Hi speedrunners,

I am trying figure out how to speedrun a game (Lotus:The Ultimate Challenge) in dosbox-staging (Livesplit+Autosplitter). I already have Autosplitter for dosbox 0.74-3 and works well.

The reason i am trying to speedrun dosbox-staging:

Dosbox 0.74-3 was written in 32 bit architecture and uses somehow too much cpu power. On the other hand dosbox-stagging is written in 64 architecture and is lightweight (using very small amount of cpu power) even it has more functionality.

Since both have different architecture, memory addressing is very different. But i have not gone more than this.

I am using Cheat Engine for looking and searching into memory address and am still learning.

I have recently (Spring 2026) moved from Windows to Linux. It took me a while to figure out how to speedrun Lotus3 on Linux. I have created a step-by-step guide for it: Here

This guide can be also used for other MSDOS games.

Speedrunning in Linux is considered same with Windows speedruns: MSDOSEMU

Note: There are still unsolved problem about non-english keys on non-english keyboards on this setup. Non-english keys on non-english keyboards is not recognized by DOSBox (running under Wine).

Hi,

As it is in the rules, it must be used v 1.07 of the game for MSDOS version. I digged out the internet and found many different versions. I have just noticed one thing that in mission 1 counter gets down from 1000 to 999. I think this is not correct version, as i see it from speedrun versions. My all downloads drop allways to 999 in first mission.

How can i find correct version for my speedrun?

Thank you.

Hello,

Is there a autosplitter script for the game? I want to use it with Livesplit.

Lotus III game musics are famous and game is made on 4 systems. (Amiga, MSDOS, Sega Genesis, Atari ST).

Here are the game musics from all systems :

Amiga :

Amiga Music List

Amiga CD32:

Amiga CD32 Music List

Atari ST :

Atari ST Music List

MSDOS (Sound Blaster) :

MSDOS Music List

MSDOS (Roland MT-32) :

MSDOS Roland MT-32 Part 1

MSDOS Roland MT-32 Part 2

MSDOS (PC Speaker) :

MSDOS PC Speaker Music List

Sega Genesis :

Sega Genesis Music List

It is assumed to have exact same speedrun category for Amiga and MSDOS version of Lotus III. Because track codes are the same and game looks mostly the same.

Until today (8th August 2023) only MSDOS and Genesis speedruns are exist and they are on seperate categories.

Since noone have speedrun Lotus III in Amiga until today, it is not possible to say that they both (Amiga and MSDOS) will share the same speedrun category.

This only can be clear out after someone speedruns the game in Amiga and submits.

I want to make comparision between Sega Genesis and DOS/Amiga version tracks. Here is it : Here are the track codes for individual tracks : DOS/Amiga : https://www.speedrun.com/lotus3/guide/gvyk8 Sega Genesis : https://www.speedrun.com/lotus3/guide/88gey

Code comparision result :

For Championship (Flag) ; Easy level : Only level difficulties are different than DOS version. Sega Genesis version levels are harder. In my opinion, this is such terrible idea. This makes people give up the game quickly. Medium & Hard Level : Codes are the same with DOS version.

For Arcade (Chronometer) : Easy Level : There are some small similarities but mostly different. Medium & Hard Levels : Codes are the same with DOS version.

Sega Genesis version is faster around %18 for the same track code.. When the track codes same, there are only few similarities between platforms. Game timing, abstacles and other things are mostly different. Sega Genesis version is mostly hard to complete for the same track.

I am new to speedrunning and don't have much time. So, i decided to speedrun with Lotus III which was one of my favorite games in 90s. As an old MSDOS user, it seemed logical to me to start with this game.

Game developed in the begining of 90's with the technology which doesn't exist anymore. To play game it's almost impossible to find real hardware. So, you need emulators. Because most widely known computers these days are PC's with Windows OS, below configuration becomes almost standard :

1. OS : Game developed for MS-DOS (actually comes from Amiga Lotus game series). You need DOSBox to run the game. DOSBox is a widely known and stable program to emulate 90's PC machine with MS-DOS system. To how to configure DOSBox, see "DOSBox Configuration" guide on "Guides" section. If you don't have any experience in MS-DOS system. You can look at DOSBox ofifical website, search on google or youtube. If you still can't figure out, send me a message on DM or ask in forum. MSDOS can be sometimes hard to understand.

There is second option which i don't recommend. But still OK : You can also run the game in Amiga (with WinUAE or FS-UAE emulation) in this case. Do not forget that LiveSplit works only with DOSBox. So, you won't be recording your time with Livesplit on screen, if you use Amiga configuration. If you record game with Amiga configuration, still "in game time" is visible after each race and this is enough for speedruning. Do not forget that "in game time" exist only in championship races, not in arcade races. So, if you run Amiga and want to run Arcade, there will be no "in game time" in screen and you won't be posting your run to speedrun.com

2. Game files : You need find game files and configure them with DOSBox. You only need below game files : LOTUS.EXE (Executable) LOTUS.DAT (Data file) LOTUS.CFG (Configuration File)

3. LiveSplit : If you want to speedrun the game. You need to properly record race start, running time and finishs correctly. Livesplit is the software to count your timing for full race and individual races. To how to setup Autosplitter, you can see "Livesplit with Autosplitter" guide on "Guides" section. Setting up Livesplit is not easy process and can easily become very complex. If you still can't figure out, send a message in DM or ask in forum.

4. Recording : You need to record your run and submit it with your recording. There are two options : Twitch.tv : You can record your run in twitch and submit it with twitch link. Recording Software : OBS is one of most widely used and free software to record your runs offline. You can ofcourse use any other recording software for it. You need to upload your run to youtube and submit your run with youtube link.