Launch Windows 3.1 with a double-click (+ games!)

[Narushima]

I've packaged a DOSBox folder with Windows 3.1 pre-installed. All you have to do is download the archive, unzip it and double-click the dosbox file. You will be greeted with this:

A fully functionnal Windows 3.1 install, with sound and graphics drivers already in place.
As you can see, I have added a few games, including registered versions of the Exile trilogy and some classics.

If you crave more old, janky games, you will find a huge collection here.
Some games might require more or fewer colours, and you can modify that in "Windows Setup" (don't go too high or the display will be mangled and you won't be able to go back).

If you want it to start in full screen automatically, edit the dosbox.conf file to change "fullscreen=false" to "fullscreen=true".

Electroman, aka Polish Terminator​	Pilot a paper plane across a vast house full of obstacles in Glider (Enter key to boost!)​

Crystal Caliburn, a quality pinball game from forgotten Japanes studio LittleWing (they're still around!)​	Dare to Dream, a point-and-click game for kids with a light-hearted story​

Classic rogue-like Castle of the Winds (I & II)​	In Klotski, the goal is to free the red piece. Easier said than done.​

download the archive

 

[Daemongar]

Put Civilization II on there and it's a deal!

 

[Narushima]

Put Civilization II on there and it's a deal!

You can very easily do that yourself. Just drop whatever game you want in the "games" folder, then launch the emulation, and it's there, under C:/games.
You might have to install the game, depending on what you get, but otherwise, to create a shortcut, you have to, in Windows 3.1, make sure the "Games" folder (as seesn above) is selected, then File > New... > Program Item, then browse to the executable, name it in the Description field, and click OK. The funny thing is, you can't rename a shortcut. So if you made a typo, you have to delete the shortcut and create a new one.
Just creating these few shortcuts made me appreciate how easy things are now.

 

[Don Peste]

I wonder... Would this work on Android with Magic DOSBox?

 

[Hag]

Wow, looking very nice. But does it have the voice recognition software to display the clock (don't know how it was called, just remember my father was really fond of it) ?

 

[Hag]

I wonder... Would this work on Android with Magic DOSBox?

I for one would not mind a win3.1 themed mobile interface instead of this bloated disaster of Android.

 

[Narushima]

But does it have the voice recognition software to display the clock

Yes. Please say "Display clock" into a microphone until it works.

I've never tried DOSBox on Android.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Put Civilization II on there and it's a deal!

if you like civ2, check out freeciv
http://www.freeciv.org/

 

[Nifft Batuff]

Nice. Maybe this could be moved in the emulator thread?

 

[Narushima]

Updated first post, I've added a few games.
Crystal Caliburn slows down after launch; just wait a few seconds and it'll be fine after that.

 

[Naraya]

Whoa, I had NO idea Electro Body / Electro Man had a Windows 3.1 version!

 

[Narushima]

Whoa, I had NO idea Electro Body / Electro Man had a Windows 3.1 version!

It's simply DOS, but of course those work perfectly well in Windows 3. I included it because I'm quite fond of it.

 

[lightbane]

Gave this a quick spin. For some reason sound doesn't work for the Glider game, and trying to load a save for any game (and saving I guess) causes the whole thing to freeze. Any ideas?

 

[Kruno]

Are there any viruses?

 

[Narushima]

Any ideas?

Launch "Windows Setup" and change display to 800*600 64K colors LF (Keep current drivers, then restart, which takes about three seconds).
I modified it so it worked with Dare to Dream, but I've reuploaded it with those settings by default, it's probably better.

Generally, if a game has issues, it's because of that setting.

Are there any viruses?

Plenty.

 

[Suissant]

Is the original Exile trilogy better than the remakes? I played some hours of Avernum and was liking it enough but then I remembered that I liked the original Geneforge infinitely more than the remake.

 

[Toady]

Is the original Exile trilogy better than the remakes? I played some hours of Avernum and was liking it enough but then I remembered that I liked the original Geneforge infinitely more than the remake.

Nethergate > Nethergate: Resurrection
Exile > Avernum > Avernum Remake
Geneforge > Geneforge Mutagen

 

[Modron]

Really the only thing the Avernums have over Exiles is some Quality of Life improvements like automated quest journals. The shift to whatever projection style Avernum has over the top down style of Exile led to a downgrade in exploration before secrets were logical and where you thought they should be or maybe something you thought bore checking because there could be a cavity there instead of Avernum's just find a little button on the world. Party size was cut down from 6 to 4, encounters got smaller, some skills were paired down into singular skills, other skills including most(all?) hidden ones were removed entirely, and probably more shit I can't recall offhand anymore (less spells?).

You might prefer the Avernum graphics to Exiles but neither were anything to write home about so you might as well test Exile first see if you can abide them. Content wise they should be mostly the same unlike Nethergate Resurrection they didn't cut decent amounts out in the process of remaking it.

 

[Ladonna]

This is great. Thanks Narushima I might attach a USB floppy drive as well and try installing my old games straight from disk.

 

[Rincewind]

This is good stuff. Not sure if you're familiar with the eXoWin3x collection? They're aiming to collect all Windows 3.x games, so probably these are included as well (haven't checked myself).

 

[Narushima]

This is good stuff. Not sure if you're familiar with the eXoWin3x collection? They're aiming to collect all Windows 3.x games, so probably these are included as well (haven't checked myself).

Yep, I know about the eXo collections. I got the DOS one with a bunch of games.

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

Klotski, Chip's Challenge and Exile 1 were part of my childhood! I still remember Exile 1's startup sounds. *zooooom!* *bergh!*