What classic games are you playing?

[Brian Rucker]

I know, it's just a dodge for me to justify creating a topic to mention that Hardwar (anyone remember this?) runs great in XP and with Direct3D. I hadn't played this in a while and wanted something fun and uncomplicated to play recently. Reading about Freelancer made me miss Privateer but messing with DOS didn't inspire me, as alternatives Tachyon is pretty weak, and X: Beyond The Frontier (with the Xtension) just seemed too daunting. I may give Terminus another spin though soon.

Hardwar does run at pretty high resolutions and doesn't look terrible at all - along the lines of a patched Red Baron 3D. I hadn't played it since I got my new machine and with a great joystick/rudder combination along with all the graphic options cranked up it's like playing a new game.

The weird part is multiplayer - it generates a whole dynamic world on the host machine (like Terminus) that enables competative and/or cooperative play but it doesn't work on regular networks or the Internet only via modem or serial port.

Anyhow, this is a fun distraction. What from bygone years distracting you?

[SpoofyChop]

You are the only other person that I've ever heard of that has played both Hardwar AND XBTF!

I actually liked X a lot better than I liked HardWar. I just couldn't get into HardWar for some reason, although maybe I'll dig it out again.

By the way, how did you get a hold of XTension? Did you order it directly? I didn't feel like bothering.

The only classic game that I play at least once a year is Darklands.

[Brian Rucker]

I ordered it from the manufacturer. You'll also want to get the latest Xtension patch as it not only fixes a few bugs but adds many new features.

I also need to correct my post. With the latest (still old) Hardwar patch one can play on the Internet. I did some poking around after posting and found there's still a fan community out there. Planet Hardwar (http://www.planethardwar.com) is a good place to start if anyone's interested.

Added: Terminus is still alive too! The Linux community, God bless 'em, needs all the games they can get and since all versions are compatible PC Terminus players (all one of me?) can get in their multiplayer worlds still. Terminuspoint.com (http://www.terminuspoint.com) is the hub of this fanbase. They've even put together their own custom patch that fixes all former issues and adds new features for Mac, Windows and Linux users.

[MrAngryFace]

Tech Romancer, and im picking up another copy of Planescape Torment today SINCE I thought it would be a nice gesture to send my last copy to a friend who hadn't experienced the game before. Thankfully the game is still easy to acquire UNLIKE Freespace 2.

[Brian Koontz]

I'm playing Shadowrun (from which Planescape:Torment takes some inspiration) with a SNES emulator for the first time and one hour into the game I'm *already* stuck. I'd forgotten how fucking HARD old school games are.

I'm also playing Phantasie 3 which isn't a classic but its decent and works as nostalgia.

[Gordon Cameron]

I liked the localized-damage combat in Phantasie 3.

I haven't done much classic gaming lately, although I reinstalled Rune last night (not a classic, but almost 3 years old) because I felt like wandering through moody settings and hacking goblins and skeletons to bits.

Played a little Enduro on an Atari 2600 emulator a few weeks ago. Pretty impressive what Activision was able to do with that console -- there's a whole day/night cycle, weather changes, etc. There's a real sense of time passing as the sun begins to rise. And the sound effects trigger 20-year-old memories in me.

I tried once again to get into Nethack but I still haven't been able to make head or tail of that game. I guess I need to sit down and read the rules one of these days.

Idea for game: A really slick, user-friendly Roguelike that is designed for 1-2 hour play sessions. Diablo/Darkstone/etc. don't quite qualify, as their single player components are longer-term. I'd like to have a dinky little rpg, with all the bells and whistles, that I could load up for a brief dungeon crawl from time to time.

[Gordon Cameron]

Tech Romancer, and im picking up another copy of Planescape Torment today SINCE I thought it would be a nice gesture to send my last copy to a friend who hadn't experienced the game before. Thankfully the game is still easy to acquire UNLIKE Freespace 2.

I wish I'd gotten FS2 when I had the chance.

[Supertanker]

The only old game I've been playing is some Atari Adventure. It is one of the games included in that Atari Joystick Game thing I got for Christmas. High on my list of wasted brain cells, I was able to walk through the maze without stopping or getting lost on the first try. Why do I remember that 25 years later? I'm not alone though, as a friend was able to do exactly the same thing. I'm going to use that ability in people to test for something, I'm just not sure what to test for yet.

[Kalle]

I've been playing Chrono Trigger on an SNES emulator. It's like Final Fantasy with the annoying parts taken out of it.

Most of my PC game oldies are DOS based, and getting them to run is generally not worth the trouble.

[dgallina]

Hrm.... I'm current playing through Total Annihilation again (on a new Mac no less).

Great game! Why oh why did nobody else pickup on the advances in TA (excellent order / queueing / guarding system, meaningfull 3d terrain, etc)?

Warcraft III and other games have other advances of their own (RPG stuff, better stories, etc), but the mechanics of TA remian largely unmatched IMHO. Less micromanagement and more strategy...

Regards,
Diego

[Aszurom]

System Shock 2... which, surprisingly, still looks and plays plenty good. I was quite surprised how well the ship interior still looks at high rez.

[Robert Sharp]

I tried once again to get into Nethack but I still haven't been able to make head or tail of that game. I guess I need to sit down and read the rules one of these days.

Idea for game: A really slick, user-friendly Roguelike that is designed for 1-2 hour play sessions. Diablo/Darkstone/etc. don't quite qualify, as their single player components are longer-term. I'd like to have a dinky little rpg, with all the bells and whistles, that I could load up for a brief dungeon crawl from time to time.

Try TKZangband or ZangbandTK (whichever it is) instead. It has graphics, but the same great Zangband gameplay (which to me is the best of the ROGUE style games). Actually, Aaron Hall's Dungeon Odyssey game is a lame take on Zangband that even steals the graphics! TKZangband hooked me for a full year, every day. Brilliant game.

[Anonymous]

The most reliable place to find a copy of Freespace 2 is on ebay.

I bought one from nothingbutsofware.com a month ago but its no longer stocked there.

If you get it go to http://freespace.volitionwatch.com/fsscp for the open source exe.

[Rywill]

Tech Romancer, and im picking up another copy of Planescape Torment today SINCE I thought it would be a nice gesture to send my last copy to a friend who hadn't experienced the game before. Thankfully the game is still easy to acquire UNLIKE Freespace 2.

I wish I'd gotten FS2 when I had the chance.

I don't know where you live in LA, but there's a store in the Burbank mall called "Game Land" that sells old games (some used, but mostly new-in-the-box stuff that just never sold in its original run). They had four copies of FS2. I bought two of them before Christmas (one for me, one for my brother). It might still be there.

[Peter Frazier]

Well, I'm not actually playing it but I recently tried to get Emporer of the Fading Suns up and running. No go on 2000. If anyone knows a way to get around it, I'd be very grateful.

[Brian Rucker]

That's another classic I like though I haven't loaded it up in a while. There are some fansites out there. The two most prominent ones, Nova (http://website.lineone.net/~rwein/nova/home.htm) and Hyperion (http://www.twarriors.com/~hyperion/hyperion.html), feature custom mods and campaigns. The guys at Nova are even talking about, and who knows if anything will come of this, developing an original theme game with similiar gameplay to EFS. With Matrix Games publishing Fading Suns: Noble Armada (http://www.matrixgames.com/games/noblearmada/) it wouldn't be surprising at all to see a remake of EFS down the road at some point from Holistic, but I'd just be pleased to see a working FS:NA for now.

Here's the Win2K problem discussed and fixed (http://www.kborek.cz/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=000090) in the Nova forums. I'd cut and paste it but it's a long thread with information in different posts. They've got another fix thread for XP.

There's also a more recent patch (http://www.holistic-design.com/CompGame/Computer.htm) from Holistic but you'd need to do some research to see whether it's compatible or not with the Nova or Hyperion mods and campaigns.

[Peter Frazier]

Thank you very much. Time for some more retrogaming!

[Sean Tudor]

I know, it's just a dodge for me to justify creating a topic to mention that Hardwar (anyone remember this?) runs great in XP and with Direct3D. I hadn't played this in a while and wanted something fun and uncomplicated to play recently. Reading about Freelancer made me miss Privateer but messing with DOS didn't inspire me, as alternatives Tachyon is pretty weak, and X: Beyond The Frontier (with the Xtension) just seemed too daunting. I may give Terminus another spin though soon.

I still play Hardwar occasionally. I am also still waiting for the Hardwar 3.0 patch. Any news on this ?

[Wholly Schmidt]

I played through Marathon for the first time over my Christmas break via Aleph One. Now I'm going through Marathon 2 and Infinity after that; those two I've played before.

[Brian Rucker]

Sean: I don't know anything but in some forums I saw posts from just this month discussing when the 3.0 patch would be out. Evidently it's something of a holy grail that would allow for players to turn real estate into factories and the like (along the lines of X:BTF). OTOH, Software Refinery, the developer, seems to be MIA. The site's gone. Based on what the fans think this is probably a temporary development as these developers are pretty popular with thier audience (seeing as how they maintained the site and released patches and additional content for years after release). Could be wishful thinking - I dunno.

I'm not counting on anything - I was pleasantly surprised to see how well the thing ran on my machine though. Plenty of games made for XP seem much more flaky than this old trooper.

[Bub, Andrew]

I spent a few hours the other night playing Myth 2. Found the disc and felt compelled to see how it has aged. It's aged well, thank you.

"Move here, move there..."

[Gladguy]

Usually, I'm not into playing "classic" games. I have a GeForce 4 Ti 4600 dammit! I want eye-candy! :lol:

That said, I finally managed to secure a copy of the original System Shock (c) 1994. Problem is, it doesn't seem to want to play on WinXP. :cry:

This thread is as good as any... anyone know how to get this old-school bad boy to run?

[Lee Johnson]

This thread is as good as any... anyone know how to get this old-school bad boy [System Shock] to run?
I've tried, Lord knows. I haven't been able to make it work. I think that the memory manager has problems on XP.

The only way I've gotten System Shock to run (I have the CD-ROM version) is to boot my Win98 partition in a non-GUI DOS mode with a tricked-up CONFIG.SYS/AUTOEXEC.BAT configuration and then run the game from there. Unfortunately, I find the textures to be hard to take on my 19" monitor, even at the maximum 640x480 resolution. I'd pay real money for an official DirectX remake of the original.

[DrCrypt]

Gladguy, some suggestions:

First of all, check out this System Shock FAQ (http://homepages.compuserve.de/daxim5/shock/shockfaq.html) and see if any of the Windows advice helps you.

If not, try a forum search on the Through the Looking Glass System Shock forum (http://www.ttlg.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=78). If those guys can't help you, no one can...

... unless a lonely Linux hacker can! You may very well be able to get the System Shock Hack Project (http://madeira.physiol.ucl.ac.uk/people/jim/games/sshock.html) up and running on your system. The programmer looks like a member of Poison rejected for not being satanically effete enough, but it looks pretty impressive.

I'm currently trying to figure out whether to replay Thief 2 or System Shock 2.

[Anonymous]

X-COM: UFO Defense, thanks to the miracle of Slo-Down software.

[SpoofyChop]

As a side note, there is just not enough effort devoted to one of two alternatives:

1) Wide ranging emulator software that can play games from the 286 era to the present under a variety of different configurations

2) Super-mini oldtime computers just for game playing:

286 with floppy drive in a 5.25" drive bay or enclosure. Has keyboard, mouse, and monitor port. Soundblaster clone sound, VGA graphics.

486 with floppy and CD in a 5.25" drive bay or enclose. Keyboard, mouse, monitor ports. Soundblaster 16, VESA graphics.

Pentium 200 MMX or so, etc. Soundblaster 16, PCI level graphics.

This way, they don't take up the same space as a full mid-tower or desktop but you can still play your old games!

Whaddya say Microsoft? Donate some of your billions to the cause of nostalgia! I've given you two choices:

1) Windows XP: Underdogs Edition (super-emulator)

2) PC's in an enclosure

[Ben Sones]

I'm currently trying to figure out whether to replay Thief 2 or System Shock 2.

Assuming that you didn't play Thief 2 on the highest difficulty the first time through, you could always go back and replay it on a higher setting. That's one thing (among many) that I like about the Thief games--additional mission objectives at higher difficulty settings. It makes them worth replaying.

Of course SS2 has aged pretty damn well (if you can call a couple of years "aging"), too. Both fantastic games.

My retro gaming right now consists of Medieval: Total War, which has been collecting dust on my shelf for months. Not sure why I didn't play this game right away. I should have.

I also downloaded that SourceForge version of Star Control 2, but haven't fired it up yet.

[Sean Tudor]

I also downloaded that SourceForge version of Star Control 2, but haven't fired it up yet.

I tried this - it actually plays quite well.

[xahlt]

I was the same way on Total War. Had it for months and didn't really feel like playing it.

I got into it recently and certainly am having fun, but that's despite some of the design decisions. Jakub, if you're around, your firing squad review of it really nailed it for me. A lot of other reviews around the net glossed over the numerous flaws that would completely mire the game if you weren't having so much fun.

[Jaysun]

Spoofy,

Where did you get your copy of Darklands? I assume it's probably from when it originally came out, but I've been trying to find it somewhere, anywhere, to no avail. Any suggestions where I might be able to find it?

[Xemu]

Been playing through Avernum 2, from Spiderweb Software (http://www.spiderwebsoftware.com).

Good retro, U4-ish-tech-level RPG. Lotsa lotsa combat, lotsa simple fun. :-)

I don't know whether to be happy or sad that Shock 2 is considered a classic already, given that it was only released 3 years ago... :-)

[Rodvik]

Roadwar 2000 on Atari ST emu - Finished it before xmas :)

[voltaic]

I'm currently trying to figure out whether to replay Thief 2 or System Shock 2.

Loaded up Thief 2 again a couple weeks back, playing every chance I get really. Just finished the Kidnap level, now invading Gervasius' mansion. Jeah boy33!

[Oppressor]

You are the only other person that I've ever heard of that has played both Hardwar AND XBTF!

I actually liked X a lot better than I liked HardWar. I just couldn't get into HardWar for some reason, although maybe I'll dig it out again.

By the way, how did you get a hold of XTension? Did you order it directly? I didn't feel like bothering.

The only classic game that I play at least once a year is Darklands.

Played 'em both as well. Liked the graphics of XBTF better than those of HardWar, but nothing beat buying out all the repair shops in HardWar and then attacking the competition only to have them drop their cargo and pay my shops to fix the damage I did to them... No wonder they all hate me by the end of the game...

[Dave Long]

Where did you get your copy of Darklands? I assume it's probably from when it originally came out, but I've been trying to find it somewhere, anywhere, to no avail. Any suggestions where I might be able to find it?

I'm not sure where he got his...but you used to able to order it from Ultimate Darklands (http://www.ultimatedarklands.com). I checked that link as recently as a few months ago and it was still working and seemed to be current. Right now it doesn't seem to be up for me. Maybe check back in a couple days...

--Dave

[graller]

I am hunting for a copy of X-Com UFO Defense - went looking for my copy a few months ago to no avail. Any ideas?

[Dave Long]

Your best bet is to try here (http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?cgiurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2Fws%2 F&krd=1&from=R8&MfcISAPICommand=GetResult&ht=1&SortProperty=MetaEndSort&query=x-com).

--Dave

[Brian Rucker]

I got my copy of Darklands at Ultimate Darklands along with the strategy guide. The guy even sent a thank you note and a candy bar. I then found a copy of the boxed set with floppies, manual and map on Ebay so I picked that up as well.

[Alan Au]

You might be able to find a copy of the X-Com Collector's Edition up for sale at some of the smaller software shops.

Oh, and does 'Shadow Watch' count as a classic?

- Alan

[hido]

Thanks for reminding about Freespace 2! I went and dug it up out of the garage and am enjoying it immensely.

I also stumbled upon Undying and EAW. Where is a good place to start for EAW mods and such? Thanks.

[Brian Rucker]

I just stumbled across max188's site (http://www.xmission.com/~mmagleby/eaw/guide.htm) on Yahoo after reading your post. EAW was one of my favorite sims for a long time. I should try it again with some mods. Not sure how current max's site is but it has some links and a basic orientation that look useful.

[hido]

Great site and everything seems to be current.

[SpoofyChop]

Whaddya say Microsoft? Donate some of your billions to the cause of nostalgia! I've given you two choices:

1) Windows XP: Underdogs Edition (super-emulator)

2) PC's in an enclosure


This (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/103340_vulcan09.shtml) is not what I asked for.

[DrCrypt]

I installed Thief: The Dark Project (not the Eidos rimmer to its faithful fans, Thief Gold, which I don't have and can't find in Ireland). Man, this game is good, but its graphics, which were uninspiring even at the time, have not aged well. I found this (http://www.ttlg.com/thievery/patchguide.htm) to correct the hideous 8-bit textures to their improved Thief 2 counterparts, and this (http://thief.math.uh.edu/patches/dtmp10_gif.html) to increase Thief's in-game models to more than 2 polys.

Even so, it is the modding equivalent of putting a paper bag over an ugly girl's head in order to fuck her.

[bgumm]

Last year, I acquired a working NES and SNES, so I worked my way through all the Marios in my spare time. I'm half-way through Mario World on SNES.

I just got an N64 from a friend, so I'll be on to Mario64 after that. I might try to find Mario RPG just to say I've beat it, cos I don't know anyone else who's even played it.

X-COM!! Man, those games were great! I'll definitely have to dig that one out.

I'd also like to get my hands on a copy of the 256-color version of "Zak McCrack and the Alien Mindbenders." Anybody got any leads?

[Dave Long]

These threads are great. I'm always digging into my old junk for some classic gameplay.

Lately, I've been playing Kirby's Adventure on NES. I'll probably get the GBA update when I'm done with Kirby's Adventure again to see all the changes. KA is one of the unsung classics from Nintendo for the NES. It's a superb game.

Also playing through Super Metroid and almost finished. Doing that one with the kids and they're loving it. It's a tremendously entertaining classic game even today. It's nice to play a game with a lot of challenge too. Same goes for Castlevania: Circle of the Moon on GBA, which isn't classic, but will be one day. I just wiped out the two Zombie Dragons so I'm about 60% through that one. Superb game.

On the PC, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri continues to get play time via PBEM and single player. I can't bring myself to play Civ III anymore, but I haven't stopped playing SMAC probably since I got it eons ago. I can't wait to play Rise of Nations. If you ask me, that's the most anticipated PC game of 2003, not all this other junk the mags have been pushing. Brian Reynolds is one game away from being considered with the likes of Meier, Molyneux, Carmack, Shelley IMO. I'm glad he left Firaxis to go stand in his own limelight.

--Dave

[Anonymous]

System Shock 2 and Abomination.

Why Abomination? Well, my local Best Buy has had a copy they've been trying to dump for, literally, two or three years now. For some dadblamed reason, they would never lower the price. Every time you'd go in there, you'd see this thing sitting there in its half-crumpled, frayed-around-the-edges box with a $39.99 sticker on it. I never bit because I remembered all the reviewers at the time joking about how it was so aptly named. But I went and read a few more reviews the other day, and some people had a few good words to say about it, so I bit the bullet. Then the bullet bit me back, right in the ass. Serves me right.

System Shock 2 still rules, though. Heck, I even still like the blocky character models. Can't wait for SS3 (From Ken Levine's recent remarks, I'm convinced they're working on it as we speak).

[Matt Perkins]

X-com collectors edition: still have that installed and keep going back to it. I wish it didn't need a CPU slow down, but other than that it runs all right most of the time.

Masters of Magic:
Can't get sound to work at all. Without sound the game doesn't run so bad with a emulator (forget the name) running it for me in XP, except some battles will hang up the system and HUGE games on the hardest setting still have problems about half way in.

Mechcommander 2: (not old, but still, it's a damn classic)
way to much fun. I can't get enough of it. I hope there is some sort of sequel, expansion, something dammit.

-Matt

[Tyjenks]

I was going to say Majesty, but then I looked on the box and it said copyright 2000!!! I guess that cannot be considered a classic yet. Damn that seemed like a long time ago. These last 3 years must have crept by......I need a new job.

[GMicek]

I'm in the middle of bidding on Burning Rangers for the Saturn. I've lost BR auctions so often it's scary, I'm ready to get nuts with it this time though.

Also I've been playing a game called PowBall (http://www.powproductions.co.uk/)(From our very own Roger Wong). Sure, it's just a Breakout clone but it's pretty addictive. A good amount of powerups, brick types, and level styles. The graphics are halfway decent(even today), and the control is pretty tight. Being able to shop between levels for powerups is also nice. Good stuff.

[Brian Rucker]

I know it's a sickness of some kind but I actually like Abomination. Yes the control scheme sucks at worst and takes a load of getting used to at best. Yes, the strategic level game is a braindead cycle of logistics management (without any of X-Com's, well, strategy). But I like putting together a team, getting a mission (of a variety of types), and plopping down on a randomly generated map for some good old fashioned bug hunting. It's not a very deep game but for some reason, which I suspect is highly subjective, I find it very addictive. Maybe it's the battle graphics, sound effects, or the satisfying effect of a well executed ambush, grenade toss, or sniper foray. I dunno. I just like it because, egads, it's fun.

[Anonymous]

Maybe it's the battle graphics, sound effects, or the satisfying effect of a well executed ambush, grenade toss, or sniper foray. I dunno. I just like it because, egads, it's fun.

I'll keep at it. At forty bucks, I'm willing to be convinced :)

[Anonymous]

is X-COM: UFO Defense able to run under WinXP?

[voltaic]

Just finished Thief 2 (again) last night. Oh yeah baby!

[Peter Frazier]

I've just been doing some skirmish maps of Sacrifice. Still a pretty game 3 years on and still fun.

[mtkafka]

Been playing some OFP missions again...

etc

[Rodvik]

"for some reason, which I suspect is highly subjective, I find it very addictive. "

Some games are like that. You seem to be the only persion who just LOVES it.

For me that game is Medieval Lords. An old strategy game about medieval Europe. It has been on every PC I have owned since it came out. I still play it on my laptop in bed every few months.

[Chris Floyd]

Just last night I loaded up Alien Legacy.

"Alien WHAT?!" you might (or might not) ask. Published by Sierra, produced by Joseph Ybarra of Starflight fame. It's like Star Control 2 in a single solar system and without some of the great production values. But it's got an intriguing story, a surprisingly good interface, and some unique features.

I have no idea how possible it is to get a copy now. And, in fact, I recall having to mail the CD that came in the box back for a replacement from Sierra just to get the game to load. I'm sure THAT fiasco really impacted the game's sales. Plus the fact that it was from Sierra and came out not too long after Outpost, if I'm remembering correctly. Anyway, the mail swap was WELL worth it. I'll certainly be playing it for awhile. Oh, runs fine in 98, as long as you have a Soundblaster card.

[Desslock]

I just tried to play through Baldur's Gate (original) in about 12 hours. Failed, but it'll probably only take one more 12 hour session.

[DrCrypt]

Desslock, I wouldn't think a 12 hour run would be too hard in Baldur's Gate. You can max out your level ridiculously early in that game, at which point, you just cut through everything as if it were hot butter.

I really loved Baldur's Gate when it came out, but I don't know that I could go back to it after BG2 - it does have some incredibly slow parts, and the middle just drags. That said, if they release a port to my Pocket PC, I could see it becoming my new favorite game.

[Desslock]

Desslock, I wouldn't think a 12 hour run would be too hard in Baldur's Gate. You can max out your level ridiculously early in that game, at which point, you just cut through everything as if it were hot butter.

I really loved Baldur's Gate when it came out, but I don't know that I could go back to it after BG2 - it does have some incredibly slow parts, and the middle just drags. That said, if they release a port to my Pocket PC, I could see it becoming my new favorite game.

I thought it would be easy to do as well, er, but it didn't work out. I know that game inside and out - it's just a big game, and I'm doing every subquest. but maybe it wasn't 12 hours - probably more like 7. It hasn't aged well, but I wanted to play through it and BG2 with an evil character.

I also just recently read the 3rd Edition Forgotten Realms -- I had never read any Forgotten Realms D&D material before, since it came out after I stopped playing pen & paper D&D, and I appreciate the adaptation (use of deities, etc.) much more now that I'm very familiar with the campaign setting.

[DrCrypt]

Every side quest? I was just thinking of a straight-line for Sarevok. Doing all of the side-quests, especially in those sprawling, aimless side areas with almost nothing in them, would be a lot more tedious. Although if you really knew what you were doing and when to do it, it could be possible. Is this a single-life, single-save sort of thing or what? Are you counting the expansion?

Also, how many hours do you think it would take to do BG2?

[Desslock]

Every side quest? I was just thinking of a straight-line for Sarevok. Doing all of the side-quests, especially in those sprawling, aimless side areas with almost nothing in them, would be a lot more tedious. Although if you really knew what you were doing and when to do it, it could be possible. Is this a single-life, single-save sort of thing or what? Are you counting the expansion? Also, how many hours do you think it would take to do BG2?

BG 1's framerate is out of control on modern computers, so you can zip through areas very quickly. Single save - it isn't very difficult, at least until the expansion (which I'm definitely counting).

BG2? Tough one -- very big, and some tough fights. I think it would take two weeks of playing to get through every quest. I'll find out, since it's next, heh.

[Joe O'Malley]

I'm playing a lot of Diablo2 LOD again lately. It just never seems to lose it's charm for me. Dungeon Siege? Already in the "dusty" pile.

[Anonymous]

Diablo 2 (& LOD) will still be fiercely played two or three years from now. Instant gratification gaming.

HardWar was just a .001th% away from being Privateer brilliant. It just sucks that the game ends rather...abruptly.

I was an early X:BTF and X-T proponent, until I came to the conclusion that the fun/time ratio was just too small.

Ybarra's Alien Legacy was one of those games that was interesting in the beginning, but got real old was it had given up its "goodies". The flight-sim part was cute for the tech of the time, but really redundant. I have a boxed copy of this lying around (love Half Price books).

I play old games all the time. Not recently -- after moving back to Seattle, most of my games are in storage -- but I have been playing some Diablo 2.

I dare anybody who loves old classics and has a copy of Star Control 2 lying around to install and play it...and then not complete it. Wonderful game.

--scharmers

[Troy S Goodfellow]

At the moment, Sid Meier's Gettysburg!. Lots of fun in MP.

Troy

[Bub, Andrew]

I'll play you TSG... PM me.
Note: I once topped Case's Ladder and I beat Brian Reynolds so badly he declined a rematch. (Ok, he won, but he still declined that rematch.)

[wumpus]

I'll see your Brian Reynolds and raise you a John Romero. I played against John in DOOM once on the dialup Dallas DWANGO server. Of course, I picked the stupidest imaginable DOOM level to play him on-- the hidden one with the Wolfenstein textures.

I'm proud to say I've been Romero's bitch since 1995.

[Jason Becker]

"I'm proud to say I've been Romero's bitch since 1995."


Did he get you implants? :D

[Raife]

I dug X:BTF & X:Tension at first, but the universe just seemed so dead after awhile. I realized I was just playing on inertia.

I bought X:BTF from an EB, but I had to order X:Tension directly from Egosoft. They originally sent me the German version, so they had to send me another (they actually e-mailed me before I even got the first one, and said there'd been a mistake, and were sending the replacement out -- that was worth some points). X2 is still in the works, far as I know.

On the nostalgia gaming front, I've been really tempted to finally finish my third run-through of JA2 and then move on to UB. The CD is just sitting here waiting to be installed on my main system. I think Treasure Planet and NWN have both conspired to prevent that.

[Sam Jones]

I still play Hardwar occasionally. I am also still waiting for the Hardwar 3.0 patch. Any news on this ?

Funnily enough I went looking for it again last night at Captain Zedo's site

http://zedo.50megs.com/index.htm

And it seems Software Refinery has folded - their website has been removed and they don't answer any emails or phone calls. So, Zedo will make the last beta of the 3.0 upgrade available if no contact with them can be made in a "couple of weeks", which should be about now.

Fair play though - SR supported the game far longer than you could expect them to, given the lousy sales. This is one of the true great Elite type games - especially because it's one of the few that don't cock it up entirely.

Sam

[Kalle]

Today I reinstalled Freespace 2, borrowed a Force Feedback joystick from my dad and then found out that the game was truly as good as I remembered it.

When I finish it I'll probably reinstall the original Freespace. Does anyone but me think that the expansion to Freespace is poor? I mean, it's been a couple of years since I played it but the story wasn't that great, the final mission was a letdown, and I can't even remember anything particularly worthwhile about the rest of it. It introduced the Lokis, that's about it.

It just seemed bland.

[Cenk Sensoy]

Right now I am playing, very very slowly through some old titles such as: Baldur's Gate II, Planescape: Torment, and I am shortly going to install Tachyon again and try to finish it (I never got more than a few missions in)

I would like to try privateer 2 again, but I can only find my disc one...hmm.

[Anonymous]

Today I reinstalled Freespace 2, borrowed a Force Feedback joystick from my dad and then found out that the game was truly as good as I remembered it.

When I finish it I'll probably reinstall the original Freespace. Does anyone but me think that the expansion to Freespace is poor? I mean, it's been a couple of years since I played it but the story wasn't that great, the final mission was a letdown, and I can't even remember anything particularly worthwhile about the rest of it. It introduced the Lokis, that's about it.

It just seemed bland.

I'm not sure of the progress on it, but someone at Hard Light Productions is remaking the expansion. Silent Threat really was terrible.

Oh, and Galactic Emperor at HLP ported the FS1 campaign to FS2. To get voices and movies you need to copy some stuff from your cd to the FS2 folder but otherwise its pretty clean.

[Kalle]

Oh, and Galactic Emperor at HLP ported the FS1 campaign to FS2. To get voices and movies you need to copy some stuff from your cd to the FS2 folder but otherwise its pretty clean.

Could you post a link please.

[Desslock]

Today I reinstalled Freespace 2, borrowed a Force Feedback joystick from my dad and then found out that the game was truly as good as I remembered it.

When I finish it I'll probably reinstall the original Freespace. Does anyone but me think that the expansion to Freespace is poor? .. It introduced the Lokis, that's about it..

Also one of the Shivan bomber types - Sephilum? Can't remember. Also a "Colossus" predecessor, which is briefly seen in the opening cut scene in Freespace 2 (destroyed). But I agree - the Freespace 1 expansion pack is pretty terrible -- bunch of canned missions that don't really add anything.

[Sean Tudor]

I am not sure if it is a classic game but I purchased a budget title the other day called Anachronox. It seems to be a hybrid 3rd person RPG-shooter with an interesting turn-based combat mode.

I am really enjoying it although many of the missions seem to be of the "postman" type. The graphics are good although not up to the latest FPS standards.

[Anonymous]

http://www.3dactionplanet.com/hlp/hosted/fsport/

That is the Freespace campaign ported to Freespace 2. It also includes the Silent Threat addon. You dont need FS1 to use it, however voices and movies are not included in the download so if you want them you'l need to follow the instructions at the site.

http://www.3dap.com/hlp/hosted/realization/pics.htm

Realization is a art side graphical update to Freespace. Right now its mostly bumpmapping. The open source crew have finished a DirectX 8.1 upgrade to FS2 (its not been compiled into the open source exe yet) so Freespace should be getting these effects shortly.


http://dynamic4.gamespy.com/~freespace/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=50

Open Source project forums. For questions contributions.

[/url]http://freespace.volitionwatch.com/fsscp/index.php

The Open Source site.


One of the cooler effects being worked on is getting the Shivan ships to glow and pulsate that red color. Looks sharp.

[Kool Moe Dee]

When I finish it I'll probably reinstall the original Freespace. Does anyone but me think that the expansion to Freespace is poor? I mean, it's been a couple of years since I played it but the story wasn't that great, the final mission was a letdown, and I can't even remember anything particularly worthwhile about the rest of it. It introduced the Lokis, that's about it.

It just seemed bland.

I happened to speak with some people at Volition, and even they readily admitted that it sucked. :D Probably the worst expansion pack I've played/finished, I think.

I just remember playing the last mission in multiplayer, me in a bomber, my friend in a fighter. After half an hour of bombing the ubership, it was at 50% health. I kept getting snippy orders from my teammate to "destroy enemy target...destroy enemy target...destroy enemy target." :D

I think he actually wound up with over 100 kills on that mission. Terrible.

[Brian Koontz]

I am not sure if it is a classic game but I purchased a budget title the other day called Anachronox. It seems to be a hybrid 3rd person RPG-shooter with an interesting turn-based combat mode.

I am really enjoying it although many of the missions seem to be of the "postman" type. The graphics are good although not up to the latest FPS standards.

Anachronox could have been a great game but it was botched somewhat. It still has some of the greatest single moments in gaming, none of which are at the beginning (though Sly Boots getting thrown out of the window was pretty cool).

[Chas]

I have also been playing Diablo II LOD, and having a blast.

I finished normal mode as a druid this morning, and am now starting on nightmare. Overall, I've had a much easier time playing through with a druid than as a barbarian or paladin in the original DII. Anyone else have an easier time with the expansion characters than the original ones?

Never did finish Dungeon Seige. Nice graphics engine. Dull game.

[Supertanker]

No need to actually play Anachronox, just watch the movie:
http://www.machinima.com/displayarticle2.php?article=322

[Sean Tudor]

Anachronox could have been a great game but it was botched somewhat. It still has some of the greatest single moments in gaming, none of which are at the beginning (though Sly Boots getting thrown out of the window was pretty cool).

I have just reached Sender Station and this level seems to have an annoying habit of continually crashing on me.

[gnmarsh]

would have to agree with brian, anachronix had some of the best moments in gaming. You do have to wade through the first hour for it to really get going though.

[Joe O'Malley]

I've seen a lot of talk about Baldur's
Gate here, and it got me to thinking: I never did finish that game. My party made it to like L3, had no gear worth mentioning and then I stopped playing. I've been thinking of going back and giving it another go. Is it still worth it? The posts here don't make it plain if it just isn't considered good anymore or if you've all just played it to death and it's been replaced by newer, shinier things.

[Kalle]

I've seen a lot of talk about Baldur's
Gate here, and it got me to thinking: I never did finish that game. My party made it to like L3, had no gear worth mentioning and then I stopped playing. I've been thinking of going back and giving it another go. Is it still worth it? The posts here don't make it plain if it just isn't considered good anymore or if you've all just played it to death and it's been replaced by newer, shinier things.

I quit BG1 in a similar way. I replayed it after buying BG2 so that I could import my character to BG2. It was just as dull and tedious to play as I remembered it. It's not worth it. If you didn't like it the first time around I doubt you'll like it now.

[Desslock]

I quit BG1 in a similar way. I replayed it after buying BG2 so that I could import my character to BG2. It was just as dull and tedious to play as I remembered it. It's not worth it. If you didn't like it the first time around I doubt you'll like it now.

I agree with that last statement -- it certainly hasn't improved with age, so if you didn't like it then, you're unlikely to like it now. The subsequent Infinity Engine games improved almost every aspect of the game.

It definitely makes the other games in the BG series more enjoyable though, knowing the background better.

[Jason Levine]

I quit BG1 in a similar way. I replayed it after buying BG2 so that I could import my character to BG2. It was just as dull and tedious to play as I remembered it. It's not worth it. If you didn't like it the first time around I doubt you'll like it now.

I agree with that last statement -- it certainly hasn't improved with age, so if you didn't like it then, you're unlikely to like it now. The subsequent Infinity Engine games improved almost every aspect of the game.

It definitely makes the other games in the BG series more enjoyable though, knowing the background better.

I agree with all this to some extent. Wondering back and forth over all that real estate really did get tedious after a while, but it did give the game a sense of scale that I thought was missing to a degree in BG2. I wouldn't have minded if you had to cross a given area once and could teleport past it after that.

At any rate, looking back on it, I think the very high level characters in BG2, and especially TOB, took some of the "tactical" out of the combat in the game. The battles tended to proceed along the same lines: Cast spells to neutralize the super-powerful enemy mage, repeat as necessary.

[zabuni]

Bought the gold edition of Majesty for $10. Well worth the money, at that price. It's an odd perspective, I keep imaging it's an MMORPG and I'm the GM.

[Tyjenks]

Bought the gold edition of Majesty for $10. Well worth the money, at that price. It's an odd perspective, I keep imaging it's an MMORPG and I'm the GM.

Woohoo!!! Another convert.

[Brian Koontz]

No need to actually play Anachronox, just watch the movie:
http://www.machinima.com/displayarticle2.php?article=322

It doesn't surprise me at all that a movie was made out of it... unfortunately (or maybe not) its not Hollywood. Anachronox is the greatest game I've ever played with respect to cinematography.

[DrCrypt]

That said, I finally managed to secure a copy of the original System Shock (c) 1994. Problem is, it doesn't seem to want to play on WinXP. :cry:

This thread is as good as any... anyone know how to get this old-school bad boy to run?

Gladguy, just came across this (http://vogons.zetafleet.com/showthread.php?threadid=97&perpage=20&pagenumber=4) thread which seems to solve XP problems with System Shock. Scroll down to Mok's post and copy his cdshock.exe into your System Shock directory and you should be able to play fine under XP. Hope that helps!