Best source port for old 486DX2

[TimV]

I have a 486DX2 (67Mhz) that I'm turning into an old-games computer. I have Doom/Doom II/Heretic and Hexen and I would very much like to put them on that computer. Which sourceport(s) would be the best choice? I don't care much for new level-designer features or even multiplay, since the computer is not connected to a network. I'm looking for speed, standard features (running the original games with sound, no graphical bugs etc, higher resolution/detail if the computer can handle it ;-)) and also compatibility (run several games with one source port if possible) Who can advise me? Thanks!

[Ultraviolet]

Boom, MBF, SMMU.

[Graf Zahl]

None. For that specification there are no source ports that support other games than Doom.


The only source ports that support those games are the more modern ones which also require much more system resources.

[TimV]

Oke. Thanks for your replies. I shall look into Boom, MBF, SMMU for Doom/Doom II.

[NiGHTMARE]

You might want to keep an eye on Eternity. It's system requirements shouldn't be too much higher than SMMU (since it's based on that port), and adding Heretic support is apparently a priority for the author.

[Rellik]

Just download a bunch of ports and try 'em all out. Then pick which one works best for ya.

[VinceDSS]

I would recommend just using the original DOS EXE ... as far as I know they offer the best performances on low end machines.

[Quasar]

DOS Eternity is specifically tuned to run best on 486 computers. Give it a try.

[Sephiroth]

boom never gave me any issues. however if you want demos and such used doom.exe

doom runs kinda slow on one of my 486 systems, but its a 486/66 cyrix system.

[VinceDSS]

I have an old 486 DX4/100 : Ultimate doom runs pretty ok, for Doom2 and Final Doom better use low details to have smooth gameplay.

[NiGHTMARE]

Sephiroth said:

boom never gave me any issues. however if you want demos and such used doom.exe

He seems to have the Doom basis already covered, he just needs something for Heretic & Hexen.

[kristus]

iirc. Legacy still updates it's Dos version.

[iori]

Legacy does heretic, I think the dos version is supported up to 1.40, so that should be fast-ish.

[Csonicgo]

Graf Zahl said:

None. For that specification there are no source ports that support other games than Doom.


The only source ports that support those games are the more modern ones which also require much more system resources.

http://www.angelfire.com/id/hexetic/

BS.

[Piezo]

Ultraviolet said:

Boom, MBF, SMMU.

What about prBoom? What is the difference or pros and cons between the two?

[Pirx]

prboom offers higher resolutions than doom's 320x200, but then a 486 will have problems with the framerate. so boom/mbf do the job.

[VinceDSS]

Boom and MBF run slower than the original EXEs

[Quasar]

MBF is not nearly as slow as BOOM. It adds some 486-specific tuning and also restores hardware pageflipping support to get rid of that nasty screen tearing (which can be perceived as slowness even when the framerate is the same). Eternity also keeps all this for its DOS version.

[deep]

Not to cause any trouble (well a little), why bother at all with 486 anything for code or use?

Heck if you live near Seattle,WA (USA) I'l l GIVE you a P200 with 128MB and everything else needed.

IOW, systems like that are worth nothing and can be obtained anywhere in the US for under $25 (or free if you happen to run into someone like me). Many companies would be very happy to give you their old computers that are just collecting dust in some closet. And don't forget schools.

[invictius]

On 29/10/2004 at 2:47 AM, NiGHTMARE said:

You might want to keep an eye on Eternity. It's system requirements shouldn't be too much higher than SMMU (since it's based on that port), and adding Heretic support is apparently a priority for the author.

Can't find the dos version anywhere.

[Linguica]

10 minutes ago, invictius said:

Can't find the dos version anywhere.

http://eternity.mancubus.net/ee-old/ee331b7-dos.zip

[printz]

I wonder how feasible would be to continue maintaining a DOS branch. Too bad it's 32 bit. I only have experience with weak old 16-bit. I wonder if I can use FreeDOS as a development platform. It would then grant me automatic support on any platforms that run DOSBox, such as Android.

[Graf Zahl]

2 hours ago, printz said:

It would then grant me automatic support on any platforms that run DOSBox, such as Android.

 

But what'd be the performance?

[Gez]

3 hours ago, printz said:

I wonder how feasible would be to continue maintaining a DOS branch. Too bad it's 32 bit. I only have experience with weak old 16-bit. I wonder if I can use FreeDOS as a development platform. It would then grant me automatic support on any platforms that run DOSBox, such as Android.

If your reasoning is that you should develop for a VM so that you can run the program on any platform where that VM exists, you need to switch your efforts to MochaDoom.

[printz]

That's just a side effect. I'm more curious in pushing the limits. But to be more serious, I won't waste much time with this. I thought it would sound ridiculous enough for you already.

[kb1]

Don't forget this MBF enhancement: Doom 'MBF' for DOS, Maintenance release 2.04

Also, if you have more than 8Mb memory, you might consider setting up a drive cache, like SmartDrv for MS-DOS (in high memory, of course). The manuals spoke against it, but on my 486-50, it improved performance somewhat, as the game pulled stuff from the iwad into memory. The iwad ends up being cached, which seemed to make the game a bit smoother at times.

Edited April 11, 2017 by kb1