Whenever I run Daggerfall under DOSBox, all I get is a black screen.
I've searched the Internet countless times and nothing helps.
I have the latest version, patched Daggerfall, and installed Daggerfall with the freeware installer made by Daveh from the UESP. When I input:

mount c c:/oldgames/c:cd daggerfall z.cfg

All I get is a blank screen.
I'm on an XP and am using the European version, if that helps.

Note:
I can run this game fine if I run it w/o DOSBox, but I'm using DOSBox because of the invisible quest target bug.

What you're typing into DOSBox should run the game... Sometimes DF takes a very long time to load for me, I don't know why, but either it loads after 30 seconds or so, or I close DOSBox and try again. Have you tried playing with the speed settings and memory allocation etc etc?

I get confused when "allocation" is thrown in.

Post the contents of your Dosbox config file and we'll take a look at it, You'll find it listed under the Dosbox shortcut in your - start all programs list. Open it with notepad and paste the full contents into your post.

I'll upload it tomorrow.
Edit:
Here:

# 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,ddraw.# 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.# usescancodes -- Avoid usage of symkeys, might not work on all operating systems.fullscreen=falsefulldouble=truefullresolution=originalwindowresolution=originaloutput=surfaceautolock=truesensitivity=100waitonerror=truepriority=higher,normalmapperfile=mapper.txtusescancodes=true[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.# captures -- Directory where things like wave,midi,screenshot get captured.language=machine=vgacaptures=capturememsize=32[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=7aspect=truescaler=normal2x[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.#           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.core=dynamiccycles=15000cycleup=500cycledown=20[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[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,none.# 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=defaultconfig=[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=truegusrate=22050gusbase=240irq1=5irq2=5dma1=3dma2=3ultradir=C:\ULTRASND[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.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[dos]# xms -- Enable XMS support.# ems -- Enable EMS support.# umb -- Enable UMB support.# keyboardlayout -- Language code of the keyboard layout (or none).xms=trueems=trueumb=truekeyboardlayout=none[ipx]# ipx -- Enable ipx over UDP/IP emulation.ipx=false[autoexec]# Lines in this section will be run at startup.

Does anyone here know what is wrong with it?
Also, I gave Daggerfall 5 minutes to load, and nothing happened.

i cannot get the demo to work.

I can't see anything wrong with your cfg file, maybe someone else can see something i'm missing. The only thing I would try changing is output=surface to output=ddraw other than that I can't help you sorry.

For me, the black screen usually happens when the path is wrong - make sure the Daggerfall directory is in c:\oldgames\.
Another suggestion would be to use a front-end loader ....

JimC

Oh yea, that is probably it.

So open the DF directory and open up the Z.cfg file.
Make sure that the "path" and "pathcd" lines point to the correct locations. You probably installed the whole game so you don't need to mount a cd drive, so the pathcd must point to the directory on your hd where those files are.

What's a front end loader?

Also, here's my z.cfg file:

type dfall_hugepath c:\oldgames\dagger\arena2\pathCD c:\oldgames\dagger\arena2\fadecolor 0mapfile drendergame 1user 1startMap 179region 17helmet 0maxSpeed 200controls betaplyr.datmaps mapsave.savcheatmode 1

Also, if it makes a difference, I installed Daggerfall via Daveh's (From the UESP) Daggerfall installer. Does that make a difference?

I'm not really knowledgeable about technical issues...

I installed DF without using the XP installer, and barely tweaked DOSBox and it works better than it ever did in DOS and Win95.

I would delete it, and install it without the XP installer and run it through DOSBox.

[quote name='Yumnarer' date='Mar 14 2009, 12:53 PM' post='13964280']
What's a front end loader?

snip....


There are several different programs that help organize and configure DosBox to run with different Dos era programs.
In the Olden Days , just about every dos game needed a optimized config.exe and autoexec.bat file run in the 640K block of low memory.
The front-end programs sort of mimic this and also help organize different DosBox configurations for your different dos programs.
D-Fend (D-Fend Reloaded) is a popular one, and I have used DBGL a little, but not much. I only play a few older dos games, so I usually just make separate config files using the DosBox command line editor, but YMMV.

here is the Wiki for the DosBox Front ends
http://frontends.dosbox.com/wiki/Main_Page

JimC

Right, what did you use as the installation path for the Dagger directory when you ran the Installer? was it C:\oldgames\Dagger or C:\Dagger?

I would say your best bet is to start a fresh install of Daggerfall with Dosbox following Freddo's Guide, as Python suggested.

It's c:\oldgames\dagger.

Alright, I'll try it via DOSBox.


EDIT:


I can't seem to install it. The installer tells me that there is not enough space, I can't change the path, and I have 130 GB left on my computer. What's wrong?


EDIT:
It works now! I forgot to add -freesize 700.

Does "it works now!" mean it's running too?

This just happended to me.

I have a new PC and installing it with the Daggerfall XP Install application just gave me a black screen when it was all said and done. After toying around fruitlessly, I followed Freddo's guide word for word and that did the trick. Good to hear you got it working too.

Yes. Thank you all for the help.