used -- see

http://www.dosbox.com/wiki/Dosbox.conf#.5Bcpu.5D

-ivan

[GCIVP]

Thanks Phil and Ivan,
 I managed to optimise it a little bit and it seems ok now. I will read the links for a bit more explanation on each of the options in the .conf file. I'd like to sort out the resolution, as when it's full screen it looks quite low (perhaps 640x480?) and in window view it is tied to my laptop's standard 1280x800.
Next will be the joystick!

Cheers, F

P.S.
does anyone know how to switch to the F/O view?

I was looking in the "Instructor's Panel" for the option but coldn't find it, maybe I'm too tired!  :?

[Shiv Mathur]

There IS no specific F/O view.

You just move your mouse around to get all the displays you need.

Shiv

[Jeroen Hoppenbrouwers]

The F/O view is a trick that Ivan pulled, I'm not sure whether it ever got out the door in a 747IPC implementation.

[GCIVP]

Ah ok, thanks for that Jeroen, mystery solved.
No biggie really, the F/O panel would have suited me best, but in the end, LHS or RHS doesn't really make a difference to my using PS1.
Cheers

[Shiv Mathur]

Yes, thanks Hoppie ... I stand corrected.

[Avi]

Hi,

To get the F/O view you should press the mouse on the left part of the outside window. A blue window will open (WINPS1 options window) and there you can select F/O for layout. Press OK and you will have it.
To return to the CAPT view, you should press the mouse on the same area and not on the outside window (which is now at the right corner of the WinPS1 window).

[GCIVP]

Hi,
thanks for the tip. It doesn't seem to work for me though. Not terribly important anyway. I can live without the F/O view  

[ivan]

Avi is right. F/O layout should be available in WinPS1 (on XP, not on Win98 !)

But since you're running under DOSbox, you are probably not using WinPS1. (WinPS1 doesn't work in Vista. Microsoft intentionally disabled DOS program support.)

One way to determine if you are truly in WinPS1 mode, is to look up the FMC IDENT page and look under "OP PROGRAM". It will show "WINPS131-HH11". If you see "AEROWINX" then that's just plain PS1 :-)

[edit] it looks like even in Win98 (747IPC without WinPS1), OP PROGRAM also reads WINPS131-HH11. Hmmmmmm.

-ivan

[GCIVP]

IDENT page says "AW000131-HH1".
No big deal really about the F/O layout, would have been nice for the practice / home refresher. Will still manage good nights sleep without it though