Duke Nukem II complains a lot, so I guess that one is worth considering seems to need at least 560K free, possibly more. I'd say it was just on the border of when you start having to skip loading drivers/TSRs to play it.

Elder Scrolls: Arena. I don't remember the exact amount it wants but its over 600k

I really f...g hate DOS games that require EMS memory, why did they do not have an option to use XMS. I mean modern games like Alladdin, come on guys....

I remember getting Terminator Rampage on CD from a friend. I don't recall exactly how much conventional memory it needed, but it was over 600k and I could not get anywhere near that with the CD-ROM driver loaded. I don't believe I was ever able to get it running.

*edit*, I just read this game is based on the Arena engine.

Falcon 3.0 - it wants 600KB.

There are a few demos, I don't remember which, that cannot run on DOS 6.22. They require a lot of conventional RAM (silly amounts) but won't run if HIMEM is loaded, DOS 6.22 cannot provide enough free RAM otherwise and therefore, the demo cannot be started or else it requires "application specific" tweaking to get there - this gets worse if you need to load drivers for the sound card and this isn't uncommon with the scene's love of the GUS.

Why does the EGA version of WC2 need so much more memory than the VGA version?

IIRC Frontier:First Encounters required approx. 620kB. Its predecessor Frontier Elite 2 was leaner on conventional memory but required at least 500kB EMS.

Comanche.

It has fairly high conventional memory requirements, coupled with EMM386 incompatibilities.

clueless1 wrote:

Why does the EGA version of WC2 need so much more memory than the VGA version?

Could be the EGA version only comes with all animation enabled. Wing Commander would leave out animations if memory was low. 618K is so high that it probably is lacking other optimizations, too.

I don't remember what its requirements were, but I do remember Jane's ATF giving me the most headaches when it came to memory issues. Also, Falcon 3.0, as kixs already mentioned. There was also this bizarre game called Noctropolis that was problematic as well. It was also one of the very first games to feature FMV nudity. 😊 Sadly, neither the game or the tits were all that great.

stamasd wrote:

IIRC Frontier:First Encounters required approx. 620kB. Its predecessor Frontier Elite 2 was leaner on conventional memory but required at least 500kB EMS.

That is wrong.

I've already tested them both (german version) the last hour. Here the results:

Elite 2 Frontier needs at least 580kb conventional RAM and 768kb EMS RAM.

Elite First Encounters run at least with my XMS setting with mouse & CDROM drivers (556kb conventional RAM and 64MB XMS). No need of EMS.

Meh, so I was wrong. It's been more than 10 years since I played either. But I'm sure there was a version of FFE that required more than 600kB. I remember struggling to fit all drivers I needed (CD and mouse) and still have enough memory left.