First post, by nault31
I have a retro project on my hands and I'd like to ask for advice on this particular project. My questions are what laptops to look for and what game port joystick is recommended for a particular game.
I've recently cleaned out my closet and sorted my collection of Papyrus Racing games. They go well with the Windows 3.1 and DOS 6.2 floppies that I recently bought from RetroTech in Peoria, IL. For nostalgia I've been playing the games but would like to setup a machine to natively run these games in particular, the racing ones with a gameport joystick/wheel.
-Indianapolis 500 the Simulation
-IndyCar Racing (1993)
-Nascar Racing (1994)
-Myst (The Win 3.1 version that I've had since 1994)
I know I can run these fine in Win95 but my goal is to create a use for the floppies that I recently bought. There's an old Packard Bell with a 120Mhz sitting in my dad's attic and I'm looking for something "portable" in this project. Also I already have a Dell Latitude C800 that came out of salvage and I plan to repair to use as a Windows 95/98 nostalgia machine. Currently my Windows 2000/XP gaming needs are met by a Dell Latitude D830 and for many years I've successfully ran the racing games in XP with VDMSound and my Logitech Momo Wheel.
My hangups are:
-Game Port compatibility in Windows 3.1. Either a laptop that has a built in dongle (Like the Thinkpad 755CD), PCMCIA adapter if it works in Win 3.1 (Like the New Media Basics PCMCIA adapter that I'm having trouble finding right now), or with a docking station that allows an external sound card.
-CD-ROM and Floppy compatibility
Since the racing games are on floppy and Myst is on CD-ROM, I'd like to have the ability for both either internal or external.
-Joystick/Wheel
For Indycar Racing and Nascar Racing, I'm looking at the Thrustmaster Formula T1 or Formula T2. If there are any other gameport wheels that work in Win 3.1 I'm open to suggestions.
For Indianapolis 500 the Simulation, I'm looking for any joystick that would work. I have not found documentation on compatible joysticks with that game.
-Laptop
I see that the IBM Thinkpad 755CD is already pretty famous for meeting everything and difficult to come by. I even found the game port cable P/N 85G1879 FRU 85G1896 for pretty cheap and wonder if it works for any laptops other than the 755CD.
In my research, I see that a similar adapter P/N 29H9467 FRU 29H9269 that says it is compatible with the ThinkPad 760 and 765.
Are there any other ThinkPads or docking stations that are compatible with these dongles? Or other laptops that meet similar criteria?
I don't need a battery because I plan to take it to a desk and keep it plugged in, then safely put it away.
Currently this is all funded by computer parts/software I sell on eBay. I have $100 to devote now for the laptop alone but that can easily double in the coming weeks. If there are any links please PM me rather than post because I hope that this can also help someone in the future searching via Google.
