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First post, by howdid_i_gethere

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I have old PC games from the 90's and early 2000's that I would love to play again; but, Windows 8 apparently can't handle it. 😒

I'm brand new to the emulation and virtual machine thing. Any suggestions?

Reply 1 of 18, by collector

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There is no single answer. It depends on the game. Some require next to nothing, some compatibility patches and others leave you little choice other than a VM. It best to ask about specific games and you can get a better answer.

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Reply 2 of 18, by keenmaster486

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One word: Google. Google is your friend. Sometimes you can get information on specific games, but for the games you're talking about probably a Windows 98 VM set up in VirtualBox would at least get them running.

If they're DOS games then use DOSBox. Period. Or build a machine with real DOS on it, or buy a retro DOS laptop. The 8-bit Guy has a great YouTube video on picking out a DOS gaming laptop. Watch it, and you'll be a little better informed.

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Reply 3 of 18, by ZellSF

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collector wrote:

There is no single answer. It depends on the game. Some require next to nothing, some compatibility patches and others leave you little choice other than a VM. It best to ask about specific games and you can get a better answer.

This is very much true. That said most problems are rendering related, I would try to run the game with dgVoodoo2, DXGL, DxWnd or ddrawcompat first.

Would not recommend emulation or virtualization of Windows 3D games unless absolutely necessary.

Reply 4 of 18, by collector

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Yes, for Windows games emulation or virtualization is purely a means of last resort.

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Reply 6 of 18, by Stiletto

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Kerr Avon wrote:

http://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Home

is a good site for helping you to get old games running on a modern PC.

Or, you know, this site. 😉

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Reply 7 of 18, by Wazzles

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collector wrote:

There is no single answer. It depends on the game. Some require next to nothing, some compatibility patches and others leave you little choice other than a VM. It best to ask about specific games and you can get a better answer.

I had problems in the past with mouselook when using a VM. I don't know if this still happens, but it's something to consider if you go this route. Look into source ports, patches, anything like that.

Reply 8 of 18, by awgamer

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howdid_i_gethere wrote:

I have old PC games from the 90's and early 2000's that I would love to play again; but, Windows 8 apparently can't handle it. 😒

I'm brand new to the emulation and virtual machine thing. Any suggestions?

dgVoodoo2, it does glide & directx1-8 dgVoodoo 2 for DirectX 11

Reply 9 of 18, by Roman78

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And don't forget ScummVM.

But if you want to virtualize a Windows 98 or Windows XP you could install VirtualBox or VMWare (both are free). Get a copy of Windows and install it on the virtual machine. But not everything is working fine on a Virtual machine.

Someone on a German forum said playing games on a virtual or emulated machine is... eeehh... well... he made a reference to a Rubber Doll. 🤣

Reply 10 of 18, by candle_86

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you can also check GOG for the games, they did all the heavy lifting already.

ITs how I play Starfleet Academy on Windows 10

Reply 13 of 18, by Jorpho

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GOG's prices are just low enough that I can see why someone might consider buying games there rather than struggle with configuring DOSBox.

I wonder if Mr. Howdid_i_gethere will be returning?

Reply 14 of 18, by brotalnia

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If you don't want to build a dedicated retro computer, and don't want to use VMs either, then installing Windows XP as a second OS would provide compatibility with a lot of older games. Ivy Bridge was the last microarchitecture officially supported by XP, so if the computer is a bit older you should be able to find drivers from your motherboard manufacturer. There are also 3rd party drivers for Nvidia's current generation of cards (GTX 970/980), and official ones for all previous.

Reply 15 of 18, by MusicallyInspired

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Jorpho wrote:

GOG's prices are just low enough that I can see why someone might consider buying games there rather than struggle with configuring DOSBox.

This is true. However, there are a fair number of DOS games, for example, on GOG that don't use optimal settings and even more that use the wrong version of CONF for the version of DOSBox it's using and requires a fair amount of tweaking for best experience. But it is nice to have it "just work."

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Reply 16 of 18, by Tertz

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MusicallyInspired wrote:

However, there are a fair number of DOS games, for example, on GOG that don't use optimal settings and even more that use the wrong version of CONF for the version of DOSBox it's using and requires a fair amount of tweaking for best experience. But it is nice to have it "just work."

Also there are limits of modern hardware/software without way to overcome. As I know the sum lag of best today LCD is near 40 ms, - it's significant, while CRT had no it. Win7 and later need either noticable sound lag or bad sound, as blocksize=256 works only with rate=11025. Action games, especially platformers and scroll shooters, will have less comfortable gameplay than were designed.

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Reply 17 of 18, by ZellSF

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Tertz wrote:
MusicallyInspired wrote:

However, there are a fair number of DOS games, for example, on GOG that don't use optimal settings and even more that use the wrong version of CONF for the version of DOSBox it's using and requires a fair amount of tweaking for best experience. But it is nice to have it "just work."

Also there are limits of modern hardware/software without way to overcome. As I know the sum lag of best today LCD is near 40 ms

Uh, no. Best LCDs are closer to 5ms. 40ms is considered extremely bad for computer LCD monitors. You have to go to TVs for that to be common.

Reply 18 of 18, by clueless1

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Roman78 wrote:

And why would you pay for games on GOG you already own. At least as i noticed from the TS is that he has the games already.

I stuff my GOG.com wishlist with:
-old games I already own, but am either lacking documentation, or would just like the flexibility to easily run the games on a modern PC. Lots of times you get hint books or strategy guides with the purchase too!
-old games that I've lost the media for, but still retain the documentation. Weird, but when I visited my mom last summer and went through my old room, I found game disks without manuals, and manuals without game disks. 😀

It also helps that most GOG.com games configured for DOSBox allow you to get the original files or make original install disks and install those on a real DOS PC. I've even come across a game or two that is set up for ScummVM that I could get working in real DOS.

I love the wishlist feature because if you're patient, you can get just about any game for 50-90% off when sales come along. That usually comes out to anywhere between 60 cents and 3 bucks.

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