# Introducing gameboxes

Boxer gameboxes are self-contained bundles that store a DOS game with its configuration, documentation, and any extra files it needs to run. Just double-click on a gamebox and it will launch in Boxer.

You can move, rename and redistribute a gamebox however you like: the game inside will keep working wherever it goes, and can be played by anyone with Boxer.

## Making a gamebox

- Drop a game folder, CD-ROM, floppy or disc image onto Boxer’s Import window to make it into a gamebox.

- If you have a pre-installed DOS game ready in a folder, you can also rename the folder to Game Name.boxer to make it into a gamebox.

  Renaming the folder to make a gamebox will only work for games that are already installed and ready to play. When in doubt, use Boxer’s Import window.

## Exploring a gamebox

Although they look and act like single files, gameboxes are really just ordinary folders with the .boxer extension.

You can look inside them by right-clicking on the gamebox in Finder and choosing Show package contents.

## Anatomy of a gamebox

- Game name.boxer
    The root folder of the gamebox. The name and icon of this folder represent the gamebox in Finder.
  - C.harddisk
      The folder containing the game’s C drive. If this is missing, then Boxer will use the gamebox’s root folder as the C drive instead.
  - A.floppy
    D.harddisk
    E VOLUMELABEL.cdrom
    …

      Extra floppy, CD-ROM and hard disk drives can be stored as drive folders inside the gamebox’s root folder. The folder’s file extension determines the type of drive: .floppy, .harddisk or .cdrom.

      The initial letter of the folder name specifies which drive letter it will use. This can optionally be followed by the volume label for the drive (needed for some CD-ROM copy protection schemes.)

  - F.iso

      Disc images can also be stored inside the gamebox’s root folder, and will be mounted as extra DOS drives. Boxer recognises .iso, .cdr, .bin+.cue, .ima, .img and .vfd image formats.

      Like drive folders, the first letter of the image name specifies the drive letter. The volume label is determined automatically from the contents of the disc image.

  - G.cdmedia

      Boxer supports an optional bundle format for storing .bin+.cue images: put all of the image files inside a .cdmedia folder, rename the .cue file to tracks.cue, and Boxer will mount the set as a drive.

      The .cdmedia format works with any .bin+.cue image pair, but is most suitable for tidying up images with lots of external files (such as .wav/.ogg/.mp3 audio tracks.)

  - Documentation

      If this folder is present in the gamebox’s root folder, Boxer will display its contents in the Help menu as game documentation. See Decorating your games for more details.

  - DOSBox Preferences.conf

      Contains any custom DOSBox emulation settings to use for this game.

      Created automatically by Boxer and normally empty, but you can add extra DOSBox configuration parameters here if needed.

  - Game Info.plist

      Stores Boxer-specific metadata about the game, such as the default program to launch at startup. Created automatically by Boxer and should be left alone.