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.ph...ubid=1&artid=6

[Push Upstairs]

This is why I have a Win98 machine.

[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.

[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 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 - 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 - it adds all kind of visual effects like pixel-blurring, colored lighting, transparency/alpha-blending, and lens flares all over the place.

[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 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 - 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 - 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?

[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.

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.

[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.

[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.

[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