? About old pc games and Computer Compatibility

Hey folks, I have a question about a old computer games site I came across.

It has all kinds of old games, from board to strategy, sim and arcade and much more. I wasnt a gamer when a lot of there were released, but I did see a couple I would like to try out for kicks and giggles. I do like the sims games and they have a couple of them.

My question is will they be compatible with my XP? If so, would I download them the same like creating their own folder or would I need to do something different.

Also, last question, has anyone else used this site and is it safe before I even bother?

OLD COMPUTER GAMES

reply to post by onehuman


If they were created for the pc then tey would most likely work. If they were created for Atari say, then you'll need an emulator.
Are they safe? As most will have been pre owned who can say. I could doctor one that would give me control of your pc and it wouldn't e picked up by your anti v software, so, I'd go with - probably not safe. However - Install virtual box. Then install xp into it and install the games on that xp. I do that with most software.

reply to post by onehuman


That looks like an abandonware site.
Games that are so many years old are usually discarded by the companies that make them and they become "abandonware".
A lot of those games will require moslo (a program to run old dos games because XP does not have dos so it emulates the old dos.)

Always virus scan any old games you download of course, but there are tons of them out there.
Some of the older games are some of the best ones IMO.

Read up on abandonware, and find a good site that explains moslo and how to use it, and then plan on losing yourself for a long time in all of the old school games that are still being played.



As a side note, I have been playing with abandonware for many years because I grew up on a lot of the old games, and I have not had any problems as long as I do a virus scan first and look around before downloading. There are places out there where viruses lurk, but if you find an abandonware ring or hub with several members, they actually do care a lot about the games themselves and see these abandonware sites as almost a gamers museum.

reply to post by onehuman


There's tons of sites like that. Your particular site is asking for a monthly (or daily) subscription to access the games. If it's legit, the games should work just fine on XP. For the older games, you can try Windows XP's compatibility mode for games you're having problems with.

I don't know why but I a flash back to my early school years ..think I will try to see if I can find me some classic Oregon trail ... hopefully I don't get any snake bites

damn near anything works on XP

crucified
damn near anything works on XP

Alot ran on DOS only too, so you may not be able to without the aid of an emulator like DOSbox.

Good luck finding all those classics!!!

reply to post by onehuman


When you try and download a game it asks you to pay for it via paypal.

reply to post by onehuman


If they are old dos games you may need a program called "dosbox" which plays them through that. Emulating the right environment to play.
Firepiston

Here, use this one for games:

The Official Abandonware Ring

It is the only one I will use.
The ring is well kept, members are well versed, and all of the information you could ever want on the old games will be on that ring of dedicated old school gamers.

Enjoy!

reply to post by Biigs


this is very true. even with emulators some games are not vista(or after) friendly

I have used this site once before. I downloaded about 4 or 5 games and I was able to get all but one to work. Most of these games you will need a virtual CD burner, because they come as .cue files. The site provides a link somewhere for a free virtual CD burner called daemon lite(something like that) and it worked well for me.

Other games from that site that arent as old may come with some kind of exe that will making installing the program easier. If you do decide to use the site I recommend copying the installation instructions, because that may be the only place you can find them and won't be able to access them after your subscription is over. You may also need a program to unzip the files. I would recommend 7-Zip which is free and an easy to use program.

Edit: I forgot to add that I am using Windows 7 and I did not need to change any compatibility settings but you may need to depending on how old the game is


Edit2: Sorry I have the website in the op confused with a similar web address. The website that I used was old-games.com and required about $5 USD for a 24hr pass

System Shock 2... I had so many hours of scared fun with that one... ouhhh... Should I try it again? lol

Thanks for the links! ( To the OP and the other poster about the other place. )

Cool!!! There is even an old Star Trek game I've been searching for a few years!!! lol Thanks! Hurray!

reply to post by NowanKenubi


I have been chasing that system shock 2 experience every since no joke, we all used to sit around the best computer any of us had, lights off, crowd around and whisper ideas, was amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Awesome thread. Man these games bring me back. I remember as a child taking my bike up to the radio shack to play kings quest 1 on their demo computers.

Actually, back in "the day", since games basically sucked in regards to graphics, engine, controls, etc...developers had to come up with really good ideas and stories..I think todays gaming industries need to look back and reboot some of these old games...the concepts were really damn good and deserve new updated life.
Elder Scrolls started out as Arena back in the day.

Probably but if not download DOS box provides a simulated DOS operating system for running old games. It works I have it on my second back up computer which has xp

reply to post by onehuman


I know the original Sims should work with XP. The second and third state on the packages (I have them) that they are good on XP as well. So, you shouldn't have any issues. Two, to an extent, and three, for certain, can hog memory, though, so use lower graphics settings, and shut down any processes you don't need, that you can shut down safely.

For safety, at least for sims, I would strongly recommend getting the discs used. The first has a "complete collection" that we bought new pretty cheap, and the second, you can find online. You will need a registration code to install, but not to register, since they don't support those any longer.

This is just another post pointing to Dosbox as a way of running older games in newer operating systems.

Last week I used Dosbox to play Doom on a 64 bits Windows 8.1 system.

reply to post by ArMaP


The system works! \o/

Windows 7 and I fought a lot to get some of the newer old games to work.
A lot of the older games that run in windows and not dos have issues with windows 7 and monitor resolution.

I am not sure what my son did,
but he got all of my games to work on windows 7.


I'll have to ask him.

Also dual or quad core computers have a lot of issues with some games.
Simcity 4, the sims,and EA older software in general, has issues with a computer not knowing how to run it on one processor when the computer has more than one.

(if I remember correctly that is, but I had a hard time getting the sims complete collection running and not crashing due to this issue and same with sim city 4, although simcity 3 ran just fine.)