Where are the PC games?

[Gunface]

I'm sure this has been addressed before, (if there is a thread about it please direct me to it) but why is PC gaming not covered here? I know occasionally PC games come up on the board, but overall it seems to be absent from this site. I collect PC games as well, as I know many of you do...I'm an equal opportunity gamer. :confused:

[tom]

here's a few:
http://www.videogamecollectors.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=200098&g2_serialNumber=1

and here's a few for MAC (also a PC):
http://www.videogamecollectors.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=194919&g2_serialNumber=1

[Hardcore]

Weak.

I think the biggest reason why people don't talk classic PC is because it's hard to get in the wild. Sure, you could get the games, but then it's a hassle to play them because you have to find an old PC to put together.

Or emulation, which the purists here will flambe` you for.

[roushimsx]

but then it's a hassle to play them because you have to find an old PC to put together.

It's generally easier to play older games now than when they first came out. Dicking with building custom autoexec.bat and config.sys files or multiboot disks was an overrated experience and I'm happy as hell that I don't have to set my sound card IRQ via jumpers on the card anymore.

I'll never understand the "purist" view of demanding "original hardware" for PC games. If it runs perfect in DOSbox and you're running DOSbox on the PC, then what's the problem? The awesome experience of realizing that you should have bought a GUS instead of a Soundblaster before checking out those neat assembly demos? The joy of wiping the crap off of the rollers in the mouse every other day? The awesome disk access times on those floppies?

Hell, even with a retro PC, it's still more often than not way more powerful than it needs to be. I see people all the time building Pentium 2s to play their old games when they really should be building a variety of lesser powered machines. If you have to run moslo on your "retro pc" then you've failed at building a retro PC and you would have been better off with DOSbox on a modern PC. At least with DOSbox you can quickly get pretty much any DOS game up and running, snap screenshots, scale to your desktop resolution without distorting the image, pause at any time, record videos, etc.

Now if only someone would whip up a patch for Interstate 76 to work properly w/ the original disks. Figured someone would have poached info off of the Mechwarrior 2 patches, but I guess we're still stuck with the Gametap version (which isn't flawless, but works pretty well).

Oh, and you know what sucks about PC collecting? Storing boxes. Console gamers complain about where to put an oversized LE box here and there, but imagine if 90% of your games came in oddly shaped boxes like that. Oversized crap like the Ultima 9 Collector's Edition, oddly shaped crap like Eidos' late-90s semi-triangular boxes, thin boxes for expansion packs, zip lock baggies for shareware releases and everything inbetween. The switch to the smaller, standard boxes was a nice move, but I'm totally loving the new shift to mirror the European DVD case style.

I throw all of my boxes in boxes and keep the discs in a series of CD binders. I very rarely bother buying any floppy-based stuff anymore. If there's a CD release, I'll pick that instead every single time (yay for the Battletech Powerhits Collection!). Speaking of that, was there ever a CD release of Indy Desktop Adventures? Always bummed me out that Yoda Stories was released on a CD but Indy was on a crummy floppy (especially since Indy was actually pretty fun while Yoda was pretty not-fun).

[Iron Draggon]

I dunno, but I still wish we had a PC gaming forum here... PC games fall into both classic and modern gaming, and most posts about PC gaming aren't very well received in either forum... it seems that most people here think the PC is only for accessing these boards and talking about arcade games in MAME... but don't dare talk about playing any console games in emulation... there seems to be a distinct double standard here on that subject... if you're doing it to play arcade games, you rule, but if you're doing it to play console games, you suck... figure that one out... and ditto for topics on DOSBOX

I own very few DOS games, all on CD's, but I would like to get them all running under XP... however, instructions on how to do so baffle me... so I just let all those disks gather dust, along with the few Win 95 & Win 98 games that won't work with XP, even in compatibility mode... and I just recently set up my system to dual boot XP & Vista, so I can keep playing all my XP games that won't work right with Vista either, no matter what I do

as for the boxes, I only keep the new DVD style cases, everything else gets thrown away, and I keep all my manuals and other materials in a big box... it's alot better than having all those boxes stacked up like the manuals are

I haven't had very much trouble tracking down most older games though... they can usually be found at Half Price Books, or online at Amazon or Ebay... sometimes I have to get them from other online sources, but a simple Google search usually turns them up... and in most cases, they're very inexpensive

I started collecting PC games in 1999, when Roller Coaster Tycoon came out, and I have nearly everything I want, made before or since for the PC... mostly the only ones I still don't have yet are ones that came on floppies, and I just don't see any point in buying those... that's what abandonware sites are for

it's a shame there's nowhere on this site that those of us into PC gaming can talk about it amongst ourselves though... I'd really love to be able to post more about it without all the console players groaning about the whole topic

[Nikademus1969]

I collect certain PC games, primarily anything Baldur's Gate/Icewind Dale/Fallout related. And once in a while I'll do a "PC RPG" search on Ebay to see if anything interesting comes up.

[calthaer]

A gaming forum that covers old "PC" games (whether they be IBM PC or even other older classic systems, like Commodore or Apple ][) would be great even just for the technical discussions. There are a few conversations that happen now and again, but they usually just get lost among the rest of the discussions.

I don't know anybody here that would look down upon emulation. The only reason I have my Apple ][ clone set up was to rip disk images to my PC, which I could then transfer to a flash card and use on my Nintendo DS with the pomDS emulator.

Old DOS games and DOSBox are a great way to play some of the greatest games ever made in any system, IMO. The old Ultima games, Quest for Glory, X-Com: UFO Defense, all that stuff - it's pure gold. I'd readily do anything I could to help people get their hands on and play those classics.

[Gameguy]

I love adventure games, and I play them on an old Win 95 PC. A few of them wouldn't run properly so I had to play them on XP with a new executable, but no Dosbox so far. Most games I'm interested in are from around the mid 90's so they play fine on Win 95(even earlier DOS games run on Win 95). The LucasArts adventures are among my favourites. :)


as for the boxes, I only keep the new DVD style cases, everything else gets thrown away, and I keep all my manuals and other materials in a big box... it's alot better than having all those boxes stacked up like the manuals are
I really don't like it when packaging gets trashed, I'd rather give it away then trash it.

[Berserker]

I've always wished for more interest in PC gaming here, mainly classic. It's the only gaming-related thing that I regularly have to travel outside of the forums to read about if I want any sort of in-depth discussions beyond a passing mention.

There's interest here, but I think it's mainly concentrated around the margins. Stuff gets mentioned here, but I think most people just filter it out as background noise and it's quickly buried. It's doubly hard for the interesting "neo-retro" indie games that are coming out lately, such as Cave Story, Dwarf Fortress, Spelunky and so on, because you have to post about those in Modern Gaming, and people there really don't care about that stuff.

It's just a different crowd, mainly collector-oriented, and most either don't know or don't want to know how to get dusty old computer games running on modern hardware. It's a shame, because as calthaer mentioned, there's plenty of gold to be found in them hills.

[Jorpho]

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=102192
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=60500
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25836
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19504
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16071

[Push Upstairs]

I am currently in the process of piecing together an Win98 computer to play my older games I have. Its on hold right now as I look for a suitable Soundblaster card to replace the funky one included with the PC.

Any advice on a good SB card to look out for? I need both DOS and Windows support.

[Ed Oscuro]

I've been thinking about putting the 5.25" I bought a year or two ago in one of the microtower 98 machines I have for backing up my discs. I also could put it in my XP box (the one I'm typing from at the moment) or even (since the motherboard seems to have a legacy IDE connector) the upcoming Vista 64 build, if Vista has driver support for it - which I had heard it does. Any suggestions on a good Windows util for making images?

I actually just finished farting around with a Win98FE laptop the other day - installed 98SE on it, got everything running, newest version of everything needed if I really were to try to use it in an emergency (no word processor, just RTF, but Microsoft Layer for Unicode + FireFox 2 / Irfanview / VLC / 7zip works amazingly; there's also room for OpenOffice 3 but I dunno if it's supported). Windows Update is smart enough to upload an appropriate USB driver for my U3 Cruzer Micro (a 2GB flash drive, 2/3 the size of the laptop's hard drive - I actually have much bigger flash drives than that now, as well). Nice small installation.

About one-two years ago (I guess) I used 7zip to part and transfer some music files in OGG format to the '95 PackardBell. That machine still works great, although I'm worried that the drive is going to die one of these days and I don't have an image of it. No USB, just serial, so it'd have to be pulled. I think even my newest PC build has a single IDE slot so that'd work.

[Jorpho]

I am currently in the process of piecing together an Win98 computer to play my older games I have. Its on hold right now as I look for a suitable Soundblaster card to replace the funky one included with the PC.

Any advice on a good SB card to look out for? I need both DOS and Windows support.Older ISA cards have substantially better compatibility, but the newer cards likely have better sound quality. As far as PCI cards go, apparently the Sound Blaster AudioPCI (aka PCI64) is favored, but since the drivers require EMS you may run into some problems with a small selection of games. More details here (http://vogons.zetafleet.com/viewtopic.php?t=18646).

[A Black Falcon]

My current computer has Vista so it's DOSBox or nothing, but my older one runs most DOS games native... it's a P4 1500 with WinME, 384MB (RD)RAM, 110GB HDD, a SBLive! Value, GeForce2 GTS... it runs most DOS games perfectly, and has EMS support and full DOS SB16 support through the official DOS-compatibility drivers for the SBLive (had to install the Win98 SBLive driver disc instead of the default WinME one to get them, but they're there and really good). I have various gameport joysticks and gamepads to use with DOS games, and the Live has a gameport. That's one thing my new computer doesn't have and I very much wish it did...

About the only thing it doesn't have is 3DFX support, which, ironically, my new computer does have; the GeForce2 GTS simply isn't powerful enough to run 3DFX emulators acceptably, or support all the hardware features some of them want... if I really wanted 3DFX support though, it could be done with either an actual 3DFX card or a better video card for the system, I imagine.

Of course you won't get sound in true DOS mode, but I always found that the vast majority of titles ran just fine in Windows, so that's not so bad. The only titles I found to be problems were titles with speed problems that needed MoSlo (which fixed those problems) and stuff that just doesn't work in Windows, but as I said, that only affected a few of my DOS games. I used DOSBox for those games.

I know most people hate Millenium, but after having it as my only OS for nearly 5 1/2 years (until I got this computer in early '07), I got used to it.

Anyway, I definitely prefer running DOS games native to in emulation. It's just not quite the same, somehow... so yeah, I'd rather run them in my old computer than in DOSBox in the new one. DOSBox is great, though. I do like how it lets you use USB gamepads with DOS games, at least.

But anyway, this site definitely should have a PC section. And yeah, the DOSBox (VOGONS) and HOTU forums are the only good DOS gaming forums I really know of either.

As for my PC game collection, it's easily the largest of any of my system collections (indeed, until 2006 or 2007 I had more PC games total than all consoles combined); I have 289 PC games now, largely '90s and early '00s games. The most I have for any console is 99 for the SNES. Plus, because I never throw away things like game boxes or manuals or any of that stuff, I still have the boxes and manuals for every one of the games I ever had one for, pretty much (I lost my original launch Limited Edition Starcraft box sometime, sadly; it's the ONLY game box I know of that I've lost... :(). They fill two shelving units in the basement at home, but look awesome. I keep the boxes empty; the manuals are in other containers, for easy access. Games... well, floppy ones are installed of course, CD ones are once I want to play them. I like to have as much of my collection installed as possible, pretty much. :)

Oh yeah, I LOVE the old, large PC game boxes. The small boxes of the early 2000s were one of the worst things to happen to game packaging ever, only surpassed by the sheer idiocy of the oversized DVD cases they use now. Those things are so small, so stupid, so hard to store with all of my jewelcase-based PC games... it's awful. Manuals were already small enough after the Wal-Mart-induced small boxes... now it's even worse. We'll never see another game again with a manual as good as Civilization II's, or SimEarth's, or Starcraft's, or Diablo II's, or many others, and it's pretty sad. :( And just forget about stuff like full-size posters or maps in anything other than a limited edition. Bah. PC games need boxes large enough to store larger manuals than current PC game boxes can hold!

[Push Upstairs]

Thankfully my computer has an ISA slot, but PCI vs. ISA is still an issue. The oldest game in my collection is "Wolfenstein 3D", but a large portion of my games are from 1995 and later. I want good compatibility with DOS (should I need to go there), but I don't want a card that sounds like crap either.

That and I wish I could get "Shadow Warrior" to run in high res mode (800x600) under Windows. I got a Voodoo 3 in the machine, which I know is VESA compatible, but I cannot get anything above regular resolution to work.

I can say that dicking around with Win 98, drivers, and audio/video cards from that era makes me remember why I didn't like dealing with them the first time around. ^^;

[tom]

I don't think PC gaming is weak, I love my PC collection, many classics in there for sure:
http://www.videogamecollectors.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=200090

[roushimsx]

That and I wish I could get "Shadow Warrior" to run in high res mode (800x600) under Windows. I got a Voodoo 3 in the machine, which I know is VESA compatible, but I cannot get anything above regular resolution to work.

Two easy fixes to make Shadow Warrior run in any of its supported resolutions:
a) Shadow Warrior works swell in DOSbox.
b) SWP.exe (http://www.proasm.com/), which makes Shadow Warrior fully XP/Vista compatible by incorporating all of JonoF's work in addition to fixing up misc. bugs and omissions (so Wanton Destruction works if you're in the mood for some Sunstorm lovin')

[bangtango]

Getting an old computer to play stuff on is as easy as checking out your local classifieds (newspapers) or Craigslist.

At least 2-3 times a week in my neck of the woods, I look at all the classifieds and see old PC's (Win 95/Win 98 era) and Mac's listed as either "Free for the taking" or being sold for the paltry sum of $10-20. The stuff I see listed, it is specified as "working" or "works great". Usually these people just want to get rid of their first computer on account of having upgraded to something "better."

For that price ($20 or less), you can take what you get and build at your leisure. Worst case scenario, you might need to replace something, reinstall something or mess around with the hard drive.

People who say it is a headache getting an old computer to play games on just aren't putting in the effort.

I use my vintage PC & Mac for educational games along the lines of Number Munchers, Word Munchers, Oregon Trail, Amazon Trail, Lemonade Stand, Speedway Math, all of the Carmen Sandiego games......the very same things a lot of us used to play in school.

This is stuff you just can't get on a console and I'll never understand why (outside of licensing bullshit) a bunch of those old games mentioned above couldn't have been ported onto a console system like the PS1 or PS2 into some nice collection. Then again, such a collection would have been screwed up and those games would have played terrible so I am sure it is for the best.

The most fun I have with a PC, though, is with my text-based Football Manager and Baseball Manager games. I actually have the 2002 editions of each, which I grabbed from a dollar store. Fake players and fake teams, but I love the aspect of running a whole organization and doing all of the number crunching. A damn sight better than ANY console sports game's "Franchise Mode." Plus you don't have the aggravation of playing through 162 baseball games at an hour a pop, since these titles "sim" all of the on field stuff for you. Just fine tune your rosters and let nature take its course. And unlike ANY console sports game, the computer actually offers you a significant amount of trades in the Baseball and Football Manager games.

The Sid Meier's Pirates/Pirates Gold games also played infinitely better on a computer than any console (NES, Genesis or Xbox). I prefer the older versions from the 80's/90's to the newer one done for PC/Xbox, though the NES one came the closest in greatness.

Another favorite of mine was Sim Ant, which was excellent on the Mac.

[Iron Draggon]

I really don't like it when packaging gets trashed, I'd rather give it away then trash it.

well if we had a PC gaming forum here, a post stating that I had a shitload of old PC game boxes for sale might've gotten noticed...but it's too late now anyway... they're all gone... sorry... and I buy new PC games so often, I'd be posting constantly about having a box for an old game available... however, since I'm keeping DVD cases, I really don't trash any boxes very often anymore... I love the cases... I don't keep the games in them, but I do keep the manuals in them... discs are kept in regular jewel cases with the rest of my CD & DVD games, and activation codes are kept in the back of the jewel case that contains the disc... unless it's printed in the manual or in the case


I've always wished for more interest in PC gaming here, mainly classic. It's the only gaming-related thing that I regularly have to travel outside of the forums to read about if I want any sort of in-depth discussions beyond a passing mention.

There's interest here, but I think it's mainly concentrated around the margins. Stuff gets mentioned here, but I think most people just filter it out as background noise and it's quickly buried. It's doubly hard for the interesting "neo-retro" indie games that are coming out lately, such as Cave Story, Dwarf Fortress, Spelunky and so on, because you have to post about those in Modern Gaming, and people there really don't care about that stuff.

It's just a different crowd, mainly collector-oriented, and most either don't know or don't want to know how to get dusty old computer games running on modern hardware. It's a shame, because as calthaer mentioned, there's plenty of gold to be found in them hills.

you can say that again... I think that exlplains perfectly why we should have a PC collecting forum here... it keeps getting mentioned periodically, but it never happens... sure looks like we have enough people posting in this thread to keep it active though... couldn't we at least have a PC gamer icon or something so we can all find each other in the sea of console gamers here?

[roushimsx]

People who say it is a headache getting an old computer to play games on just aren't putting in the effort.

It's not about not putting in the effort, it's about being able to get the exact same experience (with additional benefits!) for much less work. You're still playing on a PC either way, but one way allows you to hot swap between games without having to reboot, multitask, etc.

Plus, where do you draw the line with a "Retro PC"? Do you go with a Soundblaster Pro because it's super compatible, an 8bit soundblaster because it's more "vintage", an AdLib because that's what you actually had, a GUS because it's just an awesome piece of hardware, onboard only because you're just going to be playing pre-adlib games, etc. Hell, either way, unless you're willing to pick up something like an MT-32, you're still getting the short end of the deal and not getting the "full experience" out of a lot of games (like anything with MIDI). Are you trying to play a game the way it's meant to be played, as you remember playing it or somewhere inbetween?

What about the hard drives? Do you insist on a sub-20gig HD (or even a sub-gig depending on which era you're building your computer for) for authenticity or do you bend and allow a cheap 120gig FAT32 drive out of convenience? Do you really have a retro PC then? Do you build a series of separate computers (286/386/486/Pentium/Pentium 2) each built around common specifications of the era or do you just build one overpowered machine? If you're doing that, how is it any different from just spending that money on upgrading one or two components of your normal computer to ensure smoother DOSbox usage?

In the end, you're still going to be playing on a PC, it's just that one takes a hell of a lot less effort and yields the maximum experience. DOSbox has been a godsend for retro PC gamers and it's a damn shame that people dismiss it because it's somehow not authentic enough for them.


you can say that again... I think that exlplains perfectly why we should have a PC collecting forum here... it keeps getting mentioned periodically, but it never happens... sure looks like we have enough people posting in this thread to keep it active though... couldn't we at least have a PC gamer icon or something so we can all find each other in the sea of console gamers here?

Oh yea, I vote for a dedicated PC Gaming forum as well. Somewhere where we can bullshit about Build-engine games, DOSbox help, Tie Fighter vs Wing Commander 2, what makes Ultima 7 so great, why Westwood is the bee's fucking knees and why Blizzard are a bunch of shameless copycats, etc etc etc. It'll be like the early 90s Usenet all over again. Sign me the fuck up.

Also, Dragon, if it makes you feel any better, I've had to chuck a shit load of PC game boxes over the years, too. They just took up too much space and it was economical to retain them while moving (sometimes to different states, sometimes to different countries). Hell, after I moved out of my parent's house, a large number of my classic Sierra and Lucasarts boxes "disappeared".

Still not too happy about it, but nothing much I can do about it now.

[Jorpho]

For that price ($20 or less), you can take what you get and build at your leisure. Worst case scenario, you might need to replace something, reinstall something or mess around with the hard drive.Ha! Since when has replacing something, reinstalling something, or messing around with the hard drive of any PC ever been a trivial matter? There are compatibility problems, faulty hardware, and software bugs lurking around every corner, just waiting to make a mockery of anyone who tries to put in too much "effort".

[tom]

Ha! Since when has replacing something, reinstalling something, or messing around with the hard drive of any PC ever been a trivial matter? There are compatibility problems, faulty hardware, and software bugs lurking around every corner, just waiting to make a mockery of anyone who tries to put in too much "effort".

Dunno, PC user since 286 here, never had any problems, not even in the DOS days. It was actually fun messing around with edlin, autoexec.bat and config.sys
When I received my first SINGLE speed CD-Rom in the early 90s, there was no room in my (then) 386 desktop PC, so I nailed the CD drive to the desk, it worked!
http://www.videogamecollectors.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=270847&g2_serialNumber=2

[Cryomancer]

A forum for discussing all kinds of classic computers would be kinda neat. I dabble in old Japanese PC emulation from time to time, some pretty hilarious games on PC-98 and MSX and whatnot.

[Kitsune Sniper]

I've actually become more interested in old Macintosh and Japanese PC emulation. Mac emulation is pretty good these days but the emulator authors don't seem to know how to program a simple SPEED LIMITER into their software.

(Running a game at four times its intended speed is not fun!)

[Push Upstairs]

Two easy fixes to make Shadow Warrior run in any of its supported resolutions:
a) Shadow Warrior works swell in DOSbox.
b) SWP.exe (http://www.proasm.com/), which makes Shadow Warrior fully XP/Vista compatible by incorporating all of JonoF's work in addition to fixing up misc. bugs and omissions (so Wanton Destruction works if you're in the mood for some Sunstorm lovin')

This is cool, the computer I was referring to is running Windows 98.

[robotriot]

I think a general computer forum would be nice to have, but it's not necessarily a must. I think the current forums already include computers, or does it say anywhere that it's only about consoles?

However, this thread makes me want to dig out the crates with my PC games in the basement and download the latest DOSbox :)

[Gunface]

I think the current forums already include computers, or does it say anywhere that it's only about consoles?

Well I was partially wondering about the forums, but more about Digital Press in general. I bought the Collector's Guide, which is awesome, but it doesn't include PC games. Probably because either their store doesn't carry them, or because PC games don't have a uniform packaging system like console games do, making it hard to price them in the guide. Not to mention, there is such of large number of releases over the years that they would need their own guide. But that lead me to wonder about the forum as well. I have noticed there are some people who are adamantly against PC gaming, saying that it should end. That, of course, is just absurd to me. As long as PC's exist, people will develop games for them. I'm not saying there should necessarily be a forum for PC games though. It was really just curiousity that sparked this thread.

[robotriot]

Well I was partially wondering about the forums, but more about Digital Press in general. I bought the Collector's Guide, which is awesome, but it doesn't include PC games. Probably because either their store doesn't carry them, or because PC games don't have a uniform packaging system like console games do, making it hard to price them in the guide. Not to mention, there is such of large number of releases over the years that they would need their own guide. But that lead me to wonder about the forum as well. I have noticed there are some people who are adamantly against PC gaming, saying that it should end. That, of course, is just absurd to me. As long as PC's exist, people will develop games for them. I'm not saying there should necessarily be a forum for PC games though. It was really just curiousity that sparked this thread.

Yea a rarity guide for PC would be pretty much impossible. It could be done for older platforms though which only saw a more limited amount of releases. But yea, that's not really within the scope of the rarity guide.

[Jorpho]

Dunno, PC user since 286 here, never had any problems, not even in the DOS days. It was actually fun messing around with edlin, autoexec.bat and config.sysIf you never had any problems, you wouldn't have been messing with those things.

[Iron Draggon]

there's emulation for old Japanese computers now? HOLY SHIT! where can I get it? I'd love to check out some of the old Sega computer games sometime!

I've been wanting to get into importing modern Japanese PC stuff for a while now, but I dunno if it'll work without setting the default language on my system to Japanese, and I suspect the only place I could get my hands on the kind of stuff I'm looking for would be on Yahoo JP... I know there's been a shitload of Master of Monsters games released for Japanese PC's over the years since the original one appeared on the Genesis, but the language barrier has preevented me from finding out exactly how many and what their exact titles are... so I'm not even sure how I could search for them on Yahoo JP... so if anyone knows, help me out... I can't afford to do any bidding on Yahoo JP right now, but I do wanna try and find a few more Saturn games there soon, so maybe I could at least try to find some JP PC games there soon... all I've seen on ebay so far is a Shogi game and a Mah Jong game

BTW, on the subject of imports, who else is into European imports on the PC? I've got a pretty fair amount of European imports now, including several in series... I dunno why some PC games never get a US version, but we miss out on alot of really great European games for the PC... and worse yet, I still dunno of any bidding service for Ebay DE, so I can get new German releases as well as German classics... but I sure do need a source for that kinda stuff!

is there any emulation for old German computers? do they even exist? and where would you find the info on this? not that I know German well either, but I know they's been a few German roller coaster simulators that never got released outside of Germany, and I'd really like to find more info on those... but if it doesn't have Achterbahn in the title, I'd prolly never find it, cause I dunno what else to search for to find stuff like that... Anton Schwarzkopf? LOL

[robotriot]

is there any emulation for old German computers? do they even exist? and where would you find the info on this? not that I know German well either, but I know they's been a few German roller coaster simulators that never got released outside of Germany, and I'd really like to find more info on those... but if it doesn't have Achterbahn in the title, I'd prolly never find it, cause I dunno what else to search for to find stuff like that... Anton Schwarzkopf? LOL

The GDR had their own 8-bit computers, but I don't think there's anything very interesting on it games-wise. Other than that, there are no German computers that I know of. C64/CPC/Atari ST/Amiga/PC were the most popular platforms. I personally don't know of any German roller coaster games though.

[roushimsx]

This is cool, the computer I was referring to is running Windows 98.

Oh. Easy fix. UniVBE (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UniVBE) ftw. I know your card "should" support the VESA standard required, but it's so totally 1999 and DOS was mad dead then. No one cared about supporting old standards like that instead of Windows. Hell, I don't even remember if my bitchin' rad STB Lightspeed 128 (came with a free 10 level demo of Terra Nova, Earthsiege 2 and A-10 Tank Killer II!) even supported that stuff without UniVESA/UniVBE.

I believe a shareware version is included on the Shadow Warrior CD... at least, that's what a quick google tells me... I dislike the game enough that I refuse to whip out the disc to actually check. The utility is freeware now and available from the developer's ftp, I believe.

Shadow Warrior could have been so good but the weapon balance, enemy placement / spawning triggers and damage system so completely sucked. Easily my least favorite of the "AAA" Build titles.

One of these days I'll actually play through Wanton Destruction so I can see what Shadow Warrior would be like had it been made by a team that knew what was actually up. Those cats at Sunstorm did not fuck around with their Build expansions. Duke Caribbean? Duke it Out in D.C.? Cryptic Passage? Suckin Grits on Route 66? Hell yes.

[boatofcar]

We had a Classic Computers forum du jour about 4 years ago. It was great, but it ran its course.

[smork]

We had a Classic Computers forum du jour about 4 years ago. It was great, but it ran its course.

I actually just suggested PC Gaming as a new Forum du Jour. It could be used for all PC Games - newer and retro...

[YoshiM]

It be kinda cool to have a dedicated spot for PC games as they do tend to get buried under the console stuff. While I'm not much of a PC gamer these days, I did play a LOT of PC games through the mid-to-late 90's and wouldn't mind reminiscing on those days. The first time I played a game over a modem (Warcraft II), my first "LAN party" (played Duke Nukem 3D and then Quake on the computer store I worked for's network. Used the intercom to do voice chat). Getting my then fiancee addicted to Civilization. Good times.

There are times I'd like to jump back into PC gaming, especially looking at my CD shelf and spying TIE Fighter, my complete-in-box The Dig, The Legend of Kyrandia series and my Civ games. Then I get on the computer and surf the web :D.

[Push Upstairs]

Oh. Easy fix. UniVBE (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UniVBE) ftw. I know your card "should" support the VESA standard required, but it's so totally 1999 and DOS was mad dead then. No one cared about supporting old standards like that instead of Windows. Hell, I don't even remember if my bitchin' rad STB Lightspeed 128 (came with a free 10 level demo of Terra Nova, Earthsiege 2 and A-10 Tank Killer II!) even supported that stuff without UniVESA/UniVBE.

I believe a shareware version is included on the Shadow Warrior CD... at least, that's what a quick google tells me... I dislike the game enough that I refuse to whip out the disc to actually check. The utility is freeware now and available from the developer's ftp, I believe.

Yeah, I forgot about it being on the CD. I'll have to wait until I have my keyboard again to give it a shot. I tried downloading/looking for UniVBE from their FTP, but it seems it is no longer on there.

I picked the Voodoo 3 because it had an included 2D video processor (which I think the Voodoo 2 doesn't) and also because the Voodoo 3 is VESA compliant.


One of these days I'll actually play through Wanton Destruction so I can see what Shadow Warrior would be like had it been made by a team that knew what was actually up. Those cats at Sunstorm did not fuck around with their Build expansions. Duke Caribbean? Duke it Out in D.C.? Cryptic Passage? Suckin Grits on Route 66? Hell yes.

"Wanton" is pretty good, but "Cryptic Passage" is excellent. CP had some awesome level designs that were fun too.