DOSBox Staging vs DOSBox-X vs Vanilla DOSBox: Which to Use
Three projects carry the DOSBox name and each states a different goal. A comparison drawn from their own manual, About page and README, ending with a rule for choosing.
DOS Attic is an independent site about PC games from the DOS era, roughly 1981 to 1996: the studios and decisions behind them, the graphics and sound hardware they were written for, and how to play them legally today through GOG and Steam re-releases or official freeware.
It is researched and written by Sung Hwan Cho, a Seoul-born industrial designer.
Browse: Games · History & Hardware · Guides · About
Why EMS and XMS Made DOS Games So Hard to Start
The 640 KB wall, the EMS page frame, XMS and the high memory area, the CONFIG.SYS load order and the RAM versus NOEMS trade, read from Microsoft’s documentation, plus what DOSBox’s ems and xms options do.
CGA, EGA, VGA: The Hardware History of DOS Graphics
IBM’s own technical references show how CGA, EGA and VGA differed in memory and color, and where common tables mix up colors on screen with palette size.
AdLib vs. Sound Blaster: The DOS Sound Card War
Computer Gaming World’s September 1989 lab report crowned the AdLib, then announced a Creative card due in October. Prices, ads and support lists show how the Sound Blaster took over.
Warcraft II and Blizzard’s 1995 Race With Command & Conquer
Oil, ships and dragons gave Warcraft II its edge; Computer Gaming World’s 1996 reader polls put it half a point ahead of Command & Conquer, which took the editors’ award.
Clouds of Xeen, One Half of a Two-Box Might and Magic World
Clouds of Xeen was designed as one half of a world. What the 1992 and 1993 magazines reported about the merge, the interface and the journal, and where the combined edition sells.
King’s Quest I and the IBM PCjr It Was Built to Sell
How an IBM request for a PCjr showpiece became King’s Quest: rooms stored as drawing instructions, the four-object limit, Roberta Williams on story and parser, and the editions in order.
Did Westwood or SSI Really Make Eye of the Beholder?
Who made Eye of the Beholder? CGW’s 1991 credit box, two reviewers, the DOS ending, and the trilogy now sold on Steam and GOG.
The Power-Routing Cockpit at the Heart of LucasArts’ X-Wing
X-Wing turns each Rebel starfighter into a battery split between engines, lasers and shields. A look at the 1993 game through its credits, a June 1993 review and what Steam and GOG sell now.
How Scott Miller’s Apogee Model Sold Shareware by the Episode
Scott Miller’s Kroz checks, a 1992 Wolfenstein 3-D order policy, a fake-fan-mail recruitment and the 1987-2021 name changes, traced from interviews and period magazines.
Beneath a Steel Sky: Dave Gibbons’ DOS Adventure
How Dave Gibbons’ pencil backgrounds became a 320 by 200 DOS adventure, how Virtual Theatre let the city live, and which 1994 editions are freeware today.
Epic Pinball Was James Schmalz’s Ticket From Shareware to Unreal
Tim Sweeney recalls Epic Pinball as a nine-month build that earned over a million dollars in royalties. Here is how his account checks against 1994 magazines and the studio.