Setting up Master of Magic to properly work under DOSBox and to look and sound at its very best doesn't take a whole lot. Here is a detailed how-to.

Graphics

Proper fullscreen with pixel-correct scaling at the original game speed.

1. Edit "dosboxMOM.conf" located in the MoM installation root directory.
2. Change the following parameters:

[sdl]
fullscreen=true
fulldouble=false
fullresolution=1920x1080 [your preferred monitor resolution]
windowresolution=800x600
output=opengl

[render]
frameskip=0
aspect=true
scaler=normal3x

[cpu]
core=auto
cputype=auto
cycles=fixed 25000
cycleup=1000
cycledown=1000

Sound

Higher bitrate sound effects at 48,000Hz.

1. Edit "dosboxMOM.conf."
2. Change the following parameters:

[mixer]
nosound=false
rate=48000
blocksize=1024
prebuffer=25

[sblaster]
sbtype=sb16
sbbase=220
irq=7
dma=1
hdma=5
sbmixer=true
oplmode=auto
oplemu=default
oplrate=48000

Music

Supreme music using a special sound font specifically made for classic video games midi. Requires a modern PC. Setting up general midi is a bit of a hassle but the result is simply astonishing. You haven't played MoM like this before, even if you have used General Midi before.

1. Download "VirtualMIDISynth" from http://coolsoft.altervista.org/en/virtualmidisynth#download
2. Install "VirtualMIDISynth."
3. Download the "Fatboy soundfont" from https://fatboy.site.
4. Extract the "Fatboy soundfont" to the "VirtualMIDISynth" installation directory.
5. Start "VirtualMIDISynth."
6. Under Soundfonts chain click on "+" to add the "Fatboy soundfont."

7. Start "DOSBOX.exe" located in the located in the MoM installation root directory under /DOSBOX/
8. Type "mixer /listmidi" and note the digit "VirtualMIDISynth #1" is listed under.
9. Edit "dosboxMOM.conf."
10. Change the following parameter:

[midi]
mpu401=intelligent
mididevice=default
midiconfig=x [x = the digit you found out above, fill it in here]

11. Edit "dosboxMOM_single.conf."
12. Change the following code from:

cls
magic.exe
exit

to:

cls
install.exe
exit

13. Execute the "Launch Master of Magic" shortcut.
14. In the DOS installation screen click on "Configuration," then "General Midi," then "Soundblaster Pro (later)." Press "OK", then "Exit Program."
15. Edit "dosboxMOM_single.conf."
16. Change the following code from:

cls
install.exe
exit

back to:

cls
magic.exe
exit

17. That's it. Enjoy!

Thank you!

Nice. If you want the game to have sharper pixels, use output=OpenGLnb

The issue with OpenGL nonbilinear is that pixels will no longer be perfectly even. They are, however, overall sharper.

I changed my settings as you listed except for the music changes and did not see any difference in visuals. Very disappointing.

IMO it's a bad idea to use dosbox on games like this fullscreen. If you alt-enter or alt-tab things like windows aero will be disabled. Furthermore if you alt-enter to play in a window you'll be playing with the scaler turned off in the default resolution (aka a tiny window).

If instead you set fullscreen to false you can play in a window scaled at double or triple resolution, and leave advanced windows visual features still turned on and intact.

This is a slow paced game, that you can play for 100hours of hours, AKA I like leaving youtube or twitch up behind it.

I can’t stand to play in a window, the screen is way too small.

I cant get windowed mode to work with the latest patch and Gog Galaxy 2.0. I have edited dosboxMOM.conf, and the game picker comes up in a window, but when I launch MoM itself it always launches fullscreen.

The changes in settings are effective, because if I run 'graphic mode setup' from the start menu it shows the right settings. But if I 'start game' from there nothing happens.

Also, Games\Master of Magic\Master of Magic Official Release\DOSBOX has a file GOGDOSConfig.exe, but it insists I run it from the start menu. However, the links to it are broken.

It's like someone has "upgraded" MoM with an alternative release without making sure the DOSBOX config got patched correctly.


Update: there is a second dosboxMOM.conf in Games\Master of Magic\Master of Magic Official Release\. Editing this one works.

i hope the above issue gets addressed.

anyways for CPU cycles. i found that 7000 cycles produced the least amount of audio glitching BUT it makes large maps take a longer time to load and enemies also take a longer time to move on their turn. so i ended up using 20 000 cycles most of the time unless the enemies seem to be taking a looong time to move, then i bump up the cycle to 50K or less.