Advice needed: Classic PC gaming

[TyrannicalFascist]

So I've got Windows 7 on my computer, and I find myself wanting to play all the old PC classics I have, from MS-DOS through Windows 98. Unfortunately, a lot of them either don't work or won't even install off the disc.

Building a second "retro" PC is not really an option for me both financially and due to physical space. I also know some of these are on Steam, but I'd like to play all these old CD-Roms I kept (just like I don't want to re-buy games on Virtual Console I already have in cart form).

I've seen that there are ways to do it on a modern PC, like emulating through DOSBox or setting up a virtual machine or even installing an older OS on a partition, but I wanted the suggestions of the members here. I figure you guys know more about computers than me and can help me figure out the best, simplest, and easiest-to-access method.

Ideally, I'd like to:

• Play DOS games (Commander Keen, Star Trek TNG A Final Unity, DuckTales, Wacky Wheels)
• Play Windows 3.1 era Games & Programs (Batman Cartoon Maker, Rebel Assault II, Spelling Jungle, Myst)
• Play Windows 95 Games & Programs (Jedi Knight, Starfleet Academy, SimCity 2000)
• Play Windows 98 Games & Programs (Sonic & Knuckles Collection, Sonic R, Star Wars Episode I, Star Trek Voyager Elite Force, Starcraft)
• Have all these easily accessible from one central location on my computer, possibly separate from my modern PC stuff

I believe most or all of my XP and higher games work on my computer now. I looked into building a small home theater PC like is shown on Lifehacker every so often, but I'm not sure I'd want to play those old games on a TV. And as I said, building an older PC would be overkill for what I'm wanting.

So what method do you guys recommend? And what do you do to play your old PC games?

[quickfingers818]

I personally play my old DOS games on an old school machine and that route would probably yield the best performance, but playing it through a virtual machine is much more practical. I tried it a few months back playing some old school oregon trail and it played like a champ with no performance issues whatsoever.

[Dr.Agon]

you wouldnt need to build a retro pc, just buy one off ebay, plenty on there for cheap

[sheep2001]

For dos and win 3.x definitely use dos box.  A lot less  hassle than trying to set up  a win 3.x  partition  on your PC.  I doubt whether most of your hardware would have drivers for 3.x, so probably wouldn't work anyway..

For win 95/98 if you can't get the game to run in compatibility mode, then  google install win98 to flash drive.

[quickfingers818]

you wouldnt need to build a retro pc, just buy one off ebay, plenty on there for cheap

Yes, very cheap. You can find dirt cheap dos machines at local flea markets, garage sales and in my area, thrift stores. They are literally stacked up at my local thrift stores here for less than 40 bucks. plus there is nothing quite like playing these old dos games on an authentic machine using a crt monitor.

[FritzWhite]

I personally play my old DOS games on an old school machine and that route would probably yield the best performance, but playing it through a virtual machine is much more practical. I tried it a few months back playing some old school oregon trail and it played like a champ with no performance issues whatsoever.

I remember Oregon trail, yes! No matter how I picked out supplies for the trip, someone would always get sick and die.
Great game.

[TyrannicalFascist]

you wouldnt need to build a retro pc, just buy one off ebay, plenty on there for cheap

Yes, very cheap. You can find dirt cheap dos machines at local flea markets, garage sales and in my area, thrift stores. They are literally stacked up at my local thrift stores here for less than 40 bucks. plus there is nothing quite like playing these old dos games on an authentic machine using a crt monitor.

I'll definitely consider it for the future, when I have the space to set up a second computer and crt monitor. Would Windows 98 SE be my best bet for an OS that could run just about everything I listed?

Until then, maybe I should go with something like VirtualBox for Windows 95/98 games?

[noemann]

https://www.virtualbox.org/

https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads
http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/4.3.8/VirtualBox-4.3.8-92456-Win.exe
http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/4.3.8/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-4.3.8-92456.vbox-extpack

IF host = Windows XP THEN use Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 ELSE use Oracle VirtualBox and DOSBox
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=4580


XP RAM limit is 3GB. Windows 98 RAM limit is 512MB.
You may also need copies of other old software, such as, Flash for certain PC games.

I must be able to play my old copy of Browning African Safari for IBM PCs. 

[Ozzy_98]

I'm a huge dosbox fan, and I also use VirtualBox a lot (Mostly emulating Cisco routers, but some PC's before).  Dosbox is better than an old PC when trying to get proper timing, no one wants a game running too fast because they're using an "old" 500 MHz pc.

[TyrannicalFascist]

I'm a huge dosbox fan, and I also use VirtualBox a lot (Mostly emulating Cisco routers, but some PC's before).  Dosbox is better than an old PC when trying to get proper timing, no one wants a game running too fast because they're using an "old" 500 MHz pc.

That's good to know, thanks. Anyone use a particular front-end for accessing your DOS games with DosBox?

[Ozzy_98]

I use MameWah, it's a pain to get working post XP, if you get it working at all.  I use it mostly because I'm good at configuring it, so I can make it look however I want.  It's been a while since I messed with it though for dosbox, I was thinking I called .lnk files in windows, and the windows shortcut was what had all the commands to make the game load.

[Jeff]

D-Fend seems like a popular DosBox frontend. Nothing flashy, but it lets you change settings without digging through text files. I've never tried MameWah.

[noemann]

This post reminded me to install my old systems. I get too busy and always forget about them.
Spent most of today installing some old OSs and software. 



I'm going to install my old Win98 games.

[noemann]

VirtualBox works well with Windows 98 SE. I'm posting this message with ie5 in Win98. I will try to play some games today but i had to install an svga driver to break out of 16 color mode vga. I'll have to play with settings a bit. OS/2 works well so i am stumped about the graphics support for Win98. You will have to add DirectX 7.

I have downloaded ALL of the updates for Windows XP since 2008 (SP3.) I have been archiving software from MS for XP but i never did this for 98. I don't even have a copy of s1-a for Office 2000. oh well.

anyway, VBox works well for me. I'm going to poke around my software to find my old copy of Norton Internet Security. I'm surprised that alot of web sites will load in ie5. good stuff. maybe i can use my favorite web browser again - Lynx 

off i go ...

[Ozzy_98]

I used to make games in 15 and 16 bit color mode, the problem with it is support from drivers, they're not always the same, and can be very problematic.  With 24 bit graphics, you have 8 bits red 8 bits green, and 8 bits blue.  With 16 bits, you have to split 16 three ways, and it just doesn't work, you have 5 6 5.  The problem is, different hardware used the extra bit in different locations, so 15 bit color was normally more compatible.  Don't listen to Wikipedia on this, I've never seen a card that wasted 4 bits for an alpha channel giving you 12 bits of color depth, and I have a lot of programming experience from that time span and on more than a few devices (The Ozzy_98 on some TG-16\PCE demos was me)

If you're wondering about 32 bit color, it's 8 per channel plus an "alpha" channel. meaning they pretty much waste 8 bits, but most hardware can process 32 bits faster than 24, so that's the advantage there.

And don't forget the joys of dos extenders!