4 ms·

>Could be preloaded with games from the era So, only Microsoft published ones then. You realise that right? You can buy and play Windows XP era games on Steam

>Could be preloaded with games from the era So, only Microsoft published ones then. You realise that right? You can buy and play Windows XP era games on Steam and run them just great on Windows 10/11. FEAR is a great one, released in 2005, still looks and plays amazing. https://store.steampowered.com/app/21090/FEAR/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/21090/FEAR/ So I have no idea what you mean :)

MrFoof 3y ago
>You can buy and play Windows XP era games on Steam and run them just great on Windows 10/11. Or older (pre-Steam) games in a virtual machine. Hyper-V comes with Pro versions of Windows. VMWare has a Player that is also free (plus there's full Workstation). There's also VirtualBox, which sometimes is the packaged solution for very old titles sold on platforms like GOG. Never mind the solutions for Mac OS, Linux and BSD. Recently my jam is going back to 1994 and playing a game from the Windows 3.1/Windows 95 transition era, rife with 16-bit libraries -- Mordor: The Depths of Dejenol. A game in which it was likely a lot of older folks here played the crap out of the demo, but never bought the game because it involved sending a check in the mail -- and because even the demo could provide hundreds of hours of enjoyment. Though you can legitimately buy it online from its current IP owner for about $10 (more if you want a boxed copy!), and it's just as fun as I remember it 30 years ago. And setting it up in a virtual machine? Very straightforward, save for digging up some third-party audio library the game wanted. I actually just have a 40GB Windows XP VM I just maintain with all my old games from DOS and Windows 3.1 through 2002 or so. I can move it between hypervisors, between host OSes, etc. Just works. All my old games always ready to go.
- toasteros 3y ago
  I am not aware of any titles on GOG that are packaged with vortualbox, do you have any examples?
  - stonemetal12 3y ago
    I am pretty sure they meant DosBox. GOG is pretty well known for using that to support older games.
    - bombcar 3y ago
      Steam uses it too.
      - throwawaymobule 3y ago
        games on steam might, but are valve themselves actually doing any of that packaging? gog in perticular got a custom licensed version of dosbox in exchange for funding.
- jasomill 3y ago
  Older Windows games also run well on Wine[1] and (of course) Proton. [1] https://jasomill.at/Fallout2.mp4 https://jasomill.at/Fallout2.mp4 N.B.: AFAIK, running 16-/32-bit Windows software under open-source Wine on Mac OS, as seen here, is no longer possible on 10.15+ due to Apple dropping support for 32-bit software; commercial CrossOver[2] supports 32-bit software on newer Mac OS versions (and I assume 16-bit, though I haven't tested it). [2] https://www.codeweavers.com/crossover https://www.codeweavers.com/crossover
  - grishka 3y ago
    For 16-bit Windows software you can also install Windows 3.1/3.11 on DosBox.
- eru 3y ago
  Mordor: The Depths of Dejenol looks a bit like a graphically souped up NetHack from 1994?
  - MrFoof 3y ago
    Much more Wizardry-esque. Some stuff is procedurally generated, but the dungeon layout — which is mahoosive - is not.
- fyloraspit 3y ago
  I played the shit outta that demo oh the nostalgia
  - MrFoof 3y ago
    Everyone I knew in high school did. As in, DOZENS of people. The reality of your parents being unwilling to send a check to some guy in Colorado. Game wasn’t a real commercial success because its demo was too good, and it wasn’t on store shelves. IP rights were sold to Decklin’s Domain, who at least seems to be a great steward, even if the website looks straight out of the mid-90s. Original author is still around doing some startup consulting in the Denver area. Think he made the game damn near straight out of college. Again, still loads of fun. Completely worth the $10. I’ve been having a blast with it lately, and the help file is exhaustive like an early 90s computer game manual.
nibbleshifter 3y ago
I've been meaning to replay FEAR sometime. Thanks for the reminder!
dimgl 3y ago
Unfortunately, while it does run on Windows 11, there's a bit of light modding you'll have to do in order to get it to be stable.

MrFoof 3y ago

>You can buy and play Windows XP era games on Steam and run them just great on Windows 10/11. Or older (pre-Steam) games in a virtual machine. Hyper-V comes with Pro versions of Windows. VMWare has a Player that is also free (plus there's full Workstation). There's also VirtualBox, which sometimes is the packaged solution for very old titles sold on platforms like GOG. Never mind the solutions for Mac OS, Linux and BSD. Recently my jam is going back to 1994 and playing a game from the Windows 3.1/Windows 95 transition era, rife with 16-bit libraries -- Mordor: The Depths of Dejenol. A game in which it was likely a lot of older folks here played the crap out of the demo, but never bought the game because it involved sending a check in the mail -- and because even the demo could provide hundreds of hours of enjoyment. Though you can legitimately buy it online from its current IP owner for about $10 (more if you want a boxed copy!), and it's just as fun as I remember it 30 years ago. And setting it up in a virtual machine? Very straightforward, save for digging up some third-party audio library the game wanted. I actually just have a 40GB Windows XP VM I just maintain with all my old games from DOS and Windows 3.1 through 2002 or so. I can move it between hypervisors, between host OSes, etc. Just works. All my old games always ready to go.

toasteros 3y ago
I am not aware of any titles on GOG that are packaged with vortualbox, do you have any examples?
- stonemetal12 3y ago
  I am pretty sure they meant DosBox. GOG is pretty well known for using that to support older games.
  - bombcar 3y ago
    Steam uses it too.
    - throwawaymobule 3y ago
      games on steam might, but are valve themselves actually doing any of that packaging? gog in perticular got a custom licensed version of dosbox in exchange for funding.
jasomill 3y ago
Older Windows games also run well on Wine[1] and (of course) Proton. [1] https://jasomill.at/Fallout2.mp4 https://jasomill.at/Fallout2.mp4 N.B.: AFAIK, running 16-/32-bit Windows software under open-source Wine on Mac OS, as seen here, is no longer possible on 10.15+ due to Apple dropping support for 32-bit software; commercial CrossOver[2] supports 32-bit software on newer Mac OS versions (and I assume 16-bit, though I haven't tested it). [2] https://www.codeweavers.com/crossover https://www.codeweavers.com/crossover
- grishka 3y ago
  For 16-bit Windows software you can also install Windows 3.1/3.11 on DosBox.
eru 3y ago
Mordor: The Depths of Dejenol looks a bit like a graphically souped up NetHack from 1994?
- MrFoof 3y ago
  Much more Wizardry-esque. Some stuff is procedurally generated, but the dungeon layout — which is mahoosive - is not.
fyloraspit 3y ago
I played the shit outta that demo oh the nostalgia
- MrFoof 3y ago
  Everyone I knew in high school did. As in, DOZENS of people. The reality of your parents being unwilling to send a check to some guy in Colorado. Game wasn’t a real commercial success because its demo was too good, and it wasn’t on store shelves. IP rights were sold to Decklin’s Domain, who at least seems to be a great steward, even if the website looks straight out of the mid-90s. Original author is still around doing some startup consulting in the Denver area. Think he made the game damn near straight out of college. Again, still loads of fun. Completely worth the $10. I’ve been having a blast with it lately, and the help file is exhaustive like an early 90s computer game manual.

nibbleshifter 3y ago

I've been meaning to replay FEAR sometime. Thanks for the reminder!

dimgl 3y ago

Unfortunately, while it does run on Windows 11, there's a bit of light modding you'll have to do in order to get it to be stable.