I’m trying to install some games using original game images in .ima format.
In most cases, there’s no problem and the games install ok. But other times, they won’t install at all. Examples of such games include King’s Quest 1-3 and Syndicate Plus.
Could anyone help? I’d be grateful 
Hey there,
Been a long time since I played some Syndicate… You dont really need to install that game on C. Mounting the image in DOSBox Pure you should be able to play the game by launching D:\SYND.EXE or A:\SYND.BAT, I think.
Thanks for the reply. Although I know there are games already installed for DOS, and many CD versions (like Syndicat - that work without installation), my goal is to install games in the original .ima format. I’m curious if anyone has had any experience with this and what their experiences were. Unfortunately, it’s quite difficult to find any information online. So far, I’ve managed to install many original games in .ima format. However, there are cases, like Syndicat, where the installer doesn’t respond at all, or the game installs but doesn’t launch (like Prehistoric 2). I suspect the problem might be the diskette’s security, which DOSbox Pure can’t handle. But I don’t have much experience or knowledge with DOS. I would be grateful for any information, or for someone who knows about this and would like to test the games
You’re right I’ve only checked the CD version.
For the floppy version there is indeed an installer, and I failed to install the game directly with DOSBox Pure, but managed to get it working by “Run an installed OS” and use Win95’s DOS mode from a Win95 OSR2 image I previously installed.
This is something I had to rely to as well for another Bullfrog game, Theme Park, so I tried my luck with that. Main problem with Theme Park (CDRom DOS rerelease) were the bugs and speed cycle problems that somewhat are solved with that version in Win95’s DOS mode for me.
I might also check to install Win3.11 for the DOS games of that period next time.
Here are the DOS mode options I used for A:\INSTALL.EXE
Made an m3u playlist of the 5 ima files. Somehow “eject” and then “insert” are needed to properly load the other disks, or else it crashed.
Used Win95 to create a shortcut to C:\SYND\SYND.BAT (pif file)
Got ingame, but I had to properly equip the team before the mission loading.
Other than for preservation purpose, is there any reason to play the floppy version of Syndicate instead of the CDROM one?
Thanks so much for such a detailed description! I’ll definitely check it out.
As for the game itself, the floppy version from CD doesn’t have any advantage, but it’s all about preservation. I’m curious how many old DOS games work with DOSBox Pure. I’m probably one of five people on the internet who cares about this topic, because there’s so little information out there. The ones I can find are from many years ago.
Is @schellingb the author of dosbox pure active on the RA forum?
I dont know, only been active here for a year myself. You may try to contact them directly on DOSBox Pure’s github.
Other than that, I think we are a few here trying to help each other with specific game issues on a case by case basis. I remember that back in the days some of those DOS games were already a bit complicated to install… XD
I submitted my report regarding Mortal Kombat 3, but @schellingb only responds if he has time and willingness to do so So I guess we just have to be patient.
I’m also curious about the King’s Quest series, and it’s been bugging me
Episodes 4-7 install correctly, as does KQ1 Enhanced. But the oldest ones are a disaster. I have no idea how to go about it; they might be protected.
I dont know about King’s Quest but I’ve replayed all of Sierra’s Larry games on DOSBox Pure from 1 through 7. Except the 4th. XD It was great to replay them with nice shaders and munt.
Maybe some installers are not working directly from ima files, but once you got the files extracted one way or the other, it’s usually quite easy to get the installed folder in a zip file and use DOSBox pure with it I think.
If you’re aiming for a strict archival testing process always starting from the ima file you may want to try 86Box I guess.
I did some research, and it seems that some of these floppy disk images are protected (copylock or something similar). Unfortunately, DOSBox Pure doesn’t handle this type of protection. I’m guessing DOSBox SVN doesn’t either. That leaves some external emulator besides Retroarch, like box86, which @Obsolete mentioned. I was hoping something in this thread would change the .img file format, but they don’t work in the same way.
Regarding King’s Quest or Space Quest, installation from discs remains, because the games were released in different compilations from Sierra. Some games like the mentioned Syndicate also have a CD version. The rest won’t run without a crack. Maybe someone will find this information useful, although I don’t think many are interested in this topic
Hey there,
DOSBox Pure can install Syndicate Plus from ima files, not directly from the emulated DOS, but using an installed OS like Win95 OSR2 and its DOS mode compatibility layer was working.
I didn’t test the installation with earlier OS but it may also be possible to install the DOS game with a Win3.11 install, or MS-DOS or FreeDOS.
I didnt test the installation neither on 86Box, or PCem or another virtual machine, only suggested to use it for testing the ima files. I dont even think we’re using the same images, got mines from Internet archive and didnt dump them myself, and I only booted the game’s first mission, then uninstalled. I assume the 96’ CD-ROM version had some bug corrections and will be more stable so I’m playing that instead.
If you want to test your files on the same Win95 image I just uploaded a 7zip backup of that. Should be accessible from the DOSBox Pure menu once you unzip it in the Retroarch/system folder.
Thanks so much for the ISO. I checked, and the game does indeed install with Windows 95, although it shows errors and the mouse won’t work.
Regarding protected .ima and .img files, I think I finally found confirmation from the author who creates these types of game files using KryoFlux: “Copy Protected Images: .IMA/.IMG images cannot be used unless cracked and are provided for archival use only. .MFM and .86F images are included in the archive when available and supported by the 86Box emulator.”
It seems that such files are useless and a waste of time. They won’t even work on 86Box unless they are converted to .mfm or .86f.
Mouse was working when setting the properties of the pif file in win95 with all the boxes unchecked, see the last two screenshots of the previous post. In my understanding there’s two options for DOS mode in old Win95. One with the MS-DOS mode checked and it will reboot Win95 in DOS, but for the mouse to work that way I think you’ll need to install a mouse DOS driver (and run it from autoexec.bat and/or config.sys). When the box is unchecked, Win95 should run the DOS program without rebooting and use the Win mouse driver.
What’s interesting with this process is that the speed of the program is managed by Win95. In the case of games that used both VGA and SVGA graphics, like Bullfrog’s Theme Park and Syndicate, it seems to make things run with a more stable speed as far as I’ve tested.
Another thing to test would be that once you’ve installed and extracted all the files with the installer in Win95 DOS mode, you could try to just mount the Win95 img file, copy the installed folder (C:\SYND), and create a ZIP file of it, then reopen that with the DOSBox Pure core. I’m not sure that there’s a cracked .EXE for Syndicate. Might be that the protection was just to avoid copying the disks.
Hello, There are several different things here.
The copy protections on floppy disks were very primitive. You cannot install from the floppy disk for other reasons.
DOSBox emulates the FD and cannot handle ‘labels’ well.
Syndicate Plus is a CD compilation and does not install.
Sydicate 1993 on FD cannot be installed due to the labels. If you install Windows w3x and use those files in DOS.
There is a original version from 1993 on CD, to make things easier.
There are many versions and revisions to make it work on different systems or specific hardware. Tandy does not work on XT, AT may not work on PCjr, Tseng Labs does not work on VGA, etc.
In many of these cases, DBPure must be configured manually.
DOSBox has undergone many downgrades, and some games no longer work.
Many games do not install, and there are also PC Booters, which start the PC directly from the FD. These images are always IMG, and you run them from the Boot from Disk Image menu.
The GOD project verifies the images. King’s Guest 1 can be installed from ‘verified’ versions and can be run as PC Boot.
DOSBox standalone emulates a huge number of games, almost 98%, but keep in mind that it is configured manually. DB-Pure, on the other hand, is configured automatically and may fail. If it doesn’t work, it’s a good idea to check the compatibility list or the forum for more information.
Schelling is doing a wonderful job, and I can tell that he is dedicated to pleasing users. But keep in mind that he is alone and this is volunteer work. If there is no response, you have to wait.
Your personal backups are backups on your computer; on the forum, it’s piracy.
Thanks a lot for the helpful information. I suspected Syndicat might work because I don’t see any other Bullfrog games with protection. PowerMonger, Theme Park, etc. As for Sierra games, the CD version is probably the best option. You mentioned DOSBox standalone, does that mean it can handle protected games? Have you tried Prehistoric 2? And is the DOSBox svn version from RA worth checking out?
I cant agree with you there Alex… XD Syndicate Plus CDRom installs just fine directly in DOSBox Pure. I’m in the fourth mission. Syndicate Plus 1993 in ima files can be installed as well using Win95 OSR2 as described in my precedent posts and screenshots.
And I just installed Sierra’s Space Quest III from ima files directly in DOSBox Pure as well. Installer is a simple script, mostly copying files from the three disks and making a conf file for the soundcard, screen type and mouse/joystick.
I guess you just didn’t bother to read the workarounds provided or didn’t test those games recently.
Space Quest III is 100% OK because it doesn’t have protection. Only the first SQ (not the enhanced version) and SQ II won’t install because of security. At least, it didn’t work for me.
As far as I know, both have Softguar SuperLock v2
King’s Quest I, II, and III have the same protection.
As for the Syndicate CD, it works fine, although this version doesn’t have an installer. It simply runs directly from the disc.
Already finished a french fan translation of SQ1 and the awesome fanmade VGA remake of SQ2 so I wont test on my side. Maybe try on Win95 and its floppy driver then?
How do you know about the protection? Is there a list out there with Sierra games mentioning their protections?
Syndicate Plus CDRom can be run on DOS directly but there’s a small installer when launched in Win95, making a shortcut and copying a few avi files as promos for Crusader No Regret and Privateer 2.
