WC3 DosBox -- Afterburner TAB key solutions ?

Maze59077

Maze59077

2nd Lieutenant
Hello dear CiC community .. I wanted to ask if there is a way to activate the TAB key for the afterburner in WC3 with the Dosbox .. either through a special setting or a special Dosbox variant .. please let me know what options there are .. I don't want to use the Kilrathi Saga version .. but the good and in my opinion better Dos variant with the Dosbox .. maybe a special Dosbox.config file ? can anyone help me out please ?

this one is really good https://www.dosbox-staging.org/releases/release-notes/0.82.0/ runs perfect .. but no Afterburner with tab key for WC3 too 😌
 
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The Tab key seems to be the key to activate the afterburner according to my tests and according to https://www.wcnews.com/controls.shtml#wc3. The afterburner will be on as long as you hold the Tab key. Is that the behaviour that you are observing or expecting?

Another option is to use the ` key will toggle the afterburner on or off. In other words pressing the ` key momentarily will turn on the afterburner which will stay on until you momentarily press the ` key again.

If this is not the behaviour that you wanted then Dosbox does have the capability of remaping keys.
 
I was going to say, I've never had a problem using Tab for the afterburner in any of the Wing Commander games across multiple versions of DOSBox. Wingbat answered how the button is intended to work; is that different than how you expected it to function?
 
MadMac_5 said:
I was going to say, I've never had a problem using Tab for the afterburner in any of the Wing Commander games across multiple versions of DOSBox. Wingbat answered how the button is intended to work; is that different than how you expected it to function?
Click to expand...
DosBox and Wing Commander 3 .. the Tab button doesnt work when i use the mouse control .. if your dosbox settings work can you upload the dosbox.conf or your mapper file ? please
 
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I've heard of this, it's not a limitation in DOSBox... it's usually some piece of middleware (like Razer Synapse) disabling tab during games.
 
Bandit LOAF said:
I've heard of this, it's not a limitation in DOSBox... it's usually some piece of middleware (like Razer Synapse) disabling tab during games.
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I like the nostalgia of the old Dos versions of Wing Commander.. Every WC game works perfectly with the good Dosbox.. especially Wing Commander 4 runs perfect.. only Wing3 causes problems.. and there seems to be no solution for it 😔
 
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I believe your problem is a known issue for mouse users who play the DOS version of Wing Commander 3. To the best of my knowledge, no one has ever managed to come up with a good workaround for this (other than using the Kilrathi Saga version of Wing Commander 3 - possibly with a "hack" such as dgVoodoo2 - but you've already said you do not wish to do that)

This problem was actually mentioned in the (very old) Wing Commander 3 Help File :

[7.3] TAB and ~ (afterburners) do not work in spaceflight

The use of afterburners (TAB or ~) or slide (CAPS LOCK and /) will not
work when mouse flight is enabled. You will have to double-click the
right mouse button to afterburn, or use a joystick or the keyboard. The
control type can be changed in the Spaceflight Options Menu (ALT-O).
Click to expand...

Again, the fact that your ship will always move in a straight line if you activate your afterburners with the right mouse button is a known issue as well.
 
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Ahh, I hadn't run into that issue since I always played WC3 with a joystick both under DOS 6.2 and DOSBox. I learned something new today!
 
Sharpshooter said:
I believe your problem is a known issue for mouse users who play the DOS version of Wing Commander 3. To the best of my knowledge, no one has ever managed to come up with a good workaround for this (other than using the Kilrathi Saga version of Wing Commander 3 - possibly with a "hack" such as dgVoodoo2 - but you've already said you do not wish to do that)

This problem was actually mentioned in the (very old) Wing Commander 3 Help File :



Again, the fact that your ship will always move in a straight line if you activate your afterburners with the right mouse button is a known issue as well.
Click to expand...
the Problem is .. i havent the original KS Saga😥 .. just the traditional Dos CD-Roms and of course every WC Game from Gog .. the double click with the mouse is the only option with the dosbox for the afterburner ,, and i hoped there were a solution already .. after so many years
 
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MadMac_5 said:
Ahh, I hadn't run into that issue since I always played WC3 with a joystick both under DOS 6.2 and DOSBox. I learned something new today!
Click to expand...
MS Dos 6.2 and 6.22 was just perfect .. for a 486dx4 /100 and 32mb ram .. pure nostalgia ( Privateer 2 , WC 3 and 4)
 
Simplest solution is to get a joystick. If you love space sims, it probably wouldn't be too far out of your way or set you back too much. I love my Thrustmaster T16000m. Have had it for years and it never drifts, unlike many a junk logittech or saitek joystick I've bought over the decades. I'm sure you can get one for a good price.
 
This is my perfect DosBox for WC3&4 maybe there is a chance to find out some special Keyboard settings for WC3 .. but it runs great anyway ..nice scaled too -- check it out 👍

i think it looks much better than the Windows Variants and you can choose many shaders in the config file too
 
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Sharpshooter said:
Again, the fact that your ship will always move in a straight line if you activate your afterburners with the right mouse button is a known issue as well.
Click to expand...
That's why I asked whether there is now a solution for the known problem.. Maybe a better dosbox or any settings ..no Joystick or ks version
 
It seems to be a limitation/oversight in their mouse controls - the same thing happens on original DOS hardware (verified it earlier). I'm not aware of any kind of workaround - I tried a couple of simple things with no luck (e.g. enabling both keyboard and mouse controls by manualy editing the config). I think fixing it may require patching the EXE, but that's far easier said than done, I'm afraid.
 
I've always played WC3 with a Win98 PC and had the problem.
Maybe should try messing with dosbox next time.
 
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