MS DOS games, compatible with XP?

Hey all, I've just downloaded THIS INCREDIBLE GAME, which is intended to run on MS DOS.  I remember on my old old computer (Windows 98, I believe), the Shut Down menu had an option for "Restart in MS DOS mode."  But, Windows XP doesn't have that option!  I'm so sad.  I want to play this game soooo badly, but I can't get it to work.  Someone help me. :'(

DOSbox ~

I have no experience with it though ;_;

You may want to google around for a GUI to it.

[edit] graphical user interface~ so instead of typing in silly commands to open games and stuff you can just click buttons etc to load games :3

DOSBox, yes. However, it runs really, really slowly, so beware. Even at top stats, I could only get Arena to run at 2 FPS.

Okay, thank you!  I will putter around Google for that DOSbox.  Thank you so much!  Now I can't wait to get home and play Princess Maker 2!!

Okay, I'm feeling really stupid.

I have downloaded both the game and DOSBox.  I've read through the DOSBox readme file and tried a million billion different commands.  But, I can't get it to actually play the game!!  Is it me?  Am I doing something wrong?  What I need is for one of you to tell me, step by step, what needs to be done in order to play this game.  Usually, I can figure this stuff out on my own, but this is just leaving me completely clueless.  It's not doing much for my self-esteem.

Help!  *cries*

I dont know why it wont work for you... are you running XP? The game is XP compatible.
I was running it eariler

Whenever I tried that before, it just made a blank screen show up, and nothing happened.

BUT!!
I found an online tutorial and was able to figure it out for myself!  Hurray.  DUDE, Princess Maker 2 is, like, the greatest game I've ever played.  I just spent the last two hours playing it.  Seriously, guys, disregard the girliness of it and PLAY IT.  NOW.

Exactly what is "IT"?

Why, Princess Maker 2 of course!

I was hoping more for an elaboration but okay.

I played it for like ten seconds.... you make up a name, and you pick a daughter name/age.
Then you make a princess I suppose

THIS INCREDIBLE GAME

All of the info you'll ever need is right there, in the link I gave in the first post.

You play as a guy who saves the kingdom, and as a reward the gods give you a ten-year-old daughter.  Gameplay consists of scheduling her activities every month.  Stats are increased by sending her to school (which costs money), and money is gained by sending her out on a part-time job (which requires the stats gained from school).  As you can imagine, there's a fair bit of strategy involved.  On top of all that, both school and work increases her stress level, so vacations and free time are also a fairly chunky portion of gameplay.  Beyond that, the fun parts of the game are wandering around the castle and talking to people (which requires Refinement, earned in school, or else people won't talk to you), and Adventuring (which is surprisingly similar to tradition RPGs, including turn-based battles... Strength and Magic are, of course, learned in school).  The game ends on her 18th birthday, when she chooses a profession (depending on her skills) and leaves your care.

IT'S SO FUN!

A complete guide, including a list of ending professions, is available here.

If you're telling soo much, it must be good, i'm going to try this thing.
and thx for the dosbox reminder guys, i almost forgot bout it.

It's tough to get into the groove of in the beginning, because you don't have a lot of money to send her to school and she sucks at her jobs.  Eventually, though, you settle into it and it becomes the most freakin' addictive game you'll ever play.  Has hella replay value, too, seeing as there are 70+ different endings.

I've played through twice already.  My first princess became an Artist and married a wizard.  My second (which I cleared earlier today) became a Martial Arts Instructor and married a knight.  In my next file, I'd like to see if I can get her to be a magic-user of some sort, ideally a Court Wizard.

I even got DragonMagna to play it a bit.  He made her fat by feeding her too much, and she eventually became a delinquent because he made her too stressed out.  See?  This game's got something for everybody.  There are infinite different ways to play through.

Wow I'm gonna try this game lmao. Wonder what else you can do besides makeing her fat.

I can't beieve i'm liking it 

As she gets older, you unlock more jobs.

Wow I'm gonna try this game lmao. Wonder what else you can do besides makeing her fat.

You can make her work in a "sleazy bar" or cabaret.    One of the ending profession categories is "Concubine."

A Quick tutorial for those who are still trying to get it to run:
1. Go ahead and get yourself a copy of DosBox here and install it.
2. Download Princess Maker here and unzip the folder to your C:\ Drive. (You should end up with C:\pm2)
3. Run DosBox and type the follwoing commands:

Code: [Select]

mount c c:\pm2

Code: [Select]

c:

Code: [Select]

pm2.exe

4. Enjoy <3

Oh and if you want sound, run the PM2WINST.EXE and change your settings.

Princess Maker 2 is seriously one of the most awesome games ever. Shame on you all for having not played it sooner.

DAmn , im really liking it OO

Thats because raising little girls is awesome.

Hurrah!  Tell all your friends about it, too. 

Please share with me your endings, too.   

ok i forgot to tell this but for me sound doesnt come, even after i tried EVERYTHING
ps- i do microphone as speaker is bad AND princess maker 2 works for me WITHOUT dosbox, though i played WITH dosbox today
so tell me guys

I did what Crank said and couldn't get the sound to work either. It would be nice to have sound, but I'm fine without it.

There are no sound effects, only music.

I did this:
From the folder where all of the PrincessMaker2 files are, double-click on the file named PM2WINST.  Configure the sound settings so it plays as a MIDI.

The battle themes are pretty chill.   Adventuring gets some weird-crazy bgm, though.

Yeah, I tried that. It didn't work. Maybe my sound card is incompatible or something. =/

happened with me too. I tried all of them, the game doesnt open, maybe it does with DOSBOX, and there is only 1 sound type which works it, but thats not exactly placing it.
I'll check it out WITH dosbox this time
and yes, it's not exactly bad without sound, thats no problem..

PS- I got it worked
Gilga, open That ins, then choose the MIDI thing, 2nd or 3rd option, and open it WITH dosbox.
It worked for me It's better with the sound coming

I found this cheat on Gamefaqs:

Mad Eddy's and the Beta Shop
Go to town.
Press and hold, all at the same time: F12, R, N, and Q.
hit 'Cancel' to go back to your house.
When you go back to town, there should be two new shops: Mad Eddy's and the Beta Shop.

Mad Eddy gives you free money, and lets you buy very rare items, among other things.

The Beta Shop lets you select the ending, among other things.

Contributed By: Gravity

DON'T BUY THE UN-DRESS!

Why shouldn't some one buy it? What can possibly go wrong?

omg... suit yourself.

1. Gilga sound working?
2. Does it hang the game or something?
 IM PROUD OF MY adopted kinda daughter lawl

The Un-Dress... um... It sends a virus through your computer and deletes everything from your hard drive!!

Yeah, that's it.

I have gotta try this out sometime. How big is the file to download?

imo cheats ruin games. My daughter is like uber at everything, but I'm gonna start over.

[EDIT]: Zypher, it's not very big at all. It's an old school DOS game after all.

The Un-Dress... um... It sends a virus through your computer and deletes everything from your hard drive!!

Yeah, that's it.

I thought it was actually something perverted.

I'll probably regret asking this, but what exactly is the "Uncensor Patch"?

....Uncensor Patch? I haven't encounted anything censored... unless there was some dirtier stuff in the japanese version.

OMG my daughter is 3 years older than me OMG

I'll probably regret asking this, but what exactly is the "Uncensor Patch"?

In some of the vacationing scenes at the seashore, the daughter is sunbathing nude (lying facedown, so you would only be able to see her bum ;P), but a swimsuit was placed on her in the English version.  Some of the characters (mermaids, fairies, spirits of the lake, etc.) are all portrayed as nude women, but the English version gave them some (minimal) clothing.  My assumtion would be that the uncensor patch would remove all of those censors.

This is silly, my daughter is older than me,  and now, she marries someone i totally dun no!

I'll download this and play it.

yeah, and if sounds not coming, open the ins thing, choose midi and then run with dosbox.
She called me a ...cheapskate!

Actually, I don't need DOSBox at all. I just opened the .exe and it ran. Go figure.

Unless you fulfill a special requirement, she will marry a random knight/wizard.  The other marriage possibilities are:

The Dragon Prince - Found by completing a certain requirement while Adventuring in the Desert.
The Prince - Speaking with the "Young Officer" every January without breaking any promises!
Cube (the butler) - build a high relationship between the daughter and Cube (I guess by having him watch over her when she is ill?)
The Father (You) - Remind yourself that she is not your biological daughter... anyway, this happens if you have a high relationship with her (by going on lots of vacations, effectively scolding, giving her pocket money, and watching over her when she is ill).

I tried to get her to marry the prince but she ended up marrying the dragon instead. 

Fun stuff. This Uncensor Patch is pretty disturbing though. She's like 10, and she's already got a B cup?

Yeah she earns more money than me in a month, than i do in a year.
AND HER RELATIONSHIP WITH THE BUTTLER WAS MORE THAN WITH ME.

damn

Well, I played my first time through, kind of. I made her do housework constantly, even when she started getting sick. Dead at 11.

she dies too?

Was it this one?

TROGDOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BURNINATING ALL THE PEASANTS, BURNINATING THE COUNTRYSIDE!

I didn't know she could die...

But I do know that she can also marry Lucifon, the Prince of Darkness (which will make her ending profession "Princess of Darkness"), but I don't know how.

Yep, she can die. I replayed from the last save I made, but only scored 209. =o( I'm a bad father, and I fail.

I don't think anyone here doubted that you'd be a bad father.

I know, it's just hard to see it in black and white.

I've always scored really high.. does that mean I'd be a good mom?  But, the ending always says that my princesses have horrible maternal skills.  Um...

o_o  I can't see myself as a mom.

Here is a conversation I imagine having with my kids.
"When I was your age, video games were on cartridges!!!"
"Nooo!!  Mom, say it ain't so!"

Well you can test that outs bys having mah baybeeeees. Ima drunks! i like wine!

W?

Well you can test that outs bys having mah baybeeeees. Ima drunks! i like wine!

I'll pass on that, thank you.

Drunk Babies = Bad news in the morning

 i think they should let us choose our gender too.
And then if your boy, the same, and if youre a girl its different.
That;d be a good thing if they make Another game of such

My sister is officially obsessed with this game. She's on her third princess now. And she's not even a gamer. Go Yossenheimer.

Yossenheimer?
and i think yossy has a meaning, i was going through newgrounds, in a movie i haerd that word.
I think it means yes lol
ppl...

There are like a million Princess Maker games.

Found this on Gamefaqs...

Princess Maker -  This game came out in 1991.  Your daughters default name is
Maria Rindobagu.  The plot is that there was a huge war with the demons of the
underworld, and the child is an orphan of that war.  You decide to raise her
to be your own daughter. 
Versions Available: IBM/PC Japanese, Chinese, and
I've *heard* of a Saturn Version by Microcabin, but I have not found it
myself so I cannot confirm that version. 

Princess Maker 2 - This is the FAQ you are looking at.  Made available
around 1994/1995.  The second game in the Princess Maker series.  This time
your daughter is named Olive Oyl.  The plot is similar to the first one,
except this time you have a God giving you the daughter to raise from ages
10-18.  Versions Available: IBM/PC Japanese, Chinese, and an English Beta
version.  This one was actually released for the Japanese Sega Saturn by
Microcabin, the disc featured different images, complete voice acting for all
the characters, plus a bonus 'Drama' track which had Olive whining for a good
6 minutes about why her father works her so much.

Princess Maker: Legend of Another World -  This game was released around
the same time as Princess Maker 2.  It was only released for the Super
Famicom system.  It plays almost exactly like Princess Maker 2.  The
only major difference would be the combat system is really weird.  I do
not know the default name for the daughter.  It really is not thought
of as part of the series of games, since it is a stand alone product.  I
imagine it was just Gainax trying to make the Princess Maker series
available on many platforms.  Maybe someday I should ask them.
Version: Super Famicom (Japanese Super Nintendo).  There is a FAQ
currently available for this game.

Princess Maker 3: Faery Tales Come True - Technically the 3rd game.
The japanese title is "Yume Miru Yousei", but also is listed as Faery
Tales Come True (Spelled 'faery').  This  is the most current child
simulation game.  This game was a collaberation of Gainax, and the
japanese game Company of "Nine Lives".  This is a much more involved game,
featuring options such as a choice of the fathers profession, and your
daughters disposition is much more drastic.   Your daughters default name
is "Lisa Anderson".
Versions Available: Originally released for Japanese Playstation.  There is an
odd rap with repeatative words as a 'Bonus' track.  The PSX version was missing
a few features that were included in the PC and Saturn versions.
It was then released for IBM/PC and Mac:  Japanese, Chinese and Korean versions.
There is also a Japanese Sega Saturn version available.  This includes the same
sort of bonus along PM2's Saturn Game.  It has a drama track.  Lisa is a
much happier child than Olive.  There is a FAQ currently available for this
game.

Princess Maker Pocket Daisakusen - Loosely translated as "Big Strategy", or
I've heard it translated as Mission in a little pocket (??).  This game was
an attempt at a puzzle game.  This game was produced by Nine Lives, it gives
you the option of playing either Maria, Lisa, or Olive in an effort to play
through scenerios to become a Princess through the art of the puzzle game.
It has a very pretty opening theme, and a plethora of voice acting. 
Versions: Only available for Japanese Playstation

Princess Maker: Go! Go! Princess -  You know, I'm not even sure what this is.
It looks like an RPG of sorts, featuring all FOUR daughters (Yes, that includes
the previously forgotten Legend of Another World girl).  I've only seen
screenshots, but I'm picking up a copy soon!  Wish me luck.  Also produced by
those wonderful people at Nine Lives.  I've also got sort of a "Mario Party"
feel to the game, but I have no idea since I don't own it.
Versions: Only available for Japanese Playstation

Princess Maker Q -  Another Princess Maker game produced by Nine Lives, this
appears to be a quiz game asking questions about the other PM games!  There
isn't much else that I know of it, but I'm working on gathering a working
version.
Versions: IBM/PC and Mac.  Japanese and Chinese versions.

Princess Maker 4 - Originally it may have been slated for the Sega
Dreamcast, but now Princess Maker 4 is heading to PCs and Macintoshs
very shortly.  From what I understand, your daughter is "Karen" who was
the host of Princess Maker Q.  It looks like a mixture of modern day
Tokyo with a Princess Maker setting.  Must play this before I can
completely judge. ;
Verions: As far as we know, Windows 95 (Japanese only).

Princess Maker Collection -  Princess Maker 2 and 3 put on the Sega Dreamcast
and bundled as a "Collection".  Distributed by a company called GeneX.  This
is currently available.  It states to be "Powered by Windows CE" on the box.
Versions: Sega Dreamcast only.

Also, "Yossy" is the female version of the Japanese name "Yoshi."  It also has Israeli origins.

but pm2 is the best i spose

PM2 is the only one available in English, so yes.

Japanese never stopped me before.

I lol, and i never knew this would go 5 page long!
 

Japanese never stopped me before.

Me neither, actually.  Especially since I can read some of it.  If you can recoginze "seebu" as "save" and "roodo" as "load," you're good to go.

Roodo lol, you know what it means here?

Means, its not official, but in shcool you know just those words we use to express...
not abuses lol

I'm not entirely sure what you're talking about, but in Japanese, "roodo" is pronounced "load-o."

Uhm Apparently it means something secksual in indian?

I wonder if theres any thing else we've said that's seckual in nightwolf's native tounge. Actually that was silly.

I should use that prog I used on .org to say incoherent indain.

Or you can just go to Spam.

Meh..... I was going to get back on topic, but now I don't want to.

So... basicly PM2 is about an overprotective parent/warrior who likes to check out his daughter and then kill her off by starving her or by sending her out into the mountians to get gang raped by thieving bandits....

Only if you are that father.

You...stay away from my children, Atomic.

I'm serious.

Not really, but you know, heh.

is that a yes?

That is a 100% accurate description of this game.

I just cleared the game with my third princess...  I wanted her to become a wizard of some sort but she became a Writer...  which DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE becuase she never took any Poetry classes.

me second, became a writer too.
Still her relation was more with butler, she married some one i dun know.

All three of my daughters became housewives.

killins fun eh? lol

Every walkthrough I have read states that even if you only take one or two Poetry classes, the chances of your princess becoming a Writer go up impossibly high.

I wonder why the programmers would do that?  Ah, well, it's something to keep in mind.