I want to run DeluxePaint II on a Mac, how do I do it?

February 6, 2011 5:08 PM

I have a Mac laptop with Snow Leopard. I have experience with mid-1980s Amiga graphics app DeluxePaint II I want to run that piece of software. I have tried to futz with Amiga emulators but have not been successful.

How do I make this happen? Is there something like a good step-by-step recipe to get to the point where I can boot an Amiga Workbench and run DPaint? I also want to save files and be able to transfer them into Mac-land where I can then do things with them.

Help!

posted by artlung to Computers & Internet (11 answers total)

Best answer: Haven't worked with Amiga emulators, but one thing to consider is trying to get the MS-DOS version of Deluxe Paint II to work by emulation or virtualization in a Windows virtual machine.
posted by drpynchon at 5:35 PM on February 6, 2011

Best answer: I agree - download dosbox and use that to run the dos version.
posted by The Lamplighter at 6:10 PM on February 6, 2011

Is there something about deluxe paint II that you're after specifically? I remember digipaint, deluxe paint I, II, photon paint and so on and they were fun but their resolution is atrocious and they have not aged well.
posted by rr at 6:39 PM on February 6, 2011

Response by poster: So I need something like virtualbox, windows xp or 95, then the Dos version of dpaint?
posted by artlung at 6:55 PM on February 6, 2011

I have to strongly disagree with rr here - having learned computer graphics on dpaint, nothing else is comes close, interface-wise.

I played a little with the DOS version of it, but it was clunky and not as good as the Amiga original.

I would suggest that you check out Amiga Forever. It is a pro repackaging of the best Amiga Emulators, and works really well under Windows - they even have a Linux boot version.
posted by rfs at 7:43 PM on February 6, 2011

Best answer: Don't bother with virtualbox. Dosbox will be easier and is made for this sort of thing. Virtualbox is really intended to run more modern operating systems.

Also, wouldn't the dos version be better due to having more colors? I loved DP2 as a kid but never used the amiga version.
posted by The Lamplighter at 10:05 PM on February 6, 2011

Can I suggest you try this? Grafx2. I love it for it's DeluxePaintiness.
posted by threeze at 1:21 AM on February 7, 2011

Response by poster: Which version of Amiga Forever will be simplest to run, and what version of Windows should I run to get it working?

Okay, I've installed Dosbox. What next for the DOS version? What's the right way to get, install and run it?

threeze, I've installed Grafx2, it fails to run on OS X 10.6.6. Apparently this is a known problem

The Lamplighter, lower resolution and lesser palette is the whole point.
posted by artlung at 7:52 AM on February 7, 2011

Response by poster: Thanks for the pointers on DOSBox!

Okay, I was able to install DOSbox using brew install dosbox then I found what appear to be, what, ROMs?

Then I put these into folders, then mount in DOSbox with MOUNT C ~/DOSFILES where DOSFILES is a directory in my home directory on the Mac.

I can CD into an individual folder, then call "dp.exe" and I appear to have something very like the DPaint I remember. I can save as .PSX and .LBM (I don't remember these formats, I remember .IFF as the file format)... what tools can I use on the Mac side to painlessly move from these, to, say GIF?
posted by artlung at 11:18 AM on February 7, 2011

Try saving as PCX and use this site:

http://www.online-utility.org/image_converter.jsp
posted by The Lamplighter at 2:10 PM on February 7, 2011

Response by poster: Thanks TL. Know of anything that does not require a network connection?
posted by artlung at 3:33 PM on February 7, 2011