DOSHD FAQ

Playing on DOSHD: common questions

These answers cover the games you can play, their controls and graphics, and the settings your browser can keep. For ownership and licence details, use Rights and credits. For questions about the site or a problem during play, visit Contact.

Which games can I play today?

Dangerous Dave, SkyRoads and Electro Man are playable in your browser. SkyRoads is a beta, and Electro Man is a preview that may still have bugs. Each has its own page with controls and information about the game.

Claw is videos only while development continues. Aladdin, Town Foundry and the Prince of Persia demo are also work in progress. Prince of Persia is not available to play on this site. The game list separates these projects from the three playable games so you can choose where to start.

Can I use a phone or tablet?

The three playable game pages include touch controls. Dave provides direction, Fire and Jetpack. Electro Man provides Left, Right, Jump, Fire, Use, Pause, Esc and Restart; Yes and No replace menu buttons when the game asks for confirmation. SkyRoads includes steering, speed, Jump, Enter, Esc and a rewind button on its touch pad.

Touch controls do not guarantee the same result on every phone. Screen size, browser support and performance can affect play. If controls are missing or awkward, try the game's own page and include your device and browser in a problem report. Town Foundry's phone play is still being checked, and its touch input remains unverified. Claw's videos are not a playable touch version.

Do I need to install anything?

No separate app or DOS setup is needed for the three playable games. Open a game page with JavaScript enabled and allow it to load. A first visit needs a connection to retrieve the page. Electro Man may need more time when you first choose HD or Super HD, because those views load additional art.

Loading a page is different from installing a game. Your browser still receives the material needed to display and run it. If the game cannot start, try reloading once and check whether browser settings are blocking JavaScript. The site cannot promise that every browser will run every game.

What happens to my saves?

Stored game information belongs to this browser on this device. There is no account that transfers it to another computer. Clearing site data can remove it, and settings that block browser storage can prevent it from being kept at all.

Dave keeps a high-score table. Its exported moves are separate files that you choose to save on your device. Electro Man keeps one F2 save, taken at the last checkpoint, when storage is available; F3 resumes it from the title screen. If the page reports that it has no storage, F2 cannot preserve a game and F3 has no save to resume. SkyRoads stores settings and road completion information, not a high-score table.

What are Classic, HD and Super HD?

Classic presents the original appearance. HD redraws the same scene with greater visual detail. Super HD is another treatment of that scene where the game provides it. These are graphics choices, not extra campaigns or difficulty levels.

Dave offers all three. Electro Man's page also offers all three, with HD and Super HD available when their art can load. SkyRoads provides Classic, beta HD and Super HD; HD draws the road flat, as the original does, and Super HD draws it as a tiled 3D road in deeper colours. The four projects in development do not yet have HD or Super HD. Check the choices shown on the game you opened instead of assuming that every page has the same options.

Why does HD look so different?

The new art can change the impression of a room without moving the room's platforms or pickups. Dave's HD view gives surfaces depth and texture. Electro Man uses clay models, with stronger lighting in Super HD. SkyRoads redraws its scene for the size of your screen, and that HD view is still being revised.

Use the graphics control or F8 to compare the available views during play. Classic can help when a new texture makes an edge harder to read. The aim is to change the picture while preserving the game's rules, layout and timing. The HD article explains what that promise means for jumps, hazards and collision.

Am I playing the original game?

That depends on what you mean by original. Dave's play comes from the 1990 program. Electro Man is a browser translation using the 2006 release's game material, and its page says that differences from the original are still being checked. SkyRoads is a fan translation of Bluemoon Interactive's 1993 game, not a release made by Bluemoon Interactive.

Classic refers to the original visual style. It does not by itself prove that a translation behaves identically in every situation. HD and Super HD describe new visual treatments. The individual game pages explain their current limits, while the About page describes the project as a whole.

Who owns the games?

Rights in the game names, characters, art, music and code remain with their owners. Playing here does not transfer those rights. The rights page gives a separate account for each playable game, including Dave's ownership and the basis on which the site presents it.

Electro Man's game data and art use the 2006 Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 release; derived game art keeps that licence. Epic MegaGames does not endorse the page. DOSHD holds no rights in SkyRoads and has no licence for its translation.

Claw's fan work is not approved by Monolith Productions or Takarajimasha. Aladdin is a Disney property, and the 1994 demo was published by Virgin Interactive; the project is not affiliated with or endorsed by either company. Town Foundry is a modified version of open-source city-building software, with source and licence notices kept, under GNU GPL version 3 with additional terms and no affiliation with Electronic Arts. The Prince of Persia project covers the 1990 demo only and has no affiliation with Broderbund.

Do credits mean the site is endorsed?

No. DOSHD is a fan project without endorsement from the games' makers, publishers or rights holders. Credit identifies the source of a game or work; it does not claim approval for this site. Electro Man is not endorsed by Epic MegaGames or the game's makers, and SkyRoads is not a Bluemoon Interactive release.

The development projects carry the same distinction. Their company credits and statements of no affiliation or endorsement remain relevant while the work is unfinished. See Terms and Rights and credits for the site's full wording.

How should I report a problem?

Use Contact to reach Aviv. A useful report names the game, the level or screen, the graphics view, and the browser and device. Say whether you used a keyboard or touch controls, and describe the action just before the problem.

If a view fails, mention whether Classic still works. If saving fails, mention any storage message. If you can repeat the problem, list the shortest sequence that causes it. Those details are more useful than a general statement that the game is broken, especially while a beta is changing.

How can a rights holder request removal?

The rights page has the contact route for anyone who holds rights to a game here or believes the site infringes those rights. It states that material will be removed promptly. The Contact page directs rights requests to email.

Identify the game or page and explain what needs changing or removing. The credits on the rights page provide a common reference for the request. A bug report and a rights request can both use Contact, but describing the request clearly helps establish which action you are asking for.

Does playing cost money?

The three playable games are free to play here. There is no charge to choose Classic or an available HD view. The terms of use explain that the site and games are provided as they are, without a warranty that every visit will work without errors.

A free browser session does not change a game's ownership or licence. For those details, use the rights page. If you are choosing a game for a short visit, the game list gives the objective and main controls before you begin.

Why are the keys or sound not working?

Click the game screen so it can receive input. On the home desk, F or Focus brings you closer to the computer, E expands the display, and Escape returns to the desk. Once you are playing, use the keys listed by that game; menu shortcuts and game controls have different jobs.

Check the sound control too. M changes sound on the desk, while F9 changes it on SkyRoads. SkyRoads starts sound after an initial click or key press. Dave uses F9 to pause, so do not assume the same function key does the same thing everywhere. If a page still cannot start, reload it and report the error shown.

Can I keep my Dangerous Dave moves?

Export moves lets you save a moves file on your device and load it later for playback. Clearing the browser's site data does not itself delete a separately saved file. Keep that file somewhere you can find again. It is separate from the high-score table stored by the browser.

The live engine replays an earlier AI run (5:55.348) move by move. The AI world-record run is 5:53.733.

During Watch mode, a game key or touch-pad action lets you take control from the displayed moment. Your own exported moves remain a separate recording.

Is SkyRoads finished?

No. The playable page is a beta with all 30 roads from the 1993 game by Bluemoon Interactive. The HD road surface, worlds 6 to 9 and cockpit are still being worked on, and bugs are possible. Super HD is also a playable mode.

Classic remains available for the original appearance. If you report a problem, say which view was active and which road you selected. That helps distinguish a drawing problem from a problem that also affects movement, collisions or the road's completion.

What is happening with the other projects?

Claw currently offers videos only. Aladdin concerns the 1994 demo and is not yet playable here. Town Foundry development checks include creating a city, advancing its date and laying roads on desktop, but the wider simulation is not yet proven against the original engine. Phone play is still being checked.

Prince of Persia concerns only the 1990 demo. Development continues, and no playable page is available here. HD and Super HD have not started for these four projects. Their progress descriptions should not be read as release promises.

What settings can the browser remember?

The Privacy page describes local game storage. Dave keeps scores and graphics preferences; the page remembers a chosen view separately from the temporary view setting it clears on opening. Electro Man can retain its save and graphics choice. SkyRoads can retain sound, graphics, split-view and game settings.

The home desk can also record a page-style choice. These preferences depend on storage being allowed and retained. They do not synchronise across devices. Removing site data can clear several preferences together, so keep a separately exported Dave moves file if you want to preserve that recording.

Where can I read more?

Use Games for objectives, controls and availability. About explains why DOSHD exists. Rights and credits, Terms and Privacy cover ownership, use and storage.

The articles explain shareware distribution, DOS graphics, old games on modern machines and what an HD redraw should preserve. For game-specific help, start with the controls and explanations on each playable game's page.