Next steps
That's all, folks!
All good things must come to an end, and this guide is no different!
Congratulations - now you should be able to use dosbox-automation fairly confidently at a basic level, and we've actually touched on quite a few intermediate topics as well. Armed with the basics, now you have a much greater chance to figure things out on your own, and you'll be able to ask more specific, directed questions from the more experienced members of the community when seeking help.
So what's next? The user manual is the natural continuation of this guide - it covers every aspect of dosbox-automation in detail, including all configuration settings, sound devices, graphics options, and much more. The DOS primer and Commands pages are particularly useful if you want to get more comfortable with the DOS command line.
Beyond that, try setting up a few more games yourself; read the automation overview to learn what dosbox-automation adds on top of the emulation; browse the REST API and Lua scripting pages if you want to automate game installs or build test harnesses.
Most importantly, experiment, enjoy what classic PC gaming has to offer, and have fun! :sunglasses:
Further reading
As your interest in DOS gaming grows, you might be interested in learning more about the history of PC gaming and PC hardware in general. Below is a selection of the very best learning resources to get you started!
RetroGrade - The ultimate guide to pre-millennial PC hardware
An excellent collection of articles that takes you through the most important milestones of early PC hardware history, starting from its humble beginnings in the early 1980s right until the year 2000, covering the DOS era in its entirety and then some more.
This very comprehensive website contains a great deal of information about DOS-era PC hardware, useful tips on setting up DOS games, and articles and guides on a variety of DOS-related topics. It's a highly recommended resource, and you'll inevitably end up here anyway when researching anything DOS-related via your favorite search engine...
Written by The Great Hierophant, there's simply no better resource online that does such extremely thorough and comprehensive deep dives supplanted by original research on a number of interesting DOS gaming-related topics.
Phil's YouTube channel offers a dizzying amount of quality content on a variety of retro-PC-related topics with a special focus on actual hardware. Checking out his DOS tutorials and MIDI and wavetable series is a good start, but you can pretty much pick any of his videos at random, and I guarantee you'll learn something interesting. His aptly titled three-and-a-half-hour long (!) Roland MT-32, CM-32L, CM-64, CM-500 Ultimate Tutorial is a work of art - probably there isn't anything more to say on the subject!
DOSBox game compatibility list
If you're having problems with a game, it's worth having a look at the game compatibility list on the old DOSBox website. Although some information there might be outdated (e.g., mentioning DOSBox issues that have long been fixed), some of the comments document important issues present in the original games. That's one very common trap to fall into, thinking that certain game bugs are caused by emulation and, therefore, must be fixable at the DOSBox level. Often these bugs are present in the original games, so you just need to live with them or work around them.
An acronym for Very Old Games On New Systems, this forum is an oasis for all retro-hardware and retro-gaming enthusiasts, mainly focusing on PC compatibles and DOSBox-related things. The combined knowledge of the community on all things DOS and retro-PC is next to none - try asking any obscure question, and there's a good chance you'll get a very detailed (and correct!) answer within a few hours.