hi,
As I start MM4 it is launched via dos-boxed and is "stretched" across entire screen making reslotion very pixelated.
If I alt-tab dos box becomes only one size, quite small.
Is that how it is intended to run, i.e. big but choppy or a small dosbox window.
Anything I can do to make it decent size yet still quite clear.
Thanks in advance

Check the readme file for your version of DOSBox. From what I'm reading, changing the windowresolution line of the dosbox.conf file to a value other than original should make the size larger or smaller.

What you want to do is find the file named "dosboxMM4-5.conf" in the directory in which you installed MM4-5. Open this file in a text editor (like notepad) and find the line labeled "windowresolution". It probably says "windowresolution=original". Changing the value here will cause the window to run larger, for instance you can set it to 1280x1024 or 1024x768 (i.e. "windowresolution=1024x768"). This will make the game run in a larger window so it's easier to see, but won't stretch it over your whole screen.
Of course, the original resolution of the game is still low, so this will be "scaled up", meaning that the game is still running at a low resolution even though it's in a larger window. If you have a flat-panel monitor, this means your screen will be using its small pixels to "emulate" much larger pixels. This can cause some blurriness but I didn't find it to be a problem. You can change the resolution around to get a good balance between window size and how pixelated/blurry it is. I recommend sticking to 4:3 aspect ratios though.
One last thing: Once you get the window size set, you may want to tell the game to launch in a window, rather than fullscreen, so you don't have to hit alt+enter every time. To do this change the line "fullscreen=true" to "fullscreen=false" in the conf file.
Hope that helps!

thanks for the answers.
changing resolution is what i was looking for.
do you know what would be a optimal resolution to try to run it.
1024x768 is not it, too choppy.
thanks again.

The optimal solution depends on hardware and personal preferences. What kind of monitor are you using ? I prefer fullscreen and don't mind the pixelation. Maybe you're just sitting too close.
Try out different combinations of numbers and options in the config file and test the different values in the output line.

The original resolution of the game is 320 x 240. Perhaps double the resolution to 640 x 480 or maybe up to 800 x 600.

It probably also depends on the size of your monitor. I recently got a pretty big widescreen monitor and I wanted the window to be big on the screen so I've been using 1280x1024, but on my smaller laptop I've been using 1024x768. But again, I like having a big window. If you don't mind a smaller window you can try lower resolutions. Just remember to keep them at a 4:3 aspect ratio to avoid stretching the image horizontally.

I have followed the above instructions, yet the window size will not change. Any idea what the problem is? I'm using the mm1-6 limited edition pack and my graphics card is an Nvidia Gforce 8800 gt.

Thanks.

First, double-check that the changes you made to the .conf file have actually saved. Just open it again and make sure your changes are still there. If they're not there, just make the changes again and save the file.

If your changes are there but it still isn't working, check your graphics card scaling options. These will be in your Nvidia control panel. Make sure that scaling is enabled.

If that still doesn't work, post back and we'll try to figure it out.

Indeed, it is set to no scaling. Should I set it to aspect ratio or full screen?

Thanks.

Aspect ratio.

Still not working.

That is odd. You have tried a few different resolutions for the window in the .conf file? The windowresolution setting should directly affect the size of the window, make sure to try a few different resolutions (e.g. 800x600, 1024x768, 1280x960). What is the native resolution of your display?

Does anyone know if there is a DOSBox setting that can prevent scaling?

Wait, are you running running the game fullscreen or windowed? GPU scaling is only for running fullscreen. If you want windowed changed the output= line to something other than surface (ddraw for example). You also might want to switch the scaler to normal3x.
Otherwise, seeing your .conf might help.

I have tried several different resolutions, nothing resizes the window. It is not fullscreen. Fullscreen messes up the colors. I set scaling to Aspect ratio and tried "perform setting on" both display and gpu. Tried setting "override the setting modeset by games and programs" to on and off. Tried changing output to overlay, ddraw, and opengl. Nothing gets rid of that absurdly tiny window. My native resolution is 1920x1200.

Thanks.
Here's my conf file:


# This is the configurationfile for DOSBox 0.72.
# Lines starting with a # are commentlines.
# They are used to (briefly) document the effect of each option.

[sdl]
# fullscreen -- Start dosbox directly in fullscreen.
# fulldouble -- Use double buffering in fullscreen.
# fullresolution -- What resolution to use for fullscreen: original or fixed size (e.g. 1024x768).
# windowresolution -- Scale the window to this size IF the output device supports hardware scaling.
# output -- What to use for output: surface,overlay,opengl,openglnb,ddraw.
# autolock -- Mouse will automatically lock, if you click on the screen.
# sensitiviy -- Mouse sensitivity.
# waitonerror -- Wait before closing the console if dosbox has an error.
# priority -- Priority levels for dosbox: lowest,lower,normal,higher,highest,pause (when not focussed).
# Second entry behind the comma is for when dosbox is not focused/minimized.
# mapperfile -- File used to load/save the key/event mappings from.
# usescancodes -- Avoid usage of symkeys, might not work on all operating systems.

fullscreen=true
fulldouble=false
fullresolution=original
windowresolution=1024x768
output=overlay
autolock=true
sensitivity=100
waitonerror=true
priority=higher,normal
mapperfile=mapper.txt
usescancodes=true

[dosbox]
# language -- Select another language file.
# memsize -- Amount of memory DOSBox has in megabytes.
# machine -- The type of machine tries to emulate:hercules,cga,tandy,pcjr,vga.
# captures -- Directory where things like wave,midi,screenshot get captured.

language=
machine=svga_s3
captures=capture
memsize=16

[render]
# frameskip -- How many frames DOSBox skips before drawing one.
# aspect -- Do aspect correction, if your output method doesn't support scaling this can slow things down!.
# scaler -- Scaler used to enlarge/enhance low resolution modes.
# Supported are none,normal2x,normal3x,advmame2x,advmame3x,hq2x,hq3x,
# 2xsai,super2xsai,supereagle,advinterp2x,advinterp3x,
# tv2x,tv3x,rgb2x,rgb3x,scan2x,scan3x.
# If forced is appended (like scaler=hq2x forced), the scaler will be used
# even if the result might not be desired.

frameskip=0
aspect=false
scaler=normal2x

[cpu]
# core -- CPU Core used in emulation: normal,simple,dynamic,auto.
# auto switches from normal to dynamic if appropriate.
# cycles -- Amount of instructions DOSBox tries to emulate each millisecond.
# Setting this value too high results in sound dropouts and lags.
# You can also let DOSBox guess the correct value by setting it to max.
# The default setting (auto) switches to max if appropriate.
# cycleup -- Amount of cycles to increase/decrease with keycombo.
# cycledown Setting it lower than 100 will be a percentage.

core=auto
cycles=8000
cycleup=500
cycledown=20

[mixer]
# nosound -- Enable silent mode, sound is still emulated though.
# rate -- Mixer sample rate, setting any devices higher than this will
# probably lower their sound quality.
# blocksize -- Mixer block size, larger blocks might help sound stuttering
# but sound will also be more lagged.
# prebuffer -- How many milliseconds of data to keep on top of the blocksize.

nosound=false
rate=22050
blocksize=2048
prebuffer=10

[midi]
# mpu401 -- Type of MPU-401 to emulate: none, uart or intelligent.
# device -- Device that will receive the MIDI data from MPU-401.
# This can be default,alsa,oss,win32,coreaudio,none.
# config -- Special configuration options for the device. In Windows put
# the id of the device you want to use. See README for details.

mpu401=intelligent
device=default
config=

[sblaster]
# sbtype -- Type of sblaster to emulate:none,sb1,sb2,sbpro1,sbpro2,sb16.
# sbbase,irq,dma,hdma -- The IO/IRQ/DMA/High DMA address of the soundblaster.
# mixer -- Allow the soundblaster mixer to modify the DOSBox mixer.
# oplmode -- Type of OPL emulation: auto,cms,opl2,dualopl2,opl3.
# On auto the mode is determined by sblaster type.
# All OPL modes are 'Adlib', except for CMS.
# oplrate -- Sample rate of OPL music emulation.

sbtype=sb16
sbbase=220
irq=5
dma=1
hdma=5
mixer=true
oplmode=auto
oplrate=22050

[gus]
# gus -- Enable the Gravis Ultrasound emulation.
# gusbase,irq1,irq2,dma1,dma2 -- The IO/IRQ/DMA addresses of the
# Gravis Ultrasound. (Same IRQ's and DMA's are OK.)
# gusrate -- Sample rate of Ultrasound emulation.
# ultradir -- Path to Ultrasound directory. In this directory
# there should be a MIDI directory that contains
# the patch files for GUS playback. Patch sets used
# with Timidity should work fine.

gus=false

[speaker]
# pcspeaker -- Enable PC-Speaker emulation.
# pcrate -- Sample rate of the PC-Speaker sound generation.
# tandy -- Enable Tandy Sound System emulation (off,on,auto).
# For auto Tandysound emulation is present only if machine is set to tandy.
# tandyrate -- Sample rate of the Tandy 3-Voice generation.
# disney -- Enable Disney Sound Source emulation. Covox Voice Master and Speech Thing compatible.

pcspeaker=true
pcrate=22050
tandy=auto
tandyrate=22050
disney=true

[joystick]
# joysticktype -- Type of joystick to emulate: auto (default), none,
# 2axis (supports two joysticks,
# 4axis (supports one joystick, first joystick used),
# 4axis_2 (supports one joystick, second joystick used),
# fcs (Thrustmaster), ch (CH Flightstick).
# none disables joystick emulation.
# auto chooses emulation depending on real joystick(s).
# timed -- enable timed intervals for axis. (false is old style behaviour).
# autofire -- continuously fires as long as you keep the button pressed.
# swap34 -- swap the 3rd and the 4th axis. can be useful for certain joysticks.
# buttonwrap -- enable button wrapping at the number of emulated buttons.

joysticktype=auto
timed=true
autofire=false
swap34=false
buttonwrap=true

[serial]
# serial1-4 -- set type of device connected to com port.
# Can be disabled, dummy, modem, nullmodem, directserial.
# Additional parameters must be in the same line in the form of
# parameter:value. Parameter for all types is irq.
# for directserial: realport (required), rxdelay (optional).
# for modem: listenport (optional).
# for nullmodem: server, rxdelay, txdelay, telnet, usedtr,
# transparent, port, inhsocket (all optional).
# Example: serial1=modem listenport:5000

serial1=dummy
serial2=dummy
serial3=disabled
serial4=disabled

[dos]
# xms -- Enable XMS support.
# ems -- Enable EMS support.
# umb -- Enable UMB support.
# keyboardlayout -- Language code of the keyboard layout (or none).

xms=true
ems=true
umb=true
keyboardlayout=none

[IPX]
Enable=1
Connection=1
ipx=true


[autoexec]
# Lines in this section will be run at startup.

@ECHO OFF
mount C "."
c:
cls
mm3.com
exit