Dosbox Save Games

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Games

The first game of the Tomb Raider series is a DOS game from 1996 and therefore can only be played well with DOSBox on systems with Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, XP or Vista, especially when those OS's are 64 bit.

In this guide we'll explain how to get the game running in DOSBox, when you use the original installation CD. As the initial resolution of Tomb Raider is very low (320x240), we also have several options to upgrade the resolution of the game. Choose your way:

Software for MS-DOS machines that represent entertainment and games. The collection includes action, strategy, adventure and other unique genres of game and entertainment software. Through the use of the EM-DOSBOX in-browser emulator, these programs are bootable and playable. Please be aware this. About DOSGames.com. This website was founded in January 1999 and since then has provided an archive of free (shareware, freeware, etc) games for the MS-DOS platform. Nowadays DOSBox provides an easy way to play these games on modern computers. If you're interested in learning about the history of this website, see the About DOSGames.com page. Dosbox is an x86 PC DOS-emulator that can be used to run classic DOS games or programs. DOSBox emulates an Intel x86 PC with sound, graphics, mouse, joystick, and modem etc., that allows you to run many old MS-DOS games and programs that cannot be run on modern operating systems, such as Windows XP and later, Linux and FreeBSD. For old DOS games, the simplest thing to do is to adjust the scaler. The praises of DOSBox have been sung for a long time and with good reason. Its flawless emulation of PC gaming’s granddaddy.

If you don't have Tomb Raider, download your copy! It works great on Windows 10, Windows 7 and Windows 8! In addition, you can use nGlide to play Tomb Raider in ultra high resolution!

Install DOSBox

Dosbox Save Game

  • Download the Windows package (that's the Win32 installer).
  • Save it in a temporary folder on your hard disk.
  • Install DOSBox by double clicking the installer file in Windows explorer.

Install Tomb Raider from CD in DOSBox

  • In Windows explorer, create a folder where you want to install Tomb Raider and/or other DOS games, for example c:gamesdos
  • Start DOSBox from the desktop or the Windows start menu.
  • To make folders and drives accessible in DOSBox, you need to mount them.
  • To mount the folder in which you will install Tomb Raider, type in mount c c:gamesdos and press enter. This will create a virtual drive c: in DOSBox, which will use the c:gamesdos folder on your hard drive c:
  • When the name of your games folder contains spaces, you have to use quotes around the folder path and type in mount c 'c:gamesdos games' and press enter
  • To mount your CD/DVD drive (in this example drive i:), type in mount d i: -t cdrom and press enter. This will create a virtual CD drive d: in DOSBox, which will use the CD/DVD drive i: in your system. Obviously, replace i: with the drive letter of your CD drive
  • As you always will need these virtual drives in DOSBox after installation to play Tomb Raider, it is recommended to put the mount commands in your DOSBox configuration file. This way the games folder and your CD/DVD drive will be mounted automatically when you start DOSBox.
    • Open the configuration file:
      • Windows 7: press CTRL and ESC (or click start button), type in dosbox and the options file should appear in the search results, click it
      • Windows 8 and 10: Press the Windows key and Q, type in dosbox and the options file should appear in the search results, click it
    • Scroll down to the autoexec section (at the bottom of the file)
    • Copy the mount commands below the comments (indicated by a hash). The lines below apply to this example:
      [autoexec]
      # Lines in this section will be run at startup.
      # You can put your MOUNT lines here.
      mount c c:gamesdos
      mount d i: -t cdrom
      c:
    • Save the configuration file with CTRL+S, or click on File in the top menu and choose Save
  • In DOSBox, access your CD drive by typing d: and press enter.
  • To install a game from CD, you need to look for files like install.exe, install.bat, setup.exe or setup.bat
    • Type in dir .exe and press enter to show all executable files
    • Type in dir .bat and press enter to show all batch files
    • As you will see, the Tomb Raider CD contains an install.exe file
    • Start the Tomb Raider installation by typing install and press enter
  • In the Tomb Raider setup program, choose the install option, by pressing enter.
  • Default installation folder is c:tombraid. This is ok, the game will be installed in the c:gamesdostombraid folder on your hard disk, since the c: drive in DOSBox points to the c:gamesdos folder on your hard disk. You can rename the folder with the back space key. The back slash key () might be under the slash key (/). When done, press enter.
  • At sound card setup choose auto detect and then continue.
  • At last, choose Save Settings to wrap things up and start the game!

Start Tomb Raider 1 from DOSBox

After installation, the Tomb Raider game automatically starts. But what to do when this doesn't happen, or when the game is already installed and you want to start it again?

Dosbox Save Games
  • You have followed all instructions as described above (install the game, edit the DOSBox config file)
  • Place the Tomb Raider CD (or the CD of any other DOS game you've installed) in your CD/DVD drive
  • Start DOSBox
  • In DOSBox, type in c: and press enter to access the virtual c drive
  • To check which folders exist on your virtual c: drive in DOSBox, type in dir and press enter
  • If you haven't installed other games, only the tombraid folder will be shown
  • To access the tombraid folder, type in cd tombraid and press enter (cd stands for Change Directory)
  • To start a game, you need to look for files that have a file name that resembles the name of the game. These files also need to have a .exe or .bat extension
    • Type in dir .exe and press enter to show all executable files
    • Type in dir .bat and press enter to show all batch files
    • As you will see, the tombraid folder contains a tomb.exe file
    • To start Tomb Raider, type in tomb and press enter

Graphics resolution of Tomb Raider 1

First, set graphics details to high. You can do that by selecting the pink sun glasses in the main menu. It won't improve graphics quality a lot though.

Once you're playing the game, the resolution is very, very low at first. To make it a little more acceptable, press the F1 key when you are in the game. This will change the resolution to (presumably) 640x480. Please note that the game is quite processor-intensive in this mode.

If you want to play Tomb Raider in a much higher resolution, read about 3Dfx and nGlide or GliDOS.

You also might want to have a look at our guide how to change the resolution of the program window of DOSBox.

Finished playing?

When you've finished playing and want to play another DOS game which you have installed on your virtual c: drive in DOSBox, you need to access the game folder of that game. This is how:

Games
  • Type in cd and press enter to go back to the root of the virtual c: drive in DOSBox
  • You can also type in cd .. and press enter to access the parent folder of the active folder in DOSBox
  • Type in dir and press enter to see the contents of the active folder
  • Type in cd gamedir and press enter to go to the gamedir folder from the active folder
Games

After Tomb Raider was released, a '3Dfx patch' as well as a 'Voodoo Rush patch' was created to support hardware accelerated 3D graphics with a 3Dfx graphics card (like the Monster 3D and Voodoo cards). Because DOSBox doesn't emulate 3Dfx hardware by default, the 3Dfx patch won't work. However, the GOG.com and Steam releases of Tomb Raider have a special version of DOSBox on board that does emulate a 3Dfx card. Combined with the nGlide '3Dfx Voodoo Glide Wrapper' you will be able to play Tomb Raider 1 in ultra high resolution! Here's how:

  • Download and install nGlide
  • Open the configuration utility of nGlide:
    • Windows 7: press CTRL+ESC (or the start button), type in nglide and click on nGlide configurator
    • Windows 8: press Windows key + Q, type in nglide and click on nGlide configurator
    • Windows 10: press Windows key + Q, type in nglide and press enter. If the configurator does not show up, click on the first result (a link to the start menu) and then double click the nGlide configurator shortcut
    • Set Screen resolution to By desktop
    • Set Aspect ratio to 4:3 for the original screen size
    • Click on Apply and then on Exit
  • Download and install Tomb Raider 1 from GOG.com or Steam
  • Go to the Tomb Raider installation folder and search for the glide2x.dll file:
    • GOG.com version default install folder: C:Program Files (x86)GOG.comTomb Raider 1DOSBOX
    • Please note that the GOG.com version has 2 glide2x.dll files. You need to search for the one in the DOSBOX folder
    • Steam version default install folder: C:Program FilesSteamSteamAppscommonTomb Raider (I)
    • Rename the glide2x.dll file to glide2x_original.dll. If you installed nGlide correctly, it should take over and use its own version of glide2x.dll
  • Start Tomb Raider and be amazed

Dosbox Save State

If you own a copy of Tomb Raider 1, you don't have to buy a new one through GOG.com or Steam to play Tomb Raider in high resolution. You do need some additional software and perform some additional actions:

Does Dosbox Save Games

  • Download and install nGlide if you haven't done so already
  • Open the configuration utility of nGlide:
    • Windows 7: press CTRL + ESC (or the start button), type in nglide and click on nGlide configurator
    • Windows 8: press Windows key + Q, type in nglide and click on nGlide configurator
    • Windows 10: press Windows key + Q, type in nglide and press enter. If the configurator does not show up, click on the first result (a link to the start menu) and then double click the nGlide configurator shortcut
    • Set Screen resolution to By desktop
    • Set Aspect ratio to 4:3 for the original screen size
    • Click on Apply and then on Exit
  • Download DOSBox (this the SVN Daum version that supports Glide and emulates 3Dfx/Voodoo graphics cards, it's preconfigured to work with nGlide) and copy the contents of the zip file to an empty folder of choice, for example c:gamesdosbox
  • Start DOSBox by navigating to the DOSBox folder (in this example c:gamesdosbox) and double click dosbox.exe for 32 bits systems and dosbox_x64.exe for 64 bits systems. When in doubt, just double click dosbox.exe
  • Install Tomb Raider 1 from CD in DOSBox as explained above. If you already succesfully installed the game, you still have to edit the DOSBox configuration file of the special DOSBox version to make sure all drives you need are mounted correctly
  • To edit the special DOSBox configuration file, right click dosbox.conf in the DOSBox folder (in this example c:gamesdosboxdosbox.conf), choose Open with... and choose Notepad to open the file
  • Edit the file as explained above and save with CTRL+S, or click on File in the top menu and choose Save
  • Navigate to the Tomb Raider installation folder, in this example c:gamesdostombraid and rename the tomb.exe file to tomb_org.exe by right clicking on the file and choosing Rename
  • Download the Tomb Raider 1 Voodoo Rush patch and copy the content of the zip file into the Tomb Raider installation folder, in this example c:gamesdostombraid
  • Close and restart DOSBox
  • In DOSBox, navigate to the Tomb Raider folder with cd TOMBRAID and start the game by typing tomb and press enter
  • If all went well, the game starts and you'll see the 3Dfx logo

Dosbox Mac Save Games

You can play Tomb Raider 1 with high quality graphics and OpenGL / Direct3D support with Glidos. It is well worth trying. Tomb Raider runs a lot better on modern computers with Glidos. We won't cover how to get Glidos running here; they have excellent documentation which can be found on the installation page of Glidos.

When you have Glidos running and you've reached the 3rd level, you'll see a rotating Glidos logo in the middle of your screen. If you want to get rid of that, you'll have to support the project with a humble fee, and your copy of Glidos will be unlocked.

In addition, high resolution textures are available to use with Glidos. Visit TombRaiderXtra.com for more information and screenshots.

We've managed to get Tomb Raider II running on a 64 bits version of Windows 7 by just installing it from the original CD and it worked quite well. Since Tomb Raider II also supports hardware acceleration (OpenGL) it doesn't seem to be necessary to search for additional software.