Difference between pages "FM Towns emulators" and "DOSBox"

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{{Infobox console
+
{{Infobox emulator
|title = FM Towns
+
|title = DOSBox
|logo = FMTOWNS 2F.jpg
+
|logo = DOSBox.png
|developer = [[Fujitsu]]
+
|logowidth = 265
|type = [[:Category:Computers|Home computer]]
+
|version = 0.74-3
|release = 1989
+
|active = Yes
|discontinued = 1997
+
|fate =
|predecessor = [[Fujitsu FM-7 emulators|FM-7]]
+
|platform = Windows, Linux, FreeBSD and more
|emulated = {{✓}}
+
|target = [[Intel CPUs|286 and 386]]
 +
|prog-lang = C++
 +
|developer = [http://www.dosbox.com/crew.php DOSBox Crew]
 +
|website = [http://www.dosbox.com DOSBox.com]
 +
|source = [http://source.dosbox.com/dosboxsvn.tgz tgz]
 +
|license = GNU GPLv2
 
}}
 
}}
  
The '''FM Towns''' was a Japanese line of personal computers designed and manufactured by Fujitsu between February 1989 and the summer of 1997. Fujitsu designed it under the codename '''Townes'''<ref group=N>After Charles Townes, the winner of the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics; it was common for Fujitsu to use Nobel Prize winners as product codenames during development.</ref> as their own proprietary variant of [[Intel CPUs|the IBM PC platform]], intended for multimedia applications and video games, but it gradually became interoperable with regular PCs over time. The "FM" part of the name is short for "Fujitsu Micro," which was in line with their earlier products. The e in "Townes" was dropped to help users avoid confusion over a possible mispronunciation of Townes as "tow-nes".
+
'''DOSBox''' is an open-source, [[High/Low level emulation|high-level]] [[Intel CPUs|286 and 386 emulator]] written in C++.
  
The FM Town's sprite handling was well in excess of even 16-bit consoles of the time, which allowed game developers to port early 90s arcade titles much more accurately to the FM Towns than on other systems. Combined with big box packaging, and the ports were eventually highly sought after by collectors later on. With CD-ROM support from the start, it also had a lot of ports of existing PC games, with differing amounts of content expansions to take advantage of the FM Towns' own hardware. Several American DOS games had unique and arguably superior FM Towns ports, especially a few early 2D point-and-click adventures from LucasArts. Some notable examples include ''<abbr title="Which was given CD music, the ability to use the FM Towns' 256-color mode, and uncut dialogue.">LOOM</abbr>'', ''<abbr title="Which was reprogrammed under 32-bit protected mode and would actually run at a consistent speed.">Wing Commander'', and ''<abbr title="Which had Ultima VII-style keywords and a low-budget English dialogue track that didn't exist in the original release.">Ultima VI</abbr>''. The FM Towns version of LucasArts' ''Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders'' is the only version of the game with 256 colors<ref name="YC News">{{cite web|url=https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23269460 |title=“Tsugaru” – FM Towns Emulator Project (in.coocan.jp) |publisher=Y Combinator |accessdate=2020-07-04|date=2020 May 23}}</ref>.
+
==Downloads==
 +
{| cellpadding="4"
 +
|-
 +
|align=center|{{Icon|Win|Lin|Mac}}
 +
|'''[http://www.dosbox.com/wiki/SVN_Builds#List_of_SVN_Builds Latest Dev Builds]'''
 +
|-
 +
|align=center|{{Icon|Win|Lin|Mac|Sol|RiscOS|OS2|BeOS}}
 +
|'''[http://www.dosbox.com/download.php?main=1 Latest Stable Builds]'''
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
==Overview==
 +
DOSBox is capable of emulating many older computer games that are otherwise very difficult if not impossible to play on modern operating systems and hardware. It has very high compatibility, as it can be configured to emulate the environment of many machines, with support for various display modes, including CGA, EGA, Hercules, Tandy, and VGA. With some work, it is even possible to install and load old Windows operating systems, such as Windows 3.11 and Windows 95, thus potentially being able to play games made for those platforms.
 +
 
 +
===Frontends===
 +
Because DOSBox doesn't have a GUI, two projects were made to fulfill that role.
 +
 
 +
;[http://dfendreloaded.sourceforge.net/ D-Fend Reloaded]
 +
:A great frontend which allows custom per-game configurations to cut back on fiddling with settings just to run specific games well. It also lets you use your own build of DOSBox instead of the one it comes with, so it can be used with forks as well.
 +
 
 +
;[https://dbgl.org/ DOSBox Game Launcher]
 +
:Another frontend based on Java that is said to be inspired by the D-Fend's.
  
In 1993 Fujitsu released the [[wikipedia:FM Towns Marty|FM Towns Marty]], a game console which was compatible with existing FM Towns games.
+
==Forks==
 +
DOSBox has many forks over the years. This section attempts to list the most notable ones. [http://www.dosbox.com/wiki/SVN_Builds#Enhanced_SVN_builds DOSBox's official wiki] also has a partial list of DOSBox forks. Even more forks are listed in the [https://github.com/dosbox-staging/dosbox-staging/wiki/DOSBox-forks DOSBox forks page] of DOSBox Staging's GitHub wiki.
  
==Emulators==
 
 
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
 
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
 
! scope="col"|Name
 
! scope="col"|Name
! scope="col"|Operating System(s)
+
! scope="col"|Platform(s)  
 
! scope="col"|Latest Version
 
! scope="col"|Latest Version
! scope="col"|<abbr title="Free/Libre and Open-Source Software">FLOSS</abbr>
+
! scope="col"|[[libretro|Libretro Core]]
! scope="col"|<abbr title="FM Towns">FMT</abbr>
 
! scope="col"|<abbr title="FM Towns Marty">Marty</abbr>
 
 
! scope="col"|Active
 
! scope="col"|Active
 
! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|Recommended]]
 
! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|Recommended]]
 
|-
 
|-
|UNZ
+
!colspan="8"|PC / x86
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
 
|[http://townsemu.world.coocan.jp/download.html V0.5 L30]
 
|{{✗}}
 
|{{✓}}
 
|{{✓}}
 
|{{✗}}
 
|{{✓}}
 
 
|-
 
|-
|Tsugaru
+
|[https://dosbox-staging.github.io/ DOSBox Staging]
 
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
 
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
|[https://github.com/captainys/TOWNSEMU/releases v20201111]
+
|[https://dosbox-staging.github.io/ {{DOSBoxStagingVer}}]
|{{✓}}
+
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{}}
|{{✓}}
 
|{{✗}}
 
|{{✓}}
 
|{{~}}
 
|-
 
|Xe
 
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux}}
 
|[http://web.archive.org/web/20140212232811/http://www.xe-emulator.com/index.php?m=download 2.16.2]
 
|{{✗}}
 
|{{✗}}
 
|{{✓}}
 
|{{✗}}
 
|{{~}}
 
 
|-
 
|-
|[[MAME]]
+
|[https://dosbox-x.com DOSBox-X]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|DOS}}
|[http://www.mamedev.org/release.html {{MAMEVer}}]
+
|[https://dosbox-x.com/ {{DOSBox-XVer}}]
|{{}}
+
|{{}} ||{{}} ||{{✓}}
|{{~}}
 
|{{~}}
 
|{{✓}}
 
|{{✗}}
 
 
|-
 
|-
|FM Towns/Bochs
+
|[https://dosboxece.yesterplay.net/ DOSBox ECE]
 
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux}}
 
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux}}
|[http://web.archive.org/web/20070119144846/http://fmbochs.emuvibes.com/ 1.2.1]
+
|[https://dosboxece.yesterplay.net/ SVN]
|{{}}
+
|{{}} ||{{}} ||{{✗}}
|{{~}}
 
|{{}}
 
|{{✗}}
 
|{{✗}}
 
 
|-
 
|-
 +
|[https://github.com/schellingb/dosbox-pure DOSBox Pure]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|}}
 +
|[https://github.com/schellingb/dosbox-pure git]
 +
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{TBD}}
 
|}
 
|}
  
===Comparisons===
+
===Active forks===
;UNZ
+
 
:The only FM Towns/Marty emulator with very high compatibility, last updated in 2010. Despite the website and documentation being in Japanese, the emulator is available in English. It cannot run ISOs directly, instead choosing to read game data from an optical drive that's attached to the host system (thankfully, ISOs can easily be mounted as virtual optical drives on most modern OSes, even Windows 10). Floppy disk images, however, can be loaded directly into the emulator itself. The emulator requires a number of ROM files, which can be found [http://emuz0n3.tripod.com/townsbios.zip here]. The only noteworthy thing UNZ isn’t yet capable to run is Windows 95.
+
{{Infobox emulator
 +
|title = DOSBox-X
 +
|screenshot = DOSBox-X-screenshot-sdl2.png
 +
|screenshotwidth = 250px
 +
|screenshotcaption = The SDL2 UI on Windows 10. DOSBox-X also has versions for SDL1 and MinGW in the installer.
 +
|developer = Jonathan Campbell<br/>(Project maintainer)<br/>Wengier, and others
 +
|version = {{Version|DOSBox-X}}
 +
|platform = Windows, macOS, Linux, DOS
 +
|target = [[Intel CPUs]]<br/>[[PC-98 emulators|NEC PC-98]]
 +
|active = Yes
 +
|website = [https://dosbox-x.com dosbox-x.com]
 +
|license = GNU GPLv2
 +
|source = [https://github.com/joncampbell123/dosbox-x GitHub]
 +
}}
 +
;[https://dosbox-x.com/ DOSBox-X]:
 +
DOSBox-X is vastly different from other DOSBox forks in that it aims to be a complete DOS emulation package. It features more flexibility by way of config options and an accompanying frontend to customize the DOS VM further, and beyond games it also supports standard software for DOS, as well as DOS-based Windows including Windows 3.x and 9x/ME (which it should be able to accelerate in the future). The project also has its own [https://dosbox-x.com/wiki wiki] which contains extensive documentation on DOSBox-X, and a summary of notable added features can be seen [https://dosbox-x.com/wiki/DOSBox%E2%80%90X’s-Feature-Highlights here]. The project is also accessible from the [https://github.com/joncampbell123/dosbox-x GitHub website].
 +
 
 +
While DOSBox-X currently supports the [[Intel CPUs|IBM PC/XT/AT]], Tandy, PCjr, and [[PC-98 emulators|NEC PC-98]] the maintainer, Jonathan Campbell, does not plan to add any other MS-DOS system. This limitation is mainly done to prevent bloating of the codebase, keeping it at a manageable level for himself while also staying organized. However, the codebase does contain stubbed source files for [[FM Towns emulators|FM Towns]] emulation in the event that other programmers want to add that functionality.
 +
 
 +
;[https://dosbox-staging.github.io/ DOSBox Staging]:
 +
DOSBox Staging attempts to "revitalize DOSBox's development process". It bills itself as a "fork to end all forks" but, unlike DOSBox-X, still focuses on DOS games for the most part.
 +
 
 +
;[https://dosbox-staging.github.io/ DOSBox ECE]:
 +
DOSBox ECE is a DOSBox fork that is based on DOSBox SVN commits but with some additional patches such as MT32, FluidSynth and Voodoo/Glide support.
  
;Tsugaru
+
;[https://github.com/schellingb/dosbox-pure DOSBox Pure]:
:A new FM Towns emulation project, started in January 2020. Within a year of development, over 95% of software achieved [http://ysflight.in.coocan.jp/FM/towns/Tsugaru/e.html compatibility] - check release logs under Revisions far down the main GitHub page. 80386 CPU type is fine; but (WIP) 80486 emulation needs a strong late 2010's PC CPU. Various audio chips/generators still WIP. Early release builds started popping up in [https://github.com/captainys/TOWNSEMU/releases late August 2020].
+
DOSBox Pure is a new DOSBox fork specifically built for RetroArch/Libretro. According to its project description it aims for simplicity and ease of use.
  
;Xe
+
===Others===
:An old multi-system emulator for Linux (x86 and PowerPC) with decent FM Towns Marty support. Windows port requires [https://sourceforge.net/projects/gladewin32/files/gtk%2B-win32-runtime/ GTK+ Runtime]. It requires a very odd BIOS file to work, obtained by concatenating the two MAME-ready ROMs into a single file named ‘marty.rom’, then placed into a subfolder titled ‘bios’. On Windows, this can be achieved using the command <code>copy /B mrom.m36 + mrom.m37 marty.rom</code>.
 
  
;[[MAME]]
+
;[http://home.arcor.de/h-a-l-9000/ DOSBox Mega Build]
:Preliminary driver. It’s not a skeleton anymore, but it’s far from being up to snuff. See this [https://wiki.mamedev.org/index.php/Driver:FMTowns official guide] (Source: [https://wiki.mamedev.org/index.php/System-Specific_Setup_and_Information System-Specific Setup and Information] under MAMEDev Wiki) on installing TownsOS on MAME.
+
:Was an enhanced build of DOSBox focused on serial/networking support. Contains the NE2000 patch, parallel port passthrough, virtual printer, OPL passthrough, and others. However, it hasn't been updated in years, and most of what it added was covered by the actively maintained [[#Active forks |DOSBox-X]] fork.
  
;FM Towns/Bochs
+
;[http://ykhwong.x-y.net/ DOSBox SVN Daum]
:A patch of [[Bochs]] that makes it somewhat compatible with FM Towns, deemed to be the first working emulator for the system. Just like regular Bochs, its configuration file needs a lot of tweaking to work (rough documentation [https://illusioncity.net/Towns/bochs%20config.txt here]). It has been long abandoned, compatibility is very spotty and emulation is remarkably slow, so don’t hold your breath.
+
:Was an enhanced build of DOSBox by ykhwong, with support for Direct3D and HLSL shaders, Glide, Ethernet, virtual printer, and a built-in UI. However, it hasn't been updated in years, and most of what it added was covered by the actively maintained [[#Active forks |DOSBox-X]] fork.
  
==Emulation issues==
+
;[http://www.columbia.edu/~em36/win31dosbox.html Win31DOSBox]:
A true and proper open-source FM Towns emulator has been severely lacking all the way up to 2020. Though, by late 2010's, a few modern emulators such as MAME and Tsugaru strove toward this goal.
+
:Win31DOSBox aims to be an easy method of running Windows 3.x games through a customized version of DOSBox-X or DOSBox SVN. Among its many features, it adds an easy setup program and the ability to print from Windows 3.11. The maintainer of Win31DOSBox has since recommended using [[WineVDM]] instead.
  
Sometimes around May 2018, Jon Campbell, the lead author of [[DOSBox#DOSBox-X|DOSBox-X]] has [https://github.com/joncampbell123/dosbox-x/issues/729#issuecomment-391049978 stubbed] the emulator such that other aspiring coders can build an FM-Towns core into their own fork. There have been discussions, but so far, nobody has taken up on that offer yet.
+
:To get started, you first need a copy of either Windows 3.11 or WfW (Windows for Workgroups) 3.11. Once you have that, you need to put in either the 6 (Windows 3.11) or 9 (WfW 3.11) floppy images, or the ISO file, or the MSDN self-extracting .exe. After that, running InstallWin31DOSBox.exe which will automatically install Windows 3.x for you. Once it's finished, check that everything works and then install Video for Windows and Quicktime which is located in the Video folder in Program Manager. It is also recommended to install WinG and Win32s as well.
  
==Notes==
+
:There are multiple ways to get software onto the system. For folders and files, you can drag them into the C-DRIVE folder. If you have a physical CD you can just insert it into your CD drive. If it's a CD image you need to mount it using a software like Virtual CloneDrive. If it's a floppy disk image you need to drag the respective images over the Extract to A-Drive Folder.exe program which will extract them to the A-DRIVE folder.
<references group=N />
 
  
 +
;[http://win9xbox.sourceforge.net/ 9xbox]
 +
:There was some interest in creating a version of DOSBox that would improve compatibility with Windows 95/98/ME. However, it never passed the theoretical stage.
 +
<!--
 
==References==
 
==References==
 
{{Reflist}}
 
{{Reflist}}
 
+
-->
==External links==
+
[[Category:Emulators]]
* [https://illusioncity.net/fujitsu-fm-towns-emulators-lists/ Old emulators + lists guide at illusioncity.net]
+
[[Category:Computers' emulators]]
 
+
[[Category:Windows emulation software‏‎]]
[[Category:Computers]]
+
[[Category:Linux emulation software]]
[[Category:Consoles]]
+
[[Category:macOS emulation software]]
[[Category:Home consoles]]
 
[[Category:Fourth-generation video game consoles]]
 

Revision as of 09:17, 7 July 2021

DOSBox
DOSBox.png
Developer(s) DOSBox Crew
Latest version 0.74-3
Active Yes
Platform(s) Windows, Linux, FreeBSD and more
Emulates 286 and 386
Website DOSBox.com
Programmed in C++
License GNU GPLv2
Source code tgz

DOSBox is an open-source, high-level 286 and 386 emulator written in C++.

Downloads

Windows Linux macOS Latest Dev Builds
Windows Linux macOS Solaris RiscOS OS/2 Latest Stable Builds

Overview

DOSBox is capable of emulating many older computer games that are otherwise very difficult if not impossible to play on modern operating systems and hardware. It has very high compatibility, as it can be configured to emulate the environment of many machines, with support for various display modes, including CGA, EGA, Hercules, Tandy, and VGA. With some work, it is even possible to install and load old Windows operating systems, such as Windows 3.11 and Windows 95, thus potentially being able to play games made for those platforms.

Frontends

Because DOSBox doesn't have a GUI, two projects were made to fulfill that role.

D-Fend Reloaded
A great frontend which allows custom per-game configurations to cut back on fiddling with settings just to run specific games well. It also lets you use your own build of DOSBox instead of the one it comes with, so it can be used with forks as well.
DOSBox Game Launcher
Another frontend based on Java that is said to be inspired by the D-Fend's.

Forks

DOSBox has many forks over the years. This section attempts to list the most notable ones. DOSBox's official wiki also has a partial list of DOSBox forks. Even more forks are listed in the DOSBox forks page of DOSBox Staging's GitHub wiki.

Name Platform(s) Latest Version Libretro Core Active Recommended
PC / x86
DOSBox Staging Windows Linux macOS 0.80.1
DOSBox-X Windows Linux macOS MS-DOS 2024.03.01
DOSBox ECE Windows Linux SVN
DOSBox Pure Windows Linux git TBD

Active forks

DOSBox-X
DOSBox-X-screenshot-sdl2.png
The SDL2 UI on Windows 10. DOSBox-X also has versions for SDL1 and MinGW in the installer.
Developer(s) Jonathan Campbell
(Project maintainer)
Wengier, and others
Latest version 2024.03.01 [+]
Active Yes
Platform(s) Windows, macOS, Linux, DOS
Emulates Intel CPUs
NEC PC-98
Website dosbox-x.com
License GNU GPLv2
Source code GitHub
DOSBox-X

DOSBox-X is vastly different from other DOSBox forks in that it aims to be a complete DOS emulation package. It features more flexibility by way of config options and an accompanying frontend to customize the DOS VM further, and beyond games it also supports standard software for DOS, as well as DOS-based Windows including Windows 3.x and 9x/ME (which it should be able to accelerate in the future). The project also has its own wiki which contains extensive documentation on DOSBox-X, and a summary of notable added features can be seen here. The project is also accessible from the GitHub website.

While DOSBox-X currently supports the IBM PC/XT/AT, Tandy, PCjr, and NEC PC-98 the maintainer, Jonathan Campbell, does not plan to add any other MS-DOS system. This limitation is mainly done to prevent bloating of the codebase, keeping it at a manageable level for himself while also staying organized. However, the codebase does contain stubbed source files for FM Towns emulation in the event that other programmers want to add that functionality.

DOSBox Staging

DOSBox Staging attempts to "revitalize DOSBox's development process". It bills itself as a "fork to end all forks" but, unlike DOSBox-X, still focuses on DOS games for the most part.

DOSBox ECE

DOSBox ECE is a DOSBox fork that is based on DOSBox SVN commits but with some additional patches such as MT32, FluidSynth and Voodoo/Glide support.

DOSBox Pure

DOSBox Pure is a new DOSBox fork specifically built for RetroArch/Libretro. According to its project description it aims for simplicity and ease of use.

Others

DOSBox Mega Build
Was an enhanced build of DOSBox focused on serial/networking support. Contains the NE2000 patch, parallel port passthrough, virtual printer, OPL passthrough, and others. However, it hasn't been updated in years, and most of what it added was covered by the actively maintained DOSBox-X fork.
DOSBox SVN Daum
Was an enhanced build of DOSBox by ykhwong, with support for Direct3D and HLSL shaders, Glide, Ethernet, virtual printer, and a built-in UI. However, it hasn't been updated in years, and most of what it added was covered by the actively maintained DOSBox-X fork.
Win31DOSBox
Win31DOSBox aims to be an easy method of running Windows 3.x games through a customized version of DOSBox-X or DOSBox SVN. Among its many features, it adds an easy setup program and the ability to print from Windows 3.11. The maintainer of Win31DOSBox has since recommended using WineVDM instead.
To get started, you first need a copy of either Windows 3.11 or WfW (Windows for Workgroups) 3.11. Once you have that, you need to put in either the 6 (Windows 3.11) or 9 (WfW 3.11) floppy images, or the ISO file, or the MSDN self-extracting .exe. After that, running InstallWin31DOSBox.exe which will automatically install Windows 3.x for you. Once it's finished, check that everything works and then install Video for Windows and Quicktime which is located in the Video folder in Program Manager. It is also recommended to install WinG and Win32s as well.
There are multiple ways to get software onto the system. For folders and files, you can drag them into the C-DRIVE folder. If you have a physical CD you can just insert it into your CD drive. If it's a CD image you need to mount it using a software like Virtual CloneDrive. If it's a floppy disk image you need to drag the respective images over the Extract to A-Drive Folder.exe program which will extract them to the A-DRIVE folder.
9xbox
There was some interest in creating a version of DOSBox that would improve compatibility with Windows 95/98/ME. However, it never passed the theoretical stage.