Running old games on new computers

[Mike]

Recently I have been digging up my old sierra adventure games and trying to play them on my windows 2000 based computer. I've had a lot of trouble. Most of these games are incompatible for some reason or another. Now i'm no computer expert, but i'm wondering if anyone else has faced similar problems, and if so, any solutions they had...

[squirrelnut]

I think it might have to do with win2k 98, me and xp are far better suited for gaming but i cant remember the reason why. could have to do with direct x support or something i dunno. Just pulling this outa my brain

[Jasoco]

Which Sierra games are you trying to play? I know someone created an emulator for games like Police Quest and Kings Quest, etc that plays on modern computers. (I have Police Quest emulated on my Mac. As well as Hitchhikers Guide on another program.)

[lakeflaccid]

Use DosBox (http://dosbox.sourceforge.net). It emulates an x86 machine running DOS with sound, mouse support, etc. There's a large compatibility list on the site. Space Quest 1-6 are supported, and Police Quest 1-4 seem to work alright. Leisure Suit Larry 1-7 are reported to be supported as well.

[poe]

You can also check www.ntcompatible.com . It occasionally posts a detailed guide on using Win XP compatibility mode (don't know if something similar is in Win 2K) to make a game work, though sometimes it also says a game can't be made to run when it actually can.

If you're ever trying to run a Lucasarts adventure game (Sam and Max, Loom, Day of the Tentacle, etc.) theres an emulator called ScummVM designed specifically for those.

I've also tried a sound card emulator called VDMSound if you just have a problem with sound in a given title. I didn't really have any luck with it, but I know other people who swear it works.

[morphx]

If its pre-pentium its because of the timing differences. I pulled out an old old game and if played at 4x speed because the timing it picked up on wasn't the original 286 speed. Remember the old turbo button on your PC? When those went away so did the era where those games would run natively.

[poe]

One other resource for good general info is on www.the-underdogs.org . There is a great technical FAQ unders the FAQs section of the site, and they have a technical forum I check occasionally for help with specific titles.

[atomicthumbs]

I'm having a bit of a problem too. I have the DOS based version of X-WING (on five 3.5" floppys) and I run Windows XP Prof. Can't get the bastard into DOS.

[postulio]

install dos and set up a dual boot.

some of the gems are worth it. but 95% of dos games work under XP.

windows 2000 has shit for dos emulation so thats yoru first problem. windows 98 is pretty good playing dos games. but again the best desicion is to either upgrade to XP or install DOS and set up a dual boot. google for it.

[-hellvin-]

Use DosBox (http://dosbox.sourceforge.net). It emulates an x86 machine running DOS with sound, mouse support, etc. There's a large compatibility list on the site. Space Quest 1-6 are supported, and Police Quest 1-4 seem to work alright. Leisure Suit Larry 1-7 are reported to be supported as well.

Sweet. Think I'll try this tonight and try and find my discs for codename iceman and police quest 2. God...I remember in police quest 2 I could not figure out the part in the park where the guy attacked you with the gun...I just died so many times. Would be fun to go back with a vengeance.

[-hellvin-]

I must say...that emulator is FUCKING AWESOME. Can't believe I hadn't checked it out sooner. I am replaying space quest 1 in vga. This rocks. The memories come flooding back!

[Nz17]

Don't forget ScummVM [ http://www.scummvm.org/ ] for your favorite LucasArts games, and Sarien [ http://sarien.sourceforge.net/ ] for your favorite Sierra games. Naturally games produced by other game companies with the same engines (SCUMM and AGI) are also playable.

Also, you can try NAGI [ http://www.agidev.com/projects/nagi/ ] for AGI games and FreeSCI [ http://freesci.linuxgames.com/ ] for later Sierra games.

[Rogmeister]

What about those text games from Infocom? Are those available for modern PCs? I used to enjoy those back in my Atari computer days...

[SoulBlazer]

Do a search on Google -- there's a site I was just using where you can play the Infocom games online, with save states. :D

[Gapporin]

What about those text games from Infocom? Are those available for modern PCs? I used to enjoy those back in my Atari computer days...'

There's an emulator called Windows Frotz 2002 (http://www.d.kinder.btinternet.co.uk/frotz.html) which emulates Infocom and other text games as well. I heartily recommend it.