Megafortress part 2: Flight of the DOS Dog

2 hours ago
3 min read

This guide covers building a standalone version of Megafortress suitable for use with an existing DOSBox Staging installation or with period correct legacy hardware.

This guide will be starting with the digital edition, the Megafortress Collection and converting into an existing DOSBox/DOS legacy release.

The Megafortress Collection is digital release available on gog.com and Steam platforms.

Strategy

Once the Megafortress Collection is installed, the Operation SkyMaster expansion pack is used as a basis for this release, as it contains the a complete mission set (Megafortress, Operation Sledgehammer & Operation SkyMaster) and the Mission Editor.

The game installation is cleaned up removing the cd re-release files which are not required, as the game will run from an emulated DOSBox hard disk (or an actual hard disk in the case of legacy hardware).

The DOSBox config is briefly covered and the new launcher app isn't used but a launcher mod is available for the game.

Game management

I recommend using my DOSBox game management strategy. The following folders are required when building this release:

hdd - the DOSBox Staging hard disk folder.
conf - to store the DOSBox Staging configuration file.
docs - to store any useful documents, manuals, etc.

Installation

Installing the Megafortress Collection should be performed using the appropriate platform client, so either the Steam client, gog.com Galaxy client or gog.com offline installer.

Building the release

These instructions assume the following:

The release will be built in a game management hdd folder, e.g.

D:\Games\DOS\Megafortress\hdd

A gog.com Galaxy client install is used, the Megafortress game folder existing under the Galaxy client folder, e.g.

D:\Program Files (x86)\GOG Galaxy\Games\Megafortress

The steps to create the release are as follows:

Copy the contents of the SkyMaster expansion folder in the gog.com Galaxy client Megafortress game folder into the game management hdd folder. So using the example folders above, the contents of:

D:\Program Files (x86)\GOG Galaxy\Games\Megafortress\GameData\C\Mega_SkyMaster

Are copied into:

D:\Games\DOS\Megafortress\hdd

In the hdd folder there will be a mega folder, containing the following files that can be deleted:

action16.exe	The cd re-release Action Sixteen splash screen, not required.
cdpatch.exe	The cd patch allowing the game to run from cd but save data to the hard disk, not required.

In the hdd folder there will be two batch files, mega.bat and editmsn.bat. Using a text editor (e.g. Notepad), they should be edited as follows:

For mega.bat:	@echo off cd MEGA MEGA.EXE cd ..
For editmsn.bat:	@echo off cd MEGA\THEATER EDITMSN cd ..\..

That completes the building of the release.

DOSBox config

This guide assumes the latest version of DOSBox Staging which is v0.82.2 at time of writing. The general DOSBox config from Megafortress part 1: Old Dog, new tricks should be used, the [autoexec] section for this release is shown below:

[autoexec]
@echo off
mount c "D:\Games\DOS\Megafortress\hdd"
c:

# To use the launcher 
# call megamenu.bat

Running

To run Megafortress (all missions are accessible in game):

C:\> mega

To run the Mission Editor:

C:\> editmsn

Mods

A launcher mod (megamenu.bat) has been created which does the following:

List the installed products.
Play Megafortress.
Run the Mission Editor.
Backup the roster.
Restore the roster.
View system info.
Return to the DOSBox DOS prompt.
Close DOSBox.

To use it download and unzip megamenu.bat into the hdd folder (alongside mega.bat and editmsn.bat) and update the DOSBox config as shown above.

Documentation

Copy the contents of the Manuals folder in the gog.com Galaxy client Megafortress game folder into the game management docs folder. So using the example folders above, the contents of:

D:\Program Files (x86)\GOG Galaxy\Games\Megafortress\GameData\Manuals

Are copied into:

D:\Games\DOS\Megafortress\hdd

It is recommended to copy the Quickstart guide (Megafortress_Quickstart.pdf) as it contains a summary of the IFF transponder codes required by the game.

The Operation Sledgehammer and Operation SkyMaster manuals, supplied by Brian 'SpaceGameJunkie' Rubin (discussed previously in Documentation) are also applicable to this release.

It is highly recommended to download these manuals and add them to the game management docs folder.

Good hunting!