# Play old MS-DOS games on Internet Archive **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [January 8, 2015, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/play-old-ms-dos-games-on-internet-archive/709335 "2015-01-08T18:42:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/play-old-ms-dos-games-on-internet-archive/709335/1 "2015-01-08T18:42:54Z")
[You can now play nearly 2,400 MS-DOS video games in your browser](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2015/01/05/you-can-now-play-nearly-2400-ms-dos-video-games-in-your-browser/?tid=hybrid_control_strip_1). I just found out about this. It’s really just running DOSBOX through your browser, but it’s all the games collected in one place. Some games don’t run great because of the increased speed (the monsters are way too fast in _Castle Adventure_), but overall pretty fun old-school PC gaming. I just played _Sopwith 2_. I don’t remember any of the controls and there isn’t any help screen so I’ll have to old-school trial-and-error the controls out, but isn’t that part of the fun? ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/play-old-ms-dos-games-on-internet-archive/709335/2 "2015-01-08T18:44:37Z")
Oh boy… Warlords II…Bruce Lee…so many others. Can’t wait to have time… ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/play-old-ms-dos-games-on-internet-archive/709335/3 "2015-01-08T19:00:49Z")
To me, what stands out is that it’s actually DOSBox. This sort of thing has existed before, but it’s never been powered by DOSBox. It’s always been full PC emulators running FreeDOS. Somehow, when looking up JavaScript emulators up not that long ago, I missed out on em-DOSBox. Unfortunately, it seems like the Internet Archive didn’t read up on the settings you need for games older games. A lot of games used the CPU speed to determine game speed, which means you need to decrease the cycles in DOSBox to run on a modern computer. You can do that yourself by repeatedly pressing Ctrl-F11, but that’s not going to be obvious to users. Neither will be how to control the games–some basic instructions would be nice. Also “Press Spacebar to start” is misleading. Clicking to start will focus the your controls on the game. And, wow. A lot of games don’t have their copyright protection fixed. They’re an archive, so they are legally allowed to work around that. I think I’m going to contact the main guy to let him know. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/play-old-ms-dos-games-on-internet-archive/709335/4 "2015-01-08T19:22:44Z")
Note, I know what I said above comes across as complaining, but I was really trying to inform. Here’s another bit: the password for Indy Games Racing seems to always be “race,” despite what part of the manual it asks you to read. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/play-old-ms-dos-games-on-internet-archive/709335/5 "2015-01-08T19:46:43Z")
Anyone have issues changing the controls? I tried playing Dune 2, but there’s no mouse click: you move around with the move and hover over something you want to click then push Enter on the keyboard. I haven’t found a way to change the controls ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/play-old-ms-dos-games-on-internet-archive/709335/6 "2015-01-08T19:49:18Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > (the monsters are way too fast in _Castle Adventure_), but overall pretty fun old-school PC gaming. CRAP. I have wanted to play Castle Adventure again ever since we got a too-fast-for-it computer in 1991. The fast monsters problem has always thwarted me… and still does, apparently. Crappity crap crap. Why do I care about DOS emulators if I can’t play Castle Adventure? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/play-old-ms-dos-games-on-internet-archive/709335/7 "2015-01-08T19:52:50Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > CRAP. > > I have wanted to play Castle Adventure again ever since we got a too-fast-for-it computer in 1991. The fast monsters problem has always thwarted me… and still does, apparently. > > Crappity crap crap. Why do I care about DOS emulators if I can’t play Castle Adventure? Read a little lower in the thread. You can slow the emulation down by pressing Ctrl-F11. You’ll need to press it multiple times until it’s the right speed. > [@YogSosoth](#): > > Anyone have issues changing the controls? I tried playing Dune 2, but there’s no mouse click: you move around with the move and hover over something you want to click then push Enter on the keyboard. I haven’t found a way to change the controls I can’t get the DOXbox Control map (Ctrl-F1) to work, but you can try it. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/play-old-ms-dos-games-on-internet-archive/709335/8 "2015-01-08T20:09:47Z")
I took a look at this the other day. It seemed odd that they have a big DOOM graphic on their main page, but DOOM wasn’t one of the games listed… ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/play-old-ms-dos-games-on-internet-archive/709335/9 "2015-01-08T20:10:34Z")
I don’t have the link handy but they have a similar archive of playable old 80s-90s arcade games. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/play-old-ms-dos-games-on-internet-archive/709335/10 "2015-01-08T22:06:19Z")
Some of them are porn games…yes!! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/play-old-ms-dos-games-on-internet-archive/709335/11 "2015-01-09T04:15:35Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Read a little lower in the thread. You can slow the emulation down by pressing Ctrl-F11. You’ll need to press it multiple times until it’s the right speed. Okay. But this will require much experimentation. Cuz 'till I get it right, every time I’m wrong, the instant I go into a room with a monster I will be _dead_. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/play-old-ms-dos-games-on-internet-archive/709335/12 "2015-01-10T04:06:02Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I can’t get the DOXbox Control map (Ctrl-F1) to work, but you can try it. I got it to open up, but I can’t click or change anything 😕 ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/play-old-ms-dos-games-on-internet-archive/709335/13 "2015-01-13T18:06:47Z")
Bah, their version of Dune 2 still has the copy protection! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/play-old-ms-dos-games-on-internet-archive/709335/14 "2015-01-13T18:33:57Z")
Ok, anyone wanna share some favorites? 2400 is a lot to comb through. I’ve never even heard of “Castle Adventure,” so I’ll be sure to check that out later on, keeping in mind the cntl-f11 tip. ETA: I do remember reading someone saying M.U.L.E. is up there…