Dude. It is a Windows 9x game. Only some special version is for 3.1x

Cyberdyne wrote on 2024-07-24, 18:26:

Dude. It is a Windows 9x game. Only some special version is for 3.1x

I know. The 1.13 (only version that includes Spanish) CD have a dual installation that includes both a directory for Windows 3.x and another for 95. The setup.exe detects your system and uses the corresponding installer.

The installation is done without problem. In fact, it has a requirements test and it passes them all without any problem. It doesn't show any sign of error until the game is run.

I suspect that the problem comes because, as the game's technical information text file indicates, it recommends installing the version of Win32S that is included on the CD itself.

But it turns out that it doesn't allow you to install it because it says that before loading Windows 3.11 you must load SHARE.EXE to install it. I tried running SHARE.COM which includes FreeDOS, also fakeshar.com from Vogons. They load into memory and then I run Windows 3.11, but I still get the same message, as if it doesn't recognize that the program has been run.

Anyway, I'm not sure either, since my version of Win32S is 1.30.172.0.

Ad vshare.386 to your system.ini.

The win32s kernel is similar to win95 and has the same compatibility issues with DOSBox's CPU emulation. It's just not going to work.

Cyberdyne wrote on 2024-07-25, 10:46:

Ad vshare.386 to your system.ini.

It's included in my Windows 3.11 system by default. But just like the DOS executable seems to be ignored.

jmarsh wrote on 2024-07-25, 11:46:

The win32s kernel is similar to win95 and has the same compatibility issues with DOSBox's CPU emulation. It's just not going to work.

That is what it seems 🙁

You could at least try it with cputype=pentium_slow but I wouldn't hope for much improvement.

jmarsh wrote on 2024-07-25, 11:46:

The win32s kernel is similar to win95 and has the same compatibility issues with DOSBox's CPU emulation. It's just not going to work.

It works fine. I've got the game running perfectly in win3x via dosbox.

Claiming otherwise is simply misinformation.

badflame wrote on 2024-07-25, 16:43:

It's included in my Windows 3.11 system by default. But just like the DOS executable seems to be ignored. […]
Show full quote

Cyberdyne wrote on 2024-07-25, 10:46:

Ad vshare.386 to your system.ini.

It's included in my Windows 3.11 system by default. But just like the DOS executable seems to be ignored.

jmarsh wrote on 2024-07-25, 11:46:

The win32s kernel is similar to win95 and has the same compatibility issues with DOSBox's CPU emulation. It's just not going to work.

That is what it seems 🙁

I have it running. Please PM me and I'll be happy to explain what to do

jmarsh wrote on 2024-07-25, 17:29:

You could at least try it with cputype=pentium_slow but I wouldn't hope for much improvement.

I have tried both 486 and Pentium with no difference.

exofreeze wrote on 2024-07-25, 22:46:

I have it running. Please PM me and I'll be happy to explain what to do

With great pleasure.

exofreeze wrote on 2024-07-25, 22:45:

Claiming otherwise is simply misinformation.

As the person who wrote the 64-bit dynamic_x86 core for DOSBox (and fixed more than a few bugs in the others), I know the limitations it has and anyone who claims it works properly with the windows 95 kernel is wrong.

here is my config, from years ago:

1
2[cpu]
3#      core: CPU Core used in emulation. auto will switch to dynamic if available and appropriate.
4#            Possible values: auto, dynamic, normal, simple.
5#   cputype: CPU Type used in emulation. auto is the fastest choice.
6#            Possible values: auto, 386, 386_slow, 486_slow, pentium_slow, 386_prefetch.
7#    cycles: Amount of instructions DOSBox tries to emulate each millisecond.
8#            Setting this value too high results in sound dropouts and lags.
9#            Cycles can be set in 3 ways:
10#              'auto'          tries to guess what a game needs.
11#                              It usually works, but can fail for certain games.
12#              'fixed #number' will set a fixed amount of cycles. This is what you usually need if 'auto' fails.
13#                              (Example: fixed 4000).
14#              'max'           will allocate as much cycles as your computer is able to handle.
15#            
16#            Possible values: auto, fixed, max.
17#   cycleup: Amount of cycles to decrease/increase with keycombo.(CTRL-F11/CTRL-F12)
18# cycledown: Setting it lower than 100 will be a percentage.
19
20core=normal
21cputype=pentium_slow
22cycles=50000
23cycleup=1000
24cycledown=1000
25
26[autoexec]
27# Lines in this section will be run at startup.
28# You can put your MOUNT lines here.
29@echo off
30mount C C
31imgmount D "CD\EarthSiege2.cue" -t iso
32PATH C:\WINDOWS;
33SET TEMP=C:\WINDOWS\TEMP
34SET BLASTER=A220 I7 D1 P330 H5 T6
35c:
36win
37exit

Windows installation is in a 'C' subfolder.
The BIN/CUE CD image is inside a 'CD' subfolder.

Works absolutely fine in DOSBox 0.74-3 with WfW 3.11 and WIN32S. No need for SHARE.EXE, emulated or otherwise.

I think either pentium_slow or core=normal deactivate the dynamic core. That's why it works. But I don't pretend to understand the DOSBox internals.

You can find the guide on how to setup Windows 3.11 and WIN32S inside DOSBox here on VOGONS: Windows 3.1x DOSBox Guide

Be sure to follow it. For example, the S3 and soundblaster drivers are very important.

Cyberdyne wrote on 2024-07-24, 18:26:

Dude. It is a Windows 9x game. Only some special version is for 3.1x

Actually, it's a WIN32S game. Meaning it works both with Windows 3.11 and Windows 95, thanks to this WIN32 API Subset.

On the box, the Windows 3.11 compatibility is advertised.

I purchased it myself, and that copy works with Windows 3.11 too. The message about SHARE can be safely ignored. No need to edit SYSTEM.INI.

There's a lot of games that target Windows 95 commercially, but also advertise Windows 3.11 compatibility (for example, Fury3, the 'sequel' to Terminal Velocity). And WIN32S made that transition period possible.

core=normal disables the dynamic core.
cputype=pentium_slow enables memory page protection checking, which the win32 kernel uses for dynamic stack expansion.
It would be surprising if the normal core is more accurate than the dynamic core, but then again it's 0.74-3 - SVN has a lot more fixes.

I tried it again, and to pass the Win32S error message, you need FAKESHAR from the Windows 3.11 guide: Windows 3.1x DOSBox Guide

You can remove it once WIN3S is installed. I don't see it in my AUTOEXEC section.

Here is the relevant section of my SYSTEM.INI file:

1[386Enh]
2device=dva.386
3device=C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\WIN32S\W32S.386
4display=vdds3764.386
5EGA80WOA.FON=EGA80WOA.FON
6EGA40WOA.FON=EGA40WOA.FON
7CGA80WOA.FON=CGA80WOA.FON
8CGA40WOA.FON=CGA40WOA.FON
9device=*vpd
10mouse=*vmd
11ebios=*ebios
12woafont=dosapp.fon
13keyboard=*vkd
14network=*dosnet,*vnetbios
15netheapsize=16
16device=*vcd
17device=*vpicd
18device=*vtd
19device=*reboot
20device=*vdmad
21device=*vsd
22device=*v86mmgr
23device=*pageswap
24device=*dosmgr
25device=*vmpoll
26device=*wshell
27device=*PAGEFILE
28device=*BLOCKDEV
29device=*vfd
30device=*parity
31device=*biosxlat
32device=*vmcpd
33device=*combuff
34device=*cdpscsi
35device=vtdapi.386
36device=vpmtd.386
37device=vcomm.386
38device=serial.386
39device=lpt.386
40device=ifsmgr.386
41device=vcache.386
42device=vshare.386
43local=CON
44FileSysChange=off
45COM3Irq=4
46COM3Base=03E8
47COM4Irq=3
48COM4Base=02E8
49PagingFile=C:\WINDOWS\WIN386.SWP
50MaxPagingFileSize=61440
51device=vsbpd.386

I stand corrected. IIRC, vshare.386 and related stuff were added by the WIN32S installer.

Anyway, here it is running inside DOSBox with WfW 3.11 and WIN32S in the screenshot below. Back in the day, I played for hours without any issues. Same with other games that require WIN32S.

An important correction to the config above:

1[cpu]
2core=dynamic
3cputype=pentium_slow

It will *CRASH* instantly if you use core=normal !

BTW, WIN32S is the absolute limit of what DOSBox supports.
If you try Windows 9X, you are going to have a bad time!

Jmarsh is a primary source of information on emulation, particularly in the cpu portion of DOSBox. In my experience, win95 games have eventually shown the instabilities that he has documented or described, including in the sound emulation, but also in the fpu and paging systems. Potential problems in win32s, a subset of the win32 api, are also documented:
Re: Win32s compatibility issues?
Re: Is Windows 3.1 limited to win32s?
https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20 … 517-00/?p=14013 [win311 - 32-bit protected mode]
Get mouse working on Windows 3.11 booting from disk image under DosBox
Earthsiege 2 on Windows 3.11 on DOSBox - virtual memory issue

Yeah, Windows 95 is not supported.

But all Win32S games work just fine in my experience. And this has been the case for at least a decade.

This thread was started because of win32s incompatibility in dosbox.

xcomcmdr wrote on 2024-07-26, 14:40:

Yeah, Windows 95 is not supported.

But all Win32S games work just fine in my experience. And this has been the case for at least a decade.

xcomcmdr I have replaced my system.ini with yours, but the initial error VSHELL.EXE still appears

I would like to point out that if I use from DOSBox core NORMAL, when I double-click on the icon to launch the game it does nothing. In AUTO or DYNAMIC the game launches but produces the error VSHELL.EXE

I don't want to have confused anyone when I talked about the error that occurs if I try to install Win32S from the CD (to replace my own), which is when it requests SHARE.EXE. This is another error different from the game's own and it addresses the possibility that the game specifically requests the Win32S version that it includes and is not compatible with any other version, even if it is more modern. However, it has been impossible for me to verify this, since as I have explained previously, I have executed several versions of SHARE and the installer does not recognize it. In addition, my system.ini also includes the driver device=vshare.386, which should replace it.

Since it obviously works for you, my question would be: what version of the game do you have? 1.13 or 1.11? Does your CD have a "spanish" folder?

Are you sure you tried with cputype=pentium_slow? "pentium" on its own is not a valid type, and the errors in the screenshots look like they are page related (addresses very close to end-of-page boundaries).

jmarsh wrote on 2024-07-26, 16:55:

Are you sure you tried with cputype=pentium_slow? "pentium" on its own is not a valid type, and the errors in the screenshots look like they are page related (addresses very close to end-of-page boundaries).

Yes, I have tried both "pentium_slow" and "486_slow", with the same result.