When Civ1 doesn't work on your windows version...

[jerdnar]

many thanks for DOSBox

 

[martx]

Hello! Do you know DosBox?
I have, works correct in window, able to be fullscreened (not as regular command prompt) but flashes 2X, and some out of 256 colors change (16-color 'dark blue' to 16c.'d.red' for example). Had anyone the same problem? Or do you know salvation?

 

[gwidon]

Is there a possibility to autimatically zoom the window in dosbox and scale the CIV graphics? It's just too small for me.

 

[Old MacDonald]

I wish they'd release Civilization on www.gog.com. And Civ II. And Railroad Tycoon. And every Microprose game ever, really.

 

[player1 fanatic]

It should be important to note that CivWin doesn't work with x64 version of Windows (XP/Vista/7), since it's 16bit application.

But DOS version with DOSBox works flawlessly. Even better if you find that sound patch (that adds support for some newer sound cards at that time) and use it to play with General MIDI (or SB16, if you want more classic sound).

 

[Whelkman]

You could also run Win 3 via DOSBox if you really wanted to.

The previously mentioned sound drivers can be gotten here, by the way:

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?p=5693645#post5693645

 

[Furrow]

Thanks for DOSBox. My civilization didn't work on Windows seven.

 

[GibsonS]

DOSBox works fine for me on Vista (well, as fine as anything works on Vista...), although it goes a bit funny when I try to go to full-screen. My theory is that it can't cope with my PC's screen being widescreen rather than the old-style 4:3.

 

[GibsonS]

btw, I should probably add that I reduce the screen resolution to the minimum crumbiest setting to run DOSBox, so it takes up as much space as possible (since full-screen doesn't work for me).

My gf's PC runs XP, and the original Civ runs fine on that without the need for DOSBox.

 

[Whelkman]

DOSBox [...] goes a bit funny when I try to go to full-screen. My theory is that it can't cope with my PC's screen being widescreen rather than the old-style 4:3.

What's going wrong is that DOSBox's output defaults don't match present day reality, don't auto-detect, and thus need adjusting for best results. To get proper 4:3 (horizontally letterboxed) output on a widescreen, you'll need to do the following in dosbox.conf:

• Set fullresolution to your monitor's native resolution*
• Set aspect to true
• Set output to something other than surface as that doesn't support scaling or aspect correction. OpenGL or DirectDraw are probably your best bets.**

* You could also set the resolution to the lowest supported resolution of the same aspect ratio, but modern 16:9 and 16:10 displays often support only one native resolution plus the standard set of VESA SVGA resolutions, which are nearly all 4:3, (which, as you've seen, scale to fill) with the exception of odd balls 1280x1024 (5:4) and 720x400 (9:5), which is a text mode. If you don't specify a resolution, what happens is the monitor selects (and scales) to the closest available resolution, which usually ends up being 640x480. If you're interested in which modes your monitor supports and don't have a manual handy, you can try an EDID reading program like MonitorInfo View.

** The openglnb mode disables bilinear filtering (blurring). If for some reason you can't get OpenGL to work and need to use ddraw but don't want blurring, the normal3x scaler (or anything else) will minimize the effect. Also, you might need to enable DirectDraw in dxdiag to get it to work in Vista (and maybe 7). There's also a chance you might need to install the DX9 Redistributable. YMMV and all that.

 

[stwils]

btw, I should probably add that I reduce the screen resolution to the minimum crumbiest setting to run DOSBox, so it takes up as much space as possible (since full-screen doesn't work for me).

My gf's PC runs XP, and the original Civ runs fine on that without the need for DOSBox.

She runs civ 1 DOS in xp without dos box?

Stwils

 

[michaelsander]

It works fine on my XP computer, not vista though

 

[fagianooo]

DosBox is wonderful, just discovered!

 

[dk1421]

AUGH!!! My husband just got me Civ Chronicles for Christmas because I've been DYING to play Civ 1 & 2 again, just like the old days. However, we can't get it to work at all!

I've downloaded Dosbox and even followed those directions for making a directory (boy, that brought back some bad memories) - and it sputtered some stuff out, but I did see the word "Windows" in it, so I think what I have must be a "Windows" version. I've done everything I've googled for the past 2 hours (and what I've read here) and I still can't get it to work. Even my hubby, a computer geek, can't get it to work either.

Any ideas? I'm really, really disappointed. I can't believe they would sell a box set and not have it set up to work at all.

I do have Windows 7... but I have tried to open the game telling it I had Windows 95 or 98, etc.

Also, I can't get Civ II to work either - nor any of the expansions that came out for Civ II. I'm afraid to even try Civ III.

Help?

 

[Whelkman]

dk1421,

Certain features cannot be used when CPUs are running in 64-bit mode. Among them are support for 16 bit operations, which are required for DOS and Windows prior to 95. You, like most others these days, are now using Windows Vista or 7 in 64 bit mode. For options to get old software like Civilization to run, please the second post in the thread linked below. Note that the "XP Mode" referenced there is not the same as clicking "Windows 95" for compatibility options.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=380390

I can't help much with Civ2. It's a native 32 bit, DirectX program so should theoretically run. Maybe the guys on the Civ2 board can help with this one.

 

[kelevra_slevin]

I use dosbox and it works great.