blog:pc98_launcher_b

PC-98 Game Launcher - Information & Downloads

My PC98Launcher application is written in C, using the custom DJGPP implementation for PC-98 hardware, as detailed on my site.

What is it, and what does it do?

PC98Launcher is graphical game browser and launcher for the PC-98 range of personal computers from NEC.

It runs on the PC-98 hardware itself, either emulated or real physical system; it is not a Window/Mac/Linux application like [launchbox](https://www.launchbox-app.com/) or [RetroArch](https://github.com/libretro/RetroArch).

Specifically, it is written to use the 256 colour graphics hardware found on late PC-9801 and early to late PC-9821 machines.

  • It creates a browseable list of all the game directories on your drive(s)
  • It can load and display additional metadata per game (i.e developer, genre, release date etc)
  • It can load and display screenshots or artwork per game (i.e box art, screenshots, etc)
  • It can export an audit file of all the found games
  • It can launch any game for which a start file is either found (e.g. start.bat), or which has been defined in metadata (e.g. run.com, go.exe, etc)

You can find versions of the PC98Launcher application ready to download on this page, as well as packaged up versions of games and their metadata ready to go.

As a reminder, you'll need the following:

  • A PC-9801 or PC-9821 with PEGC (256 colour) graphics hardware
  • A hard drive
  • A memory manager with VCPI support (EMM386 or VEM486, for example) - the application itself runs in as little as 3.6MB of RAM, but you may need more than that for some games.

All the files necessary to run the application (the DPMI server and DOS extender) are included in the application zip file.

Pre-compiled versions of the PC98Launcher application are listed here. There are several versions:

  • 386
    • Compiled for 32bit x86 architecture, no specific optimisations (just -mcpu=i386 -march=i386)
  • 486
    • Compiled for 32bit x86 architecture with optimisations for 486 and above (-mcpu=i486 -march=i486). Faster than the above when loading images or filesystem metadata. Runs on 386 systems but may show some graphical corruption.
  • debug
    • Compiled for 32bit x86 architecture, no optimisations, debug symbols enabled and verbose logging in all functions (-g)
Date Notes Download Links
2020-09-07 First version which can launch games! Run l.bat and it will start up everything you need, as well as run the selected game on exit. Still need to implement game filtering, as well as re-launch the application after you exit the game. 486
2020-09-04 Fixed some memory leaks when loading/unloading metadata file and image lists. Enabled pageup/pagedown navigation. Initial implementation of Confirm you want to start this game popup dialogue. 486
2020-09-02 Added ability to preload full game name from metadata at scrape time. Can be enabled/disabled by preload_names in launcher.ini 486
2020-09-01 Fixed a bug in the line numbering/selection code. If you reach the end of the list, it now scrolls back around to the beginning, or goes to the next page. 486
2020-08-29 Initial binary version uploaded. This is only capable of scraping game data and browsing games and their metadata - no launch capability yet. 486

Source code for the PC98Launcher application can always be found at Github:

These packages include a pre-written launch.dat metadata file, screenshots, box artwork and custom start files (in most cases following the Sharp X68000 convention of being named !start.bat). In cases where a game has a configuration tool to set music/sound options, this is set as the alt_start executable.

The packages should unzip directly to a directory such as A:\Games on your PC-98 hard drive and be ready to go. You don't need to find anything else.

Info Name Developer Metadata Screenshots Box Artwork Audio Notes
* Advanced Power Dolls 2 Kogado Studio Yes Yes No FM, MIDI (MPU+Serial) Metadata includes alt_start set to the configuration/music settings tool.
* Alpha Dain Great Yes Yes Front FM
* Amaranth Fuga System Yes Yes Front/Rear FM Custom start file includes gdc.exe to force graphics clock to 2.5MHz
* Amaranth II Fuga System Yes Yes No FM Custom start file includes gdc.exe to force graphics clock to 2.5MHz
* Amaranth III Fuga System Yes Yes No FM, MIDI (MPU)
* Amaranth IV Fuga System Yes Yes No FM, MIDI (MPU) Start file assumes game is unpacked to \Games. Edit start.bat if this is not the case.
* Amaranth KH Fuga System Yes Yes No FM, MIDI (MPU)
* Bible Master 2 Glodia Yes Yes Front/Rear FM, MIDI (MPU+Serial)
* Branmarker 2 D.O. Corp. Yes Yes Front FM, MIDI (MPU) Can be started in PC-98 notebook-compatible mode by adding 'note' after BR2_98.EXE in !START.BAT; this sets a high-contrast palette mode.
* Briganty GIGA Yes Yes Front FM, MIDI Action, Beat-em-up, RPG, Platform hybrid. Really needs a joypad to be enjoyed fully.
* Case of Dungeons Studio K2 Yes Yes No FM Single screen dungeon crawler. A sort of strategy/tactics “beat the boss” type of game.
* CRW: Metal Jacket WiZ Yes Yes Front/Rear FM This is a pre-patched English version.
* CRW 2 WiZ Yes Yes No FM, MIDI Untranslated sequel to CRW.
* Cyber Illusion Pearl Soft Yes Yes Front FM, MIDI (MPU+Serial) MIDI mode seem to be tailored for a GM compatible module.
* Dead of the Brain FairyTale Yes Yes Front FM This is a pre-patched English version (all links to original patch are broken as of 2020). Although DOTB doesn't have a hard-drive install, it seems to work fine if you copy all four floppy disks to the same directory.
* Farland Story 1 Technical Group Laboratory, Inc. Yes Yes Front FM, MIDI (MPU) This is the pre-patched English version. Music supports the NEC -26k and -86k FM cards, LA MIDI synths (e.g Roland MT32/CM32) and GS MIDI synths (e.g Roland Sound Canvas). Opening cinematic can be viewed seperately via the secondary start file in the metadata. GDC clock slowed to 2.5MHz via the included gdc.exe.
* Farland Story 2 Technical Group Laboratory, Inc. Yes Yes Front FM, MIDI (MPU) This is the pre-patched English version. Music supports -26k and -86k FM cards and and GS MIDI synths (e.g Roland Sound Canvas). Opening cinematic can be viewed seperately via the secondary start file in the metadata. GDC clock slowed to 2.5MHz via the included gdc.exe.
* Farland Story 3 Technical Group Laboratory, Inc. Yes Yes Front FM, MIDI (MPU) This is the pre-patched English version. Music supports -26k and -86k FM cards and and GS MIDI synths (e.g Roland Sound Canvas). GDC clock slowed to 2.5MHz via the included gdc.exe.
* Farland Story 4 Technical Group Laboratory, Inc. Yes Yes Front/Rear FM, MIDI (MPU) This is the pre-patched English version. Music supports -26k and -86k FM cards and and GS MIDI synths (e.g Roland Sound Canvas). GDC clock slowed to 2.5MHz via the included gdc.exe.
* Farland Story 5 Technical Group Laboratory, Inc. Yes Yes Front FM, MIDI (MPU) This is the pre-patched English version. Music supports -26k and -86k FM cards and and GS MIDI synths (e.g Roland Sound Canvas). GDC clock slowed to 2.5MHz via the included gdc.exe.
* Farland Story 6 Technical Group Laboratory, Inc. Yes Yes Front FM, MIDI (MPU) This is the pre-patched English version. Music supports -26k and -86k FM cards and and GS MIDI synths (e.g Roland Sound Canvas).
* Graystone Saga Pegasus Japan Yes Yes Front FM, MIDI (MPU+Serial) MIDI output supports both LA and GM type modules.
* Graystone Saga Gaiden Pegasus Japan Yes Yes Front FM, MIDI (MPU+Serial) MIDI output supports both LA and GM type modules.
* Kuro no Ken (aka Blade of Darkness Forest Yes Yes Front/Rear FM Game is sourced from the Neo Kobe collection and runs from a single .com file and 5 disk images.
* Last Crusader FairyTale Yes Yes No FM Note that this archive contains a LZH archive which must be uncompressed on the PC-98 itself using lha.exe - there are long Kanji filenames that do not transfer well on Windows/Linux systems.
* Legam U-Office Yes Yes Front FM, MIDI (MPU)
* Legend of Heroes IV Falcom Yes Yes No FM, MIDI (MPU+Serial), Soundblaster 16 FM mode supports 3-operator and 6-operator FM hardware.
* Macross: Skull Leader Complete Family Soft Yes Yes Front FM This is a pre-patched English version. Translated PDF manual available here.
* Melpool Land Compile Yes Yes No FM This is a pre-patched English translation.
* Metajo R-Force Software Yes Yes No FM Supports 3-operator and 6-operator FM (-26 and -86 sound devices).
* Metajo 2 (Zai Metajo) R-Force Software Yes Yes Front FM Supports 3-operator and 6-operator FM (-26 and -86 sound devices).
* Metal Eye Elf Co., Ltd. Yes Yes Front FM
* Metal Eye 2 Elf Co., Ltd. Yes Yes Front/Rear FM
* Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Operation Family Soft Yes Yes No FM Custom start file which replicates the commands found in the bootable system disk of the original floppy installation.
* Mobile Suit Gundam: A Year of War Family Soft Yes Yes Front/Rear FM
Mobile Suit Gundam: Multiple Operation Family Soft Yes Yes Front FM
* Mobile Suit Gundam: Return of Zeon Family Soft Yes Yes Front/Rear FM Originally floppy only. Custom start file uses subst to map named directories to floppy drive letters.
* Peret em Heru: For the Prisoners N/A Yes Yes No FM This is a pre-patched English version. The game was made in what-was to become RPG Maker. Egyptian-themed Horror RPG.
* Possessioner Queen Soft Yes Yes Front FM
* Power Dolls Kogado Studio Yes Yes Front/Rear FM, MIDI (MPU) Metadata includes alt_start set to the configuration/music settings tool.
* Power Dolls 2 Kogado Studio Yes Yes No FM, MIDI (MPU+Serial) Metadata includes alt_start set to the configuration/music settings tool.
* Power Dolls 2 Dash Kogado Studio Yes Yes No FM, MIDI (MPU+Serial) Metadata includes alt_start set to the configuration/music settings tool.
* Power Slave Umitsuki Productions Yes Yes Front/Rear FM Note that the launcher shows options to configure video and audio, but those buttons don't appear to do anything. ALl the setup seems to be in the PSLAVE.BAT file.
* Solfleet Matrix Yes Yes No FM, MIDI (MPU) You must hold shift as the game start in order to enable MIDI mode. You get a different opening animation (screen fades in white with the 'Matrix' logo). The custom start file will prompt you to do this. An LA-type module (MT-32, CM32) is preferable.
* Rusty C-Lab Yes Yes Front/Rear FM Pre-patched in English. This needs the GDC speed to be at 2.5MHz to run, gdc.exe is called in the start file to do this. No MIDI support. Also the English manual.
* Star Cruiser II Arsys Yes Yes No FM, MIDI (MPU) This is a pre-patched English version.
* Tuned Heart System Soft Yes Yes Front/Rear FM This is a pre-patched English version. English PDF manual
* Virgin Angel Crystal Soft Yes Yes No FM The developers start file prompts you to select the appropriate sound device before the game starts.
Info Name Developer Metadata Screenshots Box Artwork Audio Notes
  • blog/pc98_launcher_b.txt
  • Last modified: 2021/02/24 14:31
  • by john