kdixon90 wrote on 2025-02-11, 15:41:
Hi there! Found this while trying to relive the same childhood memory.
Hi! If you like tech demos/graphics demos of ~2000, please also have a look at The Chronicles of Jaruu Tenk.
It's not a game/demo, but more of an screensaver/tamagotchi kind of thing.
The story unfolds over time, but the characters are interactive.
Edit:
do any of yall have hay ideas?
Hi, yes, in principle. It's just me thinking out loud, though.
If the games use DirectX 7 Runtime or lower,
chances are good they can be run in software rendering or in partial hardware/software rendering on older Windows.
That means that PCem/86Box with an Direct 3D 5/6/7 capable graphics card and Windows 98SE-XP can be used.
If you're running Virtualbox 7.x and Windows 98SE, you can run SoftGPU.
It will emulate a 3D graphics card in software.
Bonus: With installing KernelEx, gdiplus.dll and unicows.dll good old Windows 98SE will be upgraded to Windows XP/Vista level in terms of application compatibility.
Then there's WINE.. You can run a copy of Linux on Windows 10/11, which then runs WINE.
Either by using WSL or by using an dedicated VM..
Or use Boxedwine, it's a WINE in a box (has minimal Linux to run it).
Another idea is to run a copy of Windows 8.x in a random VM.
Windows 8 had introduced a new software render, which can run Aero Glass in software.
That was meant to get rid of "Vista Basic" look. Maybe it also helps for applications.
Also possible is to run Windows XP in Vmware.
Using older Guest Additions, the 3D support might be still available.
For OpenGL, there's Mesa3D and some other software renderers AFAIK.
Edit: There's also a hardware solution. Have a look at Thin Clients.
The slightly older ones have good Windows 98SE/XP support.
Windows 98SE runs easier off CF cards, since it doesn't check for removable media bit.
It also runs fine below 256 MB of RAM, which matches the little RAM modules installed as default.
Just don't forget to check graphics chips. Something like an ATI Rage (Direct3D 6?) can be expected, but be careful with video memory.
It might be that the memory installed is sufficient for 640x480 only (in 3D).
So additional memory has to be installed, maybe. That's the downside with these little guys..
Edit: That's one of my thin clients..
Re: How to install DX7 but there is limited space?
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In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel
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