Hezus wrote on 2020-11-08, 19:24:

Ok, here it comes:
I don't consider anything after 2000 to be retro.

Sorry guys.

I absolutely agree with this. I just can't call games such as Half-Life 2 or F.E.A.R. retro yet.

For me such "dividing date" is 2003.

Hezus wrote on 2020-11-08, 19:24:

Ok, here it comes:
I don't consider anything after 2000 to be retro.

Sorry guys.

I consider P4 with XP to be the official cut-off, though it started a few years before that.

For me retro is anything up to 2006 - the lifetime of XP. The days where games were developed for non widescreen monitors, EAX still mattered, many will have issues running on Vista and above...well justifies a retro build.

kolderman wrote on 2020-11-08, 21:25:

For me retro is anything up to 2006 - the lifetime of XP. The days where games were developed for non widescreen monitors, EAX still mattered, many will have issues running on Vista and above...well justifies a retro build.

Not really "retro" but 2006 is 2006 --

I use X-Fi Titanium PCI card in my Win10 computer (x470 chipset). Before that (I upgraded in 2016) I had a board with PCI slots, and used X-Fi Platinum I had from previous PC (2007-2011).
Its purpose is to enable EAX in games which still support it, but also work in Win10 without issues (like DOOM3, GTA4 or Condemned).
Also its "SVM" feature gives me unfair advantage in modern games such as Escаpe frоm Tаrkov 😉

I doubt I'll ever use integrated ("integrated" is "inferior by design") sound chips, even new ones.
Newer Sound Blaster sound card (SoundCore-based) also seem inferior to me, and lack of EAX makes them generic "gaming" consumer product with questionable advantages. I'd choose something more "professional" if I had to.
I also hope that thank to VR we will see advanced sound processing (like A3D with geometric reverb and reflections) come back to life.

I'm into games in general. 80's, 90's, 2000+. Consoles, computers, arcade, whatever. I bust out my NES and my n64 from time to time, and I play Doom, Half Life, and modern PC games roughly the same amount. Whatever I am in the mood for.

Here is another retro confession, DOS PC games aren't necessarily my favorites. I like DOS games, but honestly I have a weird soft spot for mid to late 90's and early 2000 3d games on just about every platform. I know they are kind of bad, but I kind of like that I guess. I find their odd quirks charming and deeply nostalgic.

Sound Blaster PRO is overrated, Roland stuff is overrated, Voodoo stuff is overrated V5 grossly, Gravis stuff is overrated, Cyrix stuff is overrated and not so compatible, Tseng ET4000 is grossly overrated and not so compatible, all pre Pentium stuff is overrated, and all after ISA slot stuff is not just overrated, but pointless. And yes retrocomputing is getting more and more expensive and people with money just hoard stuff.

PS. Nvidia Geforce DDR is also overrated, but if we go there, I have to write a book of overrated stuff 😁

I said earlier that anything past 2000 wasn't retro anymore but if I really think of it.. I draw the line at 1998.

I've picked up a Pentium II 400 with a voodoo 3 2000 last year, but I only kind of regard it as part of my retro pc collection. I guess it's because every game it's meant for requires Windows and deep in my heart I'm a DOS gamer.

By 1998 the golden age of MSDOS games was over, so that's why that's my cut off point.

Here is my confession: Despite going into this hobby to play games on authentic hardware I often can't do this because I a) can't stand how badly some games aged, b) can't stand the quirks of some era hardware. So, I usually end up playing GOG versions on my Ryzen 2600 PC instead..

appiah4 wrote on 2020-11-09, 08:59:

Here is my confession: Despite going into this hobby to play games on authentic hardware I often can't do this because I a) can't stand how badly some games aged, b) can't stand the quirks of some era hardware. So, I usually end up playing GOG versions on my Ryzen 2600 PC instead..

I think the only games which aged badly are those that were fairly disliked in the day as well ... e.g. early polygonal 3d, FMV titles. Most other games aged very well and their charm increased in a way, if you are willing to accept them for what they are.

I can't stand Windows 95.
Windows 98SE or go home.

kolderman wrote on 2020-11-09, 09:19:

Most other games aged very well and their charm increased in a way, if you are willing to accept them for what they are.

For some people this "charm" is enhanced by poor optimization and unstable framerates (either due to their hardware or the optimization). Yet for some people who have played games with good optimization it can be a problem, to say the least.

xcomcmdr wrote on 2020-11-09, 09:48:

I can't stand Windows 95.
Windows 98SE or go home.

Me too.
That's after I always thought I had a 98 on my Presario 5528, but later found out it was in fact 95 with 5 changed to 8 by someone in mspaint (in both start menu and fullscreen startup logo) -- you could clearly see evidence of editing around that digit! And some wallpapers and sounds were added so you would think it's a legit Win98.
When I installed actual 98, I never, ever looked back.

Hezus wrote on 2020-11-09, 07:20:

I've picked up a Pentium II 400 with a voodoo 3 2000 last year, but I only kind of regard it as part of my retro pc collection. I guess it's because every game it's meant for requires Windows and deep in my heart I'm a DOS gamer.

By 1998 the golden age of MSDOS games was over, so that's why that's my cut off point.

I sort of agree on this, but my limit is around -95 or even -94 when all the live action cinematic shit started to flood CD-ROMs. There are many excellent games released during 95-00, but to me the early 90's was the golden age of PC gaming as it had such a vast amount of obscure genres that were completely absent for many years after that. It was a time of experimentation and pretty much releasing what ever the designers wanted without giant corporations and their stock holders breathing down their neck.

sf78 wrote on 2020-11-09, 10:59:

Hezus wrote on 2020-11-09, 07:20:

I've picked up a Pentium II 400 with a voodoo 3 2000 last year, but I only kind of regard it as part of my retro pc collection. I guess it's because every game it's meant for requires Windows and deep in my heart I'm a DOS gamer.

By 1998 the golden age of MSDOS games was over, so that's why that's my cut off point.

....but to me the early 90's was the golden age of PC gaming as it had such a vast amount of obscure genres that were completely absent for many years after that. It was a time of experimentation and pretty much releasing what ever the designers wanted without giant corporations and their stock holders breathing down their neck.

This. I confess that I never cared much for First Person Shooters all that much, and once they made Doom they stopped trying to make anything else. Once 3D came in, it was just shooting, fighting, and racing games. I think the final death-knell came a little later though, when it was apparently unanimously decided that all games must be online multiplayer.

Moogle! wrote on 2020-11-09, 15:58:

I think the final death-knell came a little later though, when it was apparently unanimously decided that all games must be online multiplayer.

Yup, that pretty much ruined modern gaming for me. Fortunately, I have a backlog of retro stuff to last me years.

That reminds me of another retro confession. I missed a lot of console games from the late 90s and early 2000s due to mainly being a PC gamer at that time. Planning to catch up on those as well, so I got myself a PlayStation 2 and a Sony Trinitron CRT TV.

sf78 wrote on 2020-11-09, 10:59:

Hezus wrote on 2020-11-09, 07:20:

I've picked up a Pentium II 400 with a voodoo 3 2000 last year, but I only kind of regard it as part of my retro pc collection. I guess it's because every game it's meant for requires Windows and deep in my heart I'm a DOS gamer.

By 1998 the golden age of MSDOS games was over, so that's why that's my cut off point.

I sort of agree on this, but my limit is around -95 or even -94 when all the live action cinematic shit started to flood CD-ROMs. There are many excellent games released during 95-00, but to me the early 90's was the golden age of PC gaming as it had such a vast amount of obscure genres that were completely absent for many years after that. It was a time of experimentation and pretty much releasing what ever the designers wanted without giant corporations and their stock holders breathing down their neck.

Totally agree, especially for DOS because PC gaming took a while to prove themselves. A lot of early DOS games are straight bad (and some excellent too of course) but they are also so interesting and unique.

That is what I like about the early 3d era too. Nobody knew what to do with that third dimension, and so they tried all kinds of weird stuff that didn't survive to the modern era.

Cyberdyne wrote on 2020-11-09, 06:13:

PS. Nvidia Geforce DDR is also overrated, but if we go there, I have to write a book of overrated stuff 😁

Interesting can you say more about this opinion? I think to remember back in its days there was quite some boost compared to the SDR early version (beside the AGP wattage bus specification problem) in frame rates and I always thought that should have been the real only first Geforce . 😀

On the other hand, I've only ever seen the "ATI Rage Fury MAXX is best 1999 card" narrative here, as well as the 24mb physical memory V2SLI falsehoods.

386SX wrote on 2020-11-09, 17:49:

Cyberdyne wrote on 2020-11-09, 06:13:

PS. Nvidia Geforce DDR is also overrated, but if we go there, I have to write a book of overrated stuff 😁

Interesting can you say more about this opinion? I think to remember back in its days there was quite some boost compared to the SDR early version (beside the AGP wattage bus specification problem) in frame rates and I always thought that should have been the real only first Geforce . 😀

You want low power and same retro compatibility, get yourself a Geforce 2 MX 😁

leileilol wrote on 2020-11-10, 01:55:

ATI Rage Fury MAXX

That must be the worst name for a video card ever...

Unless there is also an ATI Rage Fury Mania Frenzy MAXX EXXTREME NTH DEGREE EDITION! 😁