Re: Are we opening sealed copies of old games?

Posted on 2022-01-10, 15:51

by

by Plasma

in Milliways

in Milliways

It depends on the game. Some older games are miserable to play without the manuals and/or maps. I wouldn't buy a sealed copy only for the manuals. But if it's not substantially more than an opened box, then why not? It's a better experience than squinting at a phone or using a janky homemade map.

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Re: Are we opening sealed copies of old games?

Posted on 2022-01-10, 13:44

by

by Plasma

in Milliways

in Milliways

And if the main concern is playing, you can just buy the game on GoG for probably the fraction of the price of a sealed physical copy and print the manual/map (or open it on your phone/tablet). Low-volume professional printing is expensive though. Unless the game is very rare, it's probably cheaper …

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Re: Socket 7: No "It's now safe to turn of your computer" message?

Posted on 2022-01-10, 13:38

by

by Plasma

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Disable "PM control by APM" in the BIOS setup.

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Re: Are we opening sealed copies of old games?

Posted on 2022-01-10, 13:22

by

by Plasma

in Milliways

in Milliways

If you are playing the game, physical manuals/maps included in the box can be very useful.

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Re: Are we opening sealed copies of old games?

Posted on 2022-01-10, 13:00

by

by Plasma

in Milliways

in Milliways

I don't go out of my way to buy sealed copies, but if they are about the same price as opened then I'll get the sealed one just because. When/if I get around to playing the game, I have no problem cracking it open. My one exception is if the game is incredibly rare, and I know there's basically …

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Re: Wikipedia deleted its "List of games with EAX support" page

Posted on 2022-01-10, 00:35

by

by Plasma

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

The few times I tried to contribute to wikipedia by providing corrections to inaccurate info, they were reverted in less than a day for no reason. I think most of their "editors" are power tripping narcissists.

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Re: Best windows xp based memory testing program?

Posted on 2022-01-05, 10:42

by

by Plasma

in Windows

in Windows

But you can't test the memory that "other stuff" is using. So the test will always be incomplete. I just let memtest86 run overnight.

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Re: Best windows xp based memory testing program?

Posted on 2022-01-05, 03:27

by

by Plasma

in Windows

in Windows

Why Windows-based? You can't test all the RAM while Windows is running.

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Re: Are there games that run playable on a XT 8088 PC can take advantage of either EMS or UMB?

Posted on 2022-01-03, 18:35

by

by Plasma

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

The EMS spec didn't exist until 1985, so any programs that use EMS are going to be after that. By the late 80s, anyone still using an original 4.77MHz PC/XT probably wasn't spending big bucks on an expanded memory board. So there is a very narrow window where it would make sense for game developers …

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Re: Pentium 233 MMX, Windows 98, DOS 7.1 and hard drive size limitations

Posted on 2022-01-01, 11:49

by

by Plasma

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

If you have a NIC with an EPROM socket, you can install a Promise DriveMAX ROM which will add BIOS support for drives up to 128GB. I have done this in several of my computers.

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Re: Sound Blaster: From best to worst

Posted on 2021-12-31, 12:30

by

by Plasma

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Probably CT2760

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Re: Newly made Gravis Ultrasound compatible cards ... what's the degree of interest?

Posted on 2021-12-30, 21:37

by

by Plasma

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

It's funny, about 20 years ago it was rare to find a GUS on ebay. But when they did pop up every several months they were only $15-30. I bought quite a few of them back then. These days they are constantly listed on ebay but the prices are nuts.

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Re: Do DVI to VGA converters make you lose fidelity?

Posted on 2021-12-30, 19:04

by

by Plasma

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

DVI-I contains the same analog RGB pins as VGA. So you can use a passive adapter and get the exact same signal.

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Re: 64 MB RAM for 486

Posted on 2021-12-30, 16:04

by

by Plasma

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

The full version of Death Rally won't install if you have 64MB or more (detects negative memory). I remember having to remove memory to install it. There is a patch available though. Early versions of Duke Nukem 3D Plutonium PAK had the same bug.

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Re: Most recent platform for Baby AT motherboards?

Posted on 2021-12-30, 09:48

by

by Plasma

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

You could install a mini ITX board in the case, offset towards the front. Then extend the ports to expansion slot brackets.

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Re: Rubber feet browned my PC metal case

Posted on 2021-12-30, 07:53

by

by Plasma

in Milliways

in Milliways

One thing to note, buffing/polishing will leave shiny spots on the matte paint. But that might be preferable to the brown stains.

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Re: Rubber feet browned my PC metal case

Posted on 2021-12-29, 12:53

by

by Plasma

in Milliways

in Milliways

Goof off contains acetone and will remove paint if you scrub too much. I would try something gentler first like isopropyl alcohol.

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Re: Are these normal prices for a 5.25" floppy disk drive?

Posted on 2021-12-25, 04:36

by

by Plasma

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

You can find one for around $50 if you are patient. It helps to also search for model numbers.

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Re: EGA DOS benchmarks?

Posted on 2021-12-23, 20:28

by

by Plasma

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

Well there's twice as much data to move around with 4-color CGA (2bpp) vs 16-color EGA (4bpp). On a slow system with an 8-bit bus that makes a big difference.

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Re: How does Sierra's EGA640.DRV even work?

Posted on 2021-12-22, 09:49

by

by Plasma

in DOS

in DOS

https://retrocomputing.stackexchange.com/ques … games/8707#8707

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