Playing older Windows games on a modern computer?

[j_factor]

I know all about Dosbox, but how do people play older Windows games these days? Or do they just... not?

I recently downloaded the shareware version of Lose Your Marbles. Even with compatibility modes selected, the exe still won't run. I get the message, "The version of this file is not compatible with the version of Windows you're running." Is there an easy solution I don't know about, or am I SOL?

[old_skoolin_jim]

Old windows games are kind of a tricky beast. I can't play Sonic CD anymore because my PC doesn't support a 256-color display mode (lol), yet the venerable classic "Best of Microsoft Entertainment Pack" runs without a hitch (because a PC without Chip's Challenge and JezzBall is a PC I want no part of!)
I also had problems running King's Quest Collection on Vista (It was designed for XP).
Either way, I wish you luck!

[Pezcore343]

I'm having this same problem recently. I picked a bunch of older Windows games lately. Some notable ones are Hexen, Star Trek Starfleet Academy, and Sonic CD. Sonic CD just plain old won't start up, and Starfleet Academy does this weird thing where the screen turns black every few seconds and each pixel reappears as I mouse over it.

[FxMercenary]

Ah yes, the old games on a new computer issue.

Your best bet is to not use a new computer, but to build up a vintage one.

Old computer parts are vanishing very quickly, because most people just recycle them.

Get an old Hercules 3D prophet, a nice Pentium 2 400mHz, and slap it all together with 512mb od PC 133 then load up Windows 98.

[todesengel]

Sonic CD has had a Windows XP patch for a good number of years now. Here's a link to the patch http://www.sonic-cult.org/dispart.php?catid=1&gameid=5&subid=1&artid=6

[Push Upstairs]

This is why I have a Win98 machine.

[Kitsune Sniper]

I also had problems running King's Quest Collection on Vista (It was designed for XP).Get rid of the craptacularly ancient version of DOSBox included and update it with the info found here (http://www.sierrahelp.com/Patches-Updates/Patches-Updates-Games/KingsQuestUpdates.html). :)

I too have lots of issues running old Windows games. Stupid crap like the game demanding that I install an ancient version of Quicktime and such. Other times the games run too damn fast, or the videos do. It's annoying. :(

[Berserker]

I'm having this same problem recently. I picked a bunch of older Windows games lately. Some notable ones are Hexen, Star Trek Starfleet Academy, and Sonic CD. Sonic CD just plain old won't start up, and Starfleet Academy does this weird thing where the screen turns black every few seconds and each pixel reappears as I mouse over it.

I can't speak for the others, but Hexen is an older game that's actually pretty easy to play on modern machines. It's based off of the Doom engine, so there are several source ports (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Source_port) available that are compatible with it. You'll still need the actual game data (hexen.wad) off of your install disc to use any of them, however.

You've got a few options. I recommend ZDoom (http://zdoom.org/) - it's flexible, but still retains the overall look-and-feel of the original games. For something more towards the eye-candy end of things, check out the Doomsday Engine (http://dengine.net/) - it adds all kind of visual effects like pixel-blurring, colored lighting, transparency/alpha-blending, and lens flares all over the place.

[Ed Oscuro]

Ah yes, the old games on a new computer issue.

Your best bet is to not use a new computer, but to build up a vintage one.

Old computer parts are vanishing very quickly, because most people just recycle them.

Get an old Hercules 3D prophet, a nice Pentium 2 400mHz, and slap it all together with 512mb od PC 133 then load up Windows 98.
What's said here (right down to the graphics card, a nice choice although the Voodoo cards will be flexible too), although I would go Win98 SE - I found my Windows 98 product key works with 98 SE.

[Pezcore343]

I can't speak for the others, but Hexen is an older game that's actually pretty easy to play on modern machines. It's based off of the Doom engine, so there are several source ports (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Source_port) available that are compatible with it. You'll still need the actual game data (hexen.wad) off of your install disc to use any of them, however.

You've got a few options. I recommend ZDoom (http://zdoom.org/) - it's flexible, but still retains the overall look-and-feel of the original games. For something more towards the eye-candy end of things, check out the Doomsday Engine (http://dengine.net/) - it adds all kind of visual effects like pixel-blurring, colored lighting, transparency/alpha-blending, and lens flares all over the place.

My mistake, I didn't mean to imply that Hexen wasn't working for me, just including it in the list of games I've picked up lately. Thankfully it did install and run pretty easily, because I'm on family vacation right now and I need something to keep me occupied while not at the beach.

Any recommendations for fixing my Starfleet Academy problem anyone?

[j_factor]

This is why I have a Win98 machine.

I would too, if it were easy.

You know, the Commodore 64 could be found in stores until 1992, and at the end was like fifty bucks. I would totally buy a ten year old computer for fifty bucks today. Too bad it doesn't work that way.

[Kitsune Sniper]

I would too, if it were easy.

You know, the Commodore 64 could be found in stores until 1992, and at the end was like fifty bucks. I would totally buy a ten year old computer for fifty bucks today. Too bad it doesn't work that way.

I know a place where you can find complete computers from the 90's for one dollar. Unfortunately, this was in Tennessee and I had no way of taking all that goodness back to Mexico. ;_;

[Baloo]

I play some older PC games on my computer:

X-wing Vs. Tie Fighter
Sonic 3D Blast
Sonic R

And the trick I use if some games don't want to work is:

Right-Click the game icon
Do Properties>Compatibility Tab.

Check "Run this Program in compatibility mode for:"

Select from the Drop Down Menu -Windows 98/Windows ME (Or Windows 95 depending on how old the game is)"

Check - "Run in 256 colors"

Check - "Run in 640x480 Screen Resolution"

You shouldn't have any more problems running old games after that. A lot of old games have problems with not running in 256 colors and some have trouble with not running in 640x480 as well.

[Gapporin]

Depending on the type of game and how graphics intensive it is, you might be able to use Virtual PC (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/) or VMWare Workstation (http://www.vmware.com/products/ws/)(Virtual PC emulates some things that VMware can't and vice versa; plus, Virtual PC is totally free). I've tested many Windows 95/98 games without a hitch.

[Kitsune Sniper]

No 3D Acceleration, though.

[Push Upstairs]

I would too, if it were easy.

I got really lucky, someone threw out their *working* Windows 98 machine, left it right beside the dumpster. I had to buy some parts for it to make it better (video and sound card, better case) but it works great now.

[skaar]

A surprising number of video cards can't do 256 colours or any VGA modes anymore. Strange, I thought.

I use older laptops, myself.

[Jorpho]

Depending on the type of game and how graphics intensive it is, you might be able to use Virtual PC (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/) or VMWare Workstation (http://www.vmware.com/products/ws/)(Virtual PC emulates some things that VMware can't and vice versa; plus, Virtual PC is totally free).Use http://www.easyvmx.com and you can use the likewise totally-free VMware Player.


Any recommendations for fixing my Starfleet Academy problem anyone?If someone out there hasn't made a patch for it already, you might try downgrading your video card drivers. (Do you use an nVidia card?)

[phreakindee]

I have used VMWare and Virtual PC before, and had more luck with VM. Still, 3d acceleration was pretty lacking, though I think there's some plugins for it to do up to like a 16mb card. In windows XP you can use a Glide/3fdx wrapper for those games that support it. Games like Pod and Dethkarz work great that way.
And of course, if you can, find a good 400mhz P2 and build a sweet Win98SE comp. I made one for $10 from parts from Goodwill. Voodoo cards rock.

[Ed Oscuro]

I use older laptops, myself.
I've been looking into some of the older Tecras, Sat Pros and the like (from Toshiba) mainly for their sound chips, not sure if I'd ultimately be pleased with the sound quality though.

The form factor is very appealing though (unfortunately, laptops with busted / removed screens don't often seem to drag down the price enough to be worthwhile).

[savageone]

It's unfortunate that there really isn't a solution that solves everything, it's always been a problem with PC gaming though. The best thing to do is just build an older PC for yourself and install Windows 95 and/or 98. Then in some years you're gonna want a Windows XP system in addition (probably).. If you want even older games Windows 95 might not even work that well.

Personally I find that to be more trouble than it's really worth.

For older PC games I try either a Virtual PC (using windows 98 of course) or Dosbox. But I always search for workarounds for modern OS systems first, or just try it for myself if I find nothing. For instance I'm currently on the RC build of Windows 7 and playing the Thief games flawlessly, which seems odd because those games are notoriously incompatible with versions of Windows after 98 and require a lot of workarounds. But all I did was install the games and the codec for the movies, and they worked great. I added in a modern resolution patch to run them at 1680x1050 as well, really nice stuff.

[Kim Possible]

I've been trying to run Might and Magic VII on my Windows 2000 laptop, but it keeps wanting an older version of DirectX, even though I have a newer one, and no matter how many times I install the older version it cannot detect it.

Sad thing is, I just wanted to take another spin around the game for old time's sake.

Would any of the above pointers be helpful in this capacity?

[j_factor]

I play some older PC games on my computer:

X-wing Vs. Tie Fighter
Sonic 3D Blast
Sonic R

And the trick I use if some games don't want to work is:

Right-Click the game icon
Do Properties>Compatibility Tab.

Check "Run this Program in compatibility mode for:"

Select from the Drop Down Menu -Windows 98/Windows ME (Or Windows 95 depending on how old the game is)"

Check - "Run in 256 colors"

Check - "Run in 640x480 Screen Resolution"

You shouldn't have any more problems running old games after that. A lot of old games have problems with not running in 256 colors and some have trouble with not running in 640x480 as well.

Yeah, I know about that. It still doesn't work for everything. Like I said in the OP, it doesn't work for Lose Your Marbles.[


Depending on the type of game and how graphics intensive it is, you might be able to use Virtual PC (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/) or VMWare Workstation (http://www.vmware.com/products/ws/)(Virtual PC emulates some things that VMware can't and vice versa; plus, Virtual PC is totally free). I've tested many Windows 95/98 games without a hitch.

I'll give that a try, thanks.

edit: Uh, it looks like Virtual PC is only for running XP under Windows 7? I have Vista (64-bit Home Premium with SP2).

[Ed Oscuro]

edit: Uh, it looks like Virtual PC is only for running XP under Windows 7? I have Vista (64-bit Home Premium with SP2).
Get an older version, I believe that's the issue I ran into too.

[j_factor]

Okay, I got the previous version of Virtual PC. I created a virtual PC, with Windows 98. But then when I run it, I just get a black screen with text, like when you turn on a computer with no OS. Where's Windows?

[savageone]

Okay, I got the previous version of Virtual PC. I created a virtual PC, with Windows 98. But then when I run it, I just get a black screen with text, like when you turn on a computer with no OS. Where's Windows?

You have to actually install Windows 98 from your old CD (if you have one), it's not just magically there of course. :)

[Push Upstairs]

Voodoo cards rock.

Yeah, I have a Voodoo 3 in mine. The video card and sound card that came with the computer I found were giving me some compatibility issues along with drivers being hard to find.

VooDoo and SB Live! cards had drivers far, far easier to find on the 'net.

[Darkman2K5]

VirtualBox is also a free VMware program and it recently introduced support for DX8 3D acceleration, with video memory up to 24mb. I havent personally tested this feature out myself, but the program itself is pretty good and easy to figure out. Might be worth trying to see if it will run all those old games.

[Jorpho]

VirtualBox is also a free VMware program and it recently introduced support for DX8 3D acceleration, with video memory up to 24mb. I havent personally tested this feature out myself, but the program itself is pretty good and easy to figure out. Might be worth trying to see if it will run all those old games.There seem to be many complaints that VirtualBox is substantially slower than VMware or Virtual PC as far as Win9x goes.

Does the DirectX acceleration even work in Win9x? VMware's 3D acceleration only works if you're running XP in the virtual machine, apparently.

(I might suggest QEMU, but it seems VirtualBox is pretty much QEMU anyway.)

[Push Upstairs]

I could not get VirtualBox to run Win98 well. I could only get it to run at 16 colors and (I think) no sound. But VBox doesn't have guest additions for Win98.

[Darkman2K5]

There seem to be many complaints that VirtualBox is substantially slower than VMware or Virtual PC as far as Win9x goes.

Does the DirectX acceleration even work in Win9x? VMware's 3D acceleration only works if you're running XP in the virtual machine, apparently.

(I might suggest QEMU, but it seems VirtualBox is pretty much QEMU anyway.)

I think you might be right about that, I havent really looked into the matter. I've gotten Windows 98 to work with sound, but not more than 16 colors, a workaround does exist, I believe the help topics in the program point you to it, they havent made guest additions for WIN98 yet.

[j_factor]

You have to actually install Windows 98 from your old CD (if you have one), it's not just magically there of course. :)

Ahh. Well shit then.

[aaron7]

Usually I can find a patch for XP for games I want to play (Doom, Duke3d, etc).

Otherwise I use my P233MMX gaming PC :D

[Jorpho]

You have to actually install Windows 98 from your old CD (if you have one), it's not just magically there of course. :)Unless of course you download an (illegal) pre-configured VM.