Silent Hunter 1 DosBox Solution

[R_Grubb]

I have successfully revived my Silent Hunter Commanders Edition v1.31 to run on Windows 10 Pro (64 bit) using DosBox. The installation folder and all the add-ons I had downloaded still existed on an old Win XP drive I kept which ran on Win XP with Don V. Wells, Jr.'s long and laborious procedure.

After much searching, study and trial and error, I found a DosBox solution on an abandonedware website that worked, sort of. (It was the original game files on an image that did not allow editing or add-ons.) I took the DosBox part of this and applied it to my game files.

The Solution:

* Download and install DosBox 0.74-3 from www.dosbox.com to your C:\Program Files (x86) folder. This will be your master file and can be used for other DOS programs.

* Copy the folder into your Silent Hunter folder. My Silent Hunter folder is now located in C:\DosGames\Silent.

* Rename this folder to DosBoxSH. The only files needed in this copy are:
DosBox 0.74-3.exe - Rename this to DOSBoxSH.exe
SDL.dll
SDL_net.dll
and a .conf file you create as per below
The other files may be deleted.

*Create a configuration file in the DOSBoxSH folder. Open Notepad, then copy and paste the following:

[sdl]
fullscreen=true
fulldouble=false
fullresolution=desktop
windowresolution=original
output=ddraw
autolock=true
sensitivity=100
waitonerror=true
priority=higher,normal
mapperfile=mapper-0.74-3.map
usescancodes=true
[dosbox]
language=
machine=svga_s3
captures=capture
memsize=16
[render]
frameskip=0
aspect=false
scaler=hq3x
[cpu]
core=auto
cputype=auto
cycles=16000
cycleup=10
cycledown=20
[mixer]
nosound=false
rate=44100
blocksize=1024
prebuffer=20
[midi]
mpu401=intelligent
mididevice=default
midiconfig=
[sblaster]
sbtype=sb16
sbbase=220
irq=7
dma=1
hdma=5
sbmixer=true
oplmode=auto
oplemu=default
oplrate=44100
[gus]
gus=false
gusrate=44100
gusbase=240
gusirq=5
gusdma=3
ultradir=l:\ULTRASND
[speaker]
pcspeaker=true
pcrate=44100
tandy=auto
tandyrate=44100
disney=true
[joystick]
joysticktype=auto
timed=true
autofire=false
swap34=false
buttonwrap=false
[serial]
serial1=dummy
serial2=dummy
serial3=disabled
serial4=disabled
[dos]
xms=true
ems=true
umb=true
keyboardlayout=auto
[ipx]
ipx=false
[autoexec]
mount c C:\DosGames\Silent\
C:
C:sh.exe
exit

The "mount c" line in the [autoexec] section should be the path to your Silent Hunter folder.

* Save this as dosboxSH.conf in the DOSBoxSH folder.

* Right click the DOSBoxSH.exe and "send" or create a shortcut on your desktop.

* Right click the new shortcut and select "Properties".

* In the target box, add to the C:\DosGames\Silent\DOSBoxSH\DOSBoxSH.exe line to now read as C:\DosGames\Silent\DOSBoxSH\DOSBoxSH.exe -conf "C:\DosGames\SILENT\DOSBoxSH\dosboxSH.conf" -noconsole with the spaces and quotations marks.

* You can change the icon to whatever you choose.

You can make copies of the dosboxSH.conf file and point them to the .exe file of add-ons such as patches, SHREAL, NEWMARU by editing the [autoexec] line to point to the proper .exe, then rename the game dosboxSH.conf to origdosbox.conf and the new one to dosboxSH.conf to run the adds. Rename them back after running the add.

Create a "Installed Adds README.txt" file in your Silent folder to remind you what you have run and what you haven't.

That should do it. Silent Hunter should open and run on a Win 10 Pro machine.

That "-noconsole" bit in the shortcut part of the target box doesn't seem to work. I confess I know just enough about DOS and DOSBox to get this far. Perhaps someone can work out how to make the shortcut open straight into the game and post that solution here.

[Aktungbby]

R_Grubb!

[Onkel Neal]

Nicely sonew, Grubb, posted as Subsim News.

[CassioM]

Great! I love this classic game