Help does anyone here know how to make a proper dump for pc 98 games?

[thecrow2313]

i know there are no pc 98 roms here but i ask anyway
if the title isn't clear enough: i'm looking for someone who can make a proper dump of an "obscure" pc 98 game

i can't do it myself because my emulation skills and the effort i'm willing to put into playing old games are limited to drag and drop load files and clicking on reset

To play .d88 files on Neko Project II (NP2) — an emulator for the NEC PC-98 series of computers — follow these steps:
What is a .d88 File?

A .d88 file is a floppy disk image format typically used with Japanese retro computers, like the NEC PC-9801. It's a dump of a floppy disk, and in the case of Neko Project II, it's commonly used to run games or software.
How to Load a .d88 File in Neko Project II
1. Download & Set Up Neko Project II

If you haven’t already:

Download Neko Project II from a trusted source (e.g., GitHub or emulator sites like EmuCR).

Extract the archive to a folder.

Run np21.exe or np2.exe (depending on the version and system model you want to emulate).

2. Mount the .d88 File

Here’s how to load the disk image:

Start Neko Project II

Go to the top menu bar, and click on:

FDD1 → Open... (or sometimes Disk Change...)

Browse and select the .d88 file

This will mount the disk in the virtual floppy drive 1.

Optionally mount another .d88 to FDD2 if the software requires two disks.

3. Boot the Disk

If the disk is bootable (e.g. a game disk), it will usually boot automatically when mounted and the emulator is reset. If it doesn’t:

Press F12 or go to Emulate → Reset to reboot the virtual system.

Make sure the boot order is set to start from FDD:

Go to Configure → IDE or System and confirm the boot priority is set to FDD > HDD.

4. Adjust Sound/Display (Optional)

Depending on the game:

Enable FM board (e.g., PC-9801-86) via the Sound settings.

Configure graphics options like Screen, VRAM, etc.

Troubleshooting
Problem Solution
Black screen or freezes Check that the .d88 file is valid and bootable. Try another disk or reset the emulator.
Garbled Japanese text Make sure your system supports Japanese fonts, or set up a Japanese locale.
No sound Enable the correct sound board in Config → Sound Board.
Slow or weird behavior Use np21.exe (for faster CPUs like 486) instead of np2.exe.

 

[bomb2022]

are you kidding me dude

 

[thecrow2313]

are you kidding me dude
View attachment 76435

Check the output log to see what system files are missing

Post automatically merged: Tuesday at 4:17 AM

Required Files for Neko Project II
1. Emulator Binary

File: np21.exe (for 386/486 emulation) or np2.exe (for earlier models)

Source: Download from the official developer's site or GitHub mirrors.

Common source: https://github.com/AZO234/np21w

2. BIOS and Font ROMs (Required for Booting)

These files are required to emulate a PC-9801 system.
File Name Description
bios.rom Main system BIOS
font.rom Kanji font ROM (Japanese text)
sound.rom Sound BIOS (for PC-9801-86, etc.)
bios9821.rom Optional — For PC-9821 support
itf.rom Interface ROM
bios1.rom Older BIOS (optional)
bios2.rom Optional second part of BIOS

Note: These files are copyrighted and not distributed with NP2. You must dump them from a real PC-9801 machine or find them from preservation communities.

🛠 Optional but Recommended Files
File Name Use
disk.rom Disk controller ROM
sound.rom Enables sound board emulation
scsi.rom For SCSI device support
bios9821.rom Enhances compatibility for newer software (PC-9821 series)
Where to Place ROM Files

All required ROMs should be placed in the same directory as the NP2 executable or in the rom folder if configured that way.
🕹 Tips for Running Games

Use .HDI, .FDD, or .D88 disk images of PC-98 games.

Set CPU mode (386/486), memory size, and sound board emulation correctly in the settings.

If you get a blank screen or crash: check that all the ROM files are correct and not corrupted.

Like every YouTube video out there says. Google is your friend.

 

[bomb2022]

Check the output log to see what system files are missing

do you mean the "S98 logging" under "other"
yeah it creates an ini file with a long list not sure if i ned all the files on that list...

but sumea here posted this:

So, the issue is this game requires MS dos as jumping off point, much like amiga workbench is required by some games or MS-Dos is needed in general with IBM-PC's. There is no system files because the game d88 disks are not bootable. There is FAT12 partition, autoexec and other files on disk 1 and it does work. I myself have not used neko project 2 kai (and I try to use the one built into retroarch) much so I have no idea how to enable HDD right. Could not figure out how to make a HDI image how to install MSdos to it from 6.2 images nothing, but the game does work and goes into basic jumping off UI if you boot MSdos from A: and then swap disk 1 to A:. For me it likely messages about going to 2fdd mode as FD+HD is another mode (so, floppy + hard disk) and this stumped me as I am not sure can I just make an empty file name it HDI and hope for the best with neko project.
Only things on the menu were a message of some kind and userdisk format and likely some sort of instructions how the game could work from there but my japanese is way too basic to figure out what the instructions specifically are.

Still, I found a version of bootable msdos 5.X NEC image that boots fine in neko project II, and from that DOS interface jump to what you need to do. if you know japanese enough to figure it out, good, if not and you needed this game to boot easy; It ain't booting easy.

The dumps are not, as far as I can tell, not bad. There is no system files because there is no system files, that is just how it goes. Someone could make it easier by setting up FD+HD mode correctly with a HDI and setting up MS-Dos and then the game onto that drive for double legal infringement and make a ready made HDD image with DOS and the game installed. I assume the disks are still needed to some capacity but sorry, that is all I could gather from trying way too hard for something like this.

i know he writes a lot of nerd stuff but even i understand that there are no system files

Post automatically merged: Tuesday at 4:45 AM

i have the bios.rom, font.rom, itf.rom and the sound.rom where can i get the rest?

and i still get the no system file error..

 

[Sumea]

do you mean the "S98 logging" under "other"
yeah it creates an ini file with a long list not sure if i ned all the files on that list...

but sumea here posted this:


i know he writes a lot of nerd stuff but even i understand that there are no system files

Post automatically merged: Tuesday at 4:45 AM

i have the bios.rom, font.rom, itf.rom and the sound.rom where can i get the rest?

and i still get the no system file error..

I have written to you, my dude, just about six times that the game needs MS-DOS.
The box says "MS-DOS 2.11 Required" if you know or even don't know Japanese.
There are no system files because there are no system files, because the game is not a booter like many, but not every other PC98 game is.
Much like many Amiga games boot just from diskette, some do not and just blank screen or such or ask you to insert workbench diskette, because some games on amiga are meant to run from workbench instead."
"There are no system files" is an error even a real pc98 would say if you just insert a blank disk, a disk with cat photos or a disk that is a game that has only MS-DOS executables and files on it. There are no system files because MS-DOS is them system files.
This is only the 5th or 6th time I have told this; "You can boot the game into setup screen quite easy as long as you find yourself, for example, NEC PC98 MS-DOS 5.0a-h that is shared online" But you can just keep ignoring what I have written and whine at me instead because your porn game does not operate if you do not operate it like the box tells you to.


Like I also said many posts before. This game will not be easy to operate for you clearly because you keep making these kinds of errors even after the answers are given to you, and you know should know this because I already told you numerous times what is up.

Like said, the title is now misleading and causing people to make wrong answers because you make wrong assumptions based from easy to read information, or ignore it entirely. The dump is proper, EXTREMELY proper even. This has been major user error that you keep repeating even after fifth or sixth correction to what you should be doing.

Post automatically merged: Tuesday at 7:48 AM

Sumea can you post a screenshot to prove that you got the game running, because honestly i don't believe it​

OK homeboy you wanna play?
This is why stupid people should never call out people who are smarter than them as liars.

Step 1: BOOT INTO MS-DOS (7th time, fuck it, throw in one extra so 8th time)

Step 2:

Autoexec into the thing
Oh shit HDD is finally recognized correctly

This means I could do HDD install finally. It though is not a folder just a big file cache for the game files you still need the disk to boot.
Which include some steps I will let viewers at home try to figure out first because with only power of slow kana reading, you too can get there!

Name entry, I am a funny man who occasionally writes funny things

And you are immediately thrown into... the action. rest are indeed not proper to show on this forum, your Imam or your Pastor, what goes beyond here is between your maker.


All you have to do now is figure out it all on your own. Protip, even when fully setup, even with HDD install there is no easy autobooter setup possible for this game, and I think the setup is different depending on HDD or 2FDD modes so have fun!

 

[bomb2022]

you could have posted screenshots from the beginning instead of writing text walls of nerd stuff..

also i see you're using neko 2 via retroarch. i tried using that to with no luck think i'm still missing some files or something

by the way i dont like retroarch it's just a mess of stolen emulators or "cores"
and since you are using the neko 2 "core" it should be possible to do the same with the stand alone emulator

and how do i "BOOT INTO MS-DOS" can i use this "YAHDI"? https://gang-fight.com/projects/98faq/#yahdi https://nfggames.com/forum2/index.php?topic=5463.0 it has dos on it

 

[thecrow2313]

I have written to you, my dude, just about six times that the game needs MS-DOS.
The box says "MS-DOS 2.11 Required" if you know or even don't know Japanese.
There are no system files because there are no system files, because the game is not a booter like many, but not every other PC98 game is.
Much like many Amiga games boot just from diskette, some do not and just blank screen or such or ask you to insert workbench diskette, because some games on amiga are meant to run from workbench instead."
"There are no system files" is an error even a real pc98 would say if you just insert a blank disk, a disk with cat photos or a disk that is a game that has only MS-DOS executables and files on it. There are no system files because MS-DOS is them system files.
This is only the 5th or 6th time I have told this; "You can boot the game into setup screen quite easy as long as you find yourself, for example, NEC PC98 MS-DOS 5.0a-h that is shared online" But you can just keep ignoring what I have written and whine at me instead because your porn game does not operate if you do not operate it like the box tells you to.
View attachment 76468

Like I also said many posts before. This game will not be easy to operate for you clearly because you keep making these kinds of errors even after the answers are given to you, and you know should know this because I already told you numerous times what is up.

Like said, the title is now misleading and causing people to make wrong answers because you make wrong assumptions based from easy to read information, or ignore it entirely. The dump is proper, EXTREMELY proper even. This has been major user error that you keep repeating even after fifth or sixth correction to what you should be doing.

Post automatically merged: Tuesday at 7:48 AM

OK homeboy you wanna play?
This is why stupid people should never call out people who are smarter than them as liars.

Step 1: BOOT INTO MS-DOS (7th time, fuck it, throw in one extra so 8th time)
View attachment 76472
Step 2:
View attachment 76473
Autoexec into the thing
Oh shit HDD is finally recognized correctly
View attachment 76477
This means I could do HDD install finally. It though is not a folder just a big file cache for the game files you still need the disk to boot.
Which include some steps I will let viewers at home try to figure out first because with only power of slow kana reading, you too can get there!

Name entry, I am a funny man who occasionally writes funny things
View attachment 76479
And you are immediately thrown into... the action. rest are indeed not proper to show on this forum, your Imam or your Pastor, what goes beyond here is between your maker.
View attachment 76481

All you have to do now is figure out it all on your own. Protip, even when fully setup, even with HDD install there is no easy autobooter setup possible for this game, and I think the setup is different depending on HDD or 2FDD modes so have fun!

I believe he's been nagging the Reddit community about this game for help. https://www.reddit.com/r/RetroArch/comments/1kvcoad/comment/muczx0c/
I think our work here is done.

Post automatically merged: Tuesday at 2:35 PM

@Spike @Sumea found a solution can we finally close this thread, thanks.

 

[bomb2022]

I believe he's been nagging the Reddit community about this game for help. https://www.reddit.com/r/RetroArch/comments/1kvcoad/comment/muczx0c/
I think our work here is done.

yes i asked there too thats where i first heard of this "making a proper dump" and using dosbox x

but that's it no further explanation, and drag and dropping the roms in the same folder is apparently not enough...

and you're not helping dude

maybe try running the game on neko 2 yourself before talking shit
and stop sending me useless files i already have the fond.rom and bios i ned the "optional" files.. i think

 

[thecrow2313]

yes i asked there too thats where i first heard of this "making a proper dump" and using dosbox x

but that's it no further explanation, and drag and dropping the roms in the same folder is apparently not enough...

and you're not helping dude

maybe try running the game on neko 2 yourself before talking shit
and stop sending me useless files i already have the fond.rom and bios i ned the "optional" files.. i think

If you read the rules my dude, don't post URLs regarding piracy such as BIOS or Roms, so there for DM. If you can't follow instructions & like to get spoon feed then go somewhere else. Almost every thread you go you can't keep a civil conversation without going haywire. Next time go somewhere else with your attitude like 4chan. At least be professional about it. I'm sure @Sumea is tired of your nagging. @Spike close this thread please, thanks.

 

[Yousef Yousef]

@thecrow2313 you can ping me if you don’t see the other mods online (cuz timezone differences)
Anyways not much left to say so Closing this.