Want to play DOS games

[SonicIce]

I have an nForce3 mobo, Voodoo3 3000, and Chaintech AV-710 soundcard. I can get Windows 98 drivers for all of these. But I still have some problems with a few games. Some games I don't have any sound no matter how I set it up. Maybe I need an older soundcard? Which one should I get? Do I have to restart in DOS mode to play or can I just run the exe for the game?

 

[beggerking]

I believe you had to use dos environmental variable in batch file....
set blaster = irq 7 etc etc...

don't quite remember.. search net for it..

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Your sound card is a 24 bit card and can not be accessed by DOS based games. You need to see if Chaintech has a 16 bit emulator or get a 16 bit card.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Have you tried DOSbox?

But beggerking is right about needing to set environment variables for the soundblaster type, port, IRQ if the Chaintech even offers SB emulation.

An old Aureal card like a Diamond Monster Sound MX800(?) should have good SB emulation.

Or a Hercules Game Theater XP, but mine sometimes locked up during boot in Win98 so the Monster or generic A3D card is probably a better choice. Or a genuine Sound Blaster 16 or Live.

 

[shortylickens]

My Audigy has legacy DOS support. (Though some folks say it was never really a 24 bit card anyway.)
You just have to check the Device Manager and look at the properties for Legacy Audio Devices. It will give you the DMA, IRQ and all that.


Damn, remember the good old days when you knew the address for every device on your computer?

 

[CP5670]

I have a Live 5.1 in my retro gaming rig and it has worked great with every old game I've tried. Its SB16 emulator will only work on some motherboards though. I think they need to internally support ISA or something like that (works great on my old A7M266 but didn't work at all on any of the four subsequent boards I have used).

Dosbox is a great way to play most DOS games, but the newer protected mode ones often don't run well on it with current processors. This is actually one of the main reasons I'm looking forward to getting a Core 2.

 

[GullyFoyle]

If you're going to set up a machine with old stuff for old games, I'd recommend you get a pre-Live! Soundblaster, like a Soundblaster 64 or 128. You could probably find one off the For-Sale forum for under $10 shipped, or check the freebies thread and get it for shipping charges. Keep your windows version at 98 SE or less, and keep it off the internet...