DOSBox Staging

This repository attempts to modernize the DOSBox codebase by using current development practices and tools, fixing issues, and adding features that better support today's systems.

Build status

Code quality status

Summary of differences compared to upstream

For developers

	DOSBox Staging	DOSBox
Version control	Git	SVN
Language	C++17	C++031
SDL	>= 2.0.5	1.2＊
Buildsystem	Meson or Visual Studio 2019	Autotools or Visual Studio 2003
CI	Yes	No
Static analysis	Yes2,3,4,5	No
Dynamic analysis	Yes	No
clang-format	Yes	No
Development builds	Yes	No
Unit tests	Yes6	No
Automated regression tests	WIP	No

Feature differences

DOSBox Staging does not support audio playback using physical CDs. Using CD Digital Audio emulation (loading CD music via cue sheets or mounting ISO images) is preferred instead.

Codecs supported for CD-DA emulation:

	DOSBox Staging†	DOSBox SVN‡
Opus	Yes (libopus)	No
OGG/Vorbis	Yes (built-in)	Yes - SDL_sound 1.2 (libvorbis)6,＊
MP3	Yes (built-in)	Yes - SDL_sound 1.2 (libmpg123)6,＊,§
FLAC	Yes (built-in)	No§
WAV	Yes (built-in)	Yes - SDL_sound 1.2 (built-in)7,＊
AIFF	No	Yes - SDL_sound 1.2 (built-in)7,＊

^{＊- SDL 1.2 was last updated 2013-08-17 and SDL_sound 2008-04-20
† - 8/16/24 bit-depth, 22.05/44.1/48 kHz, and mono or stereo
‡ - 44.1 kHz stereo only
§ - Broken or unsupported in either SDL_sound or DOSBox}

Feature differences between release binaries (or unpatched sources):

Feature	DOSBox Staging	DOSBox SVN
Pixel-perfect mode	Yes (output=openglpp or output=texturepp)	N/A
Resizable window	Yes (for all output=opengl modes)	N/A
Relative window size	Yes (windowresolution=small, medium, or large)	windowresolution=X%
OPL emulators	compat, fast, mame, nuked8	compat, fast, mame
CGA/mono support	Yes (machine=cga_mono)9	Only CGA with colour
CGA composite modes	Yes (machine=pcjr/tandy/cga with hotkeys)	N/A
Wayland support	Experimental (use SDL_VIDEODRIVER=wayland)	N/A
Modem phonebook file	Yes (phonebookfile=<name>)	N/A
Autotype command	Yes10	N/A
Startup verbosity	Yes11	N/A
GUS enhancements	Yes12	N/A
Raw mouse input	Yes (raw_mouse_input=true)	N/A
FluidSynth MIDI	Yes13 (FluidSynth 2.x)	Only external synths
MT-32 emulator	Yes＊ (libmt32emu 2.4.2)	N/A

^{＊- Requires original ROM files}

Stable release builds

Linux, Windows, macOS

Test builds / development snapshots

Links to the newest builds

Get the source

• First, ensure git always updates your submodules when you pull (one-time step):

  git config --global submodule.recurse true

• Clone the repository (one-time step):

  git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/dosbox-staging/dosbox-staging.git

Build instructions

Read BUILD.md for the comprehensive compilation guide.

Linux, macOS

Install build dependencies appropriate for your OS:

# Fedora
sudo dnf install ccache gcc-c++ meson alsa-lib-devel libpng-devel \
                 SDL2-devel SDL2_net-devel opusfile-devel fluidsynth-devel \
                 mt32emu-devel

# Debian, Ubuntu
sudo apt install ccache build-essential libasound2-dev libpng-dev \
                 libsdl2-dev libsdl2-net-dev libopusfile-dev libfluidsynth-dev

# Install Meson on Debian-10 "Buster" or Ubuntu-20.04 and older
sudo apt install python3-setuptools
sudo pip3 install --upgrade meson ninja

# Install Meson on Debian-11 "Bullseye" or Ubuntu-21.04 and newer
sudo apt install meson

# Arch, Manjaro
sudo pacman -S ccache gcc meson alsa-lib libpng sdl2 sdl2_net opusfile \
               fluidsynth

# openSUSE
sudo zypper install ccache gcc gcc-c++ meson alsa-devel libpng-devel \
                    libSDL2-devel libSDL2_net-devel opusfile-devel \
                    fluidsynth-devel libmt32emu-devel

# macOS
xcode-select --install
brew install ccache meson libpng sdl2 sdl2_net opusfile fluid-synth

Build and stay up-to-date with the latest sources

• Checkout the master branch, which will include the submodules:

  # commit or stash any personal code changes
  git checkout master -f

• Pull the latest updates. This is necessary every time you want a new build:

  git pull

• Optionally, you can clean your ccache and working directories. This is only advised if you have unexpected build failures:

  ccache -C
  git clean -fdx

• Setup the build. This is a one-time step either after cloning the repo or cleaning your working directories:

  meson setup \
      -Dbuildtype=release \
      -Ddefault_library=static \
      -Db_asneeded=true \
      -Dtry_static_libs=png \
      -Dfluidsynth:enable-floats=true \
      -Dfluidsynth:try-static-deps=true \
    build/release

  The above enables all of DOSBox Staging's functional features. If you're interested in seeing all of Meson's setup options, run: meson configure.

• Compile the sources. This is necessary every time you want a new build:

  meson compile -C build/release

  Your binary is: build/release/dosbox -- have fun!

Windows - Visual Studio (2019 or newer)

First, you need to setup vcpkg to install build dependencies. Once vcpkg is bootstrapped, open PowerShell and run:

PS:\> .\vcpkg integrate install
PS:\> .\vcpkg install --triplet x64-windows libpng sdl2 sdl2-net libmt32emu opusfile fluidsynth gtest

These two steps will ensure that MSVC finds and links all dependencies.

Start Visual Studio and open file: vs\dosbox.sln. Make sure you have x64 selected as the solution platform. Use Ctrl+Shift+B to build all projects.

Windows (MSYS2), macOS (MacPorts), Haiku, others

Instructions for other build systems and operating systems are documented in BUILD.md. Links to OS-specific instructions: MSYS2, MacPorts, Haiku.

Imported branches, community patches, old forks

Commits landing in SVN upstream are imported to this repo in a timely manner, see branch svn/trunk.

• svn/* - branches from SVN
• forks/* - code for various abandoned DOSBox forks
• vogons/* - community patches posted on the Vogons forum

Git tags matching pattern svn/* are pointing to the commits referenced by SVN "tag" paths at the time of creation.

Additionally, we attach some optional metadata to the commits in the form of Git notes. To fetch them, run:

git fetch origin "refs/notes/*:refs/notes/*"

For some historical context of why this repo exists you can read Vogons thread, (1, 2)