I got in the mood to play some original Quake, so I downloaded my file from GOG and ran into a problem. I want to play the original DOS version of the game (since it runs with the music and whatnot), but clicking on the three shortcuts the GOG installer creates only runs the opengl versions of the games. And the "Launch Quake" file just goes right into glQuake. I can't find what I'm supposed to run that uses the config file "dosbox_quake_single.conf" that allows you to choose which DOS game to run when you start things up (Quake, Scourge or Dissolution).

I'd like to think I'm not an idiot, but I sure feel like I'm missing something stupidly simple. Any help would be appreciated.

Besides music playing in the game is there any other reason you want to play the DOS version?

I've gained an affinity over the years for the way games originally looked back in the day. Doom, Heretic, Hexen... I like playing them in their original pixelated, lower-res forms. Same thing with the likes of Quake and Hexen II. While the gl versions are neat and all, it's not quite the same vibe if that makes sense.

I might not have gotten to play them back when they were new and all the rage, but I enjoy getting to see and hear them as they originally were... sans the hardware compatibility headaches mind you ;)

Maybe the following will work.

Open the DOSBox.exe in your ...\Quake\DOSBox\ folder. Then in the command window type mount [your drive letter] [your drive letter]:/folder name/game folder name*

*without the [ ] brackets

For me it would look like this: mount d d:/games/quake

After you did this and everything was mounted correctly (dosbox will tell you that your drive was mounted as local directory) type [your drive letter]: to go inside the mounted directory.

Then type quake/quake, hit enter and the game should be loading.

I appreciate the help, Berserk2002, but I just found what I was after... and it's in a somewhat weird place.

On the Start menu that comes up when you hit the Windows button, there are a bunch of apps to choose from (recently added, most used, etc.). That's where you'll find an icon to start Quake in software (DOS) mode. But, if you right click on that icon, choose "More" and then pick "Open file location," you're taken to a folder where there are seven shortcuts to choose from, including "Quake (Software Mode)" which will let you run the original game or the two expansions in DOS mode. For me, these shortcuts are at...

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Quake - The Offering [GOG.com]

From here, you can make shortcuts for the desktop so you don't have to keep scrolling through all of the apps on the Start menu or tinker with DOSBox and its config file (unless you want to make small adjustments, of course).

Talk about making it harder than it needed to be. Why tuck away the one executable that lets the included disc images be actually used?

I had the same goal when I played Quake last year, but I found it just didn't work the way I wanted it to using DOSBox. It looks and sounds fun, but at least on my machine I never got it to run consistently smoothly. I made a comparison and basically installation guide on how to play Quake exactly as it is using DOSBox, but completely smooth, using a source port. If you're interested you can read up on it here: https://www.gog.com/forum/quake_series/chunky_pixels_inside_making_quake_look_most_retro_on_source_ports
Music also works with the source ports.