Tornado - play it on your iPad (iPad, iPad2, iPad Air, iPhone, iOS device etc.)

[Frankie]

I just did this today. I can now play Tornado my iPad Air.

Basically it cost me USD0.99 to buy the app iDOS 2. iDOS 2 is a kinda DosBox port that allows you to run ANY DOS game on the iPad or iPhone. Check out the screenshots below.

iDOS 2 app when iPad is held in portrait orientation. CPU Cycles is shown as the default 3000.

Tornado works fine although the mouse control is a bit wonky. The keys are working fine and the speed ... I have to increase the cycles to about 10,000 (default is 3,000) via Control-F12.

The developer of the app has a website where you can request to be on a Beta email list for the download link to the beta version of the updated app. You have to provide proof of purchase.

iDOS 2 app when iPad is held in landscape orientation

The difference between the AppStore version (iDOS 2 version 1.4) and the beta version is that the beta version has iTunes file (and folder) sharing enabled while the AppStrore version's file sharing is disabled. Apple doesn't like its apps to allow DOS to run within its devices (boo!).

I plan to add a detailed tutorial on this Tornado forum on DOW, once I have some free time.

iDOS 2 app when iPad is held in portrait orientation.  CPU Cycles has been increased to 11K.

The advantage is that now I can play Tornado on my long-power-life iPad and enjoy the visuals of Tornado even on the go. Plus you can take advantage of the power of your iOS devices' fast CPU to play those old games. Oh and by the way, I can introduce good classic beneficial educational DOS games to my two girls who both born after year 2002.
Haha! ;-)

Cheers
Frankie Kam

APPENDIX
Weblink regarding the Beta version of iDOS 2 from the developer litchie (Chaoji Li)
A Not-That-Great Update of iDOS
https://litchie.com/posts/20151027-idos-update-ios9.html#disqus_thread

iDOS 2 app link
iDOS app page
https://itunes.apple.com/bh/app/idos/id377135644?mt=8
iDOS 2 app page
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/idos-2/id918131840?mt=8

Related links
Most explain how to run other DOS games inside the iPad. But now it only works if your iPad has the iDOS 2 beta running on it, or if your iPad has been jail-broken.

iDOS emulator back on App Store, requires hack to load games
http://arstechnica.com/apple/2011/01/idos-emulator-back-on-app-store-requires-hack-to-load-games/

'iDOS' Open Emulation Rabbit Hole Still Exists, Sort Of ()
http://toucharcade.com/2011/01/19/idos-open-emulation-rabbit-hole-still-exists-sort-of/

DOSBox Emulator IDOS 2 Is Back On the iOS App Store (And I Have Ultima 6 Running In It)
http://ultimacodex.com/2014/11/dosbox-emulator-idos-2-is-back-on-the-ios-app-store-and-i-have-ultima-6-running-in-it/

Tons of iDOS forum postings by its dedicated fanbase
http://forums.toucharcade.com/search.php?searchid=14944776

End of list.

[Asid]

Nice Frankie 

Look at the computing power...How it has changed.

[Frankie]

Hi All

Due to work commitments, I am many days away from a detailed and illustrated step-by-step Dummies' Guide. So for the time being, I have cobbled together a short tutorial on how I enabled Tornado to run on my iPad. I will follow this post with a detailed screen-by-screen post of a Dummies' Guide. If you prefer another DOS game or program, the steps listed below will still work. It is important to know if iDOS 2 beta will run on your iOS device. It is also important to know HOW to enable your iOS device to run iDOS 2. If you want to know this, you have come to the right place. Read on!


HOW TO INSTALL iDOS 2 ON YOUR iPAD - THE PROCESS AND SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

There isn't an iDOS 2 for the Android. It's only for the iOS. The iDOS 2  iTunes page states that the app requires iOS 5.1.1 or later. The app is Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

However, the iTune/AppStore version of the app has its iTunes file sharing feature disabled as a requirement by Apple. This means that you cannot load custom DOS programs and games into your device. So you're basically stuck with the 3 DOS games that come pre-loaded with iDOS 2.

You now have a choice of getting iDOS version 1 (which was pulled out from the AppStore hours after it went public), jailbreaking your iOS device or to get the beta version of iDOS 2. I don't know how to get version 1 of iDOS which has iTunes file sharing enabled by default. But you may not want to get iDOS Version 1 since the Beta version of iDOS 2 has file sharing enabled and it has better features than the 2010 iDOS version 1. And I don't recommend you jailbreak your iPad unless you know what you are doing.

So assuming you get the Beta version of iDOS 2  that has iTunes file sharing enabled, you will first need to get the app TestFlight. Please note that TestFlight requires an iOS device that has iOS 8.0 or later installed! If your iOS device is running on iOS 5, you will have to check if your (first generation?) iPad can be upgraded to iOS 10.x (which is the current latest version as of September 2016). If your iOS device can be upgraded to the latest iOS, or even iOS 8.0 minimum, then you can get started!

The process is rather tedious but quite straight-forward. I have listed it out for you in 17(!) discrete steps.

1. FIRST OFF, please read this post by the developer. A Not-That-Great Update of iDOS. Do not proceed past this step until you have read what the developer, Chaoji Li, has written. You will then understand why a beta version exists.

2. Use an iOS device (iPad/iPhone/iPod) running on iOS version 8.0 at the very minimum. If you don't have this, then you can't proceed.

3. Purchase the latest iDOS 2 from iTunes or AppStore. Last I checked it was USD0.99.

4. Email your receipt of purchase to the developer, idos@litchie.com, as proof. You will need to copy and paste your iDOS 2 invoice text details from your icloud.com account, into your E-mail message. It should look something like this:

5. Patiently wait for an email from no_reply@email.apple.com with the subject "TestFlight: Chaoji Li invited you to test iDOS 2". The E-mail contains a link to an iDOS 2 Beta redeem code. Allow for a few days or a week. I sent an E-mail on a Thursday. The reply E-mail arrive on the same week, Sunday.

6. Install iOS app TestFlight on your Apple device.

7. Run TestFlight and key in the redeem code when prompted

8. Download iDOS 2 Beta to your iOS device

9. Install iTunes on your laptop/computer PC, but close it when running iExplore or iFunbox!

10. Install a file management app like iExplore which has a 30-days trial version or iFunbox which is free!

11. Connect your iPad to PC with a lightning connector to USB cable

12. Use file management app iExplore or ifunbox to access the application iDOS 2 Beta's Documents area

13. Use the file management app to copy the Tornado batch file and tornado folder from your PC/external harddrive, etc.
      The destination folder will be iDOS 2 Beta's Documents folder.
      IMPORTANT! All folders must be not more than 8 letters! So if a folder name is "countdown", rename it to "count".

14. Copy the file named PLAY.BAT from iDOS 2's Documents area to your PC

15. Use a text editor (Notepad) to edit the PLAY.BAT file from this:

@echo off
goto menu
:menu
cls
echo.
echo Enter a choice with keyboard:
echo.
echo 1 ---- Duke
echo 2 ---- Haunted
echo 3 ---- Duke2
echo 4 ---- Edit
echo.
:choice
choice /c:1234
if ERRORLEVEL 4 goto edit
if ERRORLEVEL 3 goto duke2
if ERRORLEVEL 2 goto haunted
if ERRORLEVEL 1 goto duke
goto choice

REM ----------------------------------------
:haunted
cd apps\haunted
haunted
cd ..\..
goto menu

REM ----------------------------------------
:duke
cd apps\duke
cycles 1500
dn1
cd ..\..
goto menu

REM ----------------------------------------
:duke2
cd apps\duke2
nukem2
cd ..\..
goto menu

REM ----------------------------------------

:edit
cd apps\edit\bin
edit
cd ..\..
goto menu

REM ----------------------------------------
:quit
exit
:end


...to this (insert the boldface code):

@echo off
goto menu
:menu
cls
echo.
echo Enter a choice with keyboard:
echo.
echo 1 ---- Duke
echo 2 ---- Haunted
echo 3 ---- Duke2
echo 4 ---- Edit
echo 5 ---- Tornado
echo.
:choice
choice /c:12345
if ERRORLEVEL 5 goto tornado
if ERRORLEVEL 4 goto edit
if ERRORLEVEL 3 goto duke2
if ERRORLEVEL 2 goto haunted
if ERRORLEVEL 1 goto duke
goto choice

REM ----------------------------------------
:tornado
go.bat
cd ..\..
goto menu

REM ----------------------------------------
:haunted
cd apps\haunted
haunted
cd ..\..
goto menu

REM ----------------------------------------
:duke
cd apps\duke
cycles 1500
dn1
cd ..\..
goto menu

REM ----------------------------------------
:duke2
cd apps\duke2
nukem2
cd ..\..
goto menu

REM ----------------------------------------

:edit
cd apps\edit\bin
edit
cd ..\..
goto menu

REM ----------------------------------------
:quit
exit
:end

16. Use the file management app to copy the edited PLAY.BAT batch file from your PC to the iOS device.
      The destination folder will be iDOS 2 Beta's Documents folder.

17. On your iOS device (iPad e.g.,), run the iDOS 2 Beta app. Choose option 5.
      When you will hear the Tornado theme sound you will know that is is FINALLY WORKING! Rejoice and enjoy!

That's all folks!

Regards
Frankie Kam

[Lusik]

Hmm. I'm tempted to give it a try. 

[Frankie]

A caveat. I find that for most parts of Tornado, iDOS' virtual mouse and keyboard will suffice. After all, in Tornado, once you are airborne, you can control almost everything using the keyboard. You will lose out by not being able to zoom in the TIALD display to control the Laser-Guided-Bombs (LGBs). Also you won't be able to effectively use the mouse to pan around the ground radar. Tornado's greatest strength is in its awesome mission planner.

The iPad is no match for a PC's hardware. So you will be miserable using iDOS 2's virtual mouse to plan detailed missions. Having said this, I'm curious to see if I can connect my USB mouse to my iPad Air with a "lightning-to-USB adaptor". In this way, my original non-jailbroken ipad can use the USB mouse to move my cursor when I am inside the Mission Planner.

[Frankie]

I played around with the mouse feature in iDOS 2. It's not as bad as I made it out to be. In fact it is more functional that I thought it would be. I now can control my mouse cursor and mouse clicks better. Still, control the mouse cursor with your finger on the iPad is no match for a physical mouse on the table. But functional iDOS 2's mouse feature is, yes!

[Frankie]

Peter Inglis, the famed and legendary (well, I think he is!) Migman of Migman's Museum and musician, has added this link to the iPad geeky thingie

inside his Museum's Tornado page.