Game:

Star Wars: TIE Fighter (1994)

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Duration: 56:53

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In my last video I showcased DOOM2 running on DOSBox ECE with CRT shader. This time we're going to see how SVGA game will look like in the same environment.

As you can already see from the title, the game I will be running is a true classic (and best Star Wars game to date IMHO) - Tie Fighter from Lucas Arts. First we'll run the CD-ROM Collector's edition, which added SVGA (640x480) support, voiced briefings and comms during missions along with earlier released 'Defender of the Empire' expansion and new add-on - 'Enemies of the Empire' that premiered with that release. It also changed some cutscenes, as we will witness when we take a look at the first release of the game in the second part of this video.

Besides shader support other cool feature of DOSBox ECE is the integrated soundfont support as well as Roland MT-32 emulation. To check out that feature, we will run 1995 edition with General MIDI run through ChoriumRevA soundfont. Then in 1994 version we will use OPL3 chip of the SoundBlaster16 for that true retro feel.

For soundfont support DOSBox ECE uses fluidsynth, you will have to provide your preferred soundfont and point to it in dosbox.conf file - [midi] section, under "fluid.soundfont" entry. Also you will need to set your 'mididevice' to 'fluidsynth' (you can do that in the conf file as well, I changed it from the DOS prompt). For Roland emulation you will have to provide PCM and CONTROL ROM files and point to them in dosbox.conf file in the same section as above under "mt32.romdir" entry. Nice alternative to using MUNT, which often looses its registry entires under Windows 10 which means you have to reinstall it when it stops recognizing apps trying to hook up to it.

Overall I have to say I kind of like that CRT look in 640x480 mode even better than in 320x200 resolution, at least in this particular game, where the 3d models are only Gouraud shaded without any textures. In high res even with that shader the graphics looks sharper than in low res. In the next vid I might take a look on other SVGA game that uses textured 3d models...

Some links:

DOSBox ECE:
https://dosboxece.yesterplay.net/

GLSL shaders for DOSBox SVN (I used crt-lottes.tweaked.glsl):
https://github.com/tyrells/dosbox-svn-shaders

ChoriumRevA and other soundfonts:
https://www.philscomputerlab.com/general-midi-and-soundfonts.html

tiecdjoy patch for 1995 Collector's CD-ROM version:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0lKDHW-A6jqc1hsaFJ6ODN4SzA/view?usp=sharing

Crucial dosbox conf settings:
for 1995 Collector's CD-ROM version use cycles=50000-70000
for 1994 floppy version use cycles=40000
Game is speed sensitive, capital ships engagement range is influenced by the cycles count.

More DOS games running on DOSBox ECE will show up here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIku_oD9y-RA4Ts0IEi6ejmPnVx4sB85I

0:00 CD version • setup
0:46 CD • intro
4:05 CD • credits
7:52 CD • register
8:25 CD • tech room
12:59 CD • training simulator
14:10 CD • combat chamber
16:37 CD • new battle
16:53 CD • briefing
18:28 CD • B1M1
28:11 CD • debriefing
29:18 floppy version • setup
29:47 floppy • intro
32:55 floppy • credits
35:10 floppy • register
35:40 floppy • combat chamber
38:10 floppy • T/D mission 4 briefing
39:38 floppy • CC T/D M4
55:50 floppy • debriefing

#retro #dos #gaming