GAMES:Star Wars: Dark Forces

Star Wars: Dark Forces
Developer	LucasArts
Publisher	LucasArts
Released	1995
Status	Perfect
Tested on	SE 1.0l
Tested game version	Unknown
Links	Compatibility List
Commands
Executable	DARK.EXE
Installer	D:\DARKSE\INSTALL.EXE
Setup	SETUP.EXE
DOS Extender
DOS4GW.EXE	Unknown
Works with DOS32A	N/A

Star Wars: Dark Forces is first-person shooter (with no network capabilities) that is halfway between the basic playability of Doom and the advanced playability of Duke Nukem 3D.

Installation requirement

D:\DARKSE\DARK\INSTALL.EXE has a special requirement. You must MOUNT the entire CD-ROM drive and only then "CD" your way into it (in other words: you can't just directly mount DARK itself). Here is how to do it:

Z:\>mount d d:\
Z:\>d:
D:\>cd DARKSE
D:\DARKSE>install

Making it work

The game will run quite well in DOSBox, but there are two points to note:

• Run SETUP.EXE (it will also run automatically after a successful completion of the installation) and choose your settings.
• While the game has no CD protection per se, there is no choice for a full installation. Therefore, most of the game is played directly from the CD-ROM. Use this dosbox.conf file to support that behavior:

[autoexec]
mount d d:\ -t cdrom

(assuming your CD-ROM drive is D, of course)

Making it work without the CD

Since the game has no CD protection, but also no choice for a full installation, here is a way to copy just the needed files from the CD-ROM and thus simulate a CD-free full installation:

1. Install the game. For this example, let's assume you installed it to c:\games\DARKSE\
2. Create c:\games\DARKSE\CD
3. Copy D:\CD.ID to c:\games\DARKSE\CD\
4. Create c:\games\DARKSE\CD\DARKSE
5. Create c:\games\DARKSE\CD\DARKSE\DARK
6. Copy every GOB file that doesn't already exist in c:\games\DARKSE\ to c:\games\DARKSE\CD\DARKSE\DARK\
7. Create c:\games\DARKSE\CD\DARKSE\DARK\LFD
8. Copy every LFD file that doesn't already exist in c:\games\DARKSE\LFD\ to c:\games\DARKSE\CD\DARKSE\DARK\LFD\
9. Put this dosbox.conf file in c:\games\DARKSE\:

[autoexec]
mount d cd -t cdrom

Now you can play the game without the CD!

DOS32A

If you want the game to run better and faster, don't forget to replace its DOS4GW.EXE file (e.g. c:\games\DARKSE\DOS4GW.EXE) with DOS32A.