I want to play Ultima, help me conquor DOSBox

[Bloodeyes]

I've tried using DOSBox before but I've never used DOS (or any command line interface OS) before so I have no idea what I'm doing. I want to start playing pre Windows games, namely the Ultimas. I have installed DOSBox and downloaded Ultima 5 which isthe earliest one available on abandonia (If you know where to get Ultima 1 I'd prefer to start with that, PM me if the source is illegal. I don't have any money though, so I can't buy it). So what now? Step by step what do I do to get the game running?

Edit: Got it running, found a torrent for all 8 Ultimas.

 

[Wyrmlord]

Find the folder with the exact exe game file.

Transfer this folder to C:

Open DosBox.

Press 'Ctrl+F12' 34 times.

Type 'mount c c:\[gamefolder]' and press enter

Type 'c:' and press enter

Type in the exe game file with which you play the game.

 

[Luzur]

you do know that if you type INTRO you get a introduction, right?

and besides, Origin is dead so pirate away all you want with the Ultimas.

 

[Bloodeyes]

Press 'Ctrl+F12' 34 times

Is this a joke?

 

[JarlFrank]

Press 'Ctrl+F12' 34 times

Is this a joke?

Actually, sometimes doing that is necessary.

 

[Dark Matter]

Just drag your .exe file onto Dosbox.

 

[someone else]

Use D-Fend reloaded a GUI front-end for Dosbox. Then drag the .exe file you want into the window and it will automatically set it up for you. you can also drag the setups to configure the music and sounds.

When you want to play just double click on the icon.

 

[Jaesun]

Start with Ultima IV then V then VI.

These all run in DOSBox just fine. And as suggested, use Defend Reloaded. It works great.

Then just place the games in a directory, the VirtualHD folder of defend and then click the "Add" button at the top.

 

[Major_Boobage]

dosbox is super easy. As said mount the dir where your game is installed and start the exe.

 

[mahdi]

The easiest way to use DOSBox is to drag the game's executable onto the DOSBox desktop icon. Only idiots do this though.

 

[FeelTheRads]

Real men use the dosbox.conf file.

Let's say you have a folder with old games , named "Oldgames" on your d: drive. Just add right at the end of dosbox.conf:

mount c d:\oldgames
c:

After that enter dosbox, and type "cd" followed by the folder you want to play, press enter and then type the executable of the game and press enter.

Alternatively you can make DOSBox run the game you want when it starts. For example, type this at the end of the config file:

mount c d:\oldgames
c:
cd ultimav (or the directory your game is in)
ultimav.exe (or the name of the game's executable)

 

[Bloodeyes]

Real men use the dosbox.conf file.

Fuck that man! I used mahdi's method and got U5 running. I can live without being l33t as long as my games run. Life's hard enough right?

I also found this sweet torrent:

Collection of more than 100 classic RPG games 1980-90 years.

Buck Rogers 1-2, Champions of Kryn, Dragons Strike, Eye of the Beholder 1-3, Heroes of the Lance, Bard's Tale 1-3, Lord of the Rings 1-2, Dungeon Master 1-2, Elvira 1-2, Anvil of Dawn, Might and Magic 2-5, Realms of Arkania 1-3, System Shock, Ultima 1-8, and more

Search "best RPG collection" on Demonoid if you want it.

 

[Fenril]

DosBox is pretty simple really. Once you are familiar with it you will learn to tweak the .conf file to adjust to the game you want to play. It even allows you to mount a CD and run it for those old games that had cd versions. Also for some older games with very low resolutions you can improve the graphics by tweaking with some options.

I just wanted to note that once your done with ultima 5 and 6 you might want to try Exult to run Ultima VII and Ultima VII Serpent isle.

http://exult.sourceforge.net/

If you like Ultima 6 make sure you try the savage empire which is also on abandonia.

Also dont neglect ultima underworld 1 and 2, ultima underworld 2 in particular is a real gem, for the time at least.

Also im pretty sure if you search the web a bit you will find the older ultimas before 5.

 

[Saxon1974]

I would recommend using xu4 if your going to play Ultima IV. It is a graphical upgrade and the interface is much easier to use. It also works with Windows.

I played this recently and thought it was great.

http://xu4.sourceforge.net/download.php

 

[FeelTheRads]

Fuck that man! I used mahdi's method and got U5 running. I can live without being l33t as long as my games run. Life's hard enough right?

As you wish. Let's see you run games that require the CD just by dragging them on the executable, though.

 

[Jaesun]

I would recommend using xu4 if your going to play Ultima IV. It is a graphical upgrade and the interface is much easier to use. It also works with Windows.

I played this recently and thought it was great.

http://xu4.sourceforge.net/download.php

I never understood the whole xu4 thing. All of the Ultimas 1 - 8 work just fine in DOSBox.

Also, to upgrade the graphics in Ultima IV you can get files here: http://www.moongates.com/u4/upgrade/Upgrade.htm

I recently replayed Ultima IV using this and it worked just fine.

 

[Bloodeyes]

I think I'll just stick with the originals for my first playthroughs, though I have bookmarked xu4.

As you wish. Let's see you run games that require the CD just by dragging them on the executable, though.

I'm going to take a wild guess and say that doesn't work? I've saved all the advice from this thread to a .txt in case I ever need it.

 

[dragonfk]

[quote="Wyrmlord"
Press 'Ctrl+F12' 34 times.[/quote]

ROTFL!


@Bloodeyes
Change in dosbox.cfg :

Cpu cycles to a demanded value(like 15000), dont be a sissy who's afraid of cfg files!

 

[Luzur]

I also found this sweet torrent:

Collection of more than 100 classic RPG games 1980-90 years.

Buck Rogers 1-2, Champions of Kryn, Dragons Strike, Eye of the Beholder 1-3, Heroes of the Lance, Bard's Tale 1-3, Lord of the Rings 1-2, Dungeon Master 1-2, Elvira 1-2, Anvil of Dawn, Might and Magic 2-5, Realms of Arkania 1-3, System Shock, Ultima 1-8, and more

Search "best RPG collection" on Demonoid if you want it.

Might and Magic 2-5

Might and Magic 2-5

its not complete.

 

[Major_Boobage]

The easiest way to use DOSBox is to drag the game's executable onto the DOSBox desktop icon. Only idiots do this though.

Motherfucker this actually works

 

[Luzur]

i never tought of that, since im a DOS veteran i just started it and typed away as usual.

 

[Silellak]

I hope Forge of Virtue, Serpent Isle, and Silver Seed are included as part of Ultima 7, otherwise you're not really getting the full experience.

Honestly, if you want to play Ultima 7 and Serpent Isle, I'd ignore DOS Box entirely and go with Exult.

 

[Elzair]

Dosbox Tutorial

If you really want to use torrents, I would suggest this one. The ULtima Collection contains Ultimas 0 (i.e. Akalabeth) through VIII.

I assume you know how to mount an iso and install from there. The default installation directory is C:\UC

Then fire up Dosbox.

Type:

mount C C:\UC

Then type:

C:

NOTE: If you do not want to type that in every time you want to play, simply open the dosbox.conf (located in the directory where you installed DosBox). At the very bottom, you should see something like this:

[autoexec]
# Lines in this section will be run at startup.

Change it to this:

[autoexec]
# Lines in this section will be run at startup.
mount C C:\UC
C:

Now, we can run the games themselves.

Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness

To get to the Ultima1 directory, type:

cd Ultima1

NOTE: 'cd' is the command to change directories. To get to a parent directory, type "cd .."

Then type:

ultima.exe

Ultima II: Revenge of the Enchantress

To get this working, change to the Ultima2 directory and type:

moslo ultimaii.exe

NOTE: Here is a patch that will upgrade the graphics and fix the speed problems. Simply unzip it into the Ultima2 directory. Then nab this and place everything in the BIN directory into your Ultima2 directory. Then type:

ultima2.com

Ultima III: Exodus

To get this working, change to the Ultima3 directory and type:

moslo ultima.com

NOTE: I would strongly recommend installing the patch, since it adds music. Merely unzip it to your Ultima3 directory. Then type:

ultima3.com

Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar

To get this working, change to the Ultima4 directory and type:

ultima.com

NOTE: If you want the patch, you can find it here. However, it also installs a somewhat dubious graphics upgrade, so if you can tolerate playing Ultima IV in a window, try xu4.

Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny

To get this working, change to the Ultima5 directory and type:

ultima5.com

NOTE: To get the sound working, unzip this patch to your Ultima5 directory. Then type

setm.exe

Pick "MPU401-General MIDI Synth from the list. Press 'y' if the music plays. Then, at the DOS prompt, type:

u5cfg.exe

Press 2 to save and quit. Now type:

u5data.exe

To run the game, type

ultima5.com

Ultima VI: The False Prophet

To run this game, change to the Ultima6 directory and type:

ultima6.exe

Ultima VII Part I: The Black Gate

To run this game, change to the Ultima7 directory and type:

ultima7.com

Ultima VII Part Two: Serpent Isle
To run this game, change to the Serpent directory and type:

serpent.com

Ultima VIII: Pagan

To run this game, change to the Ultima8 directory and type:

u8.exe

 

[Jaesun]

You don't need to run moslo, just turn the cycles down in DOSBox to say 1000 or so.

 

[FeelTheRads]

I just set the cycles to "max" and had no problems with Ultima 2. I play all games with this setting actually.