So, I've discovered something that makes me very happy. Using the App DosBox Turbo and the companion app DosBox Manager, I can load in Master of Orion and play it extremely smoothly on both my phone and tablet. The original game UI is practically optimized for tablet play. The only small adjustment I'd like to see would be a way to zoom in and out more easily. Looking into things, I can easily get MOO2 running on my phone via DosBox as well. I'm guessing that via GOG I'll be able to find a lot of turn-based DOS game that I can easily run on my android phone/tablet for some high quality gaming.
The SSI game Dungeon Hack isn't turn-based but works really well for this, as does the Eye of the Beholder series due to the click-friendly UI and plays similarly. Use Absolute touch settings and you're there.
MrVyngaard on
"now I've got this mental image of caucuses as cafeteria tables in prison, and new congressmen having to beat someone up on inauguration day." - Raiden333
Yeah. I've realized that old games that you could play entirely through use of the mouse + left click are basically pre-optimized UIwise for tablet play. Especially since mouse sensitivity and accuracy wasn't as good when these games came out. I hope the DOSBox on android adds some better zoom functions, because at that point the old games are pretty much made for touch interface.
Possibly dumb question: are there any emulators that will let you run iOS mobile apps on an Android phone? Lots of articles mention iEMU and Cider, but I can't figure out if either of those are even real, let alone find any safe-looking download sources.
The Adventure Time card game is on sale right now, it's a pretty decent time killer.
The adventure time card game is a rapaciously freemium app that you have to buy.
I find it offensive in its iniquity.
Which is a shame as at its core it is a good game but utterly compromised by the Skinner Box levers it festoons all over itself in a quest to make you fork over money for gems.
Yeah. I've realized that old games that you could play entirely through use of the mouse + left click are basically pre-optimized UIwise for tablet play. Especially since mouse sensitivity and accuracy wasn't as good when these games came out. I hope the DOSBox on android adds some better zoom functions, because at that point the old games are pretty much made for touch interface.
So I am having a blast playing Master of Orion (MOO) on both my tablet and phone. I'm hoping that I can get some more great turn-based classics running smoothly on these two devices as well. In addition to MOO, I've got the following as my current list of turn-based DOSBox capable games that are likely to have an interface that adapts nicely to touch-based systems:
Panzer General
Master of Orion 2
Civilization I
Colonization
Heroes of Might and Magic II
Heroes of Might and Magic
I've considered adding X-Com, but I'm not sure how finicky the facing functions will be and if that will require precise cursor placement.
I don't really remember what games were left click only.
Missionforce Cyberstorm 1
Space Hulk 1
Steel Panthers
Empire Deluxe
Jagged Alliance
King's Bounty
Lords of the Realm I & II
Perfect General
Solitaire's Journey
Yeah. I've realized that old games that you could play entirely through use of the mouse + left click are basically pre-optimized UIwise for tablet play. Especially since mouse sensitivity and accuracy wasn't as good when these games came out. I hope the DOSBox on android adds some better zoom functions, because at that point the old games are pretty much made for touch interface.
So I am having a blast playing Master of Orion (MOO) on both my tablet and phone. I'm hoping that I can get some more great turn-based classics running smoothly on these two devices as well. In addition to MOO, I've got the following as my current list of turn-based DOSBox capable games that are likely to have an interface that adapts nicely to touch-based systems:
Panzer General
Master of Orion 2
Civilization I
Colonization
Heroes of Might and Magic II
Heroes of Might and Magic
I've considered adding X-Com, but I'm not sure how finicky the facing functions will be and if that will require precise cursor placement.
Does anyone else have some recommendations?
I forgot all about DOSBox after buying it long ago. Really should figure out how to do all this again and load up those games you posted.
Yeah. I've realized that old games that you could play entirely through use of the mouse + left click are basically pre-optimized UIwise for tablet play. Especially since mouse sensitivity and accuracy wasn't as good when these games came out. I hope the DOSBox on android adds some better zoom functions, because at that point the old games are pretty much made for touch interface.
Purchase/Install Master of Orion. I will assume you used the GOG version
MOO should have installed to a folder called C:\GOG Games\Master of Orion 1 or similar
Make a copy of the entire Master of Orion 1 folder and rename it MOO
Delete the DOSBOX subfolder and all .txt files in the MOO folder.
save the file to the MOO folder
Plug the android device into your computer and connect as USB.
Create a folder in the root directory called DOS on your android device
Copy the MOO folder on your PC into the DOS folder on your android device.
Open up DosBox Manager
Click on the + button to create a new game profile. It should take you to the "edit profile" dialogue. If you need to get back here you touch and hold the newly created profile icon until the menu options appear.
Name the new profile "Master of Orion" or whatever name you want to use. This is just for your organization/naming desires. This step can be done after the edit profile is complete
When at the "Edit profile" dialogue, click on the "DosBox Settings (advanced DosBox Config)" option.
Scroll down and click on "Autoexec (Edit the autoexec.bat)" option.
Enter the following (some of it should still be there):
mount c: /storage/emulated/0/DOS/
c:
cd MOO
orion
Note that on the first line there is a space between the c: and the /storage/emulated/0/DOS/ text.
Then press OK.
The following are the advanced config settings I used to optimize my gameplay. * ones seem important:
Memory Size: 256 MB (min 16 MB)*
Frame Skip: 0*
Cycles: 4000*
Machine Type: svga_s3*
CPU Core: dynamic*
CPU Type: auto*
Sound Device: SoundBlaster 16*
Audio Freq Rate: 44100 Hz*
Audio Blocksize: 1024
MT-32 Midi Emulation: YES*
PC Speaker: YES*
XMS Support: YES
EMS Support: YES
UMB Support: YES
You can use the "Back button" on your android device to navigate back to the higher level on the edit config menu. Anything I don't mention I left as the default setting.
The following are the config settings I used:
Input Mode: TouchScreen Mouse
Mouse Tracking: Absolute (experimental)
Screen Scaling: YES
GPU Rendering: YES
Rotation Settings: Landscape
Keep Aspect Ratio: YES
Enable Sound: YES
Turbo VGA: YES
Turbo Audio: YES
Click back on your android device. It should take you back out to the DosBox Manager menu.
Click and hold on the MOO icon to bring up the menu.
Click on Change Icon
Select the image I had you copy to your MOO folder back up in step 7.
MOO is now set up. Run it through DosBox Manager. If it is running fast or slow, try adjusting the Cycles.
I don't really remember what games were left click only.
Missionforce Cyberstorm 1
Space Hulk 1
Steel Panthers
Empire Deluxe
Jagged Alliance
King's Bounty
Lords of the Realm I & II
Perfect General
Solitaire's Journey
Hey, someone besides me that played Perfect General. :P (well mostly 2 in my case)
Purchase/Install Master of Orion. I will assume you used the GOG version
MOO should have installed to a folder called C:\GOG Games\Master of Orion 1 or similar
Make a copy of the entire Master of Orion 1 folder and rename it MOO
Delete the DOSBOX subfolder and all .txt files in the MOO folder.
save the file to the MOO folder
Plug the android device into your computer and connect as USB.
Create a folder in the root directory called DOS on your android device
Copy the MOO folder on your PC into the DOS folder on your android device.
Open up DosBox Manager
Click on the + button to create a new game profile. It should take you to the "edit profile" dialogue. If you need to get back here you touch and hold the newly created profile icon until the menu options appear.
Name the new profile "Master of Orion" or whatever name you want to use. This is just for your organization/naming desires. This step can be done after the edit profile is complete
When at the "Edit profile" dialogue, click on the "DosBox Settings (advanced DosBox Config)" option.
Scroll down and click on "Autoexec (Edit the autoexec.bat)" option.
Enter the following (some of it should still be there):
mount c: /storage/emulated/0/DOS/
c:
cd MOO
orion
Note that on the first line there is a space between the c: and the /storage/emulated/0/DOS/ text.
Then press OK.
The following are the advanced config settings I used to optimize my gameplay. * ones seem important:
Memory Size: 256 MB (min 16 MB)*
Frame Skip: 0*
Cycles: 4000*
Machine Type: svga_s3*
CPU Core: dynamic*
CPU Type: auto*
Sound Device: SoundBlaster 16*
Audio Freq Rate: 44100 Hz*
Audio Blocksize: 1024
MT-32 Midi Emulation: YES*
PC Speaker: YES*
XMS Support: YES
EMS Support: YES
UMB Support: YES
You can use the "Back button" on your android device to navigate back to the higher level on the edit config menu. Anything I don't mention I left as the default setting.
The following are the config settings I used:
Input Mode: TouchScreen Mouse
Mouse Tracking: Absolute (experimental)
Screen Scaling: YES
GPU Rendering: YES
Rotation Settings: Landscape
Keep Aspect Ratio: YES
Enable Sound: YES
Turbo VGA: YES
Turbo Audio: YES
Click back on your android device. It should take you back out to the DosBox Manager menu.
Click and hold on the MOO icon to bring up the menu.
Click on Change Icon
Select the image I had you copy to your MOO folder back up in step 7.
MOO is now set up. Run it through DosBox Manager. If it is running fast or slow, try adjusting the Cycles.
So I went and did this today. Booted it up and running fine, man now I want to reload my Battletech Games again.
Now just think about how far computing power has gone, when you can carry more computing power in your pocket than that old monolith that took up at entire desk, back in the day.
I got me a Pixel C, and am having lots of fun with Titans Quest. While the keyboard does work for inputting the name, and a key is a shortcut for healing, wasd or the arrows do not control the character, sad to say.
Grabbed Planetscape to re-complete my Beamdog suite, everything looks and performs so damn well on this thing it's silly!
I took a second look at getting Master of Orion 2 working on my phone and tablet and I have succeeded. The game runs smoothly and responsively on both devices. I need to make greater use of the in-game zoom function on my phone, but it isn't too frustrating. The key in addition to modified config settings was modifying the gestures to make a double tap equal right click. I can share my settings again if anyone is interested.
I took a second look at getting Master of Orion 2 working on my phone and tablet and I have succeeded. The game runs smoothly and responsively on both devices. I need to make greater use of the in-game zoom function on my phone, but it isn't too frustrating. The key in addition to modified config settings was modifying the gestures to make a double tap equal right click. I can share my settings again if anyone is interested.
Sure I'd love seeing your tweaks to get these games working. Plus it is nice not having to look all over the internet to figure these things out. I never realized they have the double tap to right click option... Now I really need to sit down and play with DOSBox again.
A few decent games in there. Her Story is supposed to be great though I'm not sure how good the mobile version is. I played through Grim Fandango entirely on my phone with few issues as well. Totally worth the $1 tier.
Purchase/Install Master of Orion 2. I will assume you used the GOG version
***Optional, but recommended*** download an install the community 1.50.72 patch which you can find at moo2mod.com. Instructions are in the readme for the patch.
***Optional, recommended for experienced players looking for better balanced races and more challenging single player gameplay*** download an install the ICE mod which you can also find at moo2mod.com. Instructions are in the readme for the mod.
MOO2 should have installed to a folder called C:\GOG Games\Master of Orion 2 or similar
Make a copy of the entire Master of Orion 2 folder and rename it MOO2
Delete the DOSBOX subfolder and all .txt files in the MOO2 folder.
save the file to the MOO2 folder
Plug the android device into your computer and connect as USB.
Create a folder in the root directory called DOS on your android device
Copy the MOO2 folder on your PC into the DOS folder on your android device.
Open up DosBox Manager
Click on the + button to create a new game profile. It should take you to the "edit profile" dialogue. If you need to get back here you touch and hold the newly created profile icon until the menu options appear.
Name the new profile "Master of Orion 2" or whatever name you want to use. This is just for your organization/naming desires. This step can be done after the edit profile is complete
When at the "Edit profile" dialogue, click on the "DosBox Settings (advanced DosBox Config)" option.
Scroll down and click on "Autoexec (Edit the autoexec.bat)" option.
Enter the following (some of it should still be there):
mount c: /storage/emulated/0/DOS/
c:
cd MOO2
orion2
Note that on the first line there is a space between the c: and the /storage/emulated/0/DOS/ text.
Then press OK.
The following are the advanced config settings I used to optimize my gameplay. * ones seem important:
Memory Size: 256 MB *
Frame Skip: 0*
Cycles: auto*
Machine Type: svga_s3*
CPU Core: dynamic*
CPU Type: auto*
Sound Device: SoundBlaster 16*
Audio Freq Rate: 44100 Hz*
Audio Blocksize: 2048
Audio Pre-Buffer: 100
MT-32 Midi Emulation: YES*
PC Speaker: YES*
XMS Support: YES
EMS Support: YES
UMB Support: YES
You can use the "Back button" on your android device to navigate back to the higher level on the edit config menu. Anything I don't mention I left as the default setting.
The following are the config settings I used:
Input Mode: TouchScreen Mouse
Mouse Tracking: Absolute (experimental)
Gesture Mapping: Single Tap Action = Left Click, Double-tap action = right click, Two Finger Action = None Enable Long Press = YES ****you can configure these as you desire****
Screen Scaling: YES
GPU Rendering: YES
Rotation Settings: Landscape
Keep Aspect Ratio: YES
Enable Sound: YES
Turbo Cycles: YES
Turbo VGA: YES
Turbo Audio: YES
Click back on your android device. It should take you back out to the DosBox Manager menu.
Click and hold on the MOO2 icon to bring up the menu.
Click on Change Icon
Select the image I had you copy to your MOO2 folder back up in step 7.
MOO2 is now set up. Run it through DosBox Manager. If it is running fast or slow, try adjusting the Cycles.
I find there's a slight delay on loading DosBox, but it then runs fairly smoothly. I have had a few more crashes of DosBox for MoO 2, so save often. Also when exiting the program, use the DosBox menu bar and click exit there rather than exiting the game within the DosBox shell, since that will just kick you out to the Dos command line.
Some further comments: after a period of adaptation, I can play the game pretty smoothly on my S6 phone. Combat and ship design is the most fiddly parts and both are playable without excessive frustation. Playing on a tablet is civilization.
+1
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BrodyThe WatchThe First ShoreRegistered Userregular
I mentioned this in the Duelyst thread, but while waiting for them to get around to building an Android app for the game, its playable on your phone through the browser client.
"I will write your name in the ruin of them. I will paint you across history in the color of their blood."
Brainwave: Tailored advertising applied to the Play Store. It's run by Google, right? The megacorp that's pillaged every orifice of my privacy? Who've tracked my email and web searches for over a decade? Who knows my age, sex, employment and employment history, medical and mental health history, geographical history, marital and family status, cat ownership status, education level and history, techie ability and ownership, prior purchases, game-related searches going back in time, and who knows what else based on deep correlation-based algorithms not released to the public?
So why don't they use that shit to sift out which games I might like?
This just occurred to me as, trying to sift through the shovelware, I look at the "top X" rankings and am confronted with an unholy mix of princess dress-up and slot machine games.
Anyone know the story on the Legends of Yore guy? He's got a game that's considered to be pretty okay in a sea of shit, but he's abandoned it. There's just a demo version with a link to buy a full version; the link is broken and there's no full to buy; and the game is fucked anyway because of a bug with the fonts that I imagine would be trivial to fix (the fonts are just outlines of letters).
He could be making money for a very little effort to (1) allow people to buy his game and (2) fix a font bug. He has a blog and is alive, but ... doesn't do these two things. It reminds me of the Powder guy, but at least he rose from the dead briefly to fix the Android port and will still let people give him money for the full version.
Edit: Actually, the Powder guy fixed Android and just released it free along with the source code. A hero for these challenging times.
You know what, I'm going to just email him. I'll report back. He lives in Scotland, so I may need to go to Scotland to finish this mission. Someone please start crowdfunding for my travel costs. I require a great deal of haggis, so factor that in.
You know what, I'm going to just email him. I'll report back. He lives in Scotland, so I may need to go to Scotland to finish this mission. Someone please start crowdfunding for my travel costs. I require a great deal of haggis, so factor that in.
Haggis? What about Scotch?
--
I am quite pleased with the following titles and play them on the regular:
Burrito Bison
Played it twice through on Kongregate, but the Android version is superior and has loads of extra content (new characters, other gummy bears).
Gems of War
Amazing twist on Match3! The CCG aspect brings a lot of awesomeness to the concept. There is also a lot of content and doesn't nickel and dime you at all.
Card Thief
This got a lot of buzz on iOS, because Apple promoted them heavily. The Android release is pretty much identical to the iOS version. It's a neat little game with a very tidy artstyle that warms my soul.
Burrito Bison is great, thank you for the recommendation.
Nice! The great graphics and ridiculous premise are fun, but the actual gameplay (simple act of launching your guy and tap the screen to hit fleeing gummy bears) is smooth as butter (or as a squashed gummy bear).
Posts
The SSI game Dungeon Hack isn't turn-based but works really well for this, as does the Eye of the Beholder series due to the click-friendly UI and plays similarly. Use Absolute touch settings and you're there.
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
The adventure time card game is a rapaciously freemium app that you have to buy.
I find it offensive in its iniquity.
Which is a shame as at its core it is a good game but utterly compromised by the Skinner Box levers it festoons all over itself in a quest to make you fork over money for gems.
I made a game, it has penguins in it. It's pay what you like on Gumroad.
Currently Ebaying Nothing at all but I might do in the future.
So I am having a blast playing Master of Orion (MOO) on both my tablet and phone. I'm hoping that I can get some more great turn-based classics running smoothly on these two devices as well. In addition to MOO, I've got the following as my current list of turn-based DOSBox capable games that are likely to have an interface that adapts nicely to touch-based systems:
Panzer General
Master of Orion 2
Civilization I
Colonization
Heroes of Might and Magic II
Heroes of Might and Magic
I've considered adding X-Com, but I'm not sure how finicky the facing functions will be and if that will require precise cursor placement.
Does anyone else have some recommendations?
Missionforce Cyberstorm 1
Space Hulk 1
Steel Panthers
Empire Deluxe
Jagged Alliance
King's Bounty
Lords of the Realm I & II
Perfect General
Solitaire's Journey
I forgot all about DOSBox after buying it long ago. Really should figure out how to do all this again and load up those games you posted.
Steam: betsuni7
I'd love that. Unless others would find it interesting, guess we could do it in messages.
Steam: betsuni7
Oh that's a damn good idea. I know what I'm trying.
Steps behind the spoiler. Note this involves spending money.
mount c: /storage/emulated/0/DOS/
c:
cd MOO
orion
Note that on the first line there is a space between the c: and the /storage/emulated/0/DOS/ text.
Then press OK.
Hey, someone besides me that played Perfect General. :P (well mostly 2 in my case)
They made finishing the
So I went and did this today. Booted it up and running fine, man now I want to reload my Battletech Games again.
Steam: betsuni7
Sad news from me: I had to uninstall Titan Quest because it did not run well enough on my Samsung Galaxy Tab and I could not get past the controls.
3DSFF: 5026-4429-6577
Grabbed Planetscape to re-complete my Beamdog suite, everything looks and performs so damn well on this thing it's silly!
Sure I'd love seeing your tweaks to get these games working. Plus it is nice not having to look all over the internet to figure these things out. I never realized they have the double tap to right click option... Now I really need to sit down and play with DOSBox again.
Steam: betsuni7
A few decent games in there. Her Story is supposed to be great though I'm not sure how good the mobile version is. I played through Grim Fandango entirely on my phone with few issues as well. Totally worth the $1 tier.
SteamID: edgruberman GOG Galaxy: EdGruberman
Steps behind the spoiler. Note this involves spending money.
mount c: /storage/emulated/0/DOS/
c:
cd MOO2
orion2
Note that on the first line there is a space between the c: and the /storage/emulated/0/DOS/ text.
Then press OK.
I find there's a slight delay on loading DosBox, but it then runs fairly smoothly. I have had a few more crashes of DosBox for MoO 2, so save often. Also when exiting the program, use the DosBox menu bar and click exit there rather than exiting the game within the DosBox shell, since that will just kick you out to the Dos command line.
The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson
Steam: Korvalain
So why don't they use that shit to sift out which games I might like?
This just occurred to me as, trying to sift through the shovelware, I look at the "top X" rankings and am confronted with an unholy mix of princess dress-up and slot machine games.
He could be making money for a very little effort to (1) allow people to buy his game and (2) fix a font bug. He has a blog and is alive, but ... doesn't do these two things. It reminds me of the Powder guy, but at least he rose from the dead briefly to fix the Android port and will still let people give him money for the full version.
Edit: Actually, the Powder guy fixed Android and just released it free along with the source code. A hero for these challenging times.
Haggis? What about Scotch?
--
I am quite pleased with the following titles and play them on the regular:
Burrito Bison
Played it twice through on Kongregate, but the Android version is superior and has loads of extra content (new characters, other gummy bears).
Gems of War
Amazing twist on Match3! The CCG aspect brings a lot of awesomeness to the concept. There is also a lot of content and doesn't nickel and dime you at all.
Card Thief
This got a lot of buzz on iOS, because Apple promoted them heavily. The Android release is pretty much identical to the iOS version. It's a neat little game with a very tidy artstyle that warms my soul.
All three are F2P.
Steam: betsuni7
And this time there's more content after breaking through the final wall. So you can play forever (and ever and ever and ever)
Oh well.