By now, you have already discovered that I'm a bit of an old games fan. Using DOSBox is probably the simplest, most sensible way of enjoying your old favorites. But so far, I have only shown you the single player mode. DOSBox also allows you to setup multiplayer games.
If you have more than one computer and would like to enjoy a session of Doom, Warcraft or any other 90s classic, then read on. This article will show you how to setup multiplayer games using IPX protocol. A follow-up article will demonstrate how to play even older games using direct serial connection.
First, we must enable IPX networking emulation.
Find and open the dosbox.conf file (the configuration file for DOSBox); it should
be located in the DOSBox directory. Inside the file, search for an entry labeled [ipx]. Below the explanation comment (marked with #), change the
configuration line from ipx=false to ipx=true as
shown in the screenshot below.
You might find it hard to believe, but this is ALL of the tampering with the configuration files you will need.
Power on DOSBox on all the computers that you want to participate in the LAN games. One of these computers will have to act as a server. The rest will be clients.
On the server machine, execute the following command:
See screenshot below:
Start client(s) On each one of the clients, run the following command to connect to the server:
Yes, that's it! I have tested this setup on a network where both clients sit behind a router and run a personal firewall. Everything worked (and works) flawlessly. The one thing you may have to do is allow DOSBox network access in your firewall rules.
So now, let's see some cool games.
The best FPS for dueling. For those not familiar with Doom 2 multiplayer, it needs to be setup outside the games,
using the setup.exe utility.
Another classic. Again, the setup is simple and straightforward.
That's about it. Configuring games using IPX network is extremely easy and works well. Configuring direct serial connection games will be a little harder. To make you better understand the importance of this task, here's a picture:
What you see is the original, dust- and mold-eaten manual for the best simulator ever made: F-16 Combat Pilot, the original CGA version. The manual is 19 years old. This game will only run using direct serial connection, something I have not yet successfully accomplished. But I will. Meanwhile, enjoy the multiplayer.
Cheers.
