aimeeandbeatles
watermelon
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2007
- Messages
- 20,112
Does anyone else play them?
I like the Maxis "SimGames" series, as I call it. SimCity is most famous. I also like the others, such as SimCopter, SimPark, SimEarth...you know. The list's on wikipedia.
I have the original SimEarth for DOS in the original packaging. Two 3.5 inch floppies, the manual, and even the registration card. I want to mail it in just to see what happens.
As you all know, I'm a Civ fan, otherwise why would I be here? I also like Colonization. These are cloned in Freeciv and Freecol.
Railroad Tycoon is a good one.
So is Transport Tycoon Deluxe. (There's also OpenTTD, which is open-source clone of TTD, with the same graphics and gameplay, but new features.)
DinoPark Tycoon is a refreshing business sim.
I also like text-only games. There's a somewhat obscure game by Wizard Games called "Rockstar" where you're a...well take a guess. It's very addictive, although I keep dying.
There's also another good text-only called Executive Suite, which is best described as "climbing the corporate ladder."
I heard that Commodore 64's are good for gaming. Mom's first computer was a Commodore 64, but she doesn't remember if she gamed or not. They are the best selling computer of all time up to now.
Sometimes fan-created remakes of a game are good, such as Freeciv, Freecol, and OpenTTD. Another one that deserves mention is Taipan for Windows, which is exactly the same as the original, according to reviews.
BORING TECHIE STUFF AHEAD, READ AT OWN RISK!
The reason DOS mode don't work on the newer Windows is 'cos 2k, XP, and Vista are NT-based, while Windows 1.0-3.1, 9x, and ME were DOS-based.
To fix this, you can download a free DOS emulator called DOSBox.
I also recommend getting a frontend, it simplifies things, but still learn the commands as you don't know when they come in handy.
Unfortunatly, 16-bit games don't work on 64-bit Windows XP. Microsoft took out the support for it, I don't know why. But a lot of 32-bit games have 16-bit installers, so sometimes copying files from CD works. If you have the CD. I also heard that virtual machines and dual-booting work, but I didn't try it.
However, a lot of older games (probably up to '95 or so) also have DOS versions, so if you can find the DOS version, you can run in DOSBox..
To play games from other computers, not PCs, you can also get emulators for them. You install the emulator, put the ROM (game) in, and there you go.
Of course, the best way to play old games is to have an old computer for it! I'm actually gettin' a computer (although not old, it's going to be custom built.) with 9x installed on it. I still have the Windows 98 SE CD, 'cos it came with out 98 computer but mom never got around to installing it, and we forgot about it till yesterday. So now I don' t have to pay for an OS.
Sometimes you can buy old computers at thrift stores and some parts work, but others don't, so you just replace the broken parts and it works! Most of the time.
NOTES:
You may wonder why I said the size of the floppies. A lot of older games come on 5.25 inch floppies, which are actually floppy. On really early computers, hard drives were a luxury, so they ran from floppies.
Windows 9x? I use that as a group term to refer to Windows 95, 98, and 98 SE, since they're very similar, if a game runs on one, it should work on the rest.
I like the Maxis "SimGames" series, as I call it. SimCity is most famous. I also like the others, such as SimCopter, SimPark, SimEarth...you know. The list's on wikipedia.
I have the original SimEarth for DOS in the original packaging. Two 3.5 inch floppies, the manual, and even the registration card. I want to mail it in just to see what happens.
As you all know, I'm a Civ fan, otherwise why would I be here? I also like Colonization. These are cloned in Freeciv and Freecol.
Railroad Tycoon is a good one.
So is Transport Tycoon Deluxe. (There's also OpenTTD, which is open-source clone of TTD, with the same graphics and gameplay, but new features.)
DinoPark Tycoon is a refreshing business sim.
I also like text-only games. There's a somewhat obscure game by Wizard Games called "Rockstar" where you're a...well take a guess. It's very addictive, although I keep dying.
There's also another good text-only called Executive Suite, which is best described as "climbing the corporate ladder."
I heard that Commodore 64's are good for gaming. Mom's first computer was a Commodore 64, but she doesn't remember if she gamed or not. They are the best selling computer of all time up to now.
Sometimes fan-created remakes of a game are good, such as Freeciv, Freecol, and OpenTTD. Another one that deserves mention is Taipan for Windows, which is exactly the same as the original, according to reviews.
BORING TECHIE STUFF AHEAD, READ AT OWN RISK!
The reason DOS mode don't work on the newer Windows is 'cos 2k, XP, and Vista are NT-based, while Windows 1.0-3.1, 9x, and ME were DOS-based.
To fix this, you can download a free DOS emulator called DOSBox.
I also recommend getting a frontend, it simplifies things, but still learn the commands as you don't know when they come in handy.
Unfortunatly, 16-bit games don't work on 64-bit Windows XP. Microsoft took out the support for it, I don't know why. But a lot of 32-bit games have 16-bit installers, so sometimes copying files from CD works. If you have the CD. I also heard that virtual machines and dual-booting work, but I didn't try it.
However, a lot of older games (probably up to '95 or so) also have DOS versions, so if you can find the DOS version, you can run in DOSBox..
To play games from other computers, not PCs, you can also get emulators for them. You install the emulator, put the ROM (game) in, and there you go.
Of course, the best way to play old games is to have an old computer for it! I'm actually gettin' a computer (although not old, it's going to be custom built.) with 9x installed on it. I still have the Windows 98 SE CD, 'cos it came with out 98 computer but mom never got around to installing it, and we forgot about it till yesterday. So now I don' t have to pay for an OS.
Sometimes you can buy old computers at thrift stores and some parts work, but others don't, so you just replace the broken parts and it works! Most of the time.
NOTES:
You may wonder why I said the size of the floppies. A lot of older games come on 5.25 inch floppies, which are actually floppy. On really early computers, hard drives were a luxury, so they ran from floppies.
Windows 9x? I use that as a group term to refer to Windows 95, 98, and 98 SE, since they're very similar, if a game runs on one, it should work on the rest.
