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1. Notable New Features
Scalable TrueType font (TTF) output for DOS applications With the new TrueType font (TTF) output, you will get nice high resolution DOS screen rendered using a TrueType font (either the built-in one or a TTF font of your choice), and the window can be set to almost any usable number of lines and columns. This feature greatly improved DOSBox-X's support for DOS applications. Set "output=ttf" (or from the "Video" menu) to enable this output.
On-screen text styles for DOS applications With the TrueType font output, DOSBox-X now supports on-screen text styles for DOS applications including WordPerfect, WordStar, and XyWrite. With this feature you will visually see fonts in bold for bold text, and fonts in italics for italicized text, and so on. Set a DOS word processor (WP/WS/XY) to enable this feature.
Support for Apple M1 Mac and macOS Big Sur DOSBox-X now supports the new Apple ARM-based M1 MacBooks! The dynamic core now works on the new ARM-based macOS systems. The audio also works once again when compiled and run on macOS 11 Big Sur.
Pasting clipboard text in macOS SDL1 builds Pasting text from the host system clipboard is now supported in the macOS SDL1 build, similar to the Linux SDL1 build. On all other platforms (Windows SDL1/SDL2, Linux SDL2, and macOS SDL2) both copying to and pasting from the clipboard are supported.
System menu in Windows SDL2 builds The system menu that was available in Windows SDL1 builds is now also
available for Windows SDL2 builds, which includes a few common menu options such as the configuration tool and the mapper editor.
Select common host keys from the menu You can now select a host key from the "Main" menu, which now includes common key combinations such as Ctrl+Alt, Ctrl+Shift, and Alt+Shift, or you may just use the mapper-defined host key (which default to F11 on Windows and F12
otherwise). The default shortcuts for a few items are changed to use the host key style.
Switch OpenGL (GLSL) shaders at run-time With the OpenGL outputs (opengl/opengnb/openghq), you can now select and switch to a different GLSL shader at the run-time by selecting the menu item "Select OpenGL (GLSL) shader..." from the "Video" menu, similar to the function for Direct3D pixel shaders for the Direct3D output.
Display IDE disk or CD status There is now a menu option under "DOS" menu which allows you to see the current assignments (disk or CD image) of the IDE controllers.
Support for mounting MAME CHD CD images Mounting the MAME CHD images is now supported in DOSBox-X! You can mount CHD files as CD images with IMGMOUNT command, or from the "Drive" menu.
Support for saving your files for the save-state feature There is a now a FLAGSAVE command which allows you to mark files to be saved and loaded by the save-state feature. Type "FLAGSAVE /?" at the DOSBox-X shell for more usage information.
Enhanced MODE command to change screen dimensions You can now change the number of columns and lines on the screen with the
MODE command, similar to real DOS systems. Alternatively, this can be done from the "Video" menu (within "Text-mode" menu group).
Improved LOADFIX command to auto-allocate memory The LOADFIX command now has an -a option which will automatically allocate enough memory to fill lowest 64KB memory instead of using exactly 64KB memory. This will let some memory-demanding DOS programs or games to run with this command.
Improved automatic fix for the "Packed file corrupt" error The handler for the "Packed file corrupt" error has been greatly improved so that it will likely automatically handle the error more efficiently. There is now also an option to silence the messages during the automatic fix.
2. Notable Usability Improvements
Improved mapper editor interface The mapper editor interface has been enhanced! The texts for the shortcut functions are now longer and clearer, and there are now multiple pages in the mapper, navigable with the "Previous Page" and "Next Page" buttons.
Load DOSBox-X mapper files from menu You can now select and load DOSBox-X mapper files at run-time from the "Main" menu. Previously it was possible to load a mapper file dynmically from the command line, but now you can do so from the menu too.
List network interfaces from menu There is now a "List network interfaces" menu option under the "Help" menu that will list the current network interfaces for the NE2000 networking feature. Previously you can only see the network interface list from the log file.
Display DOS command help from menu You can now find a "DOS commands" menu group under the "Help" menu, which allows you to select a DOS shell command (DIR, CD, etc) to see its help messages. Alternatively you can type "[COMMAND] /?" (e.g. "DIR /?") for help information for the command.
Searching for config file and mapper file in DOSBox-X executable path DOSBox-X will now look for the config file (e.g.
dosbox-x.conf) and the mapper file in the directory containing the DOSBox-X executable too if they cannot be found in the DOSBox-X working directory. This makes DOSBox-X even more portable.
More saving options for the built-in configuration tool The graphical configuration tool now provides the option to save
to the primary or user config files, not just the dosbox-x.conf file.
New config options for save state options The config options "saveremark" and "forceloadstate" are added to [dosbox]
section which can be used to control the save state-related options from the config file. In the previous section these can only be done from the "Capture" menu.
3. Bugfixes and Other Improvements
There are also many bugfixes and other improvements, such as fixing the CD audio issue with the game "The Secret of Monkey Island" when talking to the pirate in Scumm Bar. Please see the full changelogs below for more information.
4. Full Changelog In This Version
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Added support for scalable TrueType font (TTF)
output for text-mode programs. Set "output=ttf"
and optionally a monospaced TTF font (such as
consola) with config option "ttf.font" to use it.
Lines and columns can be specified with config
options "ttf.lins" and "ttf.cols", and the cursor
can be made blinking with the option "ttf.blinkc".
The config options "ttf.ptsize" and "ttf.winperc"
can be used to set the TTF font size and window
percentage respectively. If you specify a TTF font
size with "ttf.ptsize" then "ttf.winperc" will be
ignored. You can also specify a word processor
(WP=WordPerfect, WS=WordStar, XY=XyWrite) for the
on-screen text-style and 512-character font (WP)
features. When using the TTF output DOSBox-X will
temporarily switch to a different output when a
graphical mode is requested (or when trying to take
a screenshot); the TTF output will be auto-switched
back later), which can be customized via config
option "ttf.outputswitch" (which defaults to auto).
Menu items in the "Text-mode" menu group (under
"Video" menu) have been expanded to support TTF
options such as increasing/decreasing the TTF font
sizes and on-screen text style toggling (including
bold, italics, underline and strikeout). You can
also select a TTF font to use at run-time with the
"Select TrueType font (TTF)" menu option. (Wengier)
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Added the "Load mapper file..." menu option (under
"Main") to select and load a DOSBox-X mapper file
at run-time. Be sure to select a SDL1 mapper file
for SDL1 builds, and similar for SDL2. (Wengier)
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You can now select a host key from the menu (under
"Main") including Ctrl+Alt, Ctrl+Shift, Alt+Shift,
or use the mapper-defined host key as in previous
versions (which default to F11 on Windows and F12
otherwise). A config option "hostkey" is added so
that you can specify it from config file. (Wengier)
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Pasting text from the clipboard on macOS SDL1 build
is now supported like Linux SDL1 build. (Wengier)
-
Added support for ARM-based Apple M1 MacBook. The
dynamic core now works on ARM-based macOS systems.
SDL1 builds updated to use newer audio APIs on the
macOS platform so that the audio works once again
when compiled and run on macOS 11 (Big Sur). Prior
to the change, ancient versions of the API dating
back to the mid 2000s were used which no longer
work on Big Sur.
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DOSBox-X will now look for the config file (i.e.
dosbox-x.conf/dosbox.conf) and the mapper file in
the directory containing the DOSBox-X executable
too if the config or mapper file cannot be found
in the DOSBox-X working directory. (Wengier)
-
The system menu in Windows SDL1 builds is now also
available for Windows SDL2 builds, and menu items
"Reset font size", "Increase TTF font size" and
"Decrease TTF font size" are added. (Wengier)
-
Enhanced the mapper editor interface to allow more
keyboard shortcuts to be added, shown in multiple
pages in the mapper, navigable with the "Previous
Page" and "Next Page" buttons. The text in the
grids are now longer and clearer too. The default
shortcuts for a few items are changed to use the
Host key style (e.g. Host+S and Host+L for saving
and loading states respectively). (Wengier)
-
Added menu item "List network interfaces" under
"Help" menu to list network interfaces in the host
system for the NE2000 feature. (Wengier)
-
Added menu group "DOS commands" under "Help" menu
to display the help content for the selected DOS
shell command (DIR, CD, etc). (Wengier)
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Configuration Tool now provides the option to save
to the primary or user config files. (Wengier)
-
Certain config options (e.g. doublescan) that were
marked as advanced options are now general config
options and will appear in dosbox-x.reference.conf
apart from dosbox-x.reference.full.conf. (Wengier)
-
Added config options "saveremark" (default: true)
and "forceloadstate" (default: false) in [dosbox]
section which can be used to control if DOSBox-X
should ask users to enter remarks when saving a
state or show warnings when loading a saved state
if there is a mismatch found. (Wengier)
-
The config option "pixelshader" is moved from the
section [gui] to [render] so that it will be in the
same section as the option "glshader". (Wengier)
-
Added menu item "Select OpenGL (GLSL) shader..." to
allow OpenGL shader switch from the menu, just like
the function for Direct3D pixel shaders. (Wengier)
-
Added menu item "Show IDE disk or CD status" under
"DOS" menu to show the current assignments (disk or
CD image) of the IDE controllers. (Wengier)
-
Fixed IDE CD assignment may not be reset when soft
reboots are activated from guest systems. (Wengier)
-
The program 80x43.COM is added into the ZIP package
TEXTUTIL.ZIP on the Z drive. You can also change
current text screen to the 80x43 mode from the menu
group "Text-mode" under "Video" menu. (Wengier)
-
Enhanced MODE command so that you can change the
number of columns and lines in the screen with the
syntax "MODE CON COLS=c LINES=n" (c=80 or 132, and
n=25, 43, 50, or 60). The command "MODE CON" will
show the current number of columns and lines in the
screen as in a real DOS system. (Wengier)
-
Added FLAGSAVE command for the save state feature
to flag (mark) one or more files to be saved and
loaded. Type "FLAGSAVE /?" for more information on
this command. (PogoMan361 and Wengier)
-
Enhanced A20GATE command to show the current status
of the A20 gate when no parameter is given, along
with other small improvements. (Wengier)
-
INT 21h DOS=HMA emulation, to enable the A20 gate,
and autoa20fix, to disable the A20 gate, now checks
whether the CPU is running in virtual 8086 mode.
If vm86 detected, the code will control the A20
gate by calling the XMS interface instead of direct
reading/writing via port 92h. This consideration
is required for autoa20fix to cooperate with
Microsoft Windows 3.1. Note that Windows 3.1 does
not virtualize port 92h. If it did, this workaround
would not be necessary.
-
Added -a option to LOADFIX command which will auto
allocate enough memory to fill lowest 64KB memory
instead of using exactly 64KB memory. (Wengier)
-
Added autofixwarning option (true by default) which
allows user to silence the messages when DOSBox-X
tries to auto-fix "Packed file is corrupt" error
when running a program with this issue. (Wengier)
-
Added autoa20fix option (enabled by default). This
option when enabled attempts to resolve EXEPACK
"Packed file is corrupt" errors by temporarily
disabling the A20 gate and running the program
again. This may provide better support for affected
DOS applications than the LOADFIX option. If both
autoa20fix and autoloadfix are set, then autoa20fix
will be tried first, and if it did not work then
autoloadfix will be tried next.
-
The autoloadfix config option changed to allocate
only enough memory to keep the executable above the
64KB boundary, instead of blindly allocating 64KB.
-
Fixed menu items "Rescan drive" and "Swap disk" in
"Drive" menu being reversed. (Wengier)
-
Fixed CD audio issue with the game "The Secret of
Monkey Island" when talking to the pirate in Scumm
Bar by adapting the patch that fixes it. Thanks
kcgen for the fix logic. (Wengier)
-
Added support for MAME CHD CD images. You can now
mount CHD images with IMGMOUNT command, or from the
Drive menu. Based on libchdr library and the work
of the user whocares010. (Wengier)
-
Updated FLAC/MP3/WAV CD-DA decoder libraries to the
latest versions (versions 0.12.22, 0.6.19, 0.12.14
respectively). Thanks to mackron & kcgen. (Wengier)
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