Can I run a network game (Empire Deluxe) that uses NETBIOS? [closed]

Question

I use D-Fend to run the video game Empire Deluxe in full screen mode (1366x768) on a Dell Vostro Core i3 laptop running Windows 10. It works fine.

I want to run the game on a second identical laptop and have 2 players play the game over the local wireless network.

In order for players to play Empire Deluxe head to head, a DOS configuration file named econfig.exe must first be run.

In it, you click a button to activate NETBIOS. After that, you run the DOS file empire.exe to launch the game.

What do I need to do to get this working?

In Windows 10, probably just start NetBIOS over TCP (NBT). To enable this D-Fend thing to use Windows 10 networking, you probably have to ask the D-Fend people. This looks like a question about configuring 21st century software and not about retrocomputing. — another-dave, Jul 15 '20 at 0:13
@another-dave True, I would vote to move it simply over to stackexchange. — Raffzahn, Jul 15 '20 at 0:23
Does it require NETBIOS over IPX? If yes, see e.g. here how to set up IPX in Dosbox (D-Fend is Dosbox, isn't it?). And it least on Linux, you can also do networking via serial port emulation, see here. No idea how it works in Windows. — dirkt, Jul 15 '20 at 4:28
According to the DOSbox manual, you have to get Novell's file "netbios.exe". You first have have to establish an IPX connection and then start the file "netbios.exe". Not sure if this also works when using the D-Fend GUI. — Martin Rosenau, Jul 15 '20 at 9:01

Raffzahn · Accepted Answer · 2020-07-15 00:54:10Z

Now that's an interesting question. Although at best borderline Retro, as it asks for setup and information of a modern OS and a modern network.

Haven't tried NetBIOS in modern Windows. But I would try to activate NetBIOS over TCP.

This may help. As might asking in groups dedicated to modern OS issues.

P.S.: I love that game

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