Re: Windows 95/98 games you never get tired of?

Posted on Today, 10:33

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by Joseph_Joestar

in Windows

in Windows

My most favourite game though is C&C or RA1 although play this in XP now with the First Decade Patch. There was a C&C Gold which ran natively under Windows 9x and had higher resolution graphics and better unit/building portraits. As for RA, that game also had a separate Win9x executable on the disc …

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Re: Windows 95/98 games you never get tired of?

Posted on Yesterday, 20:44

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by Joseph_Joestar

in Windows

in Windows

Heroes of Might & Magic 2 and 3 Diablo 2 Unreal Tournament 99

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Re: Should I build multiple PCs to play different era pc games or just one?

Posted on Yesterday, 19:00

by

by Joseph_Joestar

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

It's possible to achieve full DOS, Win 9x and competent Win XP universal system. It's hard, but it's possible. Agreed. For example, an AthlonXP CPU in a SocketA motherboard which has an a ISA slot can serve this purpose reasonably well. ACPI Throttle and SetMul can be used to slow down such a …

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Re: Sound Blaster LIVE! Versions

Posted on Yesterday, 17:10

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by Joseph_Joestar

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

biessea wrote on Yesterday, 16:20: I just want to make it work correctly and enjoy some old games as they have to be enjoyed. Try my guide. Using that approach, you get support for loading soundfonts which can be used for General MIDI music in DOS games as long as they run under the Win9x MS-DOS …

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Re: What game are you playing now?

Posted on Yesterday, 14:04

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by Joseph_Joestar

in Milliways

in Milliways

I don't think the GF4 displays Splinter Cell shadows correctly either, you need a GF3 for that. Someone will correct me on this. The readme file of the first game says that GeForce3 and 4 can both do ShadowBuffers in hardware, which is what you want for the best shadows. I can definitively see a …

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Re: What game are you playing now?

Posted on Yesterday, 13:46

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by Joseph_Joestar

in Milliways

in Milliways

Finished the original Splinter Cell, moving on to Pandora Tomorrow. Still using the AthlonXP + GeForce4 rig, since my WinXP GPU is too new to display the shadows correctly. Noticing lots of small but nice gameplay improvements, like being able to use the optic cable and lockpicks straight from the …

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Re: A couple (or, perhaps, quite a bit more) rigs for all ages

Posted on 2020-10-19, 16:22

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by Joseph_Joestar

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

I've actually managed to buy a boxed copy of Norton Commander! Now THAT is a rare find! Wow! I don't think I've ever seen one of those before. Great score! In the mean time I've switched the 16 Mb Savage 4 in Shaman for a 32 Mb one. Works like a charm, and UT is surprisingly playable at max …

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Re: What game are you playing now?

Posted on 2020-10-18, 21:51

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by Joseph_Joestar

in Milliways

in Milliways

The whole reason I liked Splinter Cell was because of the compartmentalized stealth sections. Unlike Thief, screwing up doesn't mean you get most of the units on the entire map after you. I'm not really a fan of the Thief design and much prefer the less open world designs of Splinter Cell. I don't …

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Re: S3 Virge Graphics Card RAM Upgrade/Overclock

Posted on 2020-10-18, 17:08

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by Joseph_Joestar

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

Out of curiosity, how do S3D DOS games run on an overclocked DX? Or a GX2 for that matter? I'm mostly wondering if Tomb Raider can finally hit 30 FPS at 640x480.

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Re: What game are you playing now?

Posted on 2020-10-18, 09:48

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by Joseph_Joestar

in Milliways

in Milliways

It's kind of surreal playing Splinter Cell on a retro Windows 2000 PC and then realizing that all the computers which you access in-game also use that OS. :D Anyway, the game is fun, but the first couple of missions feel very scripted, almost like an interactive movie. Especially the one on the Oil …

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Re: PSU for Socket A - Athlon XP 3000+

Posted on 2020-10-17, 19:10

by

by Joseph_Joestar

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Found the AthlonXP datasheet. On page 22 the electrical specifications of the CPU are listed, and they do suggest 30A or more is needed. It's possible that some modern PSUs can handle this better nowadays, but it was no myth back in the day.

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Re: PSU for Socket A - Athlon XP 3000+

Posted on 2020-10-17, 18:52

by

by Joseph_Joestar

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

The Serpent Rider wrote on 2020-10-17, 18:48: That's a common myth. You don't need that much current. Modern PSU with 25A should more that enough. If I remember correctly, it's based on AMDs own tech specs for the AthlonXP CPU. Here's a contemporary forum thread discussing the issue, but I don't …

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Re: PSU for Socket A - Athlon XP 3000+

Posted on 2020-10-17, 18:46

by

by Joseph_Joestar

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Don't just look at the watts, check how many amps are on the 5V rail. You want at least 30A there for high-end AthlonXP CPUs. I ended up getting a used LC Power branded PSU from the early 2000s for mine, and it has served me well so far *knock on wood*.

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Re: A couple (or, perhaps, quite a bit more) rigs for all ages

Posted on 2020-10-17, 15:28

by

by Joseph_Joestar

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

Not sure if this helps, but I just remembered reading somewhere that if you set the "PNP OS Installed" option to "Yes" in the BIOS, it will prevent automatic resource assignment for ISA PnP cards under DOS. No idea if that works for on-board devices though, and I don't think all BIOS types have that …

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Re: A couple (or, perhaps, quite a bit more) rigs for all ages

Posted on 2020-10-17, 14:23

by

by Joseph_Joestar

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

Good news: GUS works. Bad news, there's a conflict with onboard audio. And there seems to be no way to disable it. Congrats on the GUS! It sucks that there's no option in the BIOS to disable on-board devices. For Windows installs, it's sometimes possible to free up the resources used by on-board …

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Re: what will you do when your last hardware fails?

Posted on 2020-10-17, 11:19

by

by Joseph_Joestar

in Milliways

in Milliways

On the other hand, with DOSBOX, one doesn't have to worry about monitor compatibility with older games. Personally, I love DOSBox and use it mainly for MT-32 and GUS emulation since getting that hardware at reasonable prices is an impossible task where I live. That said, issues with graphics …

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Re: R.I.P. Sound Blaster Audigy 2zs

Posted on 2020-10-17, 09:22

by

by Joseph_Joestar

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Wolfus wrote on 2020-10-17, 09:03: X-Fi is prone to interference from (I think) more energy demanding video cards. I never experienced any such issues with my X-Fi, but I'm using the SB0880 Titanium PCIe model from 2008.

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Re: My 1st DOS gaming build.. Need some advice

Posted on 2020-10-17, 04:17

by

by Joseph_Joestar

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Yamaha 71x cards are a great choice for DOS gaming. They are SBPro compatible by default but can also deliver 16-bit sound in WSS mode, for games that support it. And while they don't suffer from any of the bugs that plague Creative's cards, they do have a few minor issues of their own (e.g. lack of …

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Re: My 1st DOS gaming build.. Need some advice

Posted on 2020-10-16, 21:54

by

by Joseph_Joestar

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

You can look at the card's model number and compare it to this chart. Also, OPL3 chips are usually marked as such. However, the print on the chip may be difficult to make out, especially on blurry, low-res seller pictures.

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Re: My 1st DOS gaming build.. Need some advice

Posted on 2020-10-16, 21:41

by

by Joseph_Joestar

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Are there any other solid SB choices for what I want to do? Or any you would recommend over the AWE32? I was told to stay away from the AWE64 due to no OPL3.. Short answer: there is no single, perfect DOS sound card. The AWE32 with genuine OPL3 is an excellent choice overall. Another option would …

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