If you want to run Duke Nukem 3D or Quake at ridiculous resolutions, wouldn't you be much better off with Windows source ports? I don't see any purpose in sticking with DOS for such a task. (I didn't even know the original vanilla DOS versions of Quake could run at 1600x1200. It seems unlikely.)

it's unlikely because Quake had a hard cap for 1280x1024 in resolution enumeration (which could be raised in the source or a hex editing)

ISA sound card is important if you wish to play those Build classics without it crashing when you enter water/sewer

leileilol wrote:

ISA sound card is important if you wish to play those Build classics without it crashing when you enter water/sewer

Oh, right, that. Ken Silverman provided a patch for that.
http://advsys.net/ken/build.htm

Jorpho wrote:

If you want to run Duke Nukem 3D or Quake at ridiculous resolutions, wouldn't you be much better off with Windows source ports?

Exactly.
In my personal opinion even games from the Win98 era are not worth building a retro machine for.
All these windows 9x games have modern ports or patches so you can run them on a modern windows machine.
Quake2, Quake3, Unreal Tournament, GTA2, Diablo, Commandos, Age of Empires, Jazz Jackrabbit 2, etc... can all be bought from GOG and run on a modern machine with no issues whatsoever.

GOG or Steam use DOSBox for DOS games, but you don't see a Virtual Machine HDD Image with Windows 98 and the Game preinstalled do you?
Personally, I have Win98SE installed on the Pentium only for USB and Network file transfer, and because it was easier to install DOS 7.1 with FAT32 support using the Win98SE boot disk (I don't have a floppy at all), from there it is a 100% DOS machine with an occasional win98 session for game transfers.

IMO a retro machine is mainly for DOS.
DOSBox is dangerously close to being the perfect replacement, but it's not there yet.

DOS sound card = ISA.

Speaking purely with an objective point of view:

Unfortunately, not all Windows 9x games are yet available on GOG or Steam (so, there still is a place for building a retro Windows 98 gaming PC).
Also, if I bought a game back in the late 90's, why must I now go and spend money again to buy the GOG or Steam version (unless it contains some enhanced graphics or gameplay not present in the original version)?
However, one can then probably install DOSBox or ScummVM yourself and run your legacy games on them, if you do not have an "era correct" Windows 98 PC.

Personally, I just like the idea to run my original game on the original hardware it was meant for.

What would be the next best thing to run W98 games that don't have patched port, excluding a period correct machine?
I would assume a virtual machine like VMware or VirtualBox?

James-F wrote:

What would be the next best thing to run W98 games that don't have patched port, excluding a period correct machine?
I would assume a virtual machine like VMware or VirtualBox?

Yes, that would most likely be the next best option. I haven't yet tried out the above examples, but I've played a bit with PCem and it works quite nicely (although, it currently only supports up to Pentium 1 CPU's)
Generally speaking, I would think that it comes down to how good the software can emulate the original hardware, in order for the legacy operating system (and therefore the game itself) to run properly.
Someone might prefer a specific graphics or sound card in their "period correct" hardware, whereas the emulator/virtual machine might not support it, leaving you with basic graphics and/or sound support.

James-F wrote:

Exactly. In my personal opinion even games from the Win98 era are not worth building a retro machine for. All these windows 9x g […]
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Jorpho wrote:

If you want to run Duke Nukem 3D or Quake at ridiculous resolutions, wouldn't you be much better off with Windows source ports?

Exactly.
In my personal opinion even games from the Win98 era are not worth building a retro machine for.
All these windows 9x games have modern ports or patches so you can run them on a modern windows machine.
Quake2, Quake3, Unreal Tournament, GTA2, Diablo, Commandos, Age of Empires, Jazz Jackrabbit 2, etc... can all be bought from GOG and run on a modern machine with no issues whatsoever.

GOG or Steam use DOSBox for DOS games, but you don't see a Virtual Machine HDD Image with Windows 98 and the Game preinstalled do you?
Personally, I have Win98SE installed on the Pentium only for USB and Network file transfer, and because it was easier to install DOS 7.1 with FAT32 support using the Win98SE boot disk (I don't have a floppy at all), from there it is a 100% DOS machine with an occasional win98 session for game transfers.

IMO a retro machine is mainly for DOS.
DOSBox is dangerously close to being the perfect replacement, but it's not there yet.

DOS sound card = ISA.

I run into compatibility problems with some EA titles from around 2002 on my newer machines. This is less OS related than graphics card/driver related, I think. Using wrappers might provide a fix, but I haven't tested yet.

James-F wrote:

In my personal opinion even games from the Win98 era are not worth building a retro machine for.
All these windows 9x games have modern ports or patches so you can run them on a modern windows machine.
Quake2, Quake3, Unreal Tournament, GTA2, Diablo, Commandos, Age of Empires, Jazz Jackrabbit 2, etc... can all be bought from GOG and run on a modern machine with no issues whatsoever.

Well, it does kinda depend on a few things. There are lots of games that weren't patched for XP compatibility, let alone Win7+ which broke compatibility with disc based protections, and then there's stuff like EAX/A3D/PowerVR/Force Feedback that don't necessarily have substitutes. Although if you run a retro XP system already, that does help cover a lot on its own.

You may get away with playing the dos game from within windows if the PC has enough horsepower.
I would think something like a P4 running Windows 98 and a PCI sound card with legacy support, say a SBLive - up to the Audigy's, Yamaha (being the most easy found cards)