How To Play A Zip File Game

Zip-It Game Instructions (game available at www.morselmunk.com) How To Play: All Zip-It games start with each player taking 12 cubes. To start the game, one of the players calls 'GO!'. Each player proceeds to make a crossword grid using any side of his/her own cubes. Words can be any length, reading top to bottom, left to right ONLY. The ZIP file must contain a file called index.html, this is what people will see when they go to play your game. The ZIP file should include all the files necessary to run your game. File names are case sensitive. Your ZIP file can contain any kind of file you need for your game. Make sure to use relative paths when developing your game to.

• How To Install Zip Files
• How To Play A Zip File Game
• How To Play A Downloaded Game In A Zip File
• Zip File Player

itch.io supports uploading HTML games inaddition to downloadable, Flash, Unity, and Java games. In order to get startedjust head over to the New Game or Edit Game page and pick 'HTMLGame' from the Kind Of Game list.

Getting started

itch.io supports HTML5 games by embedding an iframe pointing to your gameon itch.io's own game page. All of your game's assets are hosted by us soyou don't need to worry about uploading your game anywhere else. All you needto do is provide the dimensions of your game along with the game's files. Thereare two ways to upload an HTML5 game:

• Upload a ZIP file that contains all the games files, including an index.html file that will be your games entry point.
• Upload a single HTML file that contains your entire game.

ZIP File

We recommend uploading a ZIP file when your game is comprised of many differentfiles.

The ZIP file must contain a file called index.html, this is what people willsee when they go to play your game. The ZIP file should include all the filesnecessary to run your game. File names are case sensitive.

Your ZIP file can contain any kind of file you need for your game. Make sure touse relative paths when developing your game to ensure assets are loadedcorrectly. If you make a mistake or release a new version of your game feelfree to upload a new ZIP file and delete the old one.

HTML File

For smaller games, you can also directly upload an .html file.

The entire game must be in a single HTML file. Your game will not be able toreference any other files you've uploaded on itch.io project edit page. If youneed multiple files then we recommend uploading a ZIP file instead.

Viewing Your Game

After setting your game's dimensions and uploading the ZIP file you can previewyour game on itch.io. Upon first loading the game page, itch.io willtake a moment to process the archive.

Meanwhile you are free to customize your game page as you would with any othergame on itch.io.

Can I take payments with my HTML5 game?

Currently all HTML5 games on itch.io are set up to only take payments asdonations. However, it's possible to sell access to your game by setting its'Kind of Game' to 'Downloadable'. If you'd like itch.io to supportpurchasable HTML5 games then you should get in touch.

ZIP file requirements

There are a couple of requirements for ZIP files in place to prevent abuse andto ensure a suitable experience for people running your project in theirbrowser:

• The ZIP file should not contain more than 1,000 individual files afterextraction.
• The maximum length of a file name including path should not be greater than240 characters long.
• The size of all the extracted content should not be greater than 500MB.
• The size any single extracted file should not be greater than 200MB.
• The filenames are case sensitive and should be encoded as UTF-8

If your game does not meet the requirements please consider distributing yourgame as downloadable instead. Very large HTML5 games tend to be a poorerexperience compared to the equivalent downloadable in respect to loading timeand performance.

Why do we have limits? Although many game engines allow you to exportanything as an HTML5 project, often you need to consider what the userexperience of playing the game will be like. You can think of an HTML5project like a website: many of the same performance optimizationrecommendations still apply. We have these default limits to encouragedevelopers to consider how their games are distributed, especially since it'sso easy these days to drop in prefab resources from asset-stores thatsiginificanlty increase the download size for the game.

Feel free to contact us if you think these limits aren't appropriatefor your project and we can see what we can do .

Customizing how your game is embedded

From your project's edit page you can customize how your HTML5 game is embeddedinto its itch.io page.

• Click to Play — By default your project will require a click to start. This will ensure your game doesn't slow the viewer's browser when the itch.io page initially loads. If you have a lightweight project, you can disable Click to play and your project will start when the page loads. Keep in mind audio may be muted on some browsers when using auto-start.
• Fullscreen Button — We can automatically generate a fullscreen button for your project if the engine you are using doesn't automatically provide one.
• Viewport Dimensions — You have a few options for setting the size of your viewport. The simplest way is to manually provide the dimensions. For some game engines, we support automatically detecting the dimensions. If you'd like your game to always take up the maximum size of the screen, you can use Click to launch in fullscreen.
• Scrollbars — Some projects are designed to be larger than the size of their viewport. Enabling scrollbars will allow viewers to scroll within the iframe. They are hidden by default.

Visual customization

For projects that use Click to play, you can customize the what theviewport looks like before the game is launched. You can find these options onthe project's theme editor.

• Background Image — A image that takes up the size of the viewport that sits behind the Play button.
• Gradient — A gradient color can be overlayed on the viewport to help you match the colorscheme of your page.

Support for Mobile HTML5 Games

Many HTML5 game engines support playing games through a mobile web browser. Ifyou know your project functions in a mobile browser then you can select theMobile Friendly option in the embed settings for your project.

When your itch.io page is loaded on a mobile device, it will use Click tolaunch in fullscreen mode regardless of how you've configured your embed fordesktop computers. This will ensure itch.io's user interface does not interruptyour application, along with preventing an autostarting game from unexpectedlyconsuming resources.

If you haven't enabled Mobile Friendly then a warning will be displayed tothe viewer that the game may not work, but they can still attempt to start it.

Game Engine Detection

When you upload your HTML5 game we'll scan the files to detect the game engineused automatically. This can help get your project listed in our browse pages.Here are some examples of HTML5 games using specific engines.

If you think we're missing a engine you can suggest a new one.

Common Pitfalls

Here are some common issues people run into when uploading their project. Ifyou're about to upload something, or are having an issue, read through the list first.

• Not uploading a .ZIP file — If you are trying to upload a project that uses multiple files you must compress them as a ZIP file and upload that. We do not support any other archive types, (.rar,.tar.gz, and .7z are not supported). Uploading multiple files individually to the itch.io website will not work either, you must combine all necessary files into a ZIP file. Note that if your project is a single HTML file, then you can upload that directly and skip ZIPing it.
• Using aboslute paths instead of relative paths — Your project is hosted on a subdirectory on our HTML5 CDN. If you use an absolute path in your sourcecode then the file your are trying to reference will not be found. This is commonly associated with a net::ERR_ABORTED 403 error in Chrome. Absolute paths are paths that start with a /. Try using relative paths instead.
• Mismatched cases when referencing files — The server that hosts your project's files is case-sensitive. MacOS and Windows computers allow for files to be loaded case-insensitive. It's possible your project works locally on your computer but fails after you upload it. Please check that all files you reference use the exact case that is shown on your file manager. This is commonly associated with a net::ERR_ABORTED 403 error in Chrome. If you have a file named Hello.png, you must reference it as Hello.png, things like hello.png and HELLO.png will not work because the case does not match.
• Referencing external resources without HTTPS — If your project tries to load files or talk to an API on another domain, then that domain must be requested with HTTPS. For security reasons, itch.io is an HTTPS website with no exceptions. All modern browsers will generally block requests to other domains if they aren't running on HTTPS. There are no exceptions. There are many free resources for adding HTTPS to your own domain, like Let's Encrypt.
• Uploading a very large game — Although many game engines allow you to export anything as an HTML5 project, often you need to consider what the user experience of playing the game will be like. For larger games, it's often better to go for a downloadable version. This is why we have default limitations for project sizes (although you can contact us if you need lifted limits). Projects can still be easy to play with the itch.io app. You can think of an HTML5 project like a website: many of the same performance optimization recommendations still apply.

Exporting your game for itch.io

When exporting your game for itch.io we recommend using a template or markupthat allows for your game's canvas to adjust to the size of the window is isplaced in. How take a screenshot on computer. When using a fullscreen button the viewport size will dynamicallyadjust to the size of the viewer's screen. Additionally, when running an HTML5game on a mobile device, the viewport will have a dynamic aspect ratio andresolution matching the user's device.

Here are some recommend resources:

• Unity: https://seansleblanc.itch.io/better-minimal-webgl-template

If you have any other recommended resources or tips for configuration pleasesend them to support.

Compression

Some game engines will pre-compress assets as part of their build process. Inorder for these assets to download correctly, often the webserver will have todetect these and apply the appropriate headers for the particular file.

• If the content of the file is detected as gzip compressed, the content-encoding header to gzip. The content-type header of the file will detected and set by the extension, removing .gz if necessary.
• If the filename ends with the extension .br then we'll assume that the content is Brotli compressed and the content-encoding will bet set to br. The The content-type header of the file will then be detected and set by the extension, after removing the .br. (Note: Brotli encoding can not be detected like gzip, so we must depend on the .br extension). This approach is commonly used by Unity 2020 WebGL export.

Compressed file types

How To Install Zip Files

In order to reduce bandwidth and decrease loading times, itch.io's CDN willautomatically apply GZIP compression to the following file types if they areprovided uncompressed.

File extensions:

• html
• js
• css
• svg
• wasm
• wav
• glb
• pck

If we aren't able to match by extension, if we see the following content type on a file we will also attempt to compress it:

• application/x-javascript
• application/javascript
• text/javascript
• text/css
• text/html
• application/xml
• application/json
• image/svg+xml

>
1. How to play

New to abandonware? Start with this guide to play DOS games on Windows 7, 8 or 10, or on your Mac. Most games work fine without any tinkering, but some are hard to run properly.

A large majority of our games catalog are DOS games, if you need to play Windows or Mac games, go to the bottom of the page or use the following table of contents. We have several other platforms now, specific pages are available for running these games. Also, don't miss our list of useful links for abandonware and this quick buying guide.

• Other platforms:

Why is this not working?

Most abandonware games on PC were created for the MS-DOS operating system. Today's computers no longer offer the same environment for the programs. Hopefully, some people were unhappy with this and created software to mimic the old computers operating system!

What program should I use?

Depending on your operating system, you have different possibilities.

For every operating system

DOSBox is the master DOS emulator, it works with almost every computer, and will be enough for a quick play of most games. Check the DOSBox website for more information. DOSBox works in Windows 10.

DOSBox Enhanced Community Edition, aka DOSBox ECE, is a good replacement of vanilla DOSBox. Many new features are added by the author YesterPlay, check the project website for a list of enhancements. Available for Windows and Linux.

You may use another program for many point and click games, ScummVM. You should check their compatibility page and search for the game you wish to play.

DOSBox has many frontend programs (complete list here) that give you a more appealing interface. DGBL is one of them, and it runs on Windows, Mac and Linux

Windows (XP, Vista, Seven, 8, 10)

Most people are using Microsoft's Windows and an easy solution is available: D-fend Reloaded. It has a nice graphical interface, and a lot of things are done for you behind the scenes. The project has not been updated for years though, so you may prefer DGBL.

A possible alternative is LaunchBox, which supports DOS games but now tons of other platforms, including Windows and Steam games.

Mac OS X

Boxer is clearly the best DOSBox frontend on Mac, but it has not been updated since 2016. If you have updated to Catalina or above, the app won't work anymore. It has been partially ported to 64 bits, you can get it here or check the newest updates on this GitHub thread.

Linux

How to use dafont on cricut. On Linux, you should use one of the cross-platform frontends like DGBL. Check the complete list on the DOSBox wiki

I need help this is not working!

Please note we do not provide support for running abandonware games. We strongly suggest you to ask for help on dedicated forums, like Abandonia or Vogons. You may also use the DosBox subreddit.

DOSBox setup

You should carefully read the DOSBox Wiki for a good walkthrough. Mac OS X users should pay attention to those instructions, although I recommend using Boxer.

DOSBox drag and drop (Windows)

Many of the standard DOS games can be played immediately with a drag and drop, after a standard DOSBox setup:

How To Play A Zip File Game

• download the game archive and unzip it ;
• drag and drop the game folder on the desktop icon of DOSBox ;
• the game folder will be mounted as C: - just type the name the right .exe file and press enter ;
• tips: use DIR command in DOSBox to list game files (if the list is big, use 'DIR /p'), and use the TAB key to autocomplete the .exe file name.

If you don't have the DOSBox shortcut on your desktop, the drag and drop works on the DOSBox executable file located in C:Program FilesDOSBox-0.xx

D-Fend Reloaded Setup

As a start, download the latest setup of D-Fend.

Once installed, follow the following steps (click on the pictures for full size). Screenshots taken in Windows 10 October 2016.

Step 1

Starting with a fresh D-Fend install, you should see this screen after launching the program. You can already launch DOSDox DOS to bring an operational MS-DOS system. Guess you want to play a GAME, so not much to do here.

Step 2

First, unzip the downloaded game somewhere. Then click on Extras > Open game folder.. This is where you will put the game files.

Step 3

The game folder is the virtual drive used by the default D-Fend setup. For this tutorial, I unzipped the Mario Teaches Typing on the desktop, then moved the game folder to the Game Folder of D-Fend. The name of the folder itself is not important, but you should avoid spaces or special characters.

Step 4

Now that the game files are on the virtual drive, we must add the game to D-Fend. Click on Add > Add manually.. > Add DOSBox Profile. A new window will appear, as shown in the video, the 'Profile editor'. We must set the program file by clicking on the folder icon at the right end of 'Program file'.

The explorer will show you the contents of the virtual drive. Navigate through the game folder until you see program files. Some game only has one file listed here, Mario Teaches Typing has two, usually, the right file to select is named after the game. This time, it's 'MARIO', select the file and click Open. You may also select a setup program the same way, as shown in the video. Useful for sound configuration most of the time.

Coming back to the Profile editor, we can see the executable file in the Program file field. The last thing to do is to set the name of the game in the Profile name field. Once this is done, click on Ok. The game appears in the list, double-click to run it and have fun!

D-Fend Reloaded Wizard

You may also use the game wizard in D-Fend Reloaded, it's simpler to add a game.

Step 1

After downloading and unzipping the game files somewhere, launch D-Fend, click Add > Add with wizard.. A new window appears, 'Create new profile', Emulation type should be set to DOSBox. Click on Next.

Step 2

Click on the folder on the right side of the 'Program to be started'. Navigate to your folders to the game directory and find the proper executable file (see the second paragraph in Step 4 of the previous tutorial). Click on Open.

Step 3

D-Fend will auto-detect the game sometimes, you may also select one in the list as shown in the screenshot. By clicking Next, you get some additional information on the game, anyway, you can click Ok, the game will be listed in the main windows and ready to be played!

Additional steps and troubleshooting

Amongst different problems we have run into, here are some additional tips.

How to make DOSBox fullscreen

By default, DOSBox runs in windowed mode. To make DOSBox fullscreen, just press ALT and Enter. Press ALT and Enter again to get back to windowed mode. If you want DOSBox to always run fullscreen when launched, edit dosbox.conf (click on 'DOSBox 0.74 Options' in Start menu), change 'fullscreen=false' to 'fullscreen=true', save and close the text editor.

Games Running Too Fast or Too Slow

Many old games were made to run as fast as the computer could get, those may be too fast with DOSBox default CPU cycles. You have to reduce the CPU cycles with CTRL-F11 in DOSBox. Other frontend programs may use different shortcuts.

On the opposite, the default CPU cycles may be too low for 'recent' DOS games, you will have to raise the CPU cycles with CTRL-F12 in Dosbox. Other frontend programs may use different shortcuts. You can also skip frames in DOSBox to get better performances, use CTRL-F8 to increase the number of frames skipped. You can read more about performances in DOSBox on the official wiki.

Game setup

You may remember running SETUP.EXE to configure sound, have better graphics or enable mouse support. You should add the setup program to the Setup section, below the Program section in D-Fend, and launch it before playing the game.

DOSBox can emulate several sound cards, check out the wiki about sound setup. Most of the time, Sound Blaster or AdLib is the right choice.

Virtual Drive

Some games require you to emulate a floppy drive and have the game content mounted in it. To add this floppy drive, edit the game profile, click on Drives and add a new drive. You may use a folder or a real floppy image (.img) for the floppy content. Same goes for CD games.

PC-Booter Games

We have some PC-Booter games, theses games have to be booted to work. DOSBox can handle this fine, but these steps are not so clear.

Chuck Cartia gave us a nice walkthrough, using SpitFire Ace as an example:

1 - Create a folder to put your .img files in, for this example, on the C: drive make a folder named DriveImg.

How To Play A Downloaded Game In A Zip File

2 - Now put the file spitfire.img in this folder. Add a line to the dosbox.conf file in the [autoexec] section:
boot c:DriveImgspitfire.img -l a
That's dash ell (for letter) and the drive letter you want to assign.

3 - Make sure you have any other references to this drive letter remmed out with the # like this:
#mount a a: -t floppy
or
#mount a s:install.

4 - That's it.. Save the dosbx.conf file and when you start DOSBOX, the game should boot and start automatically just like the good old days when you shoved the disk in and turned on the (Atari) computer.

After reading this, the explanation in the DOSBOX readme.txt file should make sense and you can figure out how to add more drives for multiple disk games.

Note: You don't need to use the IMGMOUNT command when you use the BOOT command. Don't forget to rem out the boot line and unrem your other line(s) when you want to use DOSBOX normally.

Zip File Player

Memory Problems

Some games have memory problems at startup, like error message telling you 'Not enough memory'. You should try several combinations of options in the 'Memory' part of the profile, enabling loadfix first.

For additional help, you should ask your questions over the Vogons forums or the DosBox subreddit.

Font doesn't look right

Many old games relied heavily on standard fonts present in the operating system, you can get them at the The Oldschool PC Font Resource, made by VileR. Font pack mirror available here.

ISO and CUE/BIN files (CD images)

Some of the games are available as a CD image, a perfect copy of the original CD. For DOS games, DOSBox will read the images if the format is ISO or BIN/CUE. Several formats are possible, though: ISO, CUE/BIN, NRG, MDS/MDF. Usually, these images come with Windows games, scroll down for help on opening these.

DOS Games

For DOS games, it's quite straightforward: DOSBox allows you to mount these images directly, with the IMGMOUNT command. The IMGMOUNT command will perfectly mount ISO images, but can also mount CUE/BIN images. CUE/BIN images allow you to mount a game CD which has music tracks on it - many games of the late 90s used this system, and you could play the game music on a CD player. How to use imovie on ipad 2.

If you use a DOSBox frontend, you will probably find a way to mount an image through the menus. One alternative is to mount these images with a mounting software (see below for Windows) and using the mounted image as a source in DOSBox using the MOUNT command.

Windows Games

For Windows games, you need an additional software to read the images. Many software is available, not all of them are free:

• Virtual CloneDrive: light freeware, no ads or adware installed, highly recommended.
• WinCDEmu: open source, totally free, also recommended.
• MagicISO MagicDisc: good freeware, supports Win98/ME for old machines.
• ImDisk Virtual Disk Driver: very light freeware, can create any disk type, has command line support. Core virtual disk driver available here.
• DAEMON Tools Lite: a free version is available, watch out for adware during installation, you can also pay a $4 licence for a clean installer.

Once installed, most of these software will allow you to mount an ISO or CUE/BIN image by simply double-clicking on it. Beware, some images contains additional data only readable by DAEMON Tools, making the disk image unmountable, or making the game unplayable without a crack / noCD. Having DAEMON Tools installed for these cases can be useful.

Mounting images on a Mac

On a Mac computer, ISO files can be mounted without installing anything, but CUE/BIN files require DAEMON Tools Lite Mac to be mounted easily (click on the Download link next to the buy button). You can also try to rename the BIN file as an ISO file: rename 'gamefile.bin' to 'gamefile.iso' and open the file - it may work!