DOSGameCollection

This program is a front-end for DOSBox-Staging with an emphasis on preserving many different aspects of the DOS gaming experience era, like access to manuals, box art, original distribution media and providing an easy way to manage games isolated from each other.

Library directory specification

This program expects games to be arranged in a specific folder structure like so:

[Library Directory]/
├── [Game Directory]/
    ├── game.cfg
    ├── dosbox-staging.conf         (DOSBox Staging configuration file)
    ├── mapper.cfg          (DOSBOX Mapper configuration file)
    ├── manual.pdf
    ├── notes.txt
    ├── cheats-and-secrets.txt
    ├── walkthrough.txt
    ├── game-files/         (This will be mounted as C)
    ├── disk-images/
    |   ├── file-info.txt (CSV file with display names for files, when different)
    |   ├── disk_01.img
    |   ├── disk_02.img
    |   ├── disk_01.png         (picture or scan of the media itself)
    |   └── disk_02.png
    ├── isos
    |   ├── file-info.txt
    |   ├── game_cd_1.iso
    |   ├── game_cd_2.iso
    |   └── game_cd_1.png       (picture or scan of the media itself)
    ├── media
    |   ├──synopsis.txt
    |   ├── icon.png
    |   ├── background.png
    |   ├── box-art/
    |   |   ├── front.png
    |   |   └── back.png
    |   ├── captures/
    |   |   ├── file-info.txt
    |   |   └── capture-001.png
    |   ├── videos/
    |   |   ├── file-info.txt
    |   |   └── video-001.avi
    |   ├── inserts/
    |   |   ├── file-info.txt
    |   |   ├── insert_01.pdf
    |   |   └── insert_02.png
    |   ├── ost (original soundtrack)
    |   |   ├── file-info.txt
    |   |   ├── cover.png 
    |   |   ├── track_01.mp3
    |   |   ├── track_02.mp3
    |   |   └── midi/
    |   |       ├── file-info.txt
    |   |       ├── track_01.mid   
    |   |       └── track_02.mid   
    └── other/ (other files which don't fit in any other category)
        ├── other.zip
        └── file-info.txt

Game file specification

Each game has a game.cfg, top level configuration file. Here is the structure of that file:

# Comments
game.name=Game Name
game.parental.rating=[ESRB ratings]
game.publisher=Publisher
game.developer=Developer
game.release.year=1978
game.genre=
game.type=[Full,Demo,Shareware]
favorite=true

[isos]
iso_file_name.iso

[commands]
CD GAMES\FOLDER
EXECUTABLE.EXE

[setup-commands]
CD GAMES\FOLDER
SETUP.EXE

File Information example

An example of the format for the "file-info.txt" file is as follows:

disc_01.img,Installation disk 1
disc_02.img,Installation disk 2