Multiple monitors with DOSBox games (via DOSBox Staging)

 

In case you're not familiar, DOSBox Staging is designed to address the headaches caused by DOSBox's decrepit code, most notably (for me, anyway) its refusal to accept more than one monitor. This is obviously brilliant and good, but unfortunately GOG games are not set up to use DOSBox Staging. Thankfully, it's pretty easy to do yourself. This post is meant for Linux users only, but I'm sure a Windows user could figure out a way themselves, with a bit of tinkering. In my case, I'm using Linux Mint with the Flatpak version of DOSBox Staging, and the commands I show will reflect that. Adjust according to your own setup. With that said, we can get started.

Playing Overwatch 2 On Linux

 

I'm not the best at making good choices, so I decided to give Overwatch another look seeing as the sequel just launched. And I remembered Overwatch 1 being pretty simple to run in Wine, so it shouldn't be an issue. Right?

Backup script

I've written a little shell script on my Linux Mint install to save me having to copy things into my Dropbox folder by hand. I'm posting it here more for my future self, but anyone else can use if it they like. I cannot stop you.

cp -p -r -u "directory to copy from"* "directory to copy to"

This script should check to see if the files in backup are out of date, and copy them over if they are. But I'm not a code wizard, I'm sure someone could do better.

Legends of Aranna in 2022

 

Had a bash getting Legends of Aranna working on my PC, using the original CDs since it is the only Dungeon Siege title without a digital release. In my case, I’m running Linux Mint, so I had to use Wine (lutris-fshack-7.1-x86_64) and set it as a 32-bit prefix. The biggest issue I ran into was a crash a start-up, which I solved by patching out the SmarteSECURE DRM.

The Reception of Wolfenstein 3D

 

Bit of a strange post. I just want to provide a link here on my blog to an essay I wrote on Medium in 2018. It's about Wolfenstein 3D, obviously, I only devote my time to the most important things.

DOSBox keymap for Ultima Underworld

 

I had a go at creating a keymap file for Ultima Underworld. It is designed for a person who uses the mouse in their right hand. If you're interested, just download it, extract and drop it into your DOSBox directory (or Ultima Underworld's directory, if you're using the GOG release).

Playing with AI upscaling (Video2x)

 

I’ve been experimenting with AI upscaling for a little while now. For those unaware, this is a process where a program, trained using a set of example images, will take a picture and try to increase its resolution without compromising on quality. In reality, at least in my case, it’s more about coaxing software into producing acceptable, sometimes even amazing, upscaled images, by adjusting this setting here, or that slider there. We’re a long way from this being completely automated, at least at my price range. The pictures I’ve been using have largely been old family photos, taken by my dad with an early digital camera, but for the sake of my privacy and your interest, this post is focused on something more fun; loading screens from The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.