Dos Version of Red Alert on Dosbox Pure

RetroArch General
#7

So I’m a little confused.

Command and Conquer - Red Alert (1997)
Command and Conquer - Red Alert (1997)3840×2160 780 KB

I think @alexb3d’s post and screenshot was to show that the game works.

I didn’t have to do anything except extract the zip, move the contents of the “comconra” folder into the new root, edit the paths in the run.bat, and create a dosbox.conf that calls “run.bat” file.

I know that may sound like a lot, but in my experience it is standard practice when converting eXoDOS to run on Pure.

(BTW. I also had to find a CHOICE.EXE and copy it into the folder.)

Are you trying to load the eXoDOS zip unmodified?

Perform the operations I mentioned above. Then replace the contents of the run.bat with this.

:menu
@echo off
cls
echo.
echo Press 1 for Command & Conquer: Red Alert Allied Campaign
echo Press 2 for Command & Conquer: Red Alert Soviet Campaign
echo Press 3 for Command & Conquer: Red Alert Aftermath
echo Press 4 for Command & Conquer: Red Alert Counter Strike
echo Press 5 for Network Multiplayer
echo Press 6 to Quit
echo.
echo This game contains 4 discs. The choice above loads the required
echo disc for that campaign. If you attempt to start a different
echo campaign than the one you select here, you will have to hit
echo ctrl-f4 to switch through the mounted CD's until you find the
echo right one.
echo.
echo To play the hidden campaign, choose Counterstrike and hold
echo SHIFT while clicking on the speaker on the main menu.
echo.
choice /C:123456 /N Please Choose:

if errorlevel = 6 goto quit
if errorlevel = 5 goto network
if errorlevel = 4 goto CS
if errorlevel = 3 goto AM
if errorlevel = 2 goto RAS
if errorlevel = 1 goto RAA

:RAA
@imgmount d ".\cd\Red Alert CD1.iso" ".\cd\Red Alert CD2.iso" ".\cd\Red Alert Counterstrike CD3.cue" ".\cd\Red Alert Aftermath CD4.cue" -t cdrom 
cd redalert
cls
@ra
goto quit

:RAS
@imgmount d ".\cd\Red Alert CD2.iso" ".\cd\Red Alert CD1.iso" ".\cd\Red Alert Counterstrike CD3.cue" ".\cd\Red Alert Aftermath CD4.cue" -t cdrom 
cd redalert
cls
@ra
goto quit

:AM
@imgmount d ".\cd\Red Alert Aftermath CD4.cue" ".\cd\Red Alert CD1.iso" ".\cd\Red Alert CD2.iso" ".\cd\Red Alert Counterstrike CD3.cue" -t cdrom 
cd redalert
cls
@ra
goto quit

:CS
@imgmount d ".\cd\Red Alert Counterstrike CD3.cue" ".\cd\Red Alert CD1.iso" ".\cd\Red Alert CD2.iso" ".\cd\Red Alert Aftermath CD4.cue" -t cdrom 
cd redalert
cls
@ra
goto quit

:network
@imgmount d ".\cd\Red Alert Aftermath CD4.cue" -t cdrom 
cls
network

:quit
exit

(Only the paths to CD images are changed.)

Then create a dosbox.conf with these contents.

[autoexec] 
c: 
@run.bat

You can load the dosbox.conf in Pure.

If you have

dosbox_pure_conf = "inside"

in your DOSBox-pure.opt, you can zip the folder contents into a “Command and Conquer - Red Alert (1997).dosz” file and it will automatically load in Pure.

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#8

You don’t have to do this with most games though. The majority of them will run from the zip, unmodified.

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#9

True, but you are stuck with the internal menu which will put the C:\ root in the wrong place for many games.

My method defines the root as the folder containing the dosbox.conf.

It also, in this case and others, let’s you take advantage of eXo’s hard work in the run.bat file. You get a menu that let’s you pick which campaign you want.

Pure is a lot like MAME in that if you familiarize yourself with how it works, you can get many more games to run than if you just treat eXo’s zips like roms.

Every step I mentioned is second nature to me after only a little time working with Pure.

#10

I tried to run thru Run.bat and it just Crashed.

Got the Log For the Crash:

#11

Yeah I am using the Unzipped Version Un Modfied.

Though Made a 2nd run.bat and Added the Code and then it work - Thanks

Update:

Tried Installing Game from CD Images from eXoDOS and worked fine afterwards

#12

For me it’s a pleasure to help, it’s one of the few things I can do to collaborate with RetroArch. And it helps me to keep my mind calm in these stormy times the world is going through.

Emulating classic DOS and Windows games, and especially this Core, requires a lot of concentration, you have to focus because you have to read a lot.

The information you gave me is not necessary, in the image you shared you can see that it is Windows 10 and that you have PURE 0.9.7.

I knew you were using eXoDOS, because that’s the error. This game works perfect.

In the previous post I commented several times to you and @Duimon, pre-compiled packages like eXoDOS or similar are not recommended.

DOSBox PURE does not need the additional settings that every eXo game has. These settings mostly give errors.

If you want to use eXoDOS, well, use them in DOSBox-SVN or the native one in RetroArch, or you can use DOSBox-X which is very good. DOSBox PURE does not work like this.

For PURE It is recommended to use native images or original files. And use the software as it was originally intended.

Apart from living the original configuration experience, for example, when installing Red Alert, you are going to meet possibly the best installation interface ever created, it is totally immersive that game, from the installation.

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#13

To install this game you only need to have the two images compressed in a zip file. And start from D:\Install\Setup.exe

1
11920×864 73 KB

At the end, you get a black screen with the following message “Please Standbyte…” here, reboot and run the game from the installation, “c:\weastwood\redalert\ra.exe”

2
21920×432 112 KB
And EDDOS.EXE is the map editor.

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#14

One note, for future installations, this game uses several installers of the same game and has installers for many other things. This in normal Windows 95 startup.

It has a DOS Installer, a Windows 95 Installer and one to install in DOS from Windows, called “dos box for windows 95”.
(Curiously it has the same name of a famous emulator.)

In MSDOS, the executable in DOS box mode, and the windows executable do not work.

Due to your insistence with eXo, I wanted to tell you some things, but first I would like to know your experience with MSDOS and Windows 9x.
You don’t have any experience with those original systems, right?

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#15

I tried using Dosbox-X and it would just Crash when I tried to Install Red Alert and Same Error Message when trying load game with RA.exe

#16

I’m sorry but you keep saying this, and I don’t know where you are getting your information. I have access to the same documentation you have and I don’t see this anywhere.

If there is some private documentation then perhaps it should be made public?

Pre installed games work just fine… the only issue is making sure the paths and root are correct.

It is possible that they recommend original installation for copyright reasons, but to push that here is just silly.

And I have mentioned at least as many times that I modify the installation, the batch files, and the dosbox.conf. I am not suggesting to use eXo’s extra settings.

I spent less that a minute getting this game to run, using the eXo library. A time consuming, and sometimes very difficult source installation is just not needed.

No matter what you, or the developer recommend, people are going to use the roms they have in their possession. If we can educate them on how to make them work we are doing the community a service.

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#17

You are using the unmodified version of the run.bat. Please follow my method first.

Then edit the run.bat paths and create a dosbox.conf.

I posted the needed information, it seems you just skipped over any preparation. :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

#18

The eXo come preinstalled and configured with the .conf file, if you try to install an eXo you will get an error, to install RA, you need a pretty deep configuration, but I am not an expert in DOSBox, I can’t help you with that but on the internet there are many tutorials on how to install this game.

You have to pay more attention. This is something that is clearly stated in the documentation and I have also explained it to you several times. PURE needs the zip files to create the save, where the virtual disk is saved. The eXo games work unzipped, you can load them in zip, but most of those configurations do not work.

You have the right to think what you want, I respect it, but one thing is certain, I fix the problems, you don’t.
That’s right, stop sharing piracy on the forum.
Even in the official DOSBox forum you are not allowed to share eXo, I have had posts censored, just for mentioning them, thank you for your understanding.

#19

Noone is sharing eXo. Referencing the collection is not the same as providing a link.

Yep. A zip or dosz is needed to save internal changes to the file system.

@alexb3d it appears that both of our solutions work.

Sometimes you need to think outside of the box (Documentation / recommendations.)

You can read through every inch of both the standalone MAME and RA MAME core documentation but it will not help you running the Software list roms.

Sometimes it take some independent experimentation.

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#20

If you want to use PURE as DOSBox, use DOSBox, it’s the most sensible thing to do.

I already explained in the other message why you can’t mention a compilation that is dedicated only and exclusively to share piracy. I’m not going to talk about it anymore.

#21

What does installing those games mean though? I don’t want game folders in my C: SSD disk. Or is it a virtual disk and the game files are installed elsewhere?

#22

There are DOS games that run directly from the .EXE and others that need to be installed on the hard disk. DOSBox standalone, its different forks and Pure, need a virtual disk, to install. The difference is that:

DOSBox needs a folder with emulator configuration files and program files, in disk image, installed and all the files it requires. eXo is a file, that someone configured sometime and shares it with everything inside.

Pure, it does not require external configurations, just the image or installation file of the game and the Core configures everything automatically.

Visually, it is literally like this:

PURE: the executable files of the game, without modification and the virtual disk “pure.zip” which is saved in “saves”.

image

DOSBox: an eXoDOS file, pre-installed and pre-configured. (That chorizo weighs 1.8GB).

Captura desde 2023-06-17 15-24-16
Captura desde 2023-06-17 15-24-16606×3099 349 KB

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#23

I don’t know what your personal campaign against eXo is but I feel this is the wrong place for it.

Aside from that, your description is a little misleading.

The *pure.zip is NOT the virtual disk. The virtual disk is not a file, it is an environment created on the fly when you execute a file inside the disk from the menu. The *pure.zip just contains any changes to the virtual file system that take place while the game is running. (i.e. audio device or joystick etc. settings.)

You could, if you had the need, mount a actual virtual disk file inside Pure, but this is not happening here.

Also your tiny 3.3MB install is obviously not a CD audio install, or the CD image would have to be included inside the zip. (Which would bring the file size up to over 500MB.)

I grow tired of how quickly these particular help sessions degrade.

FYI, there is at least one comment in the forum, by the core developer, saying he may add support for eXoDOS conf files. I am uncertain where your animosity comes from.

#24

You say I say stupid things, you say I tell lies. I think you’re getting neurotic.
image

Yes, zip files are folders. DOSBox can mount any folder as a virtual disk, you know that well. You know them, don’t you?

I knew you were going to tell me about the Monkey Island CD, I did it on purpose, because the original 3 megabyte game offers more graphics and sound options than the exo compilation. :roll_eyes:
You can also use the CD version with music and then add the Voices patch, but it still doesn’t reach 600MB.

I don’t have any problem with eXo compilations, I have them all and more, the ones that are coming out right now, that no one here has, but I’m not going to talk about the things I do with that.

The only one responsible for what you say, is you. If you want to share piracy or comment, “with eXo games it’s better”, that’s your problem.

But I would like to know if the forum rules have changed, because I’m going to be very happy. I’ve had comments censored for just mentioning it. @BarbuDreadMon

And please @Duimon don’t dirty this forum, this is a very respectful community.

#25

guys, take it easy.

Alexb3d is correct that we don’t promote or encourage piracy here, but as long as nobody links to anything or anywhere that distributes pirated materials, we should be okay.

A lot of people apparently use the eXo bundles for DOS games, and that’s fine. Pure isn’t designed for it, specifically, but if it’s what someone has, there’s not a whole lot of point in telling them to re-rip/dump their game just to get away from it if that’s going to be more effort than just making it work (which I guess is Duimon’s point?)

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#26

eXoDOS is excellent, the only problem it has is that it does not work in PURE. lol
80% of the bugs reported in github, are from using exo.
There are games that do, there will be many, but the most demanding and with configurations, do not work.
To give two vital examples, DOOM and Monkey Island do not work in PURE. PURE is made to work with zip, eXo works unzipped, so does DOOM, Monkey still does not work. O_o

For my part, I don’t intend to make people change their library, but if the error is exo, it must be said and I always recommend you not to use “pre-compiled” either from exo or any other.

For two reasons, it gives problems, and using the original way, you get much more improvements and experiences that the game offers. I will explain this better later.

It’s good what Duimon says about having an option, but reconfiguring each game with a .conf file to make PURE work as DOSBox standalone, seems to me a mistake.

Now, what Duimon means, is a mystery to me, because eXo does not include “dosbox.conf” files, this is a batch file O_o

image

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