DOSBox Pure is finally released to the wild for public testing, it is a fork of the old windows emulator DOSBox. The difference is, it is intended to improved and simplify the use of DOS games in just 1-click. However, this is not a standalone product, as it it requires another third party frontend emulator called RetroArch or Libreto for it to run. Basically, it is just like an game engine for those mentioned emulator.
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One of the key feature of DOSBox pure is that you can easily launch the game directly from a zip achieve. Able you to mount CD images like .iso file from an achieves.
Using RetroArch
If you don’t have a RetroArch frontend emulator yet, you can download it from their official website at https://www.retroarch.com/. Download and install the program and launch it.
Now, first we need to find the installation directory of our RetroArch. To find the installation directory, search it on Cortana “RetroArch”, then right click, then click Find Location.
Now, you’ll find a shortcut for it, right click on it again and this time, click the Open file location. In our case, its C:\Users\erwin\AppData\Roaming\RetroArch.
Downloading DOSBox Pure
Now that we find the installation directory, we can now proceed on downloading the DOSBox Pure. You need to download the released binary files of DOSBox Pure at their Github release page at https://github.com/schellingb/dosbox-pure/releases or simply download it below.
- Windows XP, 7, 8, 10 (64-bit) – dosbox_pure_libretro-win64-0.9.zip
- Windows XP, 7, 8, 10 (32-bit) – dosbox_pure_libretro-win32-0.9.zip
The zip files contains two files dosbox_pure_libreto.info and dosbox_pure_libreto.dll.
You need to extract the dosbox_pure_libreto.dll file to the cores folder of RetroArch installation directory. In our case, we pasted it at C:\Users\erwin\AppData\Roaming\RetroArch\cores.
While the dosbox_pure_libreto.info must be extracted to the info folder. In our case, its C:\Users\erwin\AppData\Roaming\RetroArch\info.
After that, we are ready to go. You can now launch the RetroArch.
Downloading Games for DOSBox Pure
For adding games to the RetroArch, there are built-in games that you can download from the Content Downloader.
You just need to click Online Updater > Content Downloader. From here, you need to select DOS.
Then there are 4 free DOS games that you can download and play. For example, let’s download Wolfenstein 3D (1991).zip.
To play the game, you just need to go back to the main menu. Press Backspace to go back on previous pages. From here, select Load Content.
Then go to the Downloads.
Then from here, the downloaded Wolfenstein 3D (1991).zip are extracted. Select WOLF3D.EXE to start.
That’s it, you’ll be able to play the game you’ve downloaded. You can also clean the downloaded files by zipping the extracted Wolfenstein 3-D.
You can also download a zip games like this DOSBOX_XMEN.zip, just download it and paste it on the downloads folder. Then go to Load Contents > Downloads, then select DOSBOX_XMEN.zip.
Changing Keyboard Controls
To configure keyboard controls, simply go to Settings > Input > Port 1 Controls. From here, feel free to change the default key settings.
There are also annoying fast forward default key that when you press Space it will fast forward, you can change it at the Settings > Input > Hotkeys, then find the Fast-Forward (Toggle) and change it to something else.