Some Modern Duke Port Enhancements in a New DOS Port?

[MusicallyInspired]

Everybody nowadays has WinXP/Vista PCs so that's mainly what eDuke32 and other ports, but would it be possible to make a DOS version that could run on an old 486 that has some of the same enhancements that the newer ports has? I'm not talking high res textures or models as that uses stuff like OpenGL and DirectX that obviously aren't available in DOS at all, but maybe some things like being able to replace textures with GIFs/PNGs/etc that are in the current game directory? And some of the advanced DEF and CON editing that currently only works in eDuke32 and other Windows ports? Like, things like DukePlus effects but running in an 8-bit DOS port.

Is there anything at all that's not native to the original DOS compiled Duke that can be incorporated into another compiled DOS port that would run on a 486? Am I making sense?

[d3ad connection]

Even a 486 has trouble running the original Duke3D, so I highly doubt it.

[MusicallyInspired]

My 486 has no problem running it. Keep in mind I'm not talking about graphics enhancements. Just some of the nice features from the newer ports that would be handy in a DOS port.

[Usurper]

There was briefly a continuation of DOS eduke that resulted in eduke 2.1.1. No graphical additions, just con language additions.

http://archive.dukertcm.com/eduke/

You could never get most recent mods to work with it, because eduke32 has way more additions to the scripting language. DOS eduke predates TX's projectile system and EVENT_GAME.

[MusicallyInspired]

Is there any way eduke 2.1.1 could be updated with the latest script language additions? Would it take very long? Or is that kind of thing out of scope for a DOS port?

Also, what are some of the additions to eduke 2.1.1 that aren't in the original?

[Hendricks266]

EDuke 2.1.1 itself has problems, like overlapping quotes, a buggy menu redefinition system, and other things. I think EDuke32 was split off of EDuke 2.0.

[Dopefish7590]

For an uber old computer with windows, I found that JFDuke was way faster then EDuke32. (Seen on: 486DX 100Mhz with Win 98)

[TerminX]

Originally Posted by Dopefish7590

For an uber old computer with windows, I found that JFDuke was way faster then EDuke32. (Seen on: 486DX 100Mhz with Win 98)

At that point, you're better off just running the original executable.

[Tea Monster]

A 486 was what most people were running when Duke came out. I remember my first PC (my first computer was a Mac Quadra 700) was an old 386. Even with a co-pro it wouldn't run Duke. It would, perversely, run Quake (at single frame rate, but it would run it!).

[Hendricks266]

Macs are personal computers too.

I didn't discover Duke 3D until 98 was out, so I wouldn't know about playing it older computers like 486s.

[hightreason]

It actually works on an IBM 386-SL-12
But if you actually want to play it, I dont reccoment it. I've got my AM486-100 upstairs, which can play it at 800x600 res (95 Dos Mode, specially configured for DOS games) with a nice 10-15F/s which is tolerable, I swear that some of those AM486 chips can keep up with and even beat early Pentium processors. However, my i486-DX-33 is similar to my 386, i think it varies greatly from one old machine to the other as to how it will do it, because the 33Mhz chip performs better in other motherboards, but another (identical) CPU is crap in some of the boards that the other one is good in.

[MusicallyInspired]

So JFDuke3D runs well on a 486 DX2 66Mhz under Win95? Can any of the newer ports just be ported to a DOS executable (while minusing all the polymost settings and graphic enhancements)?

At that point, you're better off just running the original executable.

The point is to try to get the script enhancements of the newer ports, which the original executable doesn't support, onto an old computer.

[TerminX]

I don't think the scripting enhancements would run very well on an old machine.

[Dopefish7590]

Haha, I think even a simple weapon mod would nuke the computer...

[The Commander]

Is this 1996 or 2009.

[MusicallyInspired]

They're that system intensive?

The reason I was interested is because I have an old 486 and sometimes my main computer is unavailable to me and it's all I can use. It would also be fun to have a few of the latest mods working on it.

[supergoofy]

what I recommend you is ask you friends, relatives and all people you know, if they have spare old computers or spare old computer parts (that don't need them anymore). Then from them build the best system you can. I did that for a friend.

[MusicallyInspired]

I don't think you understand. I have a Pentium 4 computer and a 486 computer.

[Dopefish7590]

Originally Posted by MusicallyInspired

They're that system intensive?

Try playing "Nucular Showdown" in 8-bit mode with a computer that has a processor slower then 1GHz... It really killed mine, I know that.