How do I play W4 DVD Windows Version in DOS

[RetroFreak]

Hi,

This is my first post on the board. I know there is a patch that I can get that would convert Wing Commander IV's DOS version to the Windows version. But, I would prefer to do the opposite. With DosBox running so efficiently now on so many different operating systems, I would prefer to have my old Windows DVD version of W4 be runnable in DosBox. But, sadly, there is no DOS executable with the game. Is there any kind of patch or batch file I could use that would provide me with DOS playability for my windows version of the game?

I thought this might be possible, since the bulk of the game seems to be movie files that could play on DOS just as well.

Thanks for any help.

 

[AD]

I'm not sure why you would want to do this. Besides which, there's really no such thing as mpeg2 playback for dos.

As it is, WC4 plays just fine in XP with just setting the compatability mode correctly. Same goes for vista. There would be absolutely no benefit in trying to force it to run in dos mode.

 

[RetroFreak]

The benefit is portability. DosBox is a cross-platform program that can run in other operating systems such as Linux. It makes it infinitely more possible to make this game work in Linux, or a Mac for that matter, if I use DosBox.

Also, think about it: right now there is a patch that enables the windows version of WC4 to be played in XP or Vista. But eventually, there will be new versions of windows that it won't play on. Now, it's possible that people will continue to write patches for WC4 and other games that will make them playable in future generations of windows. But if you have the game set up in DosBox, then you will always have a playable version of the game and not have to worry about what Microsoft does with its next version of Windows.

My two cents . . . I am off to eBay to look for a DOS version of WC4.

 

[AD]

The benefit is portability. DosBox is a cross-platform program that can run in other operating systems such as Linux. It makes it infinitely more possible to make this game work in Linux, or a Mac for that matter, if I use DosBox.

Also, think about it: right now there is a patch that enables the windows version of WC4 to be played in XP or Vista. But eventually, there will be new versions of windows that it won't play on. Now, it's possible that people will continue to write patches for WC4 and other games that will make them playable in future generations of windows. But if you have the game set up in DosBox, then you will always have a playable version of the game and not have to worry about what Microsoft does with its next version of Windows.

My two cents . . . I am off to eBay to look for a DOS version of WC4.

If you're not worried about FMV quality then by all means get the dos versions. However, for WC4, prophecy, and secret ops you are going to need windows (though I hear there are degrees of emulation that make them playable on macs and linux anyway in which case the regular patches etc might work anyway). For all intents and purposes though, as long as there are WC fans someone will work out a patch for these. (and you can always keep an older machine around if you are really worried about it)

Portable or not though, as far as trying to get the wc4 windows version DVD to run in dosbox is pretty much a step backwards. I'm sure someone could write a patch/driver for dos to handle the mpeg2 video but that someone would probably have to be you.

 

[RetroFreak]

Good point about the movie quality. I notice that the DOS version was released on 6 CDs rather than DVD, as the Windows version was. What was the video format on the CD? Is it much worse quality than the DVD version? I imagine the answer is yes.

I hear you about the fan support that will likely always be around to provide patches. And there's always VMware, which runs Windows (and hence, WC4 for Win) fine in Linux.

Thanks for the quick replies, I appreciate it.

 

[AD]

Good point about the movie quality. I notice that the DOS version was released on 6 CDs rather than DVD, as the Windows version was. What was the video format on the CD? Is it much worse quality than the DVD version? I imagine the answer is yes.

I hear you about the fan support that will likely always be around to provide patches. And there's always VMware, which runs Windows (and hence, WC4 for Win) fine in Linux.

Thanks for the quick replies, I appreciate it.

The dos version of WC4 uses the XAN movie codec. The video looks better than the WC3 video did, but the DVD video quality almost isn't comparable. I mean I thought the WC4 was amazing back when it came out, but that was on an old 14 inch monitor... The DVD video is DVD quality (not as good of encoding as possible but still good) with dolby digital surround. There's not really a comparison.

I should point out that the windows version was released on CD too. And there is a dos to windows patch for the CD version that works relatively well. There is also a rare promotional one-sided DVD that is just the CD version all on one DVD.

What we're talking about here is the double sided DVD that came only bundled with creative DVD-rom drive and mpeg2 decoder board bundles. The DVD was never sold separately. It runs in windows just fine when you simply set the compatability mode. However, because it was designed to use a hardware decoder, you need a fan made patch to force the game to use your software mpeg2 decoder.

 

[RetroFreak]

The version I have is the double-sided DVD. I have it installed with the patch and running in compatibility mode and it runs great. I had just thought that if there was a way to get roughly the same quality in DOS, then I would set it up. But it may well be that it's not worth doing, if the movie quality leaves much to be desired in the DOS version. Sounds like that is the case.

On a related matter, I have both the Windows and DOS versions of Privateer 2: The Darkening. I only have it set up in DOS now, but maybe I'll run the Windows version, too, for comparison. Is there a stark difference in the Windows movie quality vs. the DOS movie quality in that game? I believe that came out before WC4, although I'm not sure.

 

[AD]

The version I have is the double-sided DVD. I have it installed with the patch and running in compatibility mode and it runs great. I had just thought that if there was a way to get roughly the same quality in DOS, then I would set it up. But it may well be that it's not worth doing, if the movie quality leaves much to be desired in the DOS version. Sounds like that is the case.

On a related matter, I have both the Windows and DOS versions of Privateer 2: The Darkening. I only have it set up in DOS now, but maybe I'll run the Windows version, too, for comparison. Is there a stark difference in the Windows movie quality vs. the DOS movie quality in that game? I believe that came out before WC4, although I'm not sure.

The windows version and dos version of privateer 2 are for all intents and purposes identical. They use exactly the same video files so simply running it in windows wont make it look any better. If anything, it will benefit from some of dosbox's various scaling options.

 

[ChrisReid]

The version I have is the double-sided DVD. I have it installed with the patch and running in compatibility mode and it runs great. I had just thought that if there was a way to get roughly the same quality in DOS, then I would set it up. But it may well be that it's not worth doing, if the movie quality leaves much to be desired in the DOS version. Sounds like that is the case.

So just to summarize, because I'm not sure it was explicitly stated earlier, there is no 'patch' that allows the DVD version to run in DOS because it depends so heavily on elements of Windows to function. There is a DOS version of WC4, but it has the lower-quality video files. Note that there is also an upgrade path to add in high quality videos for Prophecy as well, which is a Windows-only game.

On a related matter, I have both the Windows and DOS versions of Privateer 2: The Darkening. I only have it set up in DOS now, but maybe I'll run the Windows version, too, for comparison. Is there a stark difference in the Windows movie quality vs. the DOS movie quality in that game? I believe that came out before WC4, although I'm not sure.

Like AD said, it's the same video in all versions of Privateer 2.