Runnin mods for Build games (Duke Nukem, Blood, Redneck Rampage)

[Koko Ricky]

So, with so much support for Doom modding (the release of the source code being particularly significant), running a Doom mod on Windows 7 is as easy as dragging the .wad or .pk3 file into GZDoom.exe, or whatever source port you use. I use DosBox to run Build games and can't really do the same thing. I downloaded a mod for Blood, for instance, and of course if I drag the file into Blood.exe it won't work because I need to use DosBox to run the .exe. Does anyone know a practical solution to this?

[Creaphis]

Do Build games use command-line options like Doom? There should be a few different ways to tack on a command line with DosBox. Make sure that the mod is inside the mounted directory. If you use a front-end, write the command line in the same text box as the file path to the game executable. If you just use DosBox on its own, just type the command lines like you would in Dos. If you don't know the command lines, there's probably some wiki you can search.

[Koko Ricky]

I can't seem to get the prompt to work properly when I use DosBox. It never seems to recognize my hard drive, I think it has to do with it being too big for DOS to understand. I remember messing with it before and I didn't really understand the instructions about mounting. Couldn't ever get it to work.

[Marcaek]

I'm pretty sure there's windows-compatible ports for at least most build engine games. If the mod is just a GRP file add /g********.grp to the command line, replacing the stars with the filename of course. If there's a custom game.CON file do the same but use /x

[Creaphis]

GoatLord said:

I can't seem to get the prompt to work properly when I use DosBox. It never seems to recognize my hard drive, I think it has to do with it being too big for DOS to understand. I remember messing with it before and I didn't really understand the instructions about mounting. Couldn't ever get it to work.

In that case, you should definitely use a front-end. I use D.O.G, but there are plenty more to choose from.

[The Ultimate DooMer]

Use .bat files to run the command line stuff, that's what I always used for Duke mods. In fact you could even edit the user.con file to include the map(s) you want (assuming they're in .map format) and run the game normally.

[Kirby]

GoatLord said:

I can't seem to get the prompt to work properly when I use DosBox. It never seems to recognize my hard drive, I think it has to do with it being too big for DOS to understand. I remember messing with it before and I didn't really understand the instructions about mounting. Couldn't ever get it to work.

Whenever you run a mount on DosBox you're not forced to mount your entire drive, just the folder you want to use for the game. For example, if I choose to mount Blood onto DosBox then I just use "mount c c:\games\Blood". In DosBox that means that you have now created a C: drive which encompasses nothing more than the folder C:\games\Blood, so you don't need to cd\ into different folders. Once you switch over to C: you can just run blood.exe with whatever command line options you should need.

Just looked through the Readme file I got with the copy I bought on GOG and I don't see any mention of parameters used to load custom levels or the like.

[Blastfrog]

Marcaek said:

I'm pretty sure there's windows-compatible ports for at least most build engine games.

In case you were unaware, Blood is one of the few Build engine games that (very unfortunately) don't have any sort of port, due to the source code being unavailable.

[Koko Ricky]

Thanks for the advice, it...almost worked. I don't think any of your are at fault, it was the fucking mod I downloaded. Because there's so much support for Doom modding, it's pretty easy to run one. It's either a .wad or .pk3 and you just drag-and-drop. This Blood mod I downloaded contained a whole mess of files that came in two zips (the original mod and somewhat hefty update), and confusingly enough, DosBox and non-Dosbox versions of the .bat and .exe. I haven't gotten it to work yet.

[Aliotroph?]

I've never played Blood, but DN3D and RR let you run maps through the setup program as long as those maps were in the same folder as the game.

It seems to be the best way to mount drives in DOSbox is "mount c c:\games" or whatever your equivalent folder full of DOS games is. Many old games preferred to live either in c:\games or c:\<gamename> so it works best.