Things you miss about old PC Games

Hell, waiting 15minutes for a game to load from an audio tape and fail. Made you appreciate it when the damn thing worked. Looking at you F19 Stealth Fighter for the C64
 
Not so much about PC's but when it comes to gaming in general I miss the old pre-CD era music, music really had a unique sound back then...


It's just not the same anymore developers got lazy when it came to music, most games today are 95% about graphics with everything else an afterthought. :(
 
The exclusivity. It used to take hours playing around with the Autoexec.bat and config.sys to free up that extra 20k of ram so you can run your new game. If often felt like only a few people had the time and skill to get them running.
 
Yup F22:ADF came not only with an inch thick manual but also with a Janes Encyclopedia of aircraft, tanks, missile and all sorts :D

This has also reminded me of those cardboard keyboard surrounds you'd get that would tell you what the keys were for.

F22:ADF was amazing! i played that game to death. i never really read the manual as such. everything i learnt in that plane was self taught. like programming the missiles to targets on the fly, while evading missiles from SU-27's etc. or shooting down a airliner! :D im actually quite proud of myself lol. put me in a real F22 and i reckon i could fly it ;)


i also miss the large manuals. big boxes, and originality.
 
Not having the Internet ruin it all. I do sometimes think that the 'net has killed my pleasure from gaming. Now we get previews from day one, BS from developers, lying reviewers, fan-boy's and haters. Try as I might, I can never truly keep clear of the hype machine and the inevitable fallout from it. :(

There's also the arrival of the Xbox. There was no room for 'highbrow' PC games when the mass market gates began to open. :( It does seem strange that I wouldn't consider many games made after 2000-2001 to be in my all time list. There are one or two, but that's it.

The exclusivity. It used to take hours playing around with the Autoexec.bat and config.sys to free up that extra 20k of ram so you can run your new game. If often felt like only a few people had the time and skill to get them running.

Mmm, I think I agree with that one too. :D I think the developers of the time were of that mindset as well.
 
Christ this is easy and comes in 2 parts

1) COOP Campaigns. In the old days almost any single player campaign could also be played in coop with a friend. Then bloody Half Life came along with it's scripted scenes and threw that out the Window. Now coop games are far harder to come by.

2) I miss the fact that PC games always used to be made for the PC. Far too many shoddy console ports out there now brought to the PC with little attention, Saints Row 2 I'm looking at you!
 
Ahh Blood on Coop mode. What a hoot that was :D

The only problem was that occasionally you'd reach a level which they hadnt tested for Coop. One player would go through a door, it'd lock behind him and you'd have to hop he'd make it the rest of the way without dying :D
 
Replay value - I feel games these days just don't seem to have it. It's all flashy graphics and no backbone.

I used to play Dungeon Keeper and Dungeon Keeper 2 for aaaaaggggeeesss, still itch to play them again to this day.
 
Codename : Outbreak - a whole game built around co-op, it was massive fun when played with someone else. The AI was fantastic too, we'd regularly find ourselves being flanked when we were outnumbered.
 
The first quake Ambient Sounds/ Music, Quake 2 music and trying to max out graphics so you get the best quality/gameplay.

Final Doom and making yourself feel good finding the cheat /giveall & /godmode.

playing a game for a months like lara croft or the original Theme Park. giving money to the chicks on Duke Nukem so they show you their blocky boobs.
 
Things I miss about old games (any format)

Chunky Boxes

Chunky Manuals

Innovation and Originality

Gameplay over graphics and shiny effects

Online gaming where 4 out of 5 people arent immature idiots who struggle to form a cohesive sentence let alone an entire conversation.

Difficulty/challenge instead of hand-holding and being given things on a plate.

Speaking generally of course.
 
1) The Manuals and packaging, hopefully with extras. Infocom also had some great ones!

2) The sense of wonder seeing something NEW and not just a graphics update.

3) Actually seeing a new genre being created now and again and feeling part of that.

Boy, do I remember the feeling when Populous first booted up, or Doom, or the old M.U.L.E., times when something like Archon was given the chance to be a success.

This was the time that games were made by developers and not by accountants.
 
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