Old PC games

andyb · Post by **andyb** » Sat Apr 14, 2007 1:03 pm

I have recently aquired a heap of old PC games (1,000+) and cant get them to work under Win XP.!

I have downloaded Microsoft Virtual PC, and was planning on running an older OS that these games would run on - then I thought about using MS-DOS. MS-DOS is widely available to download and create boot disks - I havent had a FDD in any of my PC's for years.

Am I barking up the wrong tree, should I just use Win98 or Me, or is there "an OLD PC Emulator" out there that will just work and wont have the problem below.

The last time I tried to run an old PC game was a few years ago, my PC is much faster now - I installed and fired up "Theme Park" within a few seconds the game was over because the year had finished and I hadnt even built a ride

will I have the same probems again.?

Andy

qviri · Post by **qviri** » Sat Apr 14, 2007 1:09 pm

If they're DOS games, dosbox is your answer. Dunno about games designed to run on Win9x... but I think XP includes a compatibility mode for those.

andyb · Post by **andyb** » Sat Apr 14, 2007 1:24 pm

Genius

Thanks so much Qviri, this is just great.

Let me know if you want any OLD games that you want and dont have.

Andy

Willy Higinbotham · Post by **Willy Higinbotham** » Sat Apr 14, 2007 1:49 pm

Woohoo! Another old skool gamer!

As qviri said, Dosbox is the ultimate Dos games emulator. It works like a charm.

Here is an add-on for Dosbox that I think you 'should' have.

Dfend Front end for Dosbox.

Just set it up, no need to fiddle with Dosbox like mounting drives etc. Create new game profile, follow the wizard, point the exe file and click OK. That's it. Next time you want to play the game, just fire up Dfend, double-click on the game name, et Voila. You can also set the windows-size, memory allocation etc.

http://members.home.nl/mabus/dfend.htm

It makes your life a lot easier.

I have something like 40 DOS games running with Dosbox. I know that there hundreds of DOS games available on the net, but I think not all were true classics.

I might be interested in a few interesting DOS titles

andyb · Post by **andyb** » Sat Apr 14, 2007 3:21 pm

Cheers Willy, I will try that tomorrow - I have just spent the last few hours playing Populous, what a wicked game that is

Andy

Slaugh · Post by **Slaugh** » Sat Apr 21, 2007 11:22 pm

If you have any LucasArts adventure games (such as Days of the Tentacle or Full Throttle), you should give a try to ScummVM.

Ackelind · Post by **Ackelind** » Sun Apr 22, 2007 5:43 am

I went the other way and got myself a genuine old computer for true hardware support! A Pentium 200MMX with a soundblaster 16 ISA card!

I got it for 100SEK which is just over 10USD. I never got dosbox to work perfectly, I got speed drops and mysterious lockups on my Athlon64 3000+.

Does anyone know how much computing power that is actually needed to emulate? I'm thinking of giving it a shot again with my laptop, a Pentium M 1.7GHz.

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Sun Apr 22, 2007 11:09 am

Dosbox is such hassle. I rather use my old Pentium III 500 Mhz with Ati radeon 7000 with Windows 98 or 95. I enjoy play my first games that I bought with Pentium 133mhz when I got my first computer. Real dosgame: Janes Ah-64D Longbow. It still looks good.

Mabe its just me but I rather keep separate computers for separate things:
1 computer for 24/7 use. ( venice with x1600xt )
1 for newest games. ( manchester with 7900gs )
1 for older games ( duron with 9600 pro )
1 for Dos games and old Windows games. ( PIII and Ati 7000 )

Less changes of old things messing registery etc.

Now only problem is how to heck fit 4 computer's in tiny space so you can use them well... :p

But Andy, I have to say: I am so envious of you right now!!

qviri · Post by **qviri** » Sun Apr 22, 2007 12:40 pm

Dosbox is awesome for me because I move every four months. A single desktop and a single laptop is hassle enough already...

kater · Post by **kater** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 5:29 am

Darklands...

Guys, please tell me you now how to make it work. Pretty please!

Time ago I tried to make it all work with dosbox but somehow couldn't. Has any of you had success making Darklands work?

I'd really love to play it again, or just listen to the great music once more...

This thread made me thinking of this again - and now you've got to help me, damn it

I'm too dumb to do it alone... Any kind of guidance will be much appreciated

Willy Higinbotham · Post by **Willy Higinbotham** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 6:36 am

Kater,

I have just configured Darklands on Dfend. It's working perfect.

You can grab a copy of Darklands on Abandonia. Get Dosbox and Dfend, install both.

After downloading Darklands, unzip the file to a folder. Run Dfend. Click on the wizard's hat on the top left. A setup wizard will open. In the first screen, enter a profile name (for instance, Darklands). Click on Browse button next to Game Exe field. Go to the folder where you unzipped the Darklands file. Choose Darkland, click on open. Next, click on the Browse button next to Setup Exe field. Choose Install, click on Open.

Then click on the >> button at the bottom of the applet window. Set the values as below:

Cycles: 3000
Video card: VGA
Render Method: Overlay
Scale: none

Click on >> again to continue to the next screen.

Click on Add. A new window will open. Set the values as below:

Mount Type: Drive

Click on the Browse button next to the "Select Drive/CDROM/Image or floppy to mount" field.

Now, point it to the folder where you unzipped Darklands. It should look something like C:\Games\Darklands

Click on >> to continue with the setup.

In the next screen, leave everything as is. No need to change anything.

Click on >> to continue.

Again, do not change anything here.

Next screen is Configure Midi Emulation. Again, no need to change anything.

Click on >> to continue.

Next screen is Speaker Emulation. No need for changes here again.

Click on >> to continue.

Next screen is Memory Allocation, just set the values as below:

Memory: 63MB
Enable XMS : yes
Enable EMS : yes
Enable UMS : no

Click on Next and Finish.

kater · Post by **kater** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 7:00 am

Willy Higinbotham - well, what can I say - THANK YOU is not even close to enough

I'll check it this Friday when my ISP finishes installing the cable in my new place. I've just moved to a new flat and am typing this from work. Strange feeling to only be able to use your mobile in the new place

Anyway, as soon as I get to it I'll speak.

Again, thanks for such prompt & exhaustive answer

andyb · Post by **andyb** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 7:04 am

Chers Willy, I had a quick look but didnt have the time to configure anything.

I will give that a go tonight.

I tested out about 15 games so far and they have all worked, except Speedball which runs at double speed and as you can guess is unplayable, and Populous-2, but that is easy to sort ourt as it has in-game speed control.

If anyone wants any games PM me and I can e-mail them to you (most of them are <5MB).

Andy

kater · Post by **kater** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 9:14 am

Willy,

I've downloaded* the necessary files and did everything like you said. The game fired up but with no sound and in a tiny window. I somehow ran the gam in full window but the default cursor (the gauntlet) did not move, and instead I pointed to things with the Windows arrow. Unfortunately, I've v little experience with DOSBox and none with D-Fend. Do you think you could throw in a hint or two?

*I'm sure I still have an original CD with Darklands somewhere, but I won't even look for it - it's my first week in my new flat. Can't find s... now, not to mention an ancient CD

Maelwys · Post by **Maelwys** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 9:32 am

I keep an old P133 system with a Voodoo 3 card around for playing Dos and Windows 98 games. I tried using Dosbox for a while, but it won't work for Mechwarrior 2 or any of the Mech2 Expansions. Sadly, the only way to make that game work is on the old hardware itself.

Another great place to look for running some old Dos games under Windows XP is the NT_Compatible.com Database at:

http://www.ntcompatible.com/compatlist2.html

They have patches and hacks for over 3000 games to get them running under XP.

Willy Higinbotham · Post by **Willy Higinbotham** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 12:05 pm

kater wrote:Willy,

I've downloaded* the necessary files and did everything like you said. The game fired up but with no sound and in a tiny window. I somehow ran the gam in full window but the default cursor (the gauntlet) did not move, and instead I pointed to things with the Windows arrow. Unfortunately, I've v little experience with DOSBox and none with D-Fend. Do you think you could throw in a hint or two?

*I'm sure I still have an original CD with Darklands somewhere, but I won't even look for it - it's my first week in my new flat. Can't find s... now, not to mention an ancient CD

kater,

Assuming that you have already created the profile for Darklands. Now, fire up Dfend, right-click on Darklands' profile, choose Edit Profile.

Click on General Tab. There you can set the size for "Windowed Resolution". Set "Scale" to "none" and "Render Method" to "overlay".

Click on the Sound Tab. Make sure that the option "Enable Sound" is checked (enabled).

Click on Profile Tab. The install file for Darklands is INSTALL.EXE. Make sure the correct path to this file (which is in Darklands folder) is there.

Click on OK and right-click on Darklands profile again and choose Run Setup. A Dos windows will pop up. Press SPACE bar twice. Highlight "Reconfigure Hardware Options" by using the arrows keys and click on ENTER.

This will bring you to the Sound Setup screen.

Use the arrow keys to move up and down and press SPACE bar to select the Sound card and press ENTER to configure.

Test each soundcard until you get sound in the game.

Remember, in most of the cases, you won't need to change any Speech Address or Speech IRQ settings.

After each change, you'll be prompted to save the changes. Make sure to confirm these.

Tell me if this works.