Differences between dosbox, lr-dosbox and dosbox-sdl2?

[mediamogul]

@niculinux said in Differences between dosbox and lr-dosbox?:

what are the differences with the regular dosbox

Porting an emulator to a libretro core is an involved process that requires integrating many of the original features individually, on a case-by-case basis to interface with RetroArch. In most cases, all the features of the original software aren't carried over, as development seems to slow once the more crucial features are completed. So, the main difference between almost any libretro port and its original counterpart is usually feature parity. That said, looking over its wiki page, lr-dosbox specifically seems to have come a long way and supports quite a bit of the original functionality. Most importantly, it seems to support launching .conf files which should allow the user to handle more advanced use cases, such as mounting and using disk images for CD-ROM based games.

The two remaining general differences are overhead and stability. After being ported to a libretro core, the software is then usually run through RetroArch, which has its own overhead and can decrease performance significantly on lower-end systems like a Raspberry Pi. Running the software in its original standalone form will almost always perform better. That leaves stability, which I suspect is why lr-dosbox is still under the 'experimental' section of RetroPie. I've always used the standalone version of DOSBox myself, but from what I've heard here and there, lr-dosbox has a certain amount of issues in this area. Taking all this in mind, the best thing you can do is experiment with both yourself and see what fits your needs best.

[niculinux]

Thanks, but more straightforwardly guys, some hints on what you would advice to a newbie? As far as i can get seems lr-dosbox has a more out of the box gamepad detection, is that right?

[mediamogul]

@niculinux said in Differences between dosbox and lr-dosbox?:

As far as i can get seems lr-dosbox has a more out of the box gamepad detection, is that right?

As far as I know, lr-dosbox just ties the existing DOSBox gamepad detection to the input mapping system of RetroArch. The standalone DOSBox has its own method of input mapping that is quite a bit more versatile, but perhaps has a slightly higher learning curve. In all honestly, I would recommend taking the extra effort to learn the standalone DOSBox, as it will be better documented throughout the internet, perform better and potentially have fewer bugs.

[BobHarris]

@mediamogul Mapping controller buttons for individual games is more complex, but if you only play a couple of dos games, you can use a shared configuration which is quite easy:
Select ms-dos in emulation station
choose Dosbox
Hit ctrl F1 which brings you to the mapper
Click on a virtual keyboard button with your mouse, then click on 'add' and hit the button on your gamepad that you want to assign it to. Press save and repeat this process for all keys needed.
I use one configuration for Timeshock, warcraft, syndicate, raptor, prince of persia 1 and 2.

When I started with dos games on my Pi the lr emulator wasn't running well so I can only speak for the standalone dosbox emulator which works great.

[mediamogul]

@bobharris said in Differences between dosbox and lr-dosbox?:

you can use a shared configuration which is quite easy

I use this same shared setup method myself. Personally, I agree that it's easier, but so many people are used to the RetroArch way that I tried to reference it subjectively.

[BobHarris]

@mediamogul Ok I thought you were talking about individual mapping.. i gave up on trying to accomplish that pretty quickly. But there are tutorials out there if the topic starter has a lot of dos games that he wants to use a gamepad for.

[niculinux]

@bobharris thanks, moreover i have a raspberry in myliving room so i use it without a mouse :O so would be nice doing everything with a keyboard, it is not possible mapping a gamepad usin keyboard only? But Luckily I have somewhere a spare wireless mouse :)

@bobharris hey you're welcome! But i was lookin for a global and out of the box configuration :)

[BobHarris]

@niculinux Yes you need a mouse for mapping the buttons.

[mediamogul]

@niculinux said in Differences between dosbox and lr-dosbox?:

But i was lookin for a global and out of the box configuration

You can achieve a global joystick configuration in DOSBox by using the built-in mapping utility. Naturally, this only extends to those games that can use a gamepad. Using a gamepad for games that only support a mouse and keyboard require an external mapping solution. Something to keep in mind is that RetroPie is developed first and foremost to be a highly configurable hobbyist platform. Although it continues to become easier to setup and use all the time, out of the box configurations have never really been a primary goal. This is in contrast to other projects like Recalbox that focus on turnkey configurations, but are much more limited as to what can be achieved.

[niculinux]

@mediamogul ok so i see, it's a matter of personal prefernce then 🙂

[mediamogul]

@niculinux

It is indeed, yes. Much the same as Android vs Apple, as far as the project philosophies are concerned.

[niculinux]

@mediamogul ok got it. 🙂

Hey sorry, i modified the title in the first post because - always in reteopie 4.4 - dosbox got a second experimental reteopie package, dosbox-sdl2 . So what's goes on with it?

[mediamogul]

@niculinux said in Differences between dosbox, lr-dosbox and dosbox-sdl2?:

Hey sorry, i modified the title in the first post because - always in reteopie 4.4 - dosbox got a second experimental reteopie package, dosbox-sdl2 . So what's goes on with it?

No problem. Someone else may be able to answer this question more thoroughly, but the two options are most likely for compatibility reasons. To my understanding, SDL updates have always been somewhat problematic and making multiple packages to accommodate is sometimes necessary. Anecdotally, I currently use the non-experimental version with dozens of games and haven't noticed any issues.

Edit: Conversely, it could also be that there were issues in the past that have since been resolved and the more current SDL2 is being tested as a result.

[BuZz]

@mediamogul some info here about sdl2 version

https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/commit/4751c259ec0088e4bac93ef9c166d427bbd35a42

[mediamogul]

Very nice to see screen tearing reduced. I might test it later this evening with 'Mortal Kombat Trilogy', as all of the advantages and potential disadvantages would be immediately apparent there.

[BuZz]

@mediamogul there should be no screen tearing on dosbox with the dispmanx sdl1 backend enabled also.

[mediamogul]

@buzz said in Differences between dosbox, lr-dosbox and dosbox-sdl2?:

there should be no screen tearing on dosbox with the dispmanx sdl1 backend enabled also.

I've never found that to be the case myself, even under default settings. In the link you posted, @psyke83 claims that "Graphical tearing no longer appears to be present (or is greatly reduced)". Having just tested it myself, that does indeed appear to be the case. Previously, I haven't been able to have much fun with 'Mortal Kombat Trilogy' because the tearing was so distracting, but it looks fantastic with SDL2.

[BuZz]

@mediamogul and you enabled the dispmanx backend? It's not enabled by default for dosbox afair. It didn't have tearing when I was testing the sdl1 dispmanx code.

[mediamogul]

@buzz said in Differences between dosbox, lr-dosbox and dosbox-sdl2?:

and you enabled the dispmanx backend?

I did, yes. It could just be a discrepancy with my particular setup.

[edmaul69]

@bobharris @mediamogul what i did was in the mapper, map joystick 1 button 1 to “Y”, joystick 1 button 2 to “X”, joystick 2 button 1 to “B”, joystick 2 button 2 to “A” and mapped the players directions to the left and right analog sticks. Then in the dosbox conf file i set my joystick as a 4 button 4 axis joystick . That way both players controls get set as a 1 player joystick with 4 buttons and two analog sticks. No need for me to change any configs that way.