14th March 2006, 1:59 PM
Darunia is likely talking about DOS though. This game is "ancient". The issue is how ancient, since as we know Darunia considers the N64 "ancient".
Which game Darunia?
By the way ABF, it is true that when you run a DOS game under the 9x architecture, it has direct access to the hardware, but there is enough OS there that the OS has keyboard access to certain commands. You can usually "tab" out of a DOS game, for example. Also, the OS is generally responsible for print screen functions even in a DOS game under Windows 9x. You can disable this in shortcut properties though.
I will note that print screening, even when the OS is in charge, is "iffy" at best when running a DOS game. It was originally intended for capturing text and sending it directly to the printer after all, and so the most you usually can get reliably from a DOS box under 9x is text. Otherwise, you tend to get garbage.
Under Windows NT, DOS does not even exist. All 16 bit applications, including early windows apps, are emulated. So, DOS games do not in fact gain direct access to the hardware. They have to go through a layer that tends to break a far too large number of old games. That is why I happen to keep a 9x OS around. So long as drivers are made to support it, I keep it for full compatibility. I may end up ditching it later as I've been hearing about a few open source projects intended to perfectly reproduce a 9x OS only with added support for modern day thingies. They tend to be very ruthless about making sure developers have never seen MS source code to make absolutely sure there are no laws being broken.
In the future, there are going to be further compatibility issues. The old standards are not just being added to, they are being out and out replaced altogether, and not many major companies seem too concerned about keeping legacy standards in their hardware or software. Soon 32 bit software will need emulation to be operated. For now though, the current standards are still in place, so enjoy the fact that you can run your games on your hardware for now :D.
Anyway, back on topic, I have to say that even DOSBox (which offers, to an extent, superior DOS emulation to what XP normally provides) does not really solve the print screen problem. I have attempted on many occasions to snap pictures of Kingdom O Magic, and the best I've been able to attain is a black image that actually had some garbled outlines of objects in one of the image layers in the game.
Which game Darunia?
By the way ABF, it is true that when you run a DOS game under the 9x architecture, it has direct access to the hardware, but there is enough OS there that the OS has keyboard access to certain commands. You can usually "tab" out of a DOS game, for example. Also, the OS is generally responsible for print screen functions even in a DOS game under Windows 9x. You can disable this in shortcut properties though.
I will note that print screening, even when the OS is in charge, is "iffy" at best when running a DOS game. It was originally intended for capturing text and sending it directly to the printer after all, and so the most you usually can get reliably from a DOS box under 9x is text. Otherwise, you tend to get garbage.
Under Windows NT, DOS does not even exist. All 16 bit applications, including early windows apps, are emulated. So, DOS games do not in fact gain direct access to the hardware. They have to go through a layer that tends to break a far too large number of old games. That is why I happen to keep a 9x OS around. So long as drivers are made to support it, I keep it for full compatibility. I may end up ditching it later as I've been hearing about a few open source projects intended to perfectly reproduce a 9x OS only with added support for modern day thingies. They tend to be very ruthless about making sure developers have never seen MS source code to make absolutely sure there are no laws being broken.
In the future, there are going to be further compatibility issues. The old standards are not just being added to, they are being out and out replaced altogether, and not many major companies seem too concerned about keeping legacy standards in their hardware or software. Soon 32 bit software will need emulation to be operated. For now though, the current standards are still in place, so enjoy the fact that you can run your games on your hardware for now :D.
Anyway, back on topic, I have to say that even DOSBox (which offers, to an extent, superior DOS emulation to what XP normally provides) does not really solve the print screen problem. I have attempted on many occasions to snap pictures of Kingdom O Magic, and the best I've been able to attain is a black image that actually had some garbled outlines of objects in one of the image layers in the game.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)