Package: ialauncher
IA LauncherA DOSBox frontend for theInternet Archive MS-DOS games
collectionIA Launcher is a graphical games launcher for all those georgeous
MS-DOS games from yestermillenium. It uses the Internet Archive to
download games on-the-fly and DOSBox to play them offline.Visit the
IA Launcher websiteto see a list of
all the included games.Hurrah! IA Launcher now has its own Windows installer! You can
download ithere.You can also install IA Launcher usingpip3 install ialauncheron
any operating system. Continue reading for detailed instructions.Features:Batteries included! Thousands of games playable out-of-the-boxGraphical user interface for quickly browsing through title screensEasily add new games to the list (if you do, please send me a pull request!)Automatically downloads game data from archive.orgSaves state such as savegames and settings for each gameInstallationFirst of all, get yourself a snazzy retro looking PC. Or just use your
current computer running your operating system of choice. Start by
installing the following dependencies:Pythonversion 3.8 or higherDOSBoxversion 0.74 or higherNow you can install IA Launcher usingpip. Open a command-line
window and type the following command:pip install ialauncherDepending on your system, you might have to usesudoand/or thepip3command instead ofpip. If the previous command didn't work,
try this one:sudo pip3 install ialauncherYou can now launch the interface using theialaunchercommand. To
see the available options, typeialauncher --help.A useful option is--slideshow Xwhich turns IA Launcher into an
awesome screensaver, displaying a new DOS game title screen every X
seconds!Special KeysArrow keys: navigate through the games listEnter: launch the selected gameAlt-Enter: open DOSBox without starting the game
(useful for debugging, see "Troubleshooting" below)Shift-Enter: reset game state before starting game
(warning: you will lose your save files!)Space: jump to a random gameA-Z: Jump to the first game that starts with the letter A-ZEsc key: exitDuring gameplay, you should also be familiar with theDOSBox Special
Keys. The most important
one is probablyCtrl-F9, which immediately exits DOSBox and
returns to the games menu.TroubleshootingHelp, my game doesn't run correctly / has no sound!Welcome to the world of MS-DOS where you are constantly fighting with
IRQ values, memory managers and setup programs. Thankfully, the
default DOSBox configuration runs nearly all DOS games perfectly out
of the box. Also, all the games in thegamesdirectory have custom
DOSBox configurations (where needed) and startup commands in theirmetadata.inifiles. However, you will certainly end up in situations
where you have to reconfigure a game. Try the following:Press Alt-Enter to start DOSBox with the game directory mounted as
theC:drive.Use thedircommand to see which files are presentUse thecdcommand to change to the game subdirectory, if neededLook for a file namedinstall.{bat,exe,com},setsound.{bat,exe,com}orsetup.{bat,exe,com}and execute itHopefully, the setup utility will allow you to change the sound card
parameters. DOSBox emulates all kinds of sounds cards, so try the
following and it will probably work:Sound card: Soundblaster or AdLibAddress/port: 220IRQ: 7DMA: 1Help, my game doesn't run at all!Each game's metadata, including the command that starts the game, is
stored in a file calledmetadata.ini. In many cases IA Launcher
provides the needed commands to install and setup the game when run
for the first time. However, in other cases the commands listed inmetadata.inisimply assume the installation was already done with
default settings. In these cases, try the following:Press Alt-Enter to start DOSBox with the game directory mounted as
theC:drive.Typemount a .to mount the game's directory as the floppy drive
(many games assume they are being installed from a floppy disk)Typea:to switch to the mounted floppy driveTypeinstalland follow the installation procedure, accepting all
the default valuesAfter the installation has finished, try launching the game again and
hopefully the default startup command will now work. If not, keep
reading...Help! The default startup command is incorrect!Here is how you can easily change the command(s) that launch a game:Press Alt-Enter to start DOSBox with the game directory mounted as
theC:drive.(optionally:) Typeecho cd [directoryname] > dosbox.batto put thecdcommand in the file nameddosbox.batTypeecho [command that launches the game] >> dosbox.batto append
the command that launches the game to the filedosbox.batExecutedosbox.batand verify that your game now launches correctlyWhen you exit the emulator, IA Launcher will save the contents ofdosbox.batto theemulator_startvariable inside the game'smetadata.ini. The next time you launch the game, thedosbox.batfile will be run automatically.More advanced logic can be created with batch file syntax. As an
example, here is the contents ofemulator_startfor the game SimCity
2000:if exist sc2000 goto run
mount a .
a:
install
:run
cd sc2000
sc2000You can alsomount CD imagesand
get CD audio while playing:imgmount d Quake.cue -t iso
if exist quake goto run
d:
install
:run
cd quake
quakeDid you get a previously not-working game running by changing theemulator_startvariable? Or did you add a new game and captured a
nice title screen? Please send me a pull request!