ds4qb-web

  

Implementation of the DS4QB, DS4QB2, and DS4QB++ audio protocol for DOS games running in the V86 in-browser PC emulator.

What is it?

DS4QB ("DirectSound for QB") and its family (DS4QB2 and DS4QB++) were sound libraries for DOS games which used unusual methods (the DOS clipboard API and the legacy DMA controller) to communicate with a Win9X audio server.

ds4qb-web is a browser-based server for the DS4QB protocols, allowing these games to be easily played in a browser with a DOS guest OS. It leverages v86, Howler.js, and chiptune3.js.

Try it out

A gallery of nearly 30 DS4QB games and apps:
Link

A sample project using Vite and TypeScript:

Features

* Enables audio for DS4QB, DS4QB2, and DS4QB++ games in the browser
* .MOD, .WAV, .MP3 support with volume, fading and panning
* Bundler-friendly distribution with TypeScript and ESM support
* Automatically installs and runs .zip packed games
* Options to configure mouse, EMS

Getting Started

ds4qb-web needs a few files for the emulator to use
* An X86 BIOS image - [seabios]() is a free open source one
* An X86 VGA BIOS image - I recommend Bochs since seabios has some bugs that affect QBasic
* A floppy disk image containing a DOS BOOT disk. You can find FreeDOS boot disks here.
* For DS4QB1 support, needs to contian CLIPEMU.COM.
* For mouse support, needs to contain MOUSE\.COM.
* For EMS support, needs to contain EMSMAGIC.EXE.

Since V86 isn't distributed via npm, it must be available in the global object:
``html


`

After that, add an HTML element to use as the screen:
`html



`

And start the emulator with the attachDs4qb function:
`js
import { attachDs4qb } from 'ds4qb-web';

attachDs4qb(V86, {
// ds4qb-web options:
content: { url: "url_to_game.zip" },
autoExe: "MYGAME.EXE",

// v86 options
screenContainer: document.getElementById('screen_container'),
bios: { url: "url_to_bios.img" },
vgaBios: { url: "url_to_vgabios.img" },
fdaImageFile: { url: "url_to_dos_disk.img" }
v86WasmUrl: { url: "url_to_v86.wasm" }
})
`




API Documentation

$3

ds4qb-web is a single function to initialize and start an emulator

`ts
attachDs4qb(V86: function, options: DS4QBOptions): Promise
`

| Parameter | Type | Description |
| --------- | ------------ | ----------------------------------------------- |
| V86 | function | The constructor for V86 (it is not distributed via npm, so it must be imported by user and passed manually) |
| options | DS4QBOptions | Configuration options. See below for details |

The function returns the generated FAT disk image containing the .zip contents, as a byte array.

$3


The attachDs4qb options parameter is an object with a mix of V86 options and ds4qb-web options

ds4qb-web options:

| Property Name | Type | Description |
| --------------- | ------------- | ------------------------------------------ |
| content | FileReference | .zip file containing the DOS app to run |
| protocol | string | Library: 'ds4qb', 'ds4qb2', or 'ds4qb++' |
| autoExe? | string | Shell command to start the app (optional) |
| ds4qbDatPath? | string | Path to DS4QB2.dat (optional) |
| configPath? | string | Path to SOUNDSYS.CFG (optional) |
| workingDir? | string | "Root" path to use for audio file paths |
| addMouse? | boolean | Runs MOUSE.COM at start if true (optional) |
| addEms? | boolean | Runs EMSMAGIC at start if true (optional) |

v86 options:
| Property Name | Type | Description |
| --------------- | ------------- | ------------------------------------------ |
| screenContainer | HTMLElement | HTML container with a canvas for screen |
| biosFile | V86FileSource | x86 BIOS image |
| vgaBiosFile | V86FileSource | x86 VGA BIOS image |
| fdaImageFile | V86FileSource | DOS boot disk image |
| v86WasmUrl | string | URL to V86 WASM file |

$3

Refers to a file by URL, an ArrayBuffer with the file, or a UInt8Array to the file.
`js
{ url: string } // Pass a URL to the file
`
`js
{ array: Uint8Array } // Pass a typed array to the file
`
`js
{ array: ArrayBuffer } // Pass an array buffer to the file
`

$3

V86 accepts files as either a URL or an ArrayBuffer with the file
`js
{ url: string } // Pass a URL to the file
`
`js
{ array: ArrayBuffer } // Pass an array buffer to the file
``

Contributing

If you want to contribute, please contact me because that means you're one of the dozen people who remember this library and we probably knew each other.