Building a system to cover ~15 years of gaming is a bit of a challenge. In addition to speed sensitivity issues with older games, there is also the issue of hardware compatibility (esp. audio hardware).

The good news is adventure games aren't typically as heavy on the system requirements.

My initial thoughts is an AMD K6-2+/3+ system with a Voodoo3 graphics card (since you want Glide support). The Vooodo3 has good DOS gaming compatibility and the AMD K6-2+/3+ allows for a good range of throttling options to get down to ~386 speeds for older games. Not sure how well it will do with games from the Turbo XT / 286 era though.

Depending on what you want for audio options (e.g. FM synth, MT-32, etc.), getting a motherboard with at least a few ISA slots will option up some options for older ISA sound card hardware.

If you're looking to have more performance at the high end, then you're getting into Pentium III or Athlon territory. At which point it might become worthwhile to consider multiple systems.

It's also possible to get into more specialized all-in-one builds involving things like the Via C3 processor or my own Pentium 4 build (see signature). But this is getting more specialized and involving hardware that may be more difficult to come by.

You could use a CPU like the AMD K6@500mhz or Pentium 233 or AMD Duron@600mhz.
These are Easy to Down clock and adjust the CPU Speed to play games at All Speeds.

Use an S3 trio 64 2D DX video card with Voodoo-II 3DFX
AWE32 or 64 sound card or Sound Blaster 16 compatible.
Hard drive or CF-card
IDE CDROM
Floppy drives
Win98se with SP3 core update Patches
DirectX9
USB patch
USB PCI adapter
3com 3c509 Network card.

These are NOT the Fastest components but the Best Supported and Easy to Setup.
I am assuming you are looking to build a computer with the best performance and compatibility to play Many PC games fron DOS to Win98 Era.

Looks like a Fun Build.
Maybe put an Indiana Jones paint Scheme Theme on it.
Paint the Case.

Thank you both for your replies! These are definitely great suggestions. I've don't have any need to rush on this, so tracking down some of the more rare components isn't too big an issue. After doing some more research, though, I now feel I don't actually know what 'Glide' is used for. I was under the impression that it was used for DOS games in general, but does it aim more specifically at DOS games that utilize 3D? If so, not sure any LA adventure games really use that.

Although an Indy case would look fabulous, I'd probably go the Monkey Island route (my favourites)!

Glide was 3Dfx's proprietary 3D API used with early 3D games back in the mid-90s. This included both DOS and Windows games. Voodoo cards were generally required for Glide support.

It looks like Grim Fandango and Escape From Monkey Island both support Direct3D, so a Voodoo card isn't specifically required.

Oh that makes sense. So just to make sure I understand, VooDoo isn't necessarily needed, but a 3D card would be (for Grim and Escape)?

Intel486dx33 wrote on 2024-05-25, 04:18:

You could use a CPU like the AMD K6@500mhz or Pentium 233 or AMD Duron@600mhz.

that would mean scumm hardlocks

LucasArt's 90s 3d fare is pretty light on the capability (i.e. Jedi Knight has no blending functions or tricks beyond vertex color modulation), so I'd think a Pentium is fine - even for the episode I games (that aren't Starfighter)

Based on the system requirements, a 3D card is only a requirement for Escape from Monkey Island. Grim Fandango can use 3D acceleration, but it's not a strict requirement.

That said, if you're building a PC intending to play games up to the year 2000, any video card of that era will likely be a 3D card by default.

For 3D cards of that era, there are some good options. If you wanted to be strictly period correct you could go with something like a Voodoo3, nVidia TNT2, or GeForce. Alternatively you could go beyond that era and get something like GeForce 2/3/4.

For instance, I'm using a GeForce 4 4200 Ti in my own "all in one" Pentium 4 build. It works well for most games of the Windows 9x era as well as DOS.

Though for any card you did want to use, you'd want to read up on any potential compatibility issues with the primary games you are looking to play.

You don’t need Glide for any of those games.
Pentium MMX should be good as it can be slowed down.