Going Retro - restoring my 13 year old Win 95/98 PC

[Atreyu]

Finished exams last week, so decided to embark on a little project that I've been thinking about for a few months now. :)

A couple of months ago my mother mentioned to me she had found an old computer hiding away in the spare room - turns out it was my original PC which I first got in 1998 when I finished high school. Apparently it had been hiding away for years and she now wanted to know if she could get rid of it.

I convinced her not to, and promised I would take it off her hands when I had the time. So now it's a goer. :D

Here's the specs:

AMD K6-2 500 (was originally a K6-2 300 - upgraded in 2001)
192MB of RAM (was originally 64 MB of RAM - has been upgraded a couple of times)
16MB Voodoo Banshee video card (original)
40GB hard drive (was originally 5GB - upgraded in 2001)
40x CD-ROM/writer (was originally 16x (I think?) - upgraded in 2001)
17" monitor (was originally 21" - it died in 2003, this monitor is just a spare I had lying around that I had obtained back in the mid-00s)
Speakers (original)
Serial mouse (cheapie I picked up in 2003 - so dedicated I was to trying to run the PC as I did back then I'm using an old ball mouse instead of one of my spare optical mice I have lying around and this is the only one I had :lol)

It's ancient by today's standards, but for a Win95/98 machine it's pretty much a beast (excepting maybe the video card). :cool:

The first initial setback was my inability to locate the original Windows 98 (1st edition) CD. Fortunately my Google-fu solved the problem and I was able to locate a copy of Windows 98 (2nd edition) which was a happy surprise.

So after a format and reinstall, I happily went about installing some games. Here's what I have so far:

Command & Conquer (Win 95 edition)
Red Alert
Tiberian Sun
Red Alert 2
Dune 2000
Age of Empires (+ Expansion)
Age of Empires 2 (+ Expansion)
Starcraft
Civilization 2 (+ Expansions)
Master of Orion 2
Warhammer: Shadows of the Horned Rat
Theme Hospital
Dungeon Keeper 2

That's just the start of it - I still have a few of my brother's old EA Sports games lying around (Cricket 96, FIFA 99, NBA 2001 etc). I also have a heap of the old Black Isle/Bioware game as well (Fallout series, Baldur's Gate series, Icewind Dale series) - I might not install the latter as I have played some of them on newer machines with all the details cranked up so I don't think I can bring myself to play them again on this machine with the resolution/options dialled down from what I'm used to. That might be another project for later. :)

Amusingly, all those game combined (plus Win 98) have used up a whopping huge 3GB of hard disk space. :lol I don't think I have to worry about saving space for a while yet.

Right now I'm playing Age of Empires and been having a blast - it's such a great game. I'm working my way through the Ascent of Egypt campaign right now and will try and finish it and a couple more off before moving onto the sequel. I'll post up my thoughts on how well the games are playing as I get to them.

PS. I also have Microsoft Office 2000 available. I might end up installing it, just because I can. :p

[Crusader]

Don't forget to play some Origin Classics like Crusader: No Remorse and Crusader: No Regret.

Wing Commander 3 and 4

X-Wing and Rebel Assault 2

[Atreyu]

I've never played any of those games and don't have access to them I'm afraid. :\

[Crusader]

www.gog.com (http://www.gog.com)
There you will find a lot of titles from this era!

[Atreyu]

I should clarify - this is more of a 'nostalgia trip' for me, restoring my old PC and replaying games I played and loved back in my teens/early-20s that I haven't played in years (in some cases well over a decade). It was about restoring my old PC (if it would work) and trying to recreate the experience of playing all these games again the same way I played back then (right down to the old CRT monitor and a clunky old ball mouse). :)

I'm not really fussed about tracking down other games from the same era that I never played before. I might be willing to make exceptions for games that I have easy access to (such as my brother's old EA Sports titles) but not to the extent I'll go out buying games from scratch. GOG.com has a zillion titles I could get hold of if I wanted to go that route but I'm not interested really. Besides, with GOG I could just easily install them on my current setup without having to worry about trying to get them running on ye olde machine.

(but thanks for the suggestions anyway :))

[Peter McCoy]

There's a great game called Gangsters if you can get a hold of a copy. It's not on GOG.com and I've had it working on Vista without any trouble but no ttrried since I upgraded to Windows 7 - though I know some people have had trouble. It's a very good strategy game in which you play a mob boss. The game world is New Temperance (I think) a 1920's city comprised of roads, maybe a river with bridges and many many city blocks containing things from tenament buildings and hotels to businesses such as printers, department stores, convenience stores etc.

You can recruit new hoods from the local pool bars, labour unions, docks and bars, then arrange them into squads headed by a lieutenant you promote. These squads can be given weekly tasks ranging from patrolling your territory to extorgint businesses and collecting protection money, or even more serious crimes such as arson, intimidation, even murder or robbery. The goal is to locate and wipe out the rival gang hideouts, which can be tough!

Whats cool are the money-making opportunities from setting up illegal businesses. Each block is generally a 3x3 square which gives 8 lots per block, with the center lot vacant. If you own one of the main lots you can set up an illegal business, such as brothels, speakeasy's, counterfeit press, boxing rings, moonshines etc. And depending on the "front" business it can vary how well hidden it is. For example, a hotel is a great front for a brothel, a printers is a great front for the counterfeit press - makes the police and the FBI less-suspicious.

You can even bribe police, DA's and judges. I remember carrying out a robbery on a department store which net me $150,000, and I used a few grand to bribe the police - that was a sweet turnout!

[Dasquian Belargic]

Ahh, I would love to do this, if only so I could play the Discworld video games again!

[Atreyu]

There's a great game called Gangsters if you can get a hold of a copy.
I've played it. To be honest I wasn't that enthused by the game - I found the interface clunky and at times frustrating, plus the plan the week then let it fold out real time didn't suit me (I think I would have preferred it if it was all turn based to be honest). I got rid of my copy years ago so don't have it anymore.

Anyways, I just finished the 'Ascent of Egypt' learning campaign in Age of Empires - lot of fun. I'm debating whether to start a new campaign (Yamato perhaps?) or have a go at one of the other games on the hard drive (maybe have a stab at C&C). :)

[Morgan Evanar]

I never played AoE/expansions/sequels. Nor Warhammer: Shadows of the Horned Rat or Theme Hospital.

I did play everything else on the list.

[Peter McCoy]

Thinking of old games makes me wanna re-play Blade Runner! A point'n'click detective game set in Ridley Scott's awesome noir future!

[Atreyu]

Played through the first 5 missions of Command & Conquer - started off ok but I've been gradually finding the game tedious. Admittedly I've been spoilt a bit by Age of Empires; in C&C you only collect one resource type (tiberium) and you only build what's available in the build list (ie. no research options to gain extra variety etc) so most of the missions simply devolve into 'build up a huge force then smash your opponent'.

I think I might leave it for now and try something else - maybe Theme Hospital for something completely different. :)

[Crusader]

Wait isn't mission 6 the one where you get the commando? You have to play mission 6!

[Atreyu]

I haven't finished Mission 5 quite yet, and unfortunately I probably won't for a while as I had to reinstall the game again after an attempt at installing a fan-made patch went awry (goodbye saved games). :\

Had a go at Theme Hospital this morning - I've played that opening level so many times in the past that I can almost do it with my eyes shut. Not bad - probably a game to play as filler between some of the others.

I also managed to get hold of Dungeon Keeper 2, so will attempt that soon. :)

[Peter McCoy]

OMG! Dungeon Keeper 2 is awesome! I still play that. I love it once you get the ability to build prisons - skeletons galore!