Dosbox video capturing how to

Hello, Masters of Orion.
I read this post recently and found out that it is out of date. So I decided to contribute a little to our community and write this post.

What I would like to share with you is that it is possible to capture video from the game without any auxiliary program, but using dosbox directly (starting from 0.65 version). To do that you need to open dosbox.conf file, find the string captures=capture and
replace it with path to any ‘EXISTING’ folder you like, where you want to place captured video, for example

captures=d:\captures

If you don't change this, by default recorded video will be placed to

c:\program files\dosbox-0.72\capture folder.

After you have done this, you can simply launch dosbox and start capturing video by pressing ctrl+alt+f5 buttons simultaneously. When you press it, file named orion2_000.avi will be created in your folder. IF you press ctrl+alt+f5 buttons again, video capturing will stop. By pressing it again it will renew recording to orion2_001.avi file.
 I was amazed how easy it was to capture video, but the problem was later with program to watch recorded video.
The problem is that dosbox writes video with special ZMBV codec. This codec is not widespread, but it is perfect for capturing game video.

The Win 32 Release of DOSBox already includes the necessary CODEC and install scripts needed to allow Windows Media Player (or almost any other movie player in Windows). If you installed the Start Menu shortcuts simply select Install movie codec and it will perform installation of the needed codec automatically.



However you won’t be given any message of completion of the installation, so you’ll have to check whether it was installed manually - by trying to play your movie.
If you didn't installed Start menu shortcuts, or under Linux and MacOS X you can use MPlayer (a popular command line video player) and it should be able to play the captured video without any special configuration. Also it is able to increase( ] button ) and decrease ( [ button ) speed of replay.
That's the basics, everyone can read about it here and here.

The size of the captured video is about 1gb per 3 hours of game, but you can compress it with winrar and it would take about 300mb space.
Also, you can reduce video size by using mencoder(part of mplayer)
I have tried different codecs to reduce video size and found out, that zmbv codec, used by dosbox is probably the best in size/quality ratio with one exception that you have to entirely discard sound from video.
Here is an example of the script:

mencoder -nosound -ovc copy orion2_*.avi -o moo2.avi

If you have several files like orion2_000.avi, orion2_001.avi orion2_002.avi etc.
They will be united into one file - moo2.avi
1Gb video will become 210mb with no video quality loss, but without sound. The reason for this is that dosbox stores sound entirely uncompressed in pcm format. You could try to compress sound too, using the for example the mp3lame codec.
Here is an example of the script:

mencoder -oac mp3lame -ovc copy orion2_*.avi -o moo2.avi

However I had a problem viewing such videos.
(but ffmpeg results were much worse, with the same settings )
You can get common divx video with satisfactory quality and same size 300mb using following commands:
The first pass:

mencoder -nosound -ovc xvid -xvidencopts pass=1:par=vga11:threads=128 goodmap3_*.avi -o xvid1.avi

In result you receive about 500Mb file
The second pass:

mencoder -nosound -ovc xvid -xvidencopts pass=2:par=vga11:threads=128:bitrate=-300000 goodmap3_*.avi -o xvid2.avi

In result you receive the desired 300mb file.
But this operation takes about 2 hours on my core 2 duo 2ghz processor.
Additionally, you can add compressed sound to video file by using the mentioned mp3lame decoder
Here is an example of the script:
The first pass:

mencoder -oac mp3lame -ovc xvid -xvidencopts pass=1:par=vga11:threads=128 goodmap3_*.avi -o xvid1.avi

The second pass:

mencoder -oac mp3lame -ovc xvid -xvidencopts pass=2:par=vga11:threads=128:bitrate=-300000 goodmap3_*.avi -o xvid2.avi

DOSBox 0.72

The next month already the next release. Even before I updated the MOO2 related guide. Anyway, the default dosbox.conf settings should work on most new hardware now. Therefore just the autoexec part should be added. See the DOSBox Guide for details.

DOSBox 0.71 released

Try the latest version in their download section. The DOSBox Guide will be updated soon.

Monday, July 30th, 2007 - Qbix A bugfix release this time, but we couldn't resist adding a few new exciting features:

• Added a new recompiling cpu core which is easier to port!


• Added a x86_64 and a mipsel_32 recompiling core.


• Fixed hangups on certain platforms after long gameplay of several games.


• Fix several joystick bugs.


• Improved cdrom support. (fixes for audio, iso and detection.)


• Improved SVGA and VESA. (detection and display)


• Fixed a few textmodes and improved ansi emulation a bit.


• Fixed pcspeaker and certain types of soundeffects.


• Added undocumented mousebackdoor.


• Made mount and imgmount a bit easier to use. (ioctl by default, support
  for ~ and ~username, auto size guessing for images)


• Fix a few compilation problems on various hosts and a general code
  cleanup.


• Several small fixes that improve compatibility.

The compatibility should be the same as 0.70 aside from the games we fixed. (see the Changelog for details)

DOSBox 0.70

A new release of DOSBox was published a few weeks ago. Apparently, the new default settings of the dosbox.conf work quite nicely on new computers now. Lord Brazen proposes in this post the following fine tuning:

a) Change output from surface to overlay.
b) Change gus from true to false.
c) Change joysticktype from auto to none.
d) Change ipx from false to true. (for multiplayer games)

The other highlighted items were already my default settings. I don't have sufficient feedback yet, but I assume that you should adjust frameskip to 1 or 2 for old computers. Additionally, I am not sure how the auto core feature works for old computers. Feedback is appreciated.

I will update the DOSBox guide with the new dosbox.conf files in the next days.

DOSbox Fine Tuning

LordBrazen posted some info regarding the new build DOSBox 0.66rc1 CVS on his blog. Additionally, he now recommends to use the setsound.exe (the MOO2 folder or CD should contain this executable) to configure the sound (instead of editing the DIG.INI). Though on my PC the sound is slightly choppy (especially during screen changes) with the proposed settings in the DOSbox guide. Shadowlord assumed in this forum post that this might be caused by the experimental auto cycle feature and frameskip. With his settings the sound seems better. Or is it just my imagination?

Updated DOSbox Guide

I have updated the DOSbox Guide recently. I also added several screenshots to clarify a few issues.

Additionally, you can download my own dosbox.conf now. It works in combination with the default MOO2 directory: C:\MPS\ORION2

When you use this configuration you need just to read steps 1-4 and 8. The steps 5-7 explain the changes of my dosbox.conf file.

DosBox Guide

DOSBox supports IPX since version 0.65 and it improved significantly the efficiency of MOO2 MP Online Games. Keep in mind that by using DOSBox also Linux, 2k, Vista and even Mac users are now able to join our Multiplayer Games. Therefore, DOSBox is now considered as the de facto solution for multiplayer. In the meanwhile, the IRC channel irc.quakenet.org#moo2 (This link works for FF+chatzilla/Opera users. IE users should use the client at the top of the sidebar) is the new meeting point for MOO2 Online Games. It was introduced in August 2006 after most MOO2 players started to use the new DOSBox version.

Before the guide starts, I'd like to add a small FAQ section.

A) Why should I use the DOS version?

First of all, regarding multiplayer the DOS version orion2.exe is far superior to the WIN version orion95.exe. When you have ever tried to setup a MOO2 network game you may have observed this already: The orion95.exe lags extremely. Up to several minutes between the turns. You may ask for the reason, let me therefore quote the developer Rob Corell:

"It [MOO2] was definitely developed under DOS. I did the DOS network support, and don't even remember any Win95 testing for MOO2."

To sum it up: Network games under orion95.exe are considered unplayable but the orion2.exe provides appealing results.

B) I have installed the Windows version orion95.exe. Why should I read this guide?

First, most MOO2 CDs contain both versions, i.e. orion95.exe and orion2.exe. Second, even if you own just a "Windows only" release (e.g. the Atari Download version), you should take into account that there are just minor differences between Windows and DOS version. It is patchable with the last official 1.31. Proceed with step 1B in this case.

C) DOSBox is just too slow. Do I have to use DOSBox?

There are alternatives to DOSBox, but I don't recommend them any longer (there are far too many problems involved on modern hardware). Actually, the newest DOSBox version (with default settings) works pretty fast on modern computers. So you have probably just an old DOSBox version (just update DOSBox in this case) or an older computer. In the latter case you should read step 7 to speed up DOSBox.

DOSBox Guide for MOO2 Multiplayer:

1. There are two ways to "install" the DOS version orion2.exe. In any case I emphasize to use the default folder. Users with a different folder name should take notice of this important NOTE. This 8 character limit under DOS is the main error of most DOSBox users.

1.A Conventional Way (win95/98/ME/XP can use this way.)
Find the Install.exe on your Moo2 CD and double click it to start the DOS installer. For further details see step 1 and 2 in LordBrazen's guide. Note, that step 2 in LordBrazen's guide isn't optional! (I.e. without this step you will need to mount your CD drive, too.) And I recommend to use the default folder: C:\MPS\ORION2
Any trouble? Try it with 1.B then:

1.B Unconventional Way (Linux, MAC, Win2k users or users without install.exe/orion2.exe have to use this way.)
Just copy the entire CD onto the hard drive! Once again, I recommend to use the default folder: MPS\ORION2
If orion2.exe and/or rkernel.com file(s) are missing:
Unzip this rkernel.zip file in your MOO2 directory and proceed. No worries about orion2.exe: The 1.31 zip patch in step 2 contains the exe file of the dos version.)
Once all the files are copied you will possibly need to edit the 'ORIONCD.INI' file within the C:\MPS\ORION2 folder. Change the top line in the file to C:\MPS\ORION2

2. Apply the moo2v131.zip patch. Important! 1.4 will only work with the ENGLISH 1.31 patch. (German or multilingual 1.31patch won't work. But German or other versions are no problem after applying the above mentioned patch.)

3. Apply the v1.40 patch (Latest version - 1.40b23 (MOO2v140 patch FAQ) You should follow these instructions and an 1.4 desktop shortcut is quite helpful (see step 6).

4. Download DosBox 0.72 and install it.

The steps 5-8 are related to the dosbox.conf file. The default location of this text file is:
C:\Programs\DOSBox-0.72\dosbox.conf

5. Open your dosbox.conf file with an usual text editor and and enable IPX, i.e. edit the following entry

[ipx]
# ipx -- Enable ipx over UDP/IP emulation.
ipx=true

6. We need now the exact MS-DOS name of your MOO2 working directory. The above-mentioned 1.4 shortcut is now helpful, especially if you have a different folder than default. Therefore, right click the 1.4 desktop shortcut - Properties - Program tab and copy the entry of the Working field to the clipboard:

After following the steps under 1A or 1B, the default entry should be
C:\MPS\ORION2
Paste now (from the clipboard) this entry to the [autoexec] part of the dosbox.conf file. With the default entry the necessary lines are:

[autoexec]
# Lines in this section will be run at startup.

mount c c:\MPS\ORION2
c:
orion2~1

The first two bold lines represent the so called mounting, i.e. DOSbox will launch an exe file from this working directory now. The third line is the command to launch the orion2v140.exe in this folder.

NOTE: For those without this shortcut and/or different working directory: Keep in mind that the 8 character limit under MS-DOS truncates names. For example C:\Microprose\Masteroforion2 will be translated to C:\Microp~1\Master~1

This note is now slightly emphasized since ~95% of the problems are caused by incorrect mounting. Click now the DOSbox shortcut to test your setup:

MOO2 will be automatically launched inside DOSbox:


Use ALT+ENTER to play fullscreen. BTW there is also a DOSbox Status Window, which will list the incoming connections (see step 8 for details).

7. You will observe that DOSBox is a bit slower than usual Dos under Windows but you can speed it up by editing the dosbox.conf file. Following edits work nicely on my old computer:

frameskip=1
core=dynamic
cycles=auto

But you should test these settings in singleplayer. Some players need a frameskip of 2 or 3. See also the comments: Some players report improved speed by output=ddraw.

8. MULTIPLAYER COMMANDS

The [autoexec] lines for a singleplayer game were explained in step 6. For an MP game you need a further command. And it is important that you add it above the orion2~1 line. I recommend to add the lines as they are mentioned under 8.C but let us first look at the default example separately:

8.A JOINING MULTIPLAYER GAME

[autoexec]
# Lines in this section will be run at startup.

mount c c:\MPS\ORION2
c:
ipxnet connect xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
orion2~1

You have to add the IP of the host behind the ipxnet connect command (for example: ipxnet connect 83.239.211.21) Use http://whatismyip.com/ to obtain your IP.)

8.B HOSTING MULTIPLAYER GAME

[autoexec]
# Lines in this section will be run at startup.

mount c c:\MPS\ORION2
c:
ipxnet startserver
orion2~1

In this case you don't have to add an IP.

By playing against different players (different IPs!) you will have to change the DOSbox.conf quite a lot. I therefore strongly recommend to add a shortcut of your dosbox.conf file to your desktop:


8.C DOSbox.conf Fine Tuning

You may have noticed that the "#" is used for comments inside the dosbox.conf. It is a convenient way to disable unused lines inside your dosbox.conf. For example, my current dosbox.conf for singleplayer games looks like this:


When I am interested in an MP game I just enable one of the bold lines mentioned under 8.A or 8.B. BTW, I have also added further MOO2 Mods at the bottom which can coexist in the same folder with 1.31/1.40. Note, that there are also the so called switches (/nowh etc.) added. They are explained in the 1.40 FAQ.

The IP in this screenshot is just an example. When you try to connect to this IP you will get this error message inside the DOSbox Status Window:


9. The host needs to forward PORT 213 UDP (default), if he uses a router/firewall.

10. Inside Moo2 you have to click the following buttons:
Multiplayer
Network
Join Game (only the host has to click Start New Game)


11. Run the setsound.exe and choose the soundblaster compatible option there. See this post for details and further fine tuning.

12. Ahhhh.......you need opponents? Join irc.quakenet.org#moo2 (This link works for FF/Opera users. IE users should use the client at the top of the sidebar) and you will find some DOSBox players there. See also this post for further IRC clients.

13. Popular Settings/Abbreviations (click it to enlarge)


Don't forget to enable ship initiative (default in Online Games). It is the last entry in this menu: