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    ServBot (Level 11) Edmond Dantes's Avatar
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    Default Good games that run on Windows XP?

    I just built a Windows XP gaming comp. Its a 2.80ghz Pentium 4 (so single core), 512 ram (though the motherboard can be upgraded to 2gig), with a Geforce 4 ti4200 and a Soundblaster Audigy 2. In other words, a comp I would've considered a powerhouse at the time, but it can only run Doom 3 on medium settings.

    But ya know... got new hardware, wondering what games to run on it.

    Games I already own are Doom 3, but also the Myst series (I got all of them in a box last year) and Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. But this was the period where I basically stopped paying attention to PCs so I'm not sure if there's any underappreciated XP gems to look out for.

    (EDIT: It just occured to me that in my "list" I forgot to mention Windows 98 games that also have XP compatibility, so I probably have more than I think I do).

    So, suggestions?
    Last edited by Edmond Dantes; 07-05-2018 at 10:09 AM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Edmond Dantes View Post
    I just built a Windows XP gaming comp. Its a 2.80ghz Pentium 4 (so single core), 512 ram (though the motherboard can be upgraded to 2gig), with a Geforce 4 ti4200 and a Soundblaster Audigy 2. In other words, a comp I would've considered a powerhouse at the time, but it can only run Doom 3 on medium settings.

    But ya know... got new hardware, wondering what games to run on it.

    Games I already own are Doom 3, but also the Myst series (I got all of them in a box last year) and Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. But this was the period where I basically stopped paying attention to PCs so I'm not sure if there's any underappreciated XP gems to look out for.

    (EDIT: It just occured to me that in my "list" I forgot to mention Windows 98 games that also have XP compatibility, so I probably have more than I think I do).

    So, suggestions?
    Well, I guess the question is: whaddayawanna play? I'm assuming FPS games and visual puzzlers by what you have on there now.

    While I didn't game a ton on PC, here's what I can think of:


    Freedom Force
    Star Trek:Elite Force
    Tron 2.0
    Elder Scrolls: Morrowind
    Pirates Gold might work
    Civilization 2 or 3

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    ServBot (Level 11) Edmond Dantes's Avatar
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    I'm not really picky about genre--FPSes just happen to be a good go-to for testing hardware, and I really do like adventure games (exploring beautiful mysterious landscapes is part of gaming's joy), but I'm just having trouble remembering what all I've wanted to play before that is now open to me.

    One I just thought of... Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth. I need to see if that'll run on this rig (IIRC I'm well over the recommended specs).

    Pirates... Gold? Isn't that a DOS game? (I have the Sega Genesis version personally)

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    I keep thinking of games that were just before Windows XP, but maybe that'll work since they should run well:

    System Shock 2 (maybe check the rebirth(?) mod)
    Deus Ex
    American McGee's Alice
    Baldur's Gate
    Grim Fandango (There are remastered versions now, though)

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    Great Puma (Level 12) YoshiM's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Edmond Dantes View Post
    I'm not really picky about genre--FPSes just happen to be a good go-to for testing hardware, and I really do like adventure games (exploring beautiful mysterious landscapes is part of gaming's joy), but I'm just having trouble remembering what all I've wanted to play before that is now open to me.

    One I just thought of... Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth. I need to see if that'll run on this rig (IIRC I'm well over the recommended specs).

    Pirates... Gold? Isn't that a DOS game? (I have the Sega Genesis version personally)
    I'm pretty sure it was. There's Gold and Gold Plus. It's been years since I played it (I have Gold) but I remember it running in Windows. From what I can tell, Plus runs in Windows.

    I'll have to dig it out and try. It's been since the late 90's since I tried it.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Edmond Dantes View Post

    Pirates... Gold? Isn't that a DOS game? (I have the Sega Genesis version personally)
    In 2004 they released an updated version called "Sid Meier's Pirates! Live the Life" at least that's what it says on the box I've got right beside me here. It's basically the same game with updated graphics and potentially more to do...I don't really remember what all the differences were. I had quite a bit of fun with it back then though.
    "Game programmers are generally lazy individuals. That's right. It's true. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Since the dawn of computer games, game programmers have looked for shortcuts to coolness." Kurt Arnlund - Game programmer for Activision, Accolade...

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    ServBot (Level 11) Edmond Dantes's Avatar
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    So did most people just stop PC Gaming around WinXP or something? Online most of the games I hear about are either A) Win98 games that just happen to still work in XP or else B) Windows 7 or later games that just happen to still work in XP. It's like the XP era itself is a black hole.

    From my own collection I only have found the following:

    Doom 3
    Medal of Honor: Allied Assault
    Echo (an adventure game that I think takes place in prehistoric times)
    the Myst series--I think Myst IV and V require XP
    Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth
    Warcraft III

    I'm not sure how many of those are "actually made for XP" vs "Just happen to work in XP."

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    I think a lot of games were just compatible with multiple versions and not just XP... but to sort of answer your question more broadly, I thinks it's because that's when Steam started to take over on PC.
    "Game programmers are generally lazy individuals. That's right. It's true. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Since the dawn of computer games, game programmers have looked for shortcuts to coolness." Kurt Arnlund - Game programmer for Activision, Accolade...

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    Quote Originally Posted by Edmond Dantes View Post
    I just built a Windows XP gaming comp. Its a 2.80ghz Pentium 4 (so single core), 512 ram (though the motherboard can be upgraded to 2gig), with a Geforce 4 ti4200 and a Soundblaster Audigy 2. In other words, a comp I would've considered a powerhouse at the time, but it can only run Doom 3 on medium settings.

    But ya know... got new hardware, wondering what games to run on it.

    Games I already own are Doom 3, but also the Myst series (I got all of them in a box last year) and Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. But this was the period where I basically stopped paying attention to PCs so I'm not sure if there's any underappreciated XP gems to look out for.

    (EDIT: It just occured to me that in my "list" I forgot to mention Windows 98 games that also have XP compatibility, so I probably have more than I think I do).

    So, suggestions?
    I basically have two Dell towers from back in the day with these specs minus the Geforce and Soundblaster. Apparently they are a little bit better than the eMachines and the home built XP era towers I owned before them (both of which died due to being cheap components). I never really played anything graphics heavy for the time and just went with games that the processor and RAM could run on their own. My sound cards are generic so DOS games usually don't play any music when I choose Soundblaster. The disc games I usually played were just Sonic 3D Blast, Diablo, Diablo 2 and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 most of the time. I think I was able to run Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee without a graphics card too but I didn't get that on PC until 6 years ago.

    It is pretty interesting though seeing you post this because it makes me realize that hey all I need to buy are two parts, plug them in, get drivers and I can have a good retro setup. Then maybe I can get the thing to run 3D games I couldn't run well or at all on these like Sonic Adventure DX, X-Men Legends II, or Serious Sam.

    I also used to play with emulators and Mugen a lot on my Dell Inspiron 1100 which had an Intel Celeron Processor, which is supposedly a step below a Pentium of the same generation? My Dell Inspiron Mini netbook is even never and has an Intel Atom which is supposed to be a step below a Celeron of the same Generation. I think Atom is to Celeron is to Pentium as i3 is to i5 is to i7 from my understanding, but only if you're talking about the same generation. My inspiron Mini has Windows 7 on it and can run things just as well as the old Inspiron laptop. 1gb ram is definitely better than 512MB.

    Without graphics cards, the best I could do emulation wise was Playstation. Nintendo 64 just wouldn't work well and don't even think about Sega Saturn or Dreamcast. Those start working on i3 era computers.


    Looks like Sonic Adventure DX (disc release) might be a stretch because not only does it need a graphics card (GeForce 7300 series or better, which is more advanced than what you have), it also needs the processor to be set to 3GHz and at least 1GB RAM. I don't think I should get my hopes up on trying to run that on one of my XP machines. I could probably run it fine on any of my Windows 7 era laptops on processing power alone. X-Men Legends II however sounds like you could run it with what you have. It will even work on a Pentium 3 with just a GeForce 2+.

    I guess to play Sonic Adventure DX for PC when it came out and used Windows XP, you had to have a pretty high end PC build for the time. Many specs of a 7300 are double those of a 4200.


    Actually, it turns out the Dell Dimension 4300 I have used for years is an older generation copy of that model that is labeled "Designed for Windows ME/2000 and the Dell Dimension 3000 I have is newer, more compact and says "Designed for Windows XP." I bought the 4300 from a friend for $50 and a shared pizza after my home built PC from a relative died. Now I have no idea if this 4300 was weaker than my original eMachines or not. I am starting to think it probably was. I have no idea what the home built PC was but I am going to guess really cheap. Both of these Dell computers have Pentium 4's but the 4300 has a single core 1500MHZ processor while the 3000 has a dual core 2.80 + 2.79 GHZ processor. All I know is that the 3000 obviously wins among all my old towers and if I were to choose one to upgrade, that would have to be it. My 4300 actually has an old version of LxLe on it right now but that may be subject to change. Maybe I'll look for a Windows ME image and try out the Windows ME activation code it originally came with. I have enough old laptops and netbooks running LxLe.
    Last edited by Rickstilwell1; 09-23-2021 at 06:58 AM.
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    Not as extreme as Rickstilwell though.[/quote]


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    Robot Arena 2: Design and Destroy
    The Sims
    Diablo II
    GTA San Andreas
    GTA Vice City
    Rock Manager
    Lego Digital Designer
    Diablo

    That's what I played in the XP Era, though more often on 98 or 2000. I never had an XP machine until 2008. Always FAR behind the curve...that's me.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mad-Mike View Post
    Robot Arena 2: Design and Destroy
    The Sims
    Diablo II
    Gta5grand
    GTA Vice City
    Rock Manager
    Lego Digital Designer
    Diablo

    That's what I played in the XP Era, though more often on 98 or 2000. I never had an XP machine until 2008. Always FAR behind the curve...that's me.
    Unfortunately my PC is not goot for GTA any more that was the main reason I updated it.
    Last edited by Ostin Powers; 01-01-2022 at 01:38 PM.

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    Unbelievable!

    My last Windows XP build had a Core2Quad (Q9650) paired with 2 GTX 460s (1GB)in SLI.

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