Hi, does anyone know how to stop Dosbox games from stretching? I think it's a setting in the cfg file I'm supposed to set. I have the GPU scaling option set to 'On' in my AMD drives so non-16:9 games should have black borders on the side. This is indeed the case but I notice the Dosbox games I've tried stretch instead of having black borders/maintaining its aspect ratio

Maybe monitor settings?

You can also try to set the "keep aspect" option in dosbox:

[render]
aspect=true

Maybe also try experimenting with different output handlers. On linux, this is the only one wokring for me:

[sdl]
output=overlay

Thank you. I did a clean install of the WHQL version of my drivers (I had been using the very latest non-WHQL version) and things work as they should now. :D

What worked for me (found solution on the internet).

fullresolution=desktop
aspect=true
scaler=none

Then the game is fullscreen and respecting original display ratio

Hope it helps others :)

The best way to configure DOSBox video output (in the DOSBox config file):

fullresolution=1920x1080 (or your desktop resolution)
output=opengl

aspect=true
scaler=normal2x

Never failed me once, and I play a lot of DOS games (sometimes).

I'm glad you both appeared to post in a thread that was made at least a whole Dosbox version ago.

Still, while we're at it:



[spoiler]



The best way I've found is to eschew all this configuration nonsense and use something like the DBGL for a better experience.

And I'd use a version of Dosbox that aims to drag it kicking and screaming into the modern age.


[/spoiler]

I can vouch for the opengl option. It has worked noticeably better in some cases.

About the scaler, it is a matter of trying it out and seeing what works for you better. normal2x is a conservative option and might well work in most cases.

I personally use the scaling parameters provided by my graphics card,

There are a couple of options such as stretch to fit the screen or keep the aspect ratio and off of course, nvidia also provides an extra option called integer scaling which tries to enlarge the picture as much as possible without loosing the aspect ratio and by accenting some of the lines in the picture ( though i never managed to see any difference )

anyways, dosbox with integer scaling works awsome ! i belief both amd and intel have a version of special scaling of their own though i belief nvidia was the only one that added one especially for playing older games, using a mario game in their public presentation of integer scaling no less..... like there where no other type of PC games thinkeable .. idiots ! Kommander Keen, Jack Jazz Rabit or or or Command and Conquer would have been way better examples

I just found these two links. Apparently integer scalling applies scaling, but never interpolates the values for the pixels, instead chooses values present in the original image, similarly to Nearest Neighbour.

https://software.intel.com/content/www/us/en/develop/articles/integer-scaling-support-on-intel-graphics.html
https://www.amd.com/en/technologies/integer-scaling

<<What is pure integer scaling (IS)?

Integer scaling (IS) is a nearest-neighbor upscaling technique that simply scales up the existing pixels by an integer (i.e., whole number) multiplier. Nearest-neighbor (NN) interpolation works by filling in the missing color values in the upscaled image with that of the coordinate-mapped nearest source pixel value. Both IS and NN preserve the clarity of the original image. In contrast, traditional upscaling algorithms, such as bilinear or bicubic interpolation, result in blurry upscaled images because they employ interpolation techniques that smooth out the transition from one pixel to another. Therefore, integer scaling is particularly useful for pixel art games that rely on sharp, blocky images to deliver their distinctive look.>>

You're half-right. Integer scaling means only scaling by a whole number (i.e. exactly 2x, 3x, 4x) but it can be done with nearest neighbour or
bilinear filtering or any other upscaling technique.
Nearest neighbour means no interpolation, but it doesn't necessarily imply integer scaling. You can nearest neighbour scale a 640x480 game up to HD, but because it's not an integer scale you'll end up with uneven sized pixels.

The point I'm making is that although integer scaling and nearest-neighbour 'interpolation' complement each other well, they are not the same thing and you can have either one without the other.

I guess you may well be right. This is just the way that the companies are marketing the thing, calling it just "integer scaling" while in purity, according with your explanation, they ought to say "integer scaling with nearest neighbour" or something like that. Intel differentiates between IS and NN as well.

Thanks for helping to make it more clear!

Have you tried Dosbox-Staging? It's a vast improvement over original Dosbox.

https://dosbox-staging.github.io/v0-76-0/

Well sure, don't belief me right away if i say that i embraced integer scaling and have that as the default option for everything these days :-p

Sounds reasonable. I have come to prefer not to have mixed pixels in my resampling as well.

Wondering now if GOG updates the versions of Dosbox packed with DOS games, and if people here does it on their own, replacing said dosbox files.

Not sure, it does sound a bit like a, uhm titanic , hercules .. lost the right character ...... job

and with all of the previous work which still lies around, i can imagine that at a certain point in time they will choose to use the new dosbox for their latest releases ( though i have a hard time thinking of any worthwile older games that still have to be presented )

It does sound like a fairly simple job to replace dosbox your self with the newer version .. and it does fit the older game scene quite well, to have to tweak and try out certain stuff for yourself