Dusting Off Old PC Games

Thirdfain · Post by **Thirdfain** » 2007-02-01 02:33pm

I've been trying to get System Shock 1 to work on my XP machine, but I keep having problems. Damned complicated guides...

Ma Deuce · Post by **Ma Deuce** » 2007-02-01 02:58pm

FSTargetDrone wrote:Hehe. Gotta love the long-haired, bearded hippie-type with the who runs the bookstore as a front for John Mullins' anti-terrorist organization.

Personally, the most amusing aspect I found was the villains, especially the main villain Col. Dekker and his sci-fi armor suit:

Dekker (to hostage who's head he's holding a .44 to): Tell me, where I can find Jessica Six, NOW.
Hostage: Never!
*BLAM!*
Dekker (to underling): Bring me another.

InnocentBystander · Post by **InnocentBystander** » 2007-02-01 03:43pm

Thirdfain wrote:I've been trying to get System Shock 1 to work on my XP machine, but I keep having problems. Damned complicated guides...

Dos Box is good for getting old dos games to work. I think I may have gotten SS1 to work on it a year or two ago.

FSTargetDrone · Post by **FSTargetDrone** » 2007-02-01 04:44pm

Ma Deuce wrote:Dekker (to hostage who's head he's holding a .44 to): Tell me, where I can find Jessica Six, NOW.
Hostage: Never!
*BLAM!*
Dekker (to underling): Bring me another.

Shh, no spoilers!

I'm still in the midst of the arctic Russian base, or wherever it's supposed to be. Visibility there is gawd-awful.

Vendetta · Post by **Vendetta** » 2007-02-01 07:03pm

rhoenix wrote: Master of Orion 2 - Excellent. Just good, dirty expand-your-star-empire-by-crushing-your-enemies fun.

MoO2 is currently our office favourite at work

I have a spectacular ongoing game where I have 125 colonies with only the Psilons alive as a pet race

It does get a bit cheeky when you stack up all the weapon mod specials onto your ship, and end up with shield and armour ignoring phasors that do 250 damage each and only take up 10 space though. Even the fleets the computer builds on Hard and Impossible you can cut through like a hot knife through butter (though it's handy to re-spec for gauss cannons to fight the Antarans, better damage at starting ranges)

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2007-02-01 07:34pm

A combination of utterly broken race customisation, AI that can't play tactical for shit and very strange research/resource/diplomacy AI decisions means MoO2 is *always* going to be laughably easy. Even if you DON'T just take telepath and win instantly. When '8player hardest' isn't very hard, your game has problems. Sadly, all the MoO2 mods I've ever found fall into the 'make everything the way this one guy likes it' instead of just fixing the serious balance issues.

SS1 does work in DosBox, but you've got to change many of the settings to get it working acceptably. Then you've got to remember how the hell you played FPS games before mouselook.

Emperor of the Fading Suns is still 'awesome but too hard' for me: I always sit around thinking I'm doing okay and then get totally owned. Alpha Centauri is probably my favourite non-piratey Sid Meier game, and King of Dragon Pass is just awesome Bronze Age barbarian fun.

FSTargetDrone · Post by **FSTargetDrone** » 2007-02-01 07:49pm

Stark wrote:SS1 does work in DosBox, but you've got to change many of the settings to get it working acceptably. Then you've got to remember how the hell you played FPS games before mouselook.

No mouselook? <shudder>

Does anyone remember if Dark Forces had mouselook? Before I knew better, I used to play some old DOS FPShooters with a joystick. That all changed with Duke Nukem 3D, however.

"It's time to kick ass and chew bubblegum. And I'm all outta gum..."

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2007-02-01 07:55pm

I remember playing DF *without* mouselook, but that's probably because I didn't have a mouse. It might be configurable, but it probably won't be proper WASD-mouselook.

SS1 has a bizarre arcane control system due to the onscreen display/interface. It's not that hard to use, but when I was a kid I could do nine things at once with it and now... not so much.

Trogdor · Post by **Trogdor** » 2007-02-01 07:56pm

One old game I had a lot of fun with was Master of Magic. It was like Civ, but with magic, battles you could command yourself, more ruins and lairs to loot, a second world you get to which had more resources and more dangers, and the ability to customize your wizard.

I'd love to play it again but I lost the disk and have never been able to get the freeware version to work. Maybe I'll give IB's dosbox a try.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2007-02-01 08:00pm

Trogdor wrote:One old game I had a lot of fun with was Master of Magic. It was like Civ, but with magic, battles you could command yourself, more ruins and lairs to loot, a second world you get to which had more resources and more dangers, and the ability to customize your wizard.

I'd love to play it again but I lost the disk and have never been able to get the freeware version to work. Maybe I'll give IB's dosbox a try.

It's really hard to play due to awful 320x200 art. On the other hand, I recently discovered that Age of Wonders is pretty much Master of Magic, so I can finally get my multiracial fantasy custom magic set strategy fix. AoW2:Shadow Magic has three areas (normal, underground, 'shadow realm'), all the magic areas with customisable picks, MORE races than MoM, same spellcasting/globals/hero/forging stuff, and it's not so bad. Cities are more HoMM-style 'soldier factories' than MoM-like management cities, though. Of course, tactical combat.

I tried the freeware version myself, and I don't think it's finished. It worked, though.

Darth Garden Gnome · Post by **Darth Garden Gnome** » 2007-02-01 08:02pm

Heroes of Might and Magic is still one of the best games ever made. And of course, no one can fuck with the mage, he can build the goddamned Dragons that will fuck your shit up.

The whole, "Oooh, click on the obelisks to discover the hidden treshar" thing was dumb, though. Call me old fashioned, but the slaughter of your enemies armies and the razing of his fortresses should be enough.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2007-02-01 08:04pm

I can top your oldscore-ness. I played 'King's Bounty' on Genesis. It's like, HoMM 0.5, and it was awesome. No 'pick up the wood' stuff either, just wholesale slaughter of your enemies.

Trogdor · Post by **Trogdor** » 2007-02-01 08:04pm

Stark wrote:It's really hard to play due to awful 320x200 art. On the other hand, I recently discovered that Age of Wonders is pretty much Master of Magic, so I can finally get my multiracial fantasy custom magic set strategy fix. AoW2:Shadow Magic has three areas (normal, underground, 'shadow realm'), all the magic areas with customisable picks, MORE races than MoM, same spellcasting/globals/hero/forging stuff, and it's not so bad. Cities are more HoMM-style 'soldier factories' than MoM-like management cities, though. Of course, tactical combat.

I tried the freeware version myself, and I don't think it's finished. It worked, though.

Damn, thanks for the info, Stark. I'll have to give AoW and AoW2 a try.

Darth Garden Gnome · Post by **Darth Garden Gnome** » 2007-02-01 08:08pm

Stark wrote:I can top your oldscore-ness. I played 'King's Bounty' on Genesis. It's like, HoMM 0.5, and it was awesome. No 'pick up the wood' stuff either, just wholesale slaughter of your enemies.

I have been one-upped!

Next time, Stark...

Fingolfin_Noldor · Post by **Fingolfin_Noldor** » 2007-02-01 10:43pm

I still try to play Monkey Island 1, 2 and 3 sometimes when I'm incredibly board. However, the scumm emulator doesn't seem to work as well as it should.

Invictus ChiKen · Post by **Invictus ChiKen** » 2007-02-01 10:57pm

I got ahold of a package deal for the UFO: After series (Aftermath and Aftershock).

I've been having a ball. Besides Aftershock... CRASHING VERY TIME I GET ON A WINNING STREAK!!!

Nephtys · Post by **Nephtys** » 2007-02-02 12:34am

If you don't still play at least one form of Star Control 2 remake/clone, you don't belong in this thread.

darthbob88 · Post by **darthbob88** » 2007-02-02 01:04am

I'm unsure whether this belongs here, but I still play Nethack. A game that was old when I was born, though that isn't hard.

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2007-02-02 01:16am

you have nothing on me....

I have Warmus, Scorched Earth, and Nethack/Rogue for windows.

darthbob88 · Post by **darthbob88** » 2007-02-02 01:50am

The Yosemite Bear wrote:you have nothing on me....

I have Warmus, Scorched Earth, and Nethack/Rogue for windows.

SE and Rogue I am aware of, but Warmus is a new one. Elaborate, please?

Uraniun235 · Post by **Uraniun235** » 2007-02-02 02:08am

I play Red Storm Rising to while away the time during my stupid philosophy class.

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2007-02-02 02:49am

darthbob88 wrote:
The Yosemite Bear wrote:you have nothing on me....

I have Warmus, Scorched Earth, and Nethack/Rogue for windows.
SE and Rogue I am aware of, but Warmus is a new one. Elaborate, please?

grand daddy of all RPG games, your trapped in a cave with the "Warmus" a werewolf like creature. you have six silver bullets and the dungeon is randomized.

darthbob88 · Post by **darthbob88** » 2007-02-02 03:02am

The Yosemite Bear wrote:
darthbob88 wrote:
The Yosemite Bear wrote:you have nothing on me....

I have Warmus, Scorched Earth, and Nethack/Rogue for windows.
SE and Rogue I am aware of, but Warmus is a new one. Elaborate, please?

grand daddy of all RPG games, your trapped in a cave with the "Warmus" a werewolf like creature. you have six silver bullets and the dungeon is randomized.

Of any relation to "Hunt the Wumpus"?

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2007-02-02 07:58am

sorry faulty memory

2000AD · Post by **2000AD** » 2007-02-02 11:07am

I still play Star Wars: Supremacy (Rebellion for you in the US) every now and then.
And though I downloaded Dosbox just so that i could play Moonstone, that pales in comparison to the time i dusted off my close to 10 year old computer and set it up, just so i could play X-Com: Apocalypse again.