How to play Lemmings 2 in DOSBox

[kieranmillar]

I told a friend how to set up Lemmings 2, I'll repost it here.

1. Grab the DOS version here: http://www.camanis.net/lemmings/lemmings2.php

2. Extract the zip file somewhere, e.g., to:
C:/dosgames/
You should now have a folder:
C:/dosgames/Lemm2/

3. Get DosBox here, presumably you want Windows but all sorts of operating systems are supported: http://www.dosbox.com/download.php?main=1

4. Install DosBox.

5. In your Start menu, you should go to DosBox and look for the Options, specifically “DosBox 0.74 Options”. This is a text file where you set the various options.

6. In the options file you’re looking for 3 options:

• Render options, scaler=normal2x. Can change this to normal3x if the game is a bit too small on your screen for your liking.
  
• Cpu options, cycles. Not sure what the default is here, but I’d recommend 10000, which keeps the loading times low without dedicating too much unnecessary processing power to running a 25-year old game.
  
• Autoexec options. This is right at the very bottom of the file. Add in the following 3 lines; replace c:/dosgames/Lemm2 with the exact path where you extracted Lemmings 2 onto your machine:
  
  mount c c:/dosgames/Lemm2
  c:
  l2-fix
  

(This autoexec assumes you only want to play Lemmings 2, never anything else. See Simon's reply #2 below for configuring Dosbox to play other games.)

7. Run Dosbox and Lemmings 2 should boot straight up. You’ll need to press Enter at the screen at the start that says who cracked the game :p

8. Check if there is any sound and music playing. If not, press Exit on the main menu, then at the DOS prompt you’ll be at, type “install”. Then in there choose “Soundblaster” as your soundcard and accept the default of everything else. Try the game again by typing “l2-fix”

9. If it’s all working, you can close DosBox by typing “exit” at the DOS prompt, by pressing Ctrl+F9, or by freeing your mouse from being locked inside the window by Alt-Tabbing out and then just closing the window.

10. In the menu options inside Lemmings 2 you'll find "Cheat Mode" which is essentially level select, might help if you get stuck. (Cheat Mode appears because you ran l2-fix and not l2.)

[mobius]

I told a friend how to set up Lemmings 2, I'll repost it here in case it helps someone out who's looking to install it to play this pack.
[...]

This should be put into a new thread in the HELP topic and stickied.

[Simon]

Moved to own topic, linked from Quest From Kieran 2.

Excellent and concise, thanks!

My only would be that it plays Lemmings 2 every time you run DOSBox. Maybe that's even good: We're trying to help who has never used DOSBox. Your solution bypasses DOSBox's command prompt entirely, that can be a good idea at first.


Configuring DOSBox for multiple games:
I assume you have all your DOS games in c:\dosgames, e.g., as c:\dosgames\lem2, c:\dosgames\mygame, ... We no longer want to run a single game in autoexec. Instead, we mount the directory of games:

• Either remove all 3 autoexec lines, replace with
  mount c c:\dosgames
  
• Or remove all 3 autoexec lines, and give DOSBox the games directory as a command-line parameter. You can right-click on the Windows shortcut to DOSBox and configure its command:
  your\path\to\dosbox.exe "c:\dosgames"
  

Run DOSBox, then type:
cd lem2
l2-fix


DOSBox too loud?
mixer master 20:20
Type this at the DOSBox prompt to adjust volume, or add this line to DOSBox's autoexec. Explanation


Lemmings 2 looks for C:\L2:
I ran into this quirk when maintaining several copies of Lemmings 2, one with the default levels, one with user levels.

Problem: Whenever you mount Lemmings 2 in DOSBox such that the emulated game believes there is a directory C:\L2, it will read files from there instead of from its own directory. All your different installations would load the same levels, that's not what we want.

Solution: Maintain multiple installations of Lemmings 2 as c:\dosgames\l2dma, c:\dosgames\l2qfk, ..., then none of them will be mounted as C:\L2 once you mount c:\dosgames to C: in DOSBox.

-- Simon

[mobius]

I've recently found this VERY helpful program to make installing/running DOSBox games easier; If you're frustrated with DOX Box's unintuitiveness and non-user friendliness; this program will let you run it with ease! [And skip all of that typing Z:/ C;/ expletive]

http://members.quicknet.nl/blankendaalr/dbgl/

it's a front end for DOS box; you need regular DOS box first to use this, then download this program and follow the directions. I recommend you read as much info and instructions on how to use DOS Box anyway.

Once it's installed
-First under the profiles tab, click add profile
-On the info tab; enter a nickname for your game under the "title" form
-There are lots of options; if you want it quick and simple all you need to worry about is the last "mounting" tab. In the lower pannel; ignore "Booter" go to "DOS"> Main, click browse. Find the exe (or run.bat) of your game.
-press okay and your profile should appear in the list under it's title. Now click "Run Profile" and the game should begin! IMPORTANT: often on the DOS prompt you need to press enter at least once during loading (before the games actually begins). And you must do this everytime you start the game [pressing enter once that is; not this whole process]

note: this program also lets you edit all kinds of options like the mixer command Simon mentions to turn the volume up or down. Click on edit profile to edit an existing game and just search under the tabs for audio and other things.

[toriancarconn]

Hello,

thank you, kieranmiller, very much for this input. I hope you will see this message. If you do, please respond so I know you have read this. I have been looking for a way to play Lemmings 2 on my Windows PC for a while now. I do not know much at all about the technical side of things but when I followed the steps you outlined it worked. I am so happy because before this I was playing a Lemmings 2 version that I believe had an error. I wasn't able to save games and each time needed to start all over again. Another version I tried did not let me go to the next level.

Now this works. I thank you for your help. My son, he is six, really likes this game, and now I can play it again with him together. Ah, nostalgia, what wonderful memories I have about discovering all of these wonderful C64 and Amiga games!

Kind regards,
Torian

P.S. Thank you, @mobius and @Simon, too.

I told a friend how to set up Lemmings 2, I'll repost it here.

1. Grab the DOS version here: http://www.camanis.net/lemmings/lemmings2.php

2. Extract the zip file somewhere. E.g. C:/games/lem2

3. Get DosBox here, presumably you want Windows but all sorts of operating systems are supported: http://www.dosbox.com/download.php?main=1

4. Install DosBox.

5. In your Start menu, you should go to DosBox and look for the Options, specifically “DosBox 0.74 Options”. This is a text file where you set the various options.

6. In the options file you’re looking for 3 options:

• Render options, scaler=normal2x. Can change this to normal3x if the game is a bit too small on your screen for your liking.
  
• Cpu options, cycles. Not sure what the default is here, but I’d recommend 10000, which keeps the loading times low without dedicating too much unnecessary processing power to running a 25-year old game.
  
• Autoexec options. This is right at the very bottom of the file, and you’ll want to add in the following 3 lines (substituting the path you extracted Lemmings 2 onto your machine):
  
  mount c c:/games/lem2
  c:
  l2-fix
  

(This autoexec assumes you only want to play Lemmings 2, never anything else.)

7. Run Dosbox and Lemmings 2 should boot straight up. You’ll need to press Enter at the screen at the start that says who cracked the game :p

8. Check if there is any sound and music playing. If not, press Exit on the main menu, then at the DOS prompt you’ll be at, type “install”. Then in there choose “Soundblaster” as your soundcard and accept the default of everything else. Try the game again by typing “l2-fix”

9. If it’s all working, you can close DosBox by typing “exit” at the DOS prompt, by pressing Alt+F9, or by freeing your mouse from being locked inside the window by Alt-Tabbing out and then just closing the window.

10. In the menu options inside Lemmings 2 you'll find "Cheat Mode" which is essentially level select, might help if you get stuck. (Cheat Mode appears because you ran l2-fix and not l2.)

[kieranmillar]

Hi Torian,

Great to hear it helped you. I also had problems getting Lemmings 2 to work for well over a decade, with similar problems to what you describe, until the combination of DOS Box and L2-fix came about.

[toriancarconn]

Awesome

Earlier today I have told my son that I have found a solution for saving the game which means we do not need to start all over again each time we play it. He was ecstatic.

I tried the option to increase the size of the window in which I am playing the game but for some reason it is not increasing. Any option to use the full screen for playing the game? In case playing it full screen leads to the resolution being too low I would at least like to increase it somewhat. Right now I would say the game window uses a third of the height of my monitor and about half of its breadth. A bit too small.

While increasing the size of the game window there does not exist any option to keep the same resolution I guess, right?

[kieranmillar]

You will need to play around with the render options inside DOS Box. In the guide I mention how you can change it from 2x zoom to 3x zoom, see what other options exist and have a play around.

[toriancarconn]

got it, thanx

[toriancarconn]

Hi,

since I've installed Win 10 I now want to reinstall Lemmings 2. I remember the window of the game was much bigger about a year ago when I last played it. I've followed your instructions and changed the scaler to normal3x but the window is still far too small to enjoy the game. I can't remember how I made it substantially bigger the last time. I realise that one cannot choose normal 4x or bigger. Is there any other way to increase the window? I've played around with all the possible values but didn't get a good result.

I'd appreciate your help.

got it, thanx

[ccexplore]

https://www.dosbox.com/wiki/Dosbox.conf has details on all the options available.

Looking through it, under section [sdl] there is a "windowresolution" setting that allows you to explicitly set the size of the window (when playing in windowed mode), but to make it work you apparently also have to set the "output" setting in same section to a value other than "surface" (the default).  Based on further reading, "overlay" or "ddraw" are recommended to try for "output".

DOS games expect a 4:3 screen so for windowresolution, try an integer multiple of 320x240.  You may also need to play around with the scaler setting as well and see whether screen looks better to you with 2x/3x/normal--with the window size explicitly set, the scaler setting won't actually change the window size anymore, but may affect clarity of displayed content after it's stretched to fit the window size.

[Simon]

output=overlay
windowresolution=1280x960

Not all output methods support bigger windows. Nastily, the default output=surface does not allow bigger windows, and then windowresolution would be ignored without error or warning. output=overlay supports bigger windows. This windowresolution=1280x960 is already 4x but you can increase it further.

-- Simon

[chrisleec728]

"Illegal command: l2-fix."

[ericderkovits]

I have all the dosbox games for lemmings. Everything is setup. It uses the PLAYNOW to start the game. Never have to do anything.

Here's the list of one's I have:

Lemmings.
Oh no more Lemmings
Xmas 91 Lemmings
Xmas 92 Lemmings
Holiday 93 Lemmings
Holiday 94 Lemmings
Covox Lemmings
Prima Publishing Lemmings (AKA Companion disk)
Lemmings The Tribes (AKA Lemmings 2)
Lemmings Chronicles (AKA All New World of Lemmings, or Lemmings 3)
 

To play any of these Just have to click on Play Now (Never have to worry about setting up anything)
and lemming2 I can play more than 1 level as it uses the l2-fix
and the original lemmings dosbox uses the lem-fix 3 option for correcting the music

I also have the demo versions of these too

I setup all these ones a few months ago.

If anybody wants any of these, I can P.M. any to you, If you're having problems setting any up.

[ericderkovits]

also I have 3D lemmings and 3D Winter Wonderland demo setup for doxbox using the 3dutils. All I have to do is start the 3dutils and hit run L3D.

I set these also up a few months ago. These two are more than 32.7MB so I won't be able to P.M. these 2 to anybody.

I do have both the 8 level and 10 level demo versions of 3D lemmings also. These 2 are smaller so I can P.M. these 2.

[Simon]

"Illegal command: l2-fix."

Put the attached L2-FIX.COM into the Lemmings 2 folder (that also contains L2.EXE).

-- Simon

[chrisleec728]

The folder appears to already contain a file (MS-DOS application) called "L2-FIX.COM".

[chrisleec728]

Also, ericderkovits, Lemmings 2 & 3 are the only ones I'm concerned about because conversions of all of the other games can easily be downloaded directly from the NeoLemmix website (and then of course there's Lemmings Redux). I don't know whether Lemmings 2 & 3 will somehow eventually be converted to NeoLemmix in the probably distant future.

[Simon]

The folder appears to already contain a file (MS-DOS application) called "L2-FIX.COM".

That's good. Now we need more information:

• Does Dosbox print any errors before "illegal command"? E.g., did the mount fail?
  
• Where exactly does L2 sit on your harddisk?
• What folder is mounted when Dosbox starts? If you followed Kieran's instructions, you can show what you wrote into the options text file.

-- Simon

[chrisleec728]

Well first of all I think I've gotten this to work before (except the sound wasn't working for whatever reason) but unfortunately I can't remember how. Anyways, assuming I understand your questions correctly:

1. It doesn't look like it.
2. Well I keep it in my "Downloads" folder (which I think is where it was last time as well).
3. Well I mounted it as drive C. I don't know if this helps but the bottom of the text file looks like this (with a single space before it):

mount c C:\Users\Chris\Downloads\lemmings_2_dos
c:
l2-fix

[namida]

Also, ericderkovits, Lemmings 2 & 3 are the only ones I'm concerned about because conversions of all of the other games can easily be downloaded directly from the NeoLemmix website (and then of course there's Lemmings Redux). I don't know whether Lemmings 2 & 3 will somehow eventually be converted to NeoLemmix in the probably distant future.

There's also Lemmings 3D, don't forget.

Anyway - no, L2, L3 and L3D will never be ported (at least, not without significant differences) to NL, because there's no intention of supporting L2's skills or L3's unique mechanics (or L3D's 3D-ness, but that one was obvious).

[Simon]

1. It doesn't look like it.

I assume the mount succeeds, then, and Dosbox prints something like:
Drive C is mounted as local directory C:\Users\Chris\Downloads\lemmings_2_dos

3. Well I mounted it as drive C. I don't know if this helps but the bottom of the text file looks like this (with a single space before it):

mount c C:\Users\Chris\Downloads\lemmings_2_dos
c:
l2-fix

This looks fine.

2. Well I keep it in my "Downloads" folder (which I think is where it was last time as well).

Does lemmings_2_dos not contain L2.EXE and L2-FIX.COM, but instead contains another folder that contains L2.EXE and L2-FIX.COM? Then edit the mount line in the Dosbox config and add the inner folder.

Or does lemmings_2_dos directly contain L2.EXE and L2-FIX.COM? Then it's possible that Downloads, a special Windows folder, messes with Dosbox's path resolution. Move the Lemmings 2 folder out of any special folder. For example, create a new folder C:\dosgames\, move the Lemmings 2 folder inside, and change the Dosbox config to:
mount c C:\dosgames\lemmings_2_dos
 
-- Simon

[chrisleec728]

It was the former; it contained another folder named "Lemm2". I then did what you said accordingly and that did the trick (though oddly I don't remember having to do either that or pressing Enter to get the game to actually start before). Then after that my sound wasn't working (same as before) so I followed the earlier instructions to fix that and it looks like it's all good now. Thanks!

[Simon]

All right, cool, thanks for the feedback!

I've clarified Kieran's original post to avoid the problem with the extra inner directory.

-- Simon

[theorclair]

I've done all this and while the game runs just fine and I can get to all the levels, I can't save at all. I've tried going to menu after a level and saving from there, but when I try to load a game I just start from the beginning again. I've also tried pressing F12, as some guides say that works, and that doesn't do anything either! What am I doing wrong?

[Simon]

Welcome to the forums! Some guesses:

I forgot what L2-FIX.COM fixes (over the vanilla L2.EXE). It might well have been a saving bug. Are you running L2-FIX.COM (and not the vanilla L2.EXE)?

When you try to save in L2's save menu, you must enter a nonempty name for the save slot, then hit enter.

The Lemmings 2 directory should not be write-protected in the host system. Assuming you're on Windows: In Windows explorer, right-click the directory -> properties, then disable write protection for the directory and for all files in it.

Contemporary Windows systems don't necessarily allow write access everywhere. Instead of having C:\dosgames, have the Dos games somewhere under your user directory (websearch for where that is depending on what kind of Windows you have). Move the entire dosgames directory into your user directory, then tell Dosbox that new location to mount. (E.g., if you followed Kieran's tutorial and added mount instructions to autoexec, edit the mount line in Dosbox's autoexec.)

-- Simon

[theorclair]

Running l2-fix worked. Can you change its name so it's l2? I presume you'd have to rename the other file as well.

[Simon]

Thanks for the feedback that L2-FIX.COM already allows you to save.

About renaming, I have no idea. Experiment and see what happens: If Lemmings 2 runs after the renaming and still saves properly, you should be fine.

-- Simon

[CrystalCore]

See also: Playing Lemmings 2 WITHOUT the L2-Fix File

Edit Simon: Link to the standalone topic instead of duplicating the post.

[jkapp76]

Here's a link to my portable Lemmings 2. This includes a fanmade levelpack option and will run automatically with DOSBox Staging out of the folder. Just unzip. The exe is already edited too.

https://u.pcloud.link/publink/show?code=XZAHhOVZqUmQzmyvPnRJqtcULY4T5L8sNvkX

[WillLem]

Here's a link to my portable Lemmings 2. This includes a fanmade levelpack option and will run automatically with DOSBox Staging out of the folder. Just unzip. The exe is already edited too.

https://u.pcloud.link/publink/show?code=XZAHhOVZqUmQzmyvPnRJqtcULY4T5L8sNvkX

Does this work with L2 Player as well?

[jkapp76]

This is the same version of L2 I mentioned to you before. Yes, it allows you to load Kierran's level pack.

[CrystalCore]

Per https://github.com/joncampbell123/dosbox-x/issues/1995, if you want to play Lemmings 2 using Dosbox-X, make sure that at the Dosbox-X command prompt, you first set

Code: [Select]

a20gate off
then run L2.EXE as normal.

[jkapp76]

Great advice! This will prevent the game from locking on startup.

I think it's easier to edit the "dosbox.conf" file with any text editor. Make sure the line reads "turn off a20 gate on boot = true".

Then you can use dosbox-x freely any never worry about it. I've never noticed any benefit to having this set to the default "=no".

[CrystalCore]

Great advice! This will prevent the game from locking on startup.

I think it's easier to edit the "dosbox.conf" file with any text editor. Make sure the line reads "turn off a20 gate on boot = true".

Then you can use dosbox-x freely any never worry about it. I've never noticed any benefit to having this set to the default "=no".

More specifically, open dosbox-x.conf in a text editor, scroll down to the [autoexec] section, and add the line

Code: [Select]

a20gate off