What dosbox version and what os are you using?
Be sure that sound is configured correctly (you have irq=5 in your
list somewhere), should be a220 irq7 dma1.
Slow games: if you're on an x86 pc, try core=dynamic and cycles=auto.

Quadralien doesn't work (they use an odd vga register for no real reason).
You can set machine=cga but then graphics are, well, cga...

syndicate plus:
you can start the game manually by running the MAIN.EXE from the SYNDICAT (or DATADISK for the mission pack) subfolder.
if i remember correctly, the game autodetects the soundcard settings on every start.
and if the menu is a little choppy try different cores like wd said.

fx fighter:
check your control settings maybe the game is set to joystick for player 1/2.

What dosbox version and what os are you using?
0.65, Windows XP. Using D-Fend once I get it working.

Be sure that sound is configured correctly (you have irq=5 in your list somewhere), should be a220 irq7 dma1.
I do have it set to a220 irq7 dma1 as default. IRQ 5 was to get Bioforge running. Otherwise the character remains asleep at the start of the game. Bioforge was the only one where I changed it.

Slow games
Only a problem with Solar Winds episode 2 when musical score is on. I'm more interested in getting the music to play.

Quadralien doesn't work
In another topic mentioning quadralien
The game ist blue!
it says include "vga.h" in render_scalers.cpp. Can you tell me what this is in reference to and how to locate what ever it is? CGA doesn't seem to work for me. I get a blank screen.

joystick for player 1/2
Joystick is disabled.

That fix for quadralien is more or less correct (didn't remember i posted
it on the public forum as well), but i'm not sure if it still works with
current sources.
You have to change the dosbox sources, that is render_templates.h
(or another scaler template file depending on what scaler you want
to use) and recompile dosbox. I had another, imo much better fix
that just needed to respect the pel mask on palette changes, but
it wasn't tested any further.

For your slow games: did you actually try the settings posted above
for the core and cycles??

Syndicate Plus is working. Thanks for the information.

I changed some settings in DOSBox.conf and got FX Fighters to respond. But with the same settings in D-Fend it isn't working.

You have to change the dosbox sources... and recompile dosbox
That's just beyond my current level of experience. Do I need something extra to work with the source and compile it?

Also, whenever I use a setting other than VGA the screen freezes at the command line. I hear the music from the game I was loading but the image is stuck.

did you actually try the settings posted above for the core and cycles??
Yes, I did. And it helped with Blood where getting shot at by multiple cultists with tommy guns and with the sound on high settings caused the game to practically pause before. Still no music in Solar Winds. I'm not really sure what doing so was supposed to adress here.

Too bad D-Fend lacks the auto cycles option. I keep switching out the DOSBox.conf file when I want to use it.

Encountered another issue in 2 more games. While installing XS there isn't enough harddrive space for the full install (120 MB) even though I'm not even using half of a 250 GB. Then when I tried to apply a patch for Duke Nukem 3D the process failed and it claims the most likely reason is generally not enough harddrive space. Though they also did this when I tried again from Windows so it's not specifically related to DOSBox.

Summary so far:
Syndicate Plus - solved
FX Fighters - D-Fend related problem but otherwise solved
Quadralien - not sure how to put to use the information I've been given
Solara Winds 1&2 - looking for a way to get the musical score to play
Duke 3D - can't apply patch

> That's just beyond my current level of experience. Do I need something
> extra to work with the source and compile it?

Well "work with source" would be compiling only (mingw/msvc), at the
moment there's no other way round it besides getting somebody else to
do that for you... "Extra work" would simply be adding/changing those
very few lines.

> Also, whenever I use a setting other than VGA the screen freezes
> at the command line. I hear the music from the game I was loading
> but the image is stuck.

You might have to change the machine= setting in dosbox.conf for
non-vga emulation. That's no limitation of dosbox, but how vga was
designed in general.

> While installing XS there isn't enough harddrive space for the full install
> (120 MB) even though I'm not even using half of a 250 GB.

Please read the readme, it's described in there how the reported free
disk size is handled. It does NOT have anything to do with how much
you really have left on your disk (besides this limiting operability).

You might have to change the machine= setting in dosbox.conf for non-vga emulation.
That's what I was doing. Is there somewhere else to change the video type?

Please read the readme
Think you're familiar with something. I forget how handy that file is sometimes. -freesize 200 did the trick on XS. Also realized I could place Config -set "cpu cycles=auto" in the D-Fend Autoexec tab for Blood.

For Duke Nukem 3D I had to install on a 98 computer and run the patch. Then copy it over. Nothing I did on the XP would allow the patch to install. Then I needed to replace CDROM.INI and DUKE3D.CFG from the unpatched copy.

> That's what I was doing. Is there somewhere else to change the video type?

In my version there's a directory VGA and one CGA. Maybe the cga version
is simply missing for you.

I have the old 5.25 disk version. It was copied onto a 3.5 disk. The extra file may have been ignored.

Update:
Still no musical score in Solar Winds 1 or 2
No sound in Terminator or T2 arcade

hey,
I followed the steps above and syndicate plus is working great...

however it isn't keeping my saved games. I'll save it and then when i restart dosbox i wont be able to load. it wont show any saved games...

anyone ever see this before?

Unfortunately I'm posting from a public library. When I get back to the appartment I'll check this out. Maybe post something tomorrow if no one else has.

The process does seem to be a little confusing though it did work.
1. You can't save in game. If you escape to the menu you withdraw from the mission and have to start it over.
2. When a mission is completed go to Load and Save Game, select the slot, type in a name, click Save.
3. IF YOU DIDN'T CLICK SAVE NOTHING IS STORED!

Syndicate has a strange way of going about it. In other games click would select, then save would allow you to edit the name, and enter finishes the process. Here click allows you to edit the name, enter does nothing, and save updates the stored information.

I also noticed before Syndicate starts I get the message DOS/16M error: [40] not enough avaiable extended memory (XMIN), though I don't notice any problems while playing.

Encountered a few more perplexing issues.

Blake Stone Aliens of Gold
I'm trying to patch version 2.10R to 3.0. Like Duke Nukem 3D the patch wouldn't identify the files as being the same due to timezone. On the 98 computer it read the time stamps but then looked for a file I don't have. Somehow my copy is missing BS-HELP.EXE and the patch won't continue without it.

Descent
Trying to patch version 1.4a to 1.5. It appears to be the same issue with the patch expecting a certain time stamp again. My copy is from the Descent Definitive Collection which is apparently stamped with a different time.

Terminator Future Shock/Skynet
While installing Skynet it asks if I have Future Shock installed. I do but Skynet fails to detect it. It doesn't even appear to have looked.

Wolfenstein 3D
I have a copy of Wolfenstein 3D that supposedly includes Spear of Destiny. It's the dark green disc that was rereleased 5 years ago and says "THE CLASSIC THAT STARTED IT ALL..." on the front of the case. Wolfenstein 3D plays from the autorun but I still haven't figured out where Spear of Destiny is on the disc. Just recently I realized there's a LANCH.EXE file that gives me a list but no matter what I select from it I just get the word LAUNCH, then it returns to the C:\ prompt. I hope someone knows what I'm talking about.

Terminator Future Shock/Skynet
While installing Skynet it asks if I have Future Shock installed. I do but Skynet fails to detect it. It doesn't even appear to have looked.

hmm i had the same issue, but i thought it was only a problem with my cd-rip versions...
anyway you can find a workaround here.

I recall seeing that topic mentioned before. I can run it and I'm not focused on upgrading. I just wanted to know why Skynet wouldn't detect it. I added the line fspath=c:\shock to Skynets INSTALL.DAT and it now works alright.

Update for 0.70.
Quadralien graphics are fixed.
Termnator and T2 Arcade have sound.
Solar Winds 1&2, still no music.
Also, I discovered using Virtual PC 2004 that Solar Winds will have music but no sound effects. 😠