DOSBOX: Strahd's Possession & Stone Prophet (GOG versions)

clockwork42

Hey everyone! Now that I finally got my TIE Fighter game to boot in EmulationStation, I have two other games I can't seem to get to boot. These are the GOG versions of the two classic Ravenloft DOS games: Strahd's Possession, and Stone Prophet.

As far as I am aware, my installations are fine... I'm just having trouble working the .sh file out so that the games mount properly. (I am a complete noob in this department, so my apologies for that.) I checked this forum and neither game seems to be addressed here. I also found a general walkthrough elsewhere for getting GOG games to mount, but that didn't help either.

I'll be more than happy to provide more information about my installation/file structure/etc. if necessary. Just let me know what is needed. Thanks in advance!

mitu

@clockwork42 Then post your startup files and the file structure for one of the games. Also, please add the info requested in https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first.

quicksilver

@clockwork42 current dosbox allows launching directly from .conf files which is easier to use and allows more control of settings per game. Post info mitu requested of you and I can definitely try to help you out.

clockwork42

@mitu said in DOSBOX: Strahd's Possession & Stone Prophet (GOG versions):

https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

Apologies. I should've read that first. Here's the answer to those questions:

Pi Model or other hardware: 3
Power Supply used: I'm not sure. It came with the kit I bought on Amazon.
RetroPie Version Used: Version 4.4.4; Last commit three weeks ago (0d712d67)
Built From: Pre made SD Image on RetroPie website
USB Devices connected: Controller, USB Keyboard and mouse, when needed.
Controller used: Logitech Dual Action
Emulator: Dosbox.

Regarding file structure, the first game's folder is called STRAHD, and it's placed normally in /roms/pc/. The game files in the STRAHD subfolder are as follows:

/STRAHD/ :

/STRAHD/DOSBOX/ :

/STRAHD/RLOFT/ :

I'm pretty sure that the file that loads the game is /STRAHD/RLOFT/RLOFT.BAT, but I could be mistaken. Hope that helps.

@quicksilver I'm fine launching it from a CONF or an SH. Doesn't make a difference to me. I just don't know how to set up either. The console gaming side of the Pi worked out pretty easy for me. But configuring these few DOS based games is really an exercise in patience for me, haha.

hermit

if in the conf file you wrote:

RLOFT.BAT
exit

the procedure will close immediately.
You should write:

call RLOFT.BAT
exit

quicksilver

@clockwork42 copy the standard dosbox .conf file included on retropie (I can't remember where it's located I think in configs) to your /roms/pc folder

In the section at the bottom [autoexec]

Place this below, you can also rename the conf file to what ever you want :

MOUNT c "/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/pc/STRAHD/"
c:
cd RLOFT
RLOFT.BAT
exit

Edit: on a side note if you will be running a lot of dos games I would recommend putting all your dos game folders in a new folder, for example /roms/pc2/ and give pc2 0777 permissions

Keep all your .conf files in /roms/pc/

Adjust file paths in your .conf files to point to /pc2/

This way it keeps your PC folder nice and clean and you don't have to see all the dos game folders full of random files in emulation station.

clockwork42

@quicksilver said in DOSBOX: Strahd's Possession & Stone Prophet (GOG versions):

MOUNT c "/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/pc/STRAHD/"
c:
cd RLOFT
RLOFT.BAT
exit

That seems to work briefly. I get the orange Dosbox screen and it shows the introductory two lines of DOS-style text (no errors or anything) and then I'm back to EmulationStation again.

quicksilver

@clockwork42 remove the "exit" and try again. Shouldn't kick back to ES and should show us what went wrong

clockwork42

@quicksilver If I remove the "exit," I get the same exact result.

However, if I have it without "exit" but with @hermit's "call" before RLOFT.BAT, I get an error line. It goes by really fast and quits back to EmulationStation (despite not having "exit" listed in the CONF file). However, I do see it says "Unable to open resource file."

EDIT: Also, thanks for the tip about changing folders. I'll probably elect to do that also, even though I only have three DOS games at the moment. Handy tip!

quicksilver

@clockwork42 are you using the .conf that came with the game or the one included with retropie?

Can you post what's included below autoexec in the gog conf file included with the game?

clockwork42

@quicksilver There are a few different CONF files included with the game. Here's the autoexec parts from each:

dosbox_strahd_settings.conf:

[autoexec]
@echo off
cls
mount c ".."
imgmount d "..\game.gog" -t iso -fs iso
c:
cd RLOFT
sound
exit

dosbox_strahd_single.conf:

[autoexec]
@echo off
cls
mount c ".."
imgmount d "..\game.gog" -t iso -fs iso
c:
cd RLOFT
rloft
exit

dosbox_strahd.conf:

[autoexec]
# Lines in this section will be run at startup.
# You can put your MOUNT lines here.

EDIT: Until now I had copied the one with RetroPie and added just what you and @hermit had suggested.

quicksilver

@clockwork42 continue to use the retropie conf

Try this:

mount c "/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/pc/STRAHD/"
imgmount d "/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/pc/STRAHD/DOSBOX/game.gog" -t iso
c:
cd RLOFT
RLOFT.BAT
exit

Verify that my file paths are correct and upper/lower case matters

clockwork42

@quicksilver Same thing. Quick "unable to load resource" message, then quick exit to EmulationStation.

Your paths seem to be fine, but there is no game.gog file in the DOSBOX folder. That folder's contents (if it matters) are as follows:

The three config files I cited earlier are all located in the game's root directory, /STRAHD/ .

No worries regarding upper/lowercase. I'm accessing the Pi files directly, copying your text directly to the CONF file, saving it, and restarting the Pi each time we try something new.

mitu

@clockwork42 You don't have to restart anything :) if you modify the .conf or the .sh file, it's enough to re-start the game after the edits.

mitu

@clockwork42 said in DOSBOX: Strahd's Possession & Stone Prophet (GOG versions):

Your paths seem to be fine, but there is no game.gog file in the DOSBOX folder. That folder's contents (if it matters) are as follows:

The .conf file from the GOG installation references that file, which should be in the parent folder of the conf file.

clockwork42

@mitu Good to know. I'm never sure what needs to load what, so I'm quite used to restarting at least EmulationStation every time I edit a file directly by mounting /roms or /configs on my computer.

EDIT: Ah, yes. game.gog is in the /STRAHD root folder. Should I change the CONF file path accordingly?

quicksilver

@clockwork42 yes change file path so it points properly to game.gog

clockwork42

THAT DID IT! Thanks so much, everyone! (And thanks again @mitu for the TIE Fighter assistance earlier!)

Really quick, I'm going to take what I learned here and apply it to the next game (made by the same company before being redone by GOG) and see if I can make that work too. I'll post the results.

clockwork42

And Stone Prophet loads too with this. Fantastic. Honestly, thanks so much, everyone!

About the only things I could use moving forward on the PC end of things is a way to make DOSBOX constantly display fullscreen without stretching (not sure if there's one standard config file, or one in each game), and a way to configure DOSBOX games to use controllers rather than joystick/mouse. If anyone has handy links to either of those things, then awesome. If not, I'm happy to start googling.

quicksilver

@clockwork42 each .conf file should have a section on video setup. Not sure if there is a standardized way of setting up controllers, as I havent messed with that personally. I know @edmaul69 should know how.