/vr/ - Retro Games

>>5322575
Just emulate, dumbass.

>>5322575
Windows 98 basically runs right on top of DOS so, yeah a win98 machine will also run DOS games natively by default, just hit "restart in ms-dos mode". of course DOS needs its own separate drivers for soundcards and mouse and CD drives and whatnot, and you have to setup the autoexec and config.sys for that. philscomputerlab has some guides that might be helpful.

Ok, real deal here.

For DOS games, you can just emulate them through DOSBOX. You'd have to know how to configure it, though.

Now, for Win98 games, you don't have many options. Most emulators can't deal with 3D graphics or are just too slow. Win98 is a bitch to emulate, for some reason. If you have the cash, it's better to just buy the parts and make a "retro PC". You can play DOS games just fine on this PC, because Win98 still runs DOS, although some real-time mode games may be incompatible.

A "modern PC" isn't fine for Win98, because most of the stuff nowadays doesn't have Win98 drivers (a lot of stuff doesn't even have WinXP drivers anymore). So while you can install Win98 on a modern PC, you would be under VGA mode and have no sound. So no.

So, if you don't really have the time to configure a ton of stuff, then you're sorta fucked. It's not really that easy to emulate, too. If you want tips on how to build this "retro PC", you can just look online for people who undertook this same project.

I'll just say it: if you don't really have the time or patience, it isn't worth it. I always wanted to revisit a few games from that era, but it's too much work and I just don't have the time.

>>5322620
PCem has been working out nicely for me running Windows 98. Emulating a system with a Pentium MMX 166 and a Voodoo 2, I'm still able to play some things very well, like Need for Speed 2 and 3.

>>5322575
>I also want to play some late-90s (maayyyyyybe 2000/2001?) windows games, but while I'd need another computer for that,
Yeah nah, m8. A Windows 98 machine is perfect for both DOS and any pre 2005 Windows game. As long as you can get the right hardware with the right drivers there's no reason you'd ever need more than one box for what you want. You can use MoSlo to slow things down for the truly ancient DOS games that aren't future-proof.

>s, but I'm totally unfamiliar with computers in general, especially older ones.
Here's your problem though. You need the right hardware from the right era and you need the right drivers to work in Windows and in DOS. You need to know DOS basics to get this stuff working, if you aren't comfortable editing config.sys and autoexec.bat to add lines for DOS based CDROM and Sound Blaster drivers (loaded into high memory, which means you need to know what high memory is) then you should absolutly practice a lot on virtual machines and do research before you go spending money.

>>5322620
>Win98 is a bitch to emulate, for some reason.

Because there is no reliable free way to emulate early versions of DirectX

>>5322575
>all three DOS eras
Yup. You're really unfamiliar with just about anything except some term you heard on youtube or whatever. Running a wide range of old DOS games can be very complicated and you clearly don't have the experience, and apparently not the intellect to get it right. Certainly not on your first try. Pay around with dosbox and if you ever outgrow that you'll hopefully have at least some idea of what you want to do and can ask semi-intelligent questions.

>>5322575
i went this route, not fucking worth it at all. i forgot how much installing drivers sucked, and your games will still be buggy as shit even after trying years of different drivers on the simplest hardware imaginable on a fresh install of win98se.

bup

>>5322575
>Is it at all possible to have a computer that can support all three eras of DOS games, and maybe some form of Windows 9x, if that's at all possible?
Yes but it can be clunky depending on what the hardware you end up with supports. Any CPU fast enough to run win9x stuff will need an easy way to down-clock and disable CPU caches in order to be slowed enough to run earlier DOS titles at an acceptable speed. The Wing Commander games are a good example of very intolerant software timing so they're good for testing. They pretty much demand 386-tier speeds with little room to deviate above or below.

>>5322575
Emulation sucks, especially if you move into Win95/Win98 territory. One or two cheap Pentium rigs for that era and you are done. I use imaging tools with premade HDD images so I have a fresh preconfigured system up and running in 10 minutes.

>>5322575
What are the "three eras of DOS games"?

Look for an old desktop at the goodwill. You can still find old towers with win 98 on them. Just open them up and see whats inside before you buy.

>>5322689
This is a valid point. Unless you were doing a lot of installs in the late 90's professionally, or as a hard core hobbyist this will be impossible for you. Absolutely not something the can't-change-a-battery generation should try to tackle.

>>5323138
Not OP but I'm going to guess
80s text/CGA/EGA
early 90s VGA/CD-ROM
mid 90s SVGA/3D

>>5323107
>Emulation sucks
Emulation is awesome with DOSBox or PCem if you configure them properly
The only problem is PCem can only emulate up to a P233 MMX but that's good enough for most games through '99

>>5323469
It's only awesome in your very limited experience. And by limited I mean nonexistent because if you'd ever setup windows in dosbox you'd know it's as much, if not more of, a pain in the ass as hardware.
>P233 MMX
>games
>'99
Way to prove you're retarded kiddo

>>5324402
Not the person you're replying to but...Why are you so angry?

>>5323469
Believe me, I've tried. But Win95 and 98 are a bitch to emulate on most stuff. I've had some luck running a few games that use pure DOS, but anything that uses DirectX or glide is a big no-no.

And I've setup PCem a bunch of times, and the most I can run are some visual novels. Even a 2D fighting game has hiccups. My setup is a i7 and a 2080ti. Not that a video card would matter for emulation, but still.

>>5324463
Not him but it's /vr/, the land of eternal gatekeeping. You just have to deal with it.

So the moral of the story - retro pc hardware is for tards.

>>5322620
You can always run Win98 in a VM. It's a bitch to setup but it works

>>5324618
You don't understand. Running Win98 in a VM _IS_ a bitch.

>>5322604
>not just watching youtube videos of other people playing them

>>5324463
>everyone who disagrees with me is angry
Not even mad. Not everyone here is a member of the triggered generation. I'm more amused about how dumb kids bullshit on the internet when actual facts are a few clicks away.

>>5324725
>not just watching twitch livestreams

>>5324402
I never said I set up Windows 95 or 98 in DOSBox (although Win 3.11 works perfectly in DOSBox)
I installed Win 98 in PCem - I've installed over 30 games that run smooth
I never said every game released in '99 runs great on a P233, but many do
"Most games through '99" includes the 1995 through 1998 games
Sorry for the confusion

>>5324478
>the most I can run are some visual novels
You're doing something wrong
There are several youtube videos that explain setting up PCem - maybe you watched a shitty one
One in particular was really excellent - he even had links to all the drivers you need
All you need is your own Win 98 (or 95) ISO

>>5322683
I always love when you can pick out the hateful virgins from everyone else.

>>5324478
I found the video I used
The Complete Long Tutorial Step By Step to Install Windows 98 in PCEM 1.3.1 for Retro Gaming
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hx5XbIbjh3c
Of course there's a later version of PCem now, but setup is the same
I see he even has a link to a Win98SE ISO, but I already had one
If you follow his steps carefully, you will be playing Win95/98 games very soon

>>5324478
>Even a 2D fighting game has hiccups
Not anyone else here and it's been a while since I tried, but that's the exact problem I had on everything with PCem. Constant hiccups
Things would certainly run, at the right speed with correct graphics even. But absolutely everything would stutter, hiccup, drop frames left and right, etc.
Despite running properly otherwise, nothing was actually smooth.
Even messed with all sync settings I could find, also disabling desktop composition, running it in WinXP/7/8/10/linux VMs. All to no avail.

I know some old games definitely were not smooth in the first place. But all of them?
Even though I remember them being smooth as a kid, I also remember everything being unbelievably high definition, so imagination is clearly responsible for at least part of that.

Of course some stutter won't prevent most games from being playable. But by golly it's annoying.

>>5324849
Ok, I'll try to use this. But I don't expect much from it.

>>5324895
Yeah, that's the thing. Things run well enough, but there's stuttering and hiccups every few seconds. I've tried running everything off another SSD, tried to close every single non-essential service, but the emulator still has problems.

>>5324906
Maybe you were trying to emulate a CPU that your current CPU can't handle
You need a very fast recent CPU to emulate a 200MHz or higher
My old shit (i5-3570K) can only emulate a 120MHz CPU with zero stuttering
133 stutters on occasion but isn't too bad, 150 and higher is just too much
But 133MHz is good enough for some games, especially those released in '95 or '96
I can even run a few from 1999 with low requirements, like Pandora's Box, 3-D Ultra Train Town Deluxe, card/board/puzzle games, things like that

>>5322575
it aint necessary, dosbox will actually save you a hassle

and even then.. emulating the console versions takes less time

>>5325047
I appreciate it, but I'm not really doing it out of what's most convenient; Sure, I can use dosbox now, everyone does, I just want to know what it'd take to meet my own autistic ideals.

>>5325060
>I appreciate it, but I'm not really doing it out of what's most convenient;
so you're in for the long haul aka the whole experience huh?? haha i have my retro build and let me just say WEW what a waste of time that was

have fun i guess, using old software is always a blast too

You don't need emulation for most Windows 9x games, they should (sometimes with a patch) run on Windows 10.

>>5325149
You know a lot of Win9x games are 16-bit applications, right? No patch is gonna make them run on Win10. The last Windows that has support for 16-bit applications is WinXP.

>>5325149
Quite a ton of them are 16bit, so that's only true for 32bit Win10(+7/8) which has support for it.

And even then, anything that uses DX6-7, sometimes 8, will probably give you a massive pain in the ass.
There are some compatibility layers for that like DXGL, and as DgVoodoo2 for Glide1/2(/3?). But they're kind of hit and miss.
>>5325157
Not true. 16bit support exists in any 32bit Windows, even up to and including 10. It's just that almost no one installs 32bit versions of them, and you may run into some driver issues there.

>>5325157
>You know a lot of Win9x games are 16-bit applications, right?

If they were 16-bit they would not be Windows 9x, they would be Windows 3.x, you baka.

phils got you covered https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzm5yBYIR6Q

do not use pcem or dosbox unless you have a freesync monitor. You will have input lag OUT THE ASS and vsync stutter, like way worse than any other console emulator.

>>5325196
>smp
>win9x
Shark status: Jumped

>>5324837
Me too. It's so easy. Call one out for being stupid and the same autism that keeps him from ever hitting it off with a girl forces him to sperg out. It's funny as fuck to watch.

>>5325196
hey gois Phil here back with another bideo. Looks like china sent us another care package

>>5325169
I have here a bunch of 1998~1999 games that say "for Win98" and they are all 16-bit applications. Most of them japanese games, which makes me think they just didn't care about making the jump. I mean, 1999 and still coding in 16-bit?

>>5322575
Pentium II 300mhz. Plays just about everything including later 3D games at decent frame rate.
Underclock to 133mhz, ACPI throttle, disable cache, and now you have an 8086.

>>5325775
Those have 16-bit installers, the actual game is 32-bit. Exceedingly common practice.

>>5324402
I still played games on a Pentium 166 in 1999. It's not at all implausible.

>>5325775
Extract and replace installer with 32-bit version, easy

>>5322681
This is entirely wrong.
You can do DX 1-6 in PCEM and anything Dx7 and up likely just works on Windows 7 anyways. Or you can even install WinXP in VMware Player and get DX 1-9 hardware acceleration.

>>5327149
I still play games on a a 386 today. You did not play any 1999 games on your pentium 166 except maybe some shareware minesweeper clone.

>>5322575
>Slot 1 Pentium 3 550mhz
>Asus P3B-F motherboard
>320megs of PC133 ram
>Nvidia Geforce ti4200 128mb
>3DFX Voodoo 2
>2x 40 gb hard drives
>50x CD-ROM
>Win98 SE

This is what I use and it's perfect.

>>5327510
>perfect
No. That's a classic raided the dump and threw in a voodoo setup. I'm sure it works well enough for most late 90's games but with a bit more thought and planning you could have got something that works great for late 90's games and early 00's games as well.

>>5327667
something great, like these examples I didn't include.

The hell is constructive criticism?

>>5327423
Railroad Tycoon 2, Rollercoaster Tycoon, SMAC, Civilization: Call to Power, Simcopter, Simcity 3000, and Streets of Simcity were all playable then.
I played Deus Ex, Oni, and Half-Life on it as well but at resolutions and framerates that I'd consider unplayable today. I'm not saying it's an optimal build, just that it's incorrect to imply that someone who thinks a Pentium MMX was usable in 1999 is a clueless kid.

>>5327165
It's not entirely wrong. We are talking about emulating directx in windows 98, not fucking windows 7, not fucking windows xp.

you move the goal posts then say I am wrong, fuck off faggot

>>5327740
I had a pentium 150 in 98 with a voodoo 2 and shit was barely fucking playable. Going to a pentium 2 400 was a life changing experience.

>>5327510
sup

>>5327786
hi LGR

>>5327510
>>Nvidia Geforce ti4200 128mb
>>3DFX Voodoo 2

you know i've never actually tried running dual video cards in win9x or MSDOS; how's that actually do? does the registry shit itself and die screaming pretty often?

>>5327740
>deus ex on a 166 mmx
dude that is single digit framerates

>>5327740
>it's correct to imply that someone who thinks a Pentium MMX was usable for 1999 games is a clueless kid
FTFYCK

>>5322575
Honestly, unless you're REALLY into tinkering with old PC hardware there isn't much point. DOSBox covers all DOS games & software and wrappers like dgVoodoo2 cover early DirectX/Glide stuff. I'm not even a super hacker by any stretch but I can just pull a random win9x game from my redump set and get it working on WINDOWS TEN. In most cases what you do is install the game, install the latest update (find it on google), get a no-cd crack for the said update, copy dgVoodoo2 libraries, and bam, you're done.

As for the DOS stuff it's even more simple. Just mount an HDD, mount a CD-ROM, run setup.exe, speed it up, navigate to the game folder, play the game.

>>5327895
>>5327853
Well I guess I'm wrong but at least I'm a clueless adult. To be fair, my standards for playability as an adolescent in 1999 were considerably lower than today.

>>5326184
Oh yeah, 16-bit installers for 32-bit games/applications were a real thing. Thankfully though it's often very easy to fix by just replacing the exe file. See here:
http://toastytech.com/files/setup.html

>>5325157
You know that 32-bit Windows 10 is still a thing and still has NTVDM, right?

>>5327902
>redump set
where did you get win9x redump?

>>5327921
It's called IBM PC Compatible. Got it from romshepherd before it went down in flames.

>>5327667
Dude he listed a GeForce 4 Ti, that's powerful enough to play anything in the early 00s though you won't be able to turn on anisotropic filtering or anti-aliasing at playable speeds in later-release games.

>>5322575
>Not playing Company of Heroes
>Not Playing ONLY Company of Heroes
What is wrong with you all?

>>5328398
>being a young naive circlejerker
>copying and pasting shit i don't understand
18+

>>5327818
It's pretty easy. In DOS you have to have patches for the games you want to render in Glide mode (3DFX api)

In Win9x you usually just pick which card and which api you want to use (DirectX, OpenGL, Glide).

>>5328398
Yes, the ti4200 is good enough, though the motherboard and CPU I'm using does bottleneck it quite a bit. Anything past 2001 I run on a proper WinXP machine with a Radeon 9800 XT 256mb.

What's the general opinion on Sound Blaster Pro vs. AWE32? There are some older games that support the Pro at the latest, whereas some will support the AWE32/AWE64/SB16. I've got both and I'm trying to decide if it's worth it to put both in the same machine and use external switch fuckery and batch files to swap between them, or if I should just stick the AWE32 in a newer box. Current box is running a Pentium MMX 233 and an S3 Virge. Can hit 386SX/16 speeds if I turn off all the advanced features and force the worst RAM speeds. SB Pro currently sounds great aside from internal PC speaker passthrough sounding pretty muffled and loud. Might try a potentiometer to attenuate the signal on that. Also running a Music Quest clone card which is nice for stuff like Princess Maker. Have a GUS PNP on the way that I'm planning to toss in the box (time for an IRQ nightmare) as well as the parts for a Game Blaster replica. This leaves me with 5 cards for 4 ISA slots, which means at least one is going in a newer system or one is going in an older system. Just trying to sort things out until parts arrive.

>>5329965
There's only a handful of titles that do stupid shit with the DSP (Like Jill of the Jungle) which would make them incompatible with the AWE, and most of those have fixes.

>>5329965
I've never owned either, but from what I've heard others say, I'd say go with the AWE32.

not the same situation as OP but im lookin to play some older 90s and early 00s games on a giant 4:3 trinitron pc monitor using modern hardware. Im thinking DOSBox, xp compatibility mode and GOG if I need it. Looking for some game recommendations though, thanks.

I got some PC for free ages back with a pentium 3. I'd love to do more retro gaming with it but so many older early 90s and late 80s titles don't recognize the turtle beach soundcard.

donut die pls

>>5330358
If it has an ISA slot you could stick a Sound Blaster in there.

>>5332452
You sure about that? He might poke an eye out.