Retro

ScummVM and DOSBox Staging: DOS games and point-and-click classics

Old PC games have their own emulators. ScummVM is made for point-and-click adventures like Monkey Island and Broken Sword. DOSBox Staging runs DOS games like Doom, Civilization, and Prince of Persia.

Legal and free to start

This is the easiest corner of the retro hobby to start legally:

  • ScummVM has a list of free games at scummvm.org/games, like Beneath a Steel Sky.
  • Many classics are available at GOG; those usually work directly with ScummVM and DOSBox.
  • Many DOS games have a shareware version that you can legally distribute.

Installing ScummVM

flatpak install flathub org.scummvm.ScummVM

Choose Add Game, point to the folder with the game, and ScummVM will recognize it automatically. Handy: play in a window, choose a nice scale filter, and use Ctrl+F5 for the menu.

Installing DOSBox Staging

flatpak install flathub io.github.dosbox-staging

Put your DOS games in a folder, for example ~/dosgames, and start them like this:

mount c ~/dosgames
c:
dir
spel.exe

Useful tips

  • Speed: DOSBox Staging automatically chooses a good speed. If a game runs too fast or too slow, adjust cycles in the config file.
  • Sound: old games require a sound card. In the game’s setup menu, choose Sound Blaster 16 and General MIDI for the best music.
  • Keyboard: some games use shortcuts that DOSBox takes over. Check if the key is set differently in the DOSBox Staging keymapper.
  • Windows 95/98 games? For those, there’s 86Box and PCem; they emulate an entire PC and are more complicated.