Got the game... finally.

When ever I try to modify what equipment or magic items I want my character to start with, the game crashes and DOSbox closes up. I guess I could just use a pre-built sheet and modify it, but I was wondering if there was a way around this mess.

Thats odd, thats never happened to me. The only advice I can give is make sure you're patched to 1.5, and mount the cdrom as well when you're playing.

The game is patched to 1.5. Before I patched, if came along the same crash, I would be unable to start the game. Even if I patched afterwards, it would still crash.

I did indeed mount the CD drive and added "-freesize 1000" at the end of the line which mounted the HD.

I had the EXACT same problem. It took me a long time to figure out, but I found out that the only way I could run it was with a http://ykhwong.x-y.net/cvs/frame.html.
Just install it normally and it should work. This is also the same build recommended for Redguard BTW.

That's really odd. I'll try that out. Thanks.

I used the November 07 build instead of the September 09 build since the latter was unavailable. The game installs fine and appears to work OK, but it's still crashing if I click the equipment tab. Can anyone help?

Peculiar. The game runs fine for me with that CVS build, but not the normal one.
Here is my Dosbox.conf file for Battlespire with that build:

# This is the configurationfile for DOSBox 0.72.# Lines starting with a # are commentlines.# They are used to (briefly) document the effect of each option.[sdl]# fullscreen -- Start dosbox directly in fullscreen.# fulldouble -- Use double buffering in fullscreen.# fullresolution -- What resolution to use for fullscreen: original or fixed size (e.g. 1024x768).# windowresolution -- Scale the window to this size IF the output device supports hardware scaling.# output -- What to use for output: surface,overlay,opengl,openglnb,openglhq,ddraw,direct3d.# autolock -- Mouse will automatically lock, if you click on the screen.# sensitiviy -- Mouse sensitivity.# waitonerror -- Wait before closing the console if dosbox has an error.# priority -- Priority levels for dosbox: lowest,lower,normal,higher,highest,pause (when not focussed).#             Second entry behind the comma is for when dosbox is not focused/minimized.# mapperfile -- File used to load/save the key/event mappings from.# pixelshader -- Pixelshader program to use for resizing (works with output=direct3d only):#                 none,point.fx,bilinear.fx,scale2x.fx,2xsai.fx.#                (or any other .fx file that is available in the Shaders subdirectory).# usescancodes -- Avoid usage of symkeys, might not work on all operating systems.# overscan -- Width of overscan border.fullscreen=falsefulldouble=falsefullresolution=originalwindowresolution=originaloutput=ddrawautolock=truesensitivity=100waitonerror=truepriority=higher,normalmapperfile=mapper.txtpixelshader=noneusescancodes=trueoverscan=0[dosbox]# language -- Select another language file.# memsize -- Amount of memory DOSBox has in megabytes.# machine -- The type of machine tries to emulate:hercules,cga,tandy,pcjr,vga,ega,demovga.# captures -- Directory where things like wave,midi,screenshot get captured.language=machine=vgacaptures=capturememsize=63[render]# frameskip -- How many frames DOSBox skips before drawing one.# aspect -- Do aspect correction, if your output method doesn't support scaling this can slow things down!.# scaler -- Scaler used to enlarge/enhance low resolution modes.#           Supported are none,normal2x,normal3x,advmame2x,advmame3x,hq2x,hq3x,#                         2xsai,super2xsai,supereagle,advinterp2x,advinterp3x,#                         tv2x,tv3x,rgb2x,rgb3x,scan2x,scan3x.#           If forced is appended (like scaler=hq2x forced), the scaler will be used#           even if the result might not be desired.frameskip=0aspect=falsescaler=normal2x[vsync]# vsyncmode -- Synchronize vsync timing to the host display. Requires calibration within dosbox.#              Supported are off,on,force,host.# vsyncrate -- Vsync rate used if vsync is enabled.#              Ignored when vsycmode=host is used.vsyncmode=offvsyncrate=75[cpu]# core -- CPU Core used in emulation: normal,simple,dynamic,auto.#         auto switches from normal to dynamic if appropriate.# cycles -- Amount of instructions DOSBox tries to emulate each millisecond.#           Setting this value too high results in sound dropouts and lags. (unless timesynched is set)#           You can also let DOSBox guess the correct value by setting it to max.#           The default setting (auto) switches to max if appropriate.# cycleup   -- Amount of cycles to increase/decrease with keycombo.# cycledown    Setting it lower than 100 will be a percentage.# timesynched  -- Do not emulate more cycles than possible.core=autocycles=autocycleup=500cycledown=20timesynched=false[vga]# svgachipset -- Select one of the following supported SVGA chipsets:#                s3 (default), et4000, et4000new, et3000, pvga1a, or none.#                Full chipset name (like 'Tseng ET4000') will also work#                as long as it contains one of the strings above.# videoram -- Amount of video memory on emulated SVGA. Not all emulated#             chipsets support this setting.svgachipset=s3videoram=2048[mixer]# nosound -- Enable silent mode, sound is still emulated though.# rate -- Mixer sample rate, setting any devices higher than this will#         probably lower their sound quality.# blocksize -- Mixer block size, larger blocks might help sound stuttering#              but sound will also be more lagged.# prebuffer -- How many milliseconds of data to keep on top of the blocksize.nosound=falserate=22050blocksize=2048prebuffer=10[printer]# printer -- Enable printer emulation.# dpi -- Resolution of printer (default 360).# width -- Width of paper in 1/10 inch (default 85 = 8.5'').# height -- Height of paper in 1/10 inch (default 110 = 11.0'').# printoutput -- Output method for finished pages: #           png     : Creates PNG images in the DOSBOX directory#           ps      : Creates Postscript documents in the DOSBOX directory (default)#           bmp     : Creates BMP images (very huge files, not recommend)#           printer : Send to an actual printer (Print dialog will appear)# multipage -- Adds all pages to one Postscript file or printer job until CTRL-F2 is pressed.printer=truedocpath=.dpi=360width=85height=110printoutput=psmultipage=false[midi]# mpu401      -- Type of MPU-401 to emulate: none, uart or intelligent.# device      -- Device that will receive the MIDI data from MPU-401.#                This can be default,alsa,oss,win32,coreaudio,mt32,none.# mt32rate    -- Sample rate of MT32 emulation# config      -- Special configuration options for the device. In Windows put#                the id of the device you want to use. See README for details.mpu401=intelligentdevice=defaultmt32rate=22050config=[sblaster]# sbtype -- Type of sblaster to emulate:none,sb1,sb2,sbpro1,sbpro2,sb16.# sbbase,irq,dma,hdma -- The IO/IRQ/DMA/High DMA address of the soundblaster.# mixer -- Allow the soundblaster mixer to modify the DOSBox mixer.# oplmode -- Type of OPL emulation: auto,cms,opl2,dualopl2,opl3.#            On auto the mode is determined by sblaster type.#            All OPL modes are 'Adlib', except for CMS.# oplrate -- Sample rate of OPL music emulation.sbtype=sb16sbbase=220irq=7dma=1hdma=5mixer=trueoplmode=autooplrate=22050[gus]# gus -- Enable the Gravis Ultrasound emulation.# gusbase,irq1,irq2,dma1,dma2 -- The IO/IRQ/DMA addresses of the #            Gravis Ultrasound. (Same IRQ's and DMA's are OK.)# gusrate -- Sample rate of Ultrasound emulation.# ultradir -- Path to Ultrasound directory.  In this directory#             there should be a MIDI directory that contains#             the patch files for GUS playback.  Patch sets used#             with Timidity should work fine.gus=falsegusrate=22050gusbase=240irq1=5irq2=5dma1=3dma2=3ultradir=C:\ULTRASND[innova]# innova -- Enable the Innovation SSI-2001 emulation.# samplerate -- Sample rate of Innovation SSI-2001 emulation.# sidbase -- SID base port (typically 280h).# quality -- Set SID emulation quality level (0 to 3).innova=falsesamplerate=22050sidbase=280quality=0[speaker]# pcspeaker -- Enable PC-Speaker emulation.# pcrate -- Sample rate of the PC-Speaker sound generation.# tandy -- Enable Tandy Sound System emulation (off,on,auto).#          For auto Tandysound emulation is present only if machine is set to tandy.# tandyrate -- Sample rate of the Tandy 3-Voice generation.# disney -- Enable Disney Sound Source emulation. Covox Voice Master and Speech Thing compatible.# innova -- Enable Innovation SSI-2001 emulation.# innovabase -- Base port for Innovation SSI-2001 emulation.pcspeaker=truepcrate=22050tandy=autotandyrate=22050disney=true[joystick]# joysticktype -- Type of joystick to emulate: auto (default), none,#                 2axis (supports two joysticks,#                 4axis (supports one joystick, first joystick used),#                 4axis_2 (supports one joystick, second joystick used),#                 fcs (Thrustmaster), ch (CH Flightstick).#                 none disables joystick emulation.#                 auto chooses emulation depending on real joystick(s).# timed -- enable timed intervals for axis. (false is old style behaviour).# autofire -- continuously fires as long as you keep the button pressed.# swap34 -- swap the 3rd and the 4th axis. can be useful for certain joysticks.# buttonwrap -- enable button wrapping at the number of emulated buttons.joysticktype=autotimed=trueautofire=falseswap34=falsebuttonwrap=true[serial]# serial1-4 -- set type of device connected to com port.#              Can be disabled, dummy, modem, nullmodem, directserial.#              Additional parameters must be in the same line in the form of#              parameter:value. Parameter for all types is irq.#              for directserial: realport (required), rxdelay (optional).#              for modem: listenport (optional).#              for nullmodem: server, rxdelay, txdelay, telnet, usedtr,#                             transparent, port, inhsocket (all optional).#              Example: serial1=modem listenport:5000serial1=dummyserial2=dummyserial3=disabledserial4=disabled[glide]# glide - Enable glide emulation: true,false.glide=false[dos]# xms -- Enable XMS support.# ems -- Enable EMS support.# umb -- Enable UMB support.# automount -- Enable automatic mount.# keyboardlayout -- Language code of the keyboard layout (or none).xms=trueems=trueumb=trueautomount=truekeyboardlayout=none[ipx]# ipx -- Enable ipx over UDP/IP emulation.ipx=false[autoexec]# Lines in this section will be run at startup.