RandomStranger wrote on 2023-01-31, 15:15:

Found it on Saturday on a local trading. It was up there for less than a day. Wasn't under priced, but the discs are completely scratch-free and finding one that isn't an EA Classics or whatever else bargin bin release is difficult, so I jumped before anyone else had the chance. I got it today and already run on my old top-speed test track, Outer Loop, a speed test with the trusty old Corolla. And the graphics is actually better than I remembered.

IMG_20230131_153231.jpg

Wow that brings back memories! I spent so many hours on that game when it was fresh out, good times! I often miss my 20s, life was so grand.

Syndicate Wars.

The original Syndicate is one of my favorite DOS games but I've never even seen the PC version of Syndicate Wars in person, I did play the heck out of the PS1 version though. I imagine I'd have some less than pleasant things to say about the PS1 versions controls these days so I'm looking forward giving the PC version a go in its full mouse controlled SVGA glory.

Sombrero wrote on 2023-04-04, 10:02:

The original Syndicate is one of my favorite DOS games but I've never even seen the PC version of Syndicate Wars in person, I did play the heck out of the PS1 version though. I imagine I'd have some less than pleasant things to say about the PS1 versions controls these days so I'm looking forward giving the PC version a go in its full mouse controlled SVGA glory.

Nice catch! I always heard good things about the Syndicate games, but I never got into them as a kid for some reason. Was probably too busy playing C&C and Red Alert for the umpteenth time. Speaking of which, I recently spent an entire 5 EUR on this, based on your erm "glowing recommendation". 😁

The plan is to go thorough it after I finish replaying Tiberian Sun and its expansion. I'm guessing it doesn't feature any connections to Red Alert? That would suit me fine since I don't intend to revisit RA2 at this time.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2023-04-04, 12:53:

Nice catch! I always heard good things about the Syndicate games, but I never got into them as a kid for some reason. Was probably too busy playing C&C and Red Alert for the umpteenth time.

Thanks! They never did gain mainstream popularity for a reason I guess, sci-fi setting with simple "point mouse and shoot" gameplay but I'm a sucker for dark dystopian future so Syndicate has always suited me well.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2023-04-04, 12:53:

Speaking of which, I recently spent an entire 5 EUR on this, based on your erm "glowing recommendation". 😁
The plan is to go thorough it after I finish replaying Tiberian Sun and its expansion. I'm guessing it doesn't feature any connections to Red Alert? That would suit me fine since I don't intend to revisit RA2 at this time.

Haha the last level STILL sometimes pops in to my mind and make me wonder the F were they thinking, but I still can't truly hate the game. Sure it has some big and small issues but I still enjoyed the first 50% of the game before it started to get to my nerves, hopefully you like it better.

And no RA connection nor Tiberian Sun for that matter actually, it happens during Tiberian Dawn and has plenty of fan service for it which I greatly approved.

Sombrero wrote on 2023-04-04, 13:17:

And no RA connection nor Tiberian Sun for that matter actually, it happens during Tiberian Dawn and has plenty of fan service for it which I greatly approved.

In that case, I'll bump it up on my replay list. I've revisited the original C&C and RA a few years ago, so their plot points are still somewhat fresh in my memory.

I'm slightly less fond of their sequels, and don't remember much about their stories. But I do intend to replay them as well, when time permits.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2023-04-04, 12:53:

Renegade.jpg

The plan is to go thorough it after I finish replaying Tiberian Sun and its expansion. I'm guessing it doesn't feature any connections to Red Alert? That would suit me fine since I don't intend to revisit RA2 at this time.

i enjoyed it, not up to the standards of some similar fps but still fun anyway! though it fits into the c&c 'world' quite well its soon forgotten in gameplay

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2023-04-04, 13:45:

Sombrero wrote on 2023-04-04, 13:17:

And no RA connection nor Tiberian Sun for that matter actually, it happens during Tiberian Dawn and has plenty of fan service for it which I greatly approved.

In that case, I'll bump it up on my replay list. I've revisited the original C&C and RA a few years ago, so their plot points are still somewhat fresh in my memory.

I'm slightly less fond of their sequels, and don't remember much about their stories. But I do intend to replay them as well, when time permits.

No need to worry about the plot points, just couple familiar characters from C&C and that's it storywise. OG C&C doesn't have much of a story anyway and the story in Renegade is forgettable campy garbage. Literally, I have no recollection what the plot was about. It's much more about the setting and the world itself and it very obviously does its best to hit right in the nostalgia, in which it often succeeds. In fact it's the best part of the game in my opionion, as a FPS without the C&C connection it would be one miserable game if you ask me.

By the way, don't push RA2 too far away. While the original C&C might be my favorite due to the mountain of nostalgia I have for it, I'd say RA2 is objectively the best of them. Currenly loading my RTS batteries before replaying it myself.

Got Unreal and Soldier of Fortune from a local seller.

Working well.

Demetrio wrote on 2023-05-04, 19:03:

Got Unreal and Soldier of Fortune from a local seller.

two great games looking good on that crt

SoF and SoF2 are personal favorites 😀

Have to agree with gerry. SOF 1 and 2 are great first-person shooters. I like the second one a bit more though. But SOF 1 is also cool.

gerry wrote on 2023-05-05, 10:14:

Demetrio wrote on 2023-05-04, 19:03:

Got Unreal and Soldier of Fortune from a local seller.

two great games looking good on that crt

SoF and SoF2 are personal favorites 😀

Yeah, as an FPS enthusiast it's a shame I've never played SoF 😅

I will play it after finishing Dark Forces and Unreal.

BTW, with EAX enabled, the audio is awesome 💪 (tried with the tutorial).

predator_085 wrote on 2023-05-05, 10:25:

Have to agree with gerry. SOF 1 and 2 are great first-person shooters. I like the second one a bit more though. But SOF 1 is also cool.

good to meet fellow appreciators of SoF! 😀 both games have, imo, excellent fps controls / mechanics and made for enjoyable experiences

SoF2 is indeed a great game, some great maps/ levels

not sure its 'endlessly replayable' with its random mission generator - but i did enjoy that too

Soldier of Fortune. What is this curiosity? Some kind of Unreal Tournament? 🤔

gerry wrote on 2023-05-06, 18:54:

good to meet fellow appreciators of SoF! :) both games have, imo, excellent fps controls / mechanics and made for enjoyable exp […]
Show full quote

predator_085 wrote on 2023-05-05, 10:25:

Have to agree with gerry. SOF 1 and 2 are great first-person shooters. I like the second one a bit more though. But SOF 1 is also cool.

good to meet fellow appreciators of SoF! 😀 both games have, imo, excellent fps controls / mechanics and made for enjoyable experiences

SoF2 is indeed a great game, some great maps/ levels

not sure its 'endlessly replayable' with its random mission generator - but i did enjoy that too

Yes the mission generator is a funny thing to play around with. I really like the SOF games. They are among my favourite FPS of that area. I would not consider them as good as Unreal or Half-Life but they are still very good games.

@Kahenraz The SOF games have multiplayer of course but the core gaming experience is the campaign mode. These games were interesting because they had a rather realistic military setting compared to most other games which were SCFI and the enemies reacted to hits from your weapons in a more vast way than in other contemporary games. It is very brutal game where you can blow your enemies to pieces literally.

Bought a NOS copy of Prey (2006) today, albeit the budget re-release. It was sealed when I got it, so the CD key wasn't used. This was important to me because I read that this game requires online activation via Steam. However, it turns out that this Sold Out re-release does not need to be activated! EDIT - Prey doesn't require online activation after all, see below. It just asks for the CD key during installation and nothing else. Additionally, after applying the official patch 1.4 (included on the disk) the game becomes completely DRM-free, and works without even needing the disc in the drive. I looked at the patch notes, and the developers did indeed remove the disc check.

IMO, this is the best release of Prey if you intend to play it on an offline WinXP rig with no internet connection, like I do. It should be a great showpiece for EAX5 as well.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2023-05-19, 09:10:

Prey.jpg

Bought a NOS copy of Prey (2006) today, albeit the budget re-release. It was sealed when I got it, so the CD key wasn't used. This was important to me because I read that this game requires online activation via Steam. However, it turns out that this Sold Out re-release does not need to be activated! It just asks for the CD key during installation and nothing else. Additionally, after applying the official patch 1.4 (included on the disk) the game becomes completely DRM-free, and works without even needing the disc in the drive. I looked at the patch notes, and the developers did indeed remove the disc check.

IMO, this is the best release of Prey if you intend to play it on an offline WinXP rig with no internet connection, like I do. It should be a great showpiece for EAX5 as well.

If you happen to mean the "CD keys activate on Steam" on PCGamingWiki I'm 99.9% certain that just means you can activate a free Steam copy with the CD key. Looking at the requirements section on original release box it says nothing about needing Steam or online connection.

Let us know what you think about the game, I've been curious about this one for a while now.

Sombrero wrote on 2023-05-19, 09:22:

If you happen to mean the "CD keys activate on Steam" on PCGamingWiki I'm 99.9% certain that just means you can activate a free Steam copy with the CD key. Looking at the requirements section on original release box it says nothing about needing Steam or online connection.

I wasn't sure of that myself, as the wording was kinda ambiguous. There's also this Vogons thread from back in the day: PREY to require activation on install

Let us know what you think about the game, I've been curious about this one for a while now.

Will do! It seems to be using the Doom 3 engine, so it should feel very familiar, since I've just finished that.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2023-05-19, 09:33:

Sombrero wrote on 2023-05-19, 09:22:

If you happen to mean the "CD keys activate on Steam" on PCGamingWiki I'm 99.9% certain that just means you can activate a free Steam copy with the CD key. Looking at the requirements section on original release box it says nothing about needing Steam or online connection.

I wasn't sure of that myself, as the wording was kinda ambiguous. There's also this Vogons thread from back in the day: PREY to require activation on install

Page 2 from that topic: Re: PREY to require activation on install

"Though we very much wanted to include online authentication for the retail release of Prey, we made the very recent decision to remove it due to technical difficulties in implementing it in time for our public release. Therefore we will not be including any online authentication with the retail release of Prey. This does not in any way affect and has nothing to do with our commitment to release Prey through online digital distribution via the Triton streaming system. Both the online demo and the final release of Prey will be available via Triton."

No idea where that quote is from but sounds like this game just barely dodged the bullet, no thanks to the developers though.

Sombrero wrote on 2023-05-19, 09:48:

No idea where that quote is from but sounds like this game just barely dodged the bullet, no thanks to the developers though.

Heh, looks like I missed that part. I read about the activation on the PC Gaming Wiki, searched Vogons, saw the first post in that thread and I figured it had it.

Glad to be proven wrong! Online activation is the worst.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2023-05-19, 09:10:

Prey.jpg

Bought a NOS copy of Prey (2006) today, albeit the budget re-release. It was sealed when I got it, so the CD key wasn't used. This was important to me because I read that this game requires online activation via Steam. However, it turns out that this Sold Out re-release does not need to be activated! EDIT - Prey doesn't require online activation after all, see below. It just asks for the CD key during installation and nothing else. Additionally, after applying the official patch 1.4 (included on the disk) the game becomes completely DRM-free, and works without even needing the disc in the drive. I looked at the patch notes, and the developers did indeed remove the disc check.

IMO, this is the best release of Prey if you intend to play it on an offline WinXP rig with no internet connection, like I do. It should be a great showpiece for EAX5 as well.

None of the original Prey releases need online activation, not just Sold-Out. I picked one of the original releases (used) maybe last year.

Also you can activate the key on Steam and get another digital copy without any restriction regarding your physical copy.