A few people have been asking me how to set up DOSBox to run Warcraft 2, so I thought rather than re-type this a dozen times, I'd just post it on a blog and point everyone here. My son and I have spent a couple long nights in multiplayer mode, and have had a blast. I'm eager to get a bunch of the old crowd in a massive game and lose even more sleep. :)
(We all have the CDs, of course, so there's no questionable legality here.)
The Preliminaries
Note that if you need to install to a different drive or directory (for instance, I use E:\Emulation\DOS), make sure you change it in all appropriate places.Start with downloading DOSBox:
http://www.dosbox.com/
Then pick up the Warcraft archive from here:
http://www.theoldcomputer.com/roms/index.php?folder=PC/Abandonware-DOS/Games/w
(Registration required to download.)
Unzip DOSBox into C:\DOS and unzip Warcraft 2 into
C:\DOS\DRIVE_C\WAR2
Start DOSBox and type:
config -writeconf dosbox.cfg
Exit DOSBox, and open dosbox.cfg in notepad. Find line line that says "ipx=false" and change it to:
ipx=true
Then at the very end of the file under the [autoexec] section, add the following:
mount c C:\DOS\DRIVE_C
Now create a shortcut to DOSBox. Right click the shortcut, and select Properties. Change the target to read:
C:\DOS\DOSBox.exe -conf "C:\DOS\dosbox.cfg" -noconsole
And make sure the "Start in" field reads:
C:\DOS
Almost there!
Start DOSBox using the shortcut you just created.Switch to your virtual "C:" drive by typing:
C:
Then:
cd C:\WAR2
Run setup.exe and let it autodetect your sound card and MIDI settings. Save and exit.
Run war2.exe and enjoy!
To play multiplayer, before starting war2.exe, you'll need to start the IPX networking module. If you're hosting the game, type the following at a command prompt:
ipxnet startserver
If you're connecting to someone else's game, type:
ipxnet connect xx.xx.xx.xx(where xx.xx.xx.xx is the IP address of the person you're connecting to)
The setup seems like a bit of a chore the first time through, but it's really not that bad, and once it's done, you only have to launch the shortcut to open DOSBox and start playing. Any other old DOS games can be installed in a subdirectory of your C:\DOS\DRIVE_C folder and played using this configuration as well. I've used it for Epic Pinball, Doom, and Pizza Tycoon, among others.
If I've missed something or a typo slipped through, let me know.
