DOSBox and Doom 2

I downloaded DOSBox version 0.7 last night. DOSBox is an opensource MS-DOS emulator that runs on Windows and other platforms. Basically that means you can run your old DOS programs in Windows XP even though XP has (very) limited MS-DOS support. Basically, what that means is you can run old DOS games in Windows, because I really can't think of that many DOS programs that haven't been replaced with better Windows versions. DOSBox does not offer all the functionality of MS-DOS but it does get the job done. You can run applications windowed or full-screen. It also lets you mount directories, partitions and CD/DVD drives. You can also speed up or slow down the emulator to try and make your old software run smoothly.

I created a directory on my c: drive called DOS and mounted it by typing "mount c c:\dos" (an earlier, uninformed attempt to mount the drive proved to be messy and ineffective). I then fired up a game of Doom 2, which for some reason I had been dying to play since I started listening to that Alice In Chains album. I really wanted to hear Alice In Chains midi! Everything worked as I remembered it although the joystick was a little buggy, enough so that I switched to keyboard control (my joystick is a newer Logitech USB pad with, I think, a bit too much going on for Doom to handle - I'll have to play around with it a bit).

Playing Doom 2 really took me back. Games today seem so disposable - I don't play as much as I used to but even when I do I never log the kind of hours and replayability I got out of Doom 2, or a lot of the games I played back then. I played Doom over and over, beating it countless times, exploring every nook and cranny of the maps. I played it for years - playing again last night was like going back to visit an old neighborhood (other than the fact that I was killing all of the neighbors).

I'm kind of on a classic game "kick" now, thanks to DOSBox. Ah, nostalgia! If anyone wants to hook up for a Doom deathmatch let me know...

You can download DOSBox here:
http://dosbox.sourceforge.net/download.php?main=1

There's a FAQ here:
http://dosbox.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php

As far as finding your own copy of Doom 2, you're on your own. I think you can still buy it from Id. I keep my copy carefully preserved in a vault, where it will remain for eternity, lovingly tended, that I might never go wanting for it's sweet, sweet gratification...