Dosboxxing Championship
It can be really great to have friends who know a lot about computers. Not just because I like having friends, but also because I can pester them endlessly because I want to play Goosebumps: Welcome to Horrorland but don't know how to use DOSBOX.
For those who're unaware DOSBOX is an emulator that can run MS-DOS games. It works pretty well on shitty computers (like mine!) which means if you go to myabandonware.com and find a genre you like you can have hours and hours of fun (or frustration if you play text adventures....eugh...)
The only problem is running the damn thing. If you're like me and computer-literate enough to make your own website but not enough to know what an E: drive is, then you'll understand just enough about this program to make you want to tear your hair out. Pair that with having to figure out how to run an ISO file for the first time in your life and I'm surprised my head didn't just up and tumble off of my neck. I've included a pic of what the emulator looks like; you have to write little lines of computer language code. I don't really know what it's called. I asked my computer friend if he knows but he's busy playing video games right now, go figure.
I spent about two hours combing through tutorials on how to run ISOs in DOSBOX, both written and ones on YouTube, and just when I thought I had it, I typed in the thing to run disk 1 and...
"This program requires Microsoft Windows"
LIKE HUH!!! Girl I'm RUNNING WINDOWS!! So I started googling my problem, I don't even wanna play this stupid game anymore but I don't want to be defeated by a CD ROM. I see suggestions of trying a virtual machine (no way in hell can that run on my computer) or ... right clicking the ISO?
So. I do that. I right click Horrorland_Disk1.iso.
And I realized I didn't even need DOSBOX at all.
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Honestly it was a fun little game even though disk 2 didn't work. And learning how to use DOSBOX wasn't a total waste because I used it to play 5 Days a Stranger and Inner Demons, but I could only find the demo version for that which was a total bummer [[EDIT 9/15: IDK if it was uploaded recently or I just didn't notice it, but I have the full version!! Once I find out how to use this Commodore Amiga emulator I'm gonna play it!]]. They've even got The Dark Eye and Splatterhouse on that site! For FREE!
All in all it wasn't a bad way to spend my night I guess. It's good to learn new things even if they may not seem particularly useful in the Real World. Though it probably wasn't the best idea to let myself have unlimited access to a bunch of really cool games when I've got a quiz to be studying for.