5 DOSBox Forks That Are Better Than the Vanilla Release
Dosbox allows you to play games and run software designed for MS-DOS on a wide range of platforms. Although this emulator makes interaction with a relatively simple back, the open source nature of the project allowed others to improve it more with new versions.
By “drilling” the original emulator, different dosbox implementations appeared with various improvements that improve precision, conviviality and targeted use cases. Although you can just use the “vanilla” version of Dosbox, these ports offer tangible advantages that should not be ignored.
Dosbox-x
I have dosbox-x installed on my mac for years like my essential back emulator, which I want to play a game of Descent Or install Windows 95 and use a 3DFX Voodoo virtue card to revisit childhood favorites. Dosbox-X mainly focuses on precision and improvements in the general emulation experience, and it frequently appears in many guides as the most complete version of the functionality of the emulator. In fact, our own guide to playing classic Windows games from the 90s even recommends it.
The most notable improvement compared to the original dosbox from the end user point of view is a range of additional options that facilitate the configuration of your virtual machine as simple as navigating in a few menus. You can use the configuration tool to define all kinds of settings, including video cards, sound and noon settings and connected players; Then save the configuration and call it many times.
The emphasis is also placed on the execution of the first versions of Windows (including Windows 3.X, Windows 95 and 98 and even Windows Me), which was based on MS-DOS. Dosbox-X includes supporting video accelerators necessary to make the most of many early games, as well as integrated options for video scaling, V-SYNC support and support for HI-DPI screens. You can modify all these settings on the fly using the menus at the top of the window.
It is also necessary to note the mapping editor, which allows you to modify the key links (perfect if you have a smaller keyboard that lacks keys like the page and the end, or if you are on a Mac and you have to move certain things to improve the experience). Mac users will also be delighted to see that Dosbox-X runs as a native Apple silicon application, unlike the Dosbox vanilla, which still depends on Rosetta 2.
If anything, Dosbox-X may feel a little crushing due to the volume of options you have at your disposal. Despite this, this is probably the best option for most users and it is an ideal place to start your MS-Dos nostalgia trip.
DOSBOX STAGING
Describing itself as a “modern continuation of dosbox”, the Dosbox staging is a solid choice for all those looking for a version of Dosbox which incorporates advanced features while keeping simple things. Unlike Dosbox-X, this fork looks much more like Vanilla Dosbox because it does not have the large amount of menus and switches to an approach based on commands (although you can always use your old configuration files with this fork).
The first change you will notice is the inclusion of an CRT “zero config” emulation, which makes the Dosbox window much better on modern high resolution screens (and automatically adjusts according to your system). It is a bit of a theme everywhere, with the project using “reasonable default values” to facilitate the use of back as simple as possible. The idea here is that most games will simply work with the default configuration, making the Dosbox staging the ideal choice for all those who are worth simplicity.
In addition to this, the project includes progress behind the scenes such as the management of Voodoo and S3 3DFX graphics cards, integrated support for sound and noon devices such as Roland MT-32 and gravis ultrasound, the large support for input devices such as mouse emulation in series and joystick support, and more warming of the net mouse. You shouldn’t need to use these features manually so that everything works either.
The project is not designed to support the old inherited operating systems (such as Windows 7 and Mac OS XX versions), and it is not designed to execute Windows 3.X, Windows 95 and 98, or Windows Me operating systems. The main objective is to provide a modern platform that performs games and software with a minimum of agitation, with improvements absent in the Vanilla Dosbox version.
Pure dosbox
Dosbox Pure is not an autonomous fork in the same way as the Dosbox-X stadification and Dosbox, but rather a nucleus for the Retroarch (Librero) emulator. It allows you to operate the back games in a similar way to other emulated platforms using the Retroarch emulator, which works on an amazing number of systems and operating devices.
My favorite thing about Dosbox Pure is the ease with which it is easy to make things work, and a large part is broken. For example, with a standard Dosbox fork, you will have to set up a specific location on your reader, then access this location using MS-DOS controls. From here, you will run the game configuration or executable and be on your way (assuming that you do not need to extract or install things first).
This is not the case with Dosbox Pure, which can take a zipped game folder as if it were a ROM for any other platform and play it. Retroarch will even apply a default Gamepad profile, so there is a chance that you don’t need to make a manual configuration to make the game work (although you can use the menu in the game to make adjustments if necessary). All the changes you make will be saved as a linked but separate zip file.
In addition to that, it is surprisingly simple to install and start operating systems like Windows 95 in Dosbox Pure. The project includes the same 3DFX VAUDOU support which is included in other forks, which makes 3D games to their best. There is also a good range of mouse, keyboard and joystick emulation and a screen keyboard for touch screen devices (such as phones and tablets).
In addition to that, you have a large selection of retroarch pillars, including backup states, the possibility of rewinding emulator, cheaters and support for multiplayer games. It is before we mentioned the possibility of loading back games from a single file using a menu (no necessary command line skill).
To get your hands on Dosbox Pure, download and configure Retroarch on your choice platform. From here, use the Updater online menu option> Core> Back (Dosbox Pure) to download the nucleus.
Em-Dosbox
Have you ever played a back game in a web browser? If the answer is yes, it is very likely that you have met the Em-Dosbox fork and perhaps the JS-Dos API. The browser -based dosbox implementation is one of the easiest ways to play, because you don’t need to download or configure anything to play.
Em-Dosbox is widely used on the web and is undoubtedly the most famous for being used by Internet archives to allow reading based on the browser of the inflated back game software library. The project uses the EMSCripten compiler in order to compile the Dosbox code as Weba SOUVE and JavaScript, which can then be deployed and understood by a modern web browser.
This allows an execution with one click many back games, as you will see on the internet archive. There are certain limits to this approach, for example, the remapping of the keys is not always possible, and the management of the gaming rides can be thin on the ground. Even so, it is an excellent way to preview back software and, given the ease with which modern computers can manage back emulation and web technologies, performance is excellent.
Em-Dosbox seems to be currently in a dormant state, but the fork constitutes the backbone of other projects such as emotionally, which has itself allowed similar projects such as the dose-a simplified method to host and deploy an integrated emulator on your own server. Although Internet archives give Em-Dosbox its wings, with a huge accommodated game library, you can also use websites like Gameload to download your own zip files.
You will probably not give up one of the main forks or even the Dosbox vanilla for this project, but it is worth keeping in mind. You might be interested in this type of technology if you watch a web project or if you want to make the back games available easily for a group of people who do not understand (or do not care to learn) the technical aspects of the implementation of the emulator.
It’s ideal if you have a group of friends who just want to play Wolfenstein 3D or live other childhood favorites.
Dosvax and dosvaxj3
I will be the first to admit that Dosvax is a bit strange that most people will probably never need, but it is always worth knowing if you consider yourself an enthusiast. This Dosbox fork is designed specifically to imitate the computer architecture of the Japanese ax, which appeared in 1986 to accommodate Japanese text with two bytes. Dosvaxj3 extends support for even more standards.
Ergo, these are Dosbox forks for all those who wish to perform software and games designed for the Japanese market in the late 80s and early 90s. Dosvax also targets the IBM PS / 55 Personal Computer Series series published in Japan in 1987.
Many Dosbox forks have come and disappeared over the years. We can say that the most important was the Dosbox Svn Baum fork, which was the development of large advances such as 3DFX VAUDOU emulation and long file name support. It has finally been rolled in the Dosbox-X project, which is still under active development to date.
If you need customization and you are happy to refine and play in the menus, choose Dosbox-X. If you want a simple and improved version of Vanilla Dosbox, choose Dosbox Staging. If you prefer to play back games as if they were Rom, install Retroarch and Dosbox Pure Core.
