Hello, denizens of ATS. I've come to you today with a problem that has been plaguing me. Years ago, I enjoyed a particular Apogee game called "Monster Bash" ("Graveyard" during development). I loved it for its balance of simplicity and variety...the imagination in the game was outstanding. Now, for nostalgic purposes, I want to revisit that time and place in my heart. Unfortunately, a couple of issues stand in my way.

To start with, Monster Bash was designed for an older operating system - Windows XP is as late a model as I can manage so far. But the computer I normally use features Windows 7. Google has informed me that a program called DosBox can be utilized to create a shell that will allow the game to be executed on a newer OS.

The next issue is DosBox. I have successfully downloaded it, but I can't make heads nor tails of it. I can make my way around software fairly well, but this exceeds my current skills. As a geek, yes, I am ashamed. The point is, without the necessary working knowledge of DosBox, I can't follow my nostalgic impulses. In addition, I'm not entirely certain as to whether the program will even function with Win 7 to the point of loading the game.

If there are any geeks or computer experts on ATS who are willing to assist me in this matter, I would be very grateful. From one gamer to another... would a 1337 haxxor lend a hand? Thanks in advance for any help! And try to keep the trolling to a minimum...

Now given its a DOS game theres alot of possible farting around that can be done, now normally its in the config.sys and autoexec.bat files but it'll probably need alot of pratting around and it wasnt unusual to have different bootups for different programs but have a look at abandonware and perhaps some really old usenet postings and see what comes up

Hi AI

It is actually fairly easy to use Dosbox. I'm actually an avid nostalgic DOS gamer myself. Abandonia has the best abandonware games IMO.

First thing to do is to extract the game contents into a folder that is reasonably easy to access and that is in a 'top level folder' such as under root c.

Then you have to mount that folder using dosbox.

You have to mount the folder as a drive C using the exact path to that folder.

Type the following syntax in dosbox:

Mount c c:/InsertHereTheFullPathToTheFolder
Press Enter

If you don't get any error messages, type now:
C:/

The directory will now change to C. This directory will now basically contain the content of the game folder if you correctly mapped the drive above.

You can type Dir and press Enter to see the contents of the folder (or Dir/w if the contents are too long for the page). If you need to go into a subfolder, use CD (for Change Directory) and the subfolder's name, and hit Enter.

All you have to do now, is type the name of the program to run it. It is usually a shortened version of the game's name followed by .exe or .com.

And the game should now start. Press Alt + Enter to play in full screen, and have fun!

Let me know if you still have hassles - I can help you with the syntax of the full path name etc