this post was submitted on 23 Sep 2025
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Setting up a DOS/Win98 system for gaming (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 3 weeks ago by bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works to c/retrogaming@lemmy.world
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I saw a post about someone in my neighborhood looking for a windows 98 machine to play some old games and DOS games.

I messaged them (because I'm always up for helping people enjoy old games) and said I have a spare PC, that can run emulation and will likely be better for them to play their old games on (and a lot cheaper than the scalper prices on old machines now).

I planned to use either Mint/PopOS, and set it up so the computer will start DOSbox-x right away, to make it easy as possible for this person (I think they are not super computer literate but probably know how to navigate DOS and basic point and click instructions)

My question is, should I set it up with dosbox, or a virtual machine running Win98?

Any other tips welcome :)

Also, most of the games they want to play are FPS, like Doom, Duke Nukem, Redneck rampage, blood, and also some games like NFL challenge (DOS)

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[–] RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world 4 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (3 children)

Emulation is generally not very good for newer DOS games, primarily because DOSBox is really bad with anything 3D. Its emulation of 3dfx cards might as well be non-existent.

In this case, it actually would be better for them to play on genuine hardware.

[–] weirdo_from_space@sh.itjust.works 3 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

There are PCem and 86Box.

[–] xyzzy@lemmy.today 3 points 3 weeks ago

Yeah. You can use Dosbox for most things, and Wine will handle some things, but if you want to play Windows titles and emulate specific configurations and 3D cards, etc., you should look into one of these.

[–] ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.net 3 points 3 weeks ago

DOSBox-X is supposed to have 3DFX support, though I've never tried it myself.

[–] bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Do you consider quake 3d? Because dosbox runs it perfectly for me..

[–] RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world 4 points 3 weeks ago

Quake and Doom are early enough to be okay. But for later games, like Elder Scrolls Adventures Redguard, DOSBox has a lot of problems with those titles.

[–] Redkey@programming.dev 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

I think that when RHoI wrote "3D", they meant "hardware accelerated 3D". Many early 3D DOS games either did their 3D entirely in software, or included hardware acceleration support as a kind of optional bonus. Software 3D shouldn't give DOSBox much more trouble than most 2D games. The original release of Quake didn't even have any accelerator support; it was patched in later.