VOGONS

Common searches


First post, by clueless1

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

I've been working on this for awhile and have compiled a small list of games that I'll put here. If there's enough interest, I'll keep this list updated in the OP especially if others add to the thread.

I'm limiting this list to Win9x/ME native games. DOS games that use DOSBox or ScummVM should go in Phil's thread here:
Digital DOS games (GOG, Steam...) Retro PC Compatibility Sheet: We need your input!

What I'm doing is just installing GOG.com games on a modern system, then copy-pasting the installed game folder to a Win9x/ME machine and trying to run. I'm not interested in time-consuming or challenging fixes that require muss and fuss. At most, I will edit some configuration files to change game paths, delete dgvoodoo and its .DLLs, or something equally simple. I know Phil has a video tutorial that involves some more complicated steps, but that's more than I'm interested in doing. 😊 I'm more interested in a list of games that "just work" than trying to fix games that don't "just work". With that said, here's my list of working games so far:

Abe's Oddysee
Arcanum
Baldur's Gate I and II
Blood 2 (mrewhite)
Deus Ex
Fallout 1 and 2
Freespace
Icewind Dale
Jazz Jackrabbit 2 (JayCeeBee64)
Lands of Lore 3
MDK
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault
Morrowind (edit: requires Visual C++ Runtime, which I unknowingly already had installed)
Pharaoh Gold
Planescape: Torment
Quake 2
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Return to Krondor
Syberia
Undying
Unreal Gold
Unreal Tournament
Unreal 2
Wizardry 8
X-Wing Alliance

Games that I couldn't get fully working:
Descent 3
Freespace 2
Might and Magic 6-8
MotoRacer
SimCity 4
System Shock 2
Thief 1-3
Ultima IX

If you want to contribute or correct one of my entries, just reply to the thread.

Last edited by clueless1 on 2019-09-05, 17:13. Edited 6 times in total.

The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.
OPL3 FM vs. Roland MT-32 vs. General MIDI DOS Game Comparison
Let's benchmark our systems with cache disabled
DOS PCI Graphics Card Benchmarks

Reply 1 of 59, by DosFreak

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++

These likely do not work due to the New Dark unofficial update. Not sure what the procedure would be to downgrade since I have the original versions (although I guess I could install the new dark update and run windiff), might be easier to contact GOG support to see if they have the old version without New Dark:
Thief 1-2
System Shock 2

How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
Make your games work offline

Reply 3 of 59, by clueless1

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t
squiggly wrote:

Would a registry diff tool be useful for Win95/98 games? Some of those games might require more than just the game folder being copied.

It's a given that some of these games require more than just the game folder being copied. I hate to quote myself, but you must've missed it:

I'm more interested in a list of games that "just work" than trying to fix games that don't "just work".

The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.
OPL3 FM vs. Roland MT-32 vs. General MIDI DOS Game Comparison
Let's benchmark our systems with cache disabled
DOS PCI Graphics Card Benchmarks

Reply 4 of 59, by vvbee

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

I think both thief 1 and 2 have the original exes included. I had both running in win 98 too, can't remember what I did for thief 2 but for thief 1 I think i created install.cfg and for my setup put those in there:
cd_path c:\games\
language english
resname_base +c:\games\thief\res
movie_path c:\games\thief\movies
load_path c:\games\thief\doc
script_module_path +c:\games\thief\doc\script
install_path c:\games\thief\

For freespace 2 I think you just need to merge two registry trees. In your typical local_machine/software or wherever I think there was (presumably after having attempted to run the game once) one called freespace2 and one called free or so, just put the stuff from free in freespace2 or vice versa but have the main thing be called freespace2 or whatever it was.

Reply 6 of 59, by clueless1

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

@mrewhite - thanks!

Just tested Descent 3 and it does not work. It lets you go through setup when you first launch the game, then when you try to play the game, it drops back to the desktop.

The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.
OPL3 FM vs. Roland MT-32 vs. General MIDI DOS Game Comparison
Let's benchmark our systems with cache disabled
DOS PCI Graphics Card Benchmarks

Reply 7 of 59, by vvbee

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

I'd argue that the list is shaping to be not nearly as useful as it could. People are interested in solutions, i.e. the removal of fuss, while this list seems interested in avoiding them. The hitch is that a general list of instructions on how to get win 9x gog games running there will by nature make this one obsolete while being more useful to the public.

Reply 8 of 59, by clueless1

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t
vvbee wrote:

I'd argue that the list is shaping to be not nearly as useful as it could. People are interested in solutions, i.e. the removal of fuss, while this list seems interested in avoiding them. The hitch is that a general list of instructions on how to get win 9x gog games running there will by nature make this one obsolete while being more useful to the public.

I agree. I just don't have it in me to maintain such a list or do the testing and upkeep that is required for it to be as useful as it can be. You or someone else is welcome to take the reigns if you want.

The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.
OPL3 FM vs. Roland MT-32 vs. General MIDI DOS Game Comparison
Let's benchmark our systems with cache disabled
DOS PCI Graphics Card Benchmarks

Reply 10 of 59, by JayCeeBee64

User metadata
Rank Retired
Rank
Retired

Add Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Collection to the list. Copy-paste the installed folder and run Jazz2.exe. Done.

More details here:

Epic Classics on GOG

Ooohh, the pain......

Reply 11 of 59, by clueless1

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

@JayCeeBee64 - thanks. I added it to the OP. 😀

The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.
OPL3 FM vs. Roland MT-32 vs. General MIDI DOS Game Comparison
Let's benchmark our systems with cache disabled
DOS PCI Graphics Card Benchmarks

Reply 12 of 59, by Joey_sw

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

SImCity 4 should works on win98SE with 256MB RAM, Pentium 4, and decent graphics card that support DirectX 8.
But that original CD-Rom releases, not sure if GOG mess that up with patches or something.

-fffuuu

Reply 13 of 59, by dr.zeissler

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

That's REALLY an important question for me. I have lot's of originals, but not all that I would like to play, but I use old-machines to do so.
It would be a real big benefit, if GOG-Games would work on old machines too, but it's really hard to find such informations.

e.g.:
https://www.gog.com/game/pod_gold?utm_s ... mail_alert

What about this game? Does it work an 98se/dx61 what about the music, additional cars/tracks? 161MB seems to me that there is no music at all?
The original had redbook_audio tracks.

Doc

Retro-Gamer 😀 ...on different machines

Reply 14 of 59, by dr.zeissler

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

You mentioned Motoracer. What about the CD-AudioTracks?, Addon-Racing-Tracks?
The Special Edition requires additional tools to play the cd-audio tracks.

Retro-Gamer 😀 ...on different machines

Reply 15 of 59, by clueless1

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t
dr.zeissler wrote:

You mentioned Motoracer. What about the CD-AudioTracks?, Addon-Racing-Tracks?
The Special Edition requires additional tools to play the cd-audio tracks.

MotoRacer is in the "not working" section. If I remember right, there's no way around the "Please insert CD" message. I ended up buying the original CD on ebay for like $5 so I could play it on my retro PC. 😀

dr.zeissler wrote:

It would be a real big benefit, if GOG-Games would work on old machines too, but it's really hard to find such informations.

That's what this thread is for. 😀 As you can see in my first post, way more games ARE working than NOT working. I'm actually a little surprised at my success rate, but I've only tested with the games that I bought. Hopefully other people here buy other games and test them and report here. If someone else wants to expand this to a tutorial on how to make games work that aren't, I'm all for that. I don't have the time to take it that far myself.

The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.
OPL3 FM vs. Roland MT-32 vs. General MIDI DOS Game Comparison
Let's benchmark our systems with cache disabled
DOS PCI Graphics Card Benchmarks

Reply 16 of 59, by clueless1

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

If anyone is interested, Phil and I have been building up a list of Win9x games from GOG that work on real hardware. It's a new tab on the Digital DOS Games sheet. He's got it set to read only, but if you want to contribute, let him know. Here's the sheet:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jojqk … dG5Q_MRJCxNP5eQ

The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.
OPL3 FM vs. Roland MT-32 vs. General MIDI DOS Game Comparison
Let's benchmark our systems with cache disabled
DOS PCI Graphics Card Benchmarks

Reply 17 of 59, by squiggly

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member
clueless1 wrote:

If anyone is interested, Phil and I have been building up a list of Win9x games from GOG that work on real hardware. It's a new tab on the Digital DOS Games sheet. He's got it set to read only, but if you want to contribute, let him know. Here's the sheet:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jojqk … dG5Q_MRJCxNP5eQ

I used to get a message at the top of this sheet describing the latest change...which was really useful to know what games had recently been added or updated. I don't see it anymore...do you know why?

Reply 18 of 59, by clueless1

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t
squiggly wrote:

I used to get a message at the top of this sheet describing the latest change...which was really useful to know what games had recently been added or updated. I don't see it anymore...do you know why?

Right now it says "Last edit was 4 days ago". Is that what you mean? You might have to be logged into a Google account to see that since it is no longer a public editable sheet.

The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.
OPL3 FM vs. Roland MT-32 vs. General MIDI DOS Game Comparison
Let's benchmark our systems with cache disabled
DOS PCI Graphics Card Benchmarks