Running older games?

DampDog · 22 Dec 2013 at 08:23

Are you asking for trouble running older games on an up to date PC??

I'm running Windows7 X64, all up to date and trouble free.

I've found a copy of IL2 at the bottom of my cupboard and was thinking I'll give that another go. But it's direct X8.1, Windows 98-XP. Am I asking for trouble trying to install & run it?

bignev72 · 22 Dec 2013 at 09:45

Well you could just try it :confused:

What harm can it do?

kola · 22 Dec 2013 at 09:52

Your PC isn't going to blow up trying

Duke · 22 Dec 2013 at 10:04

A quick search online suggests it will work if you install it somewhere like C:\IL2 rather than in the default Program Files location.

DampDog · 22 Dec 2013 at 10:19

bignev72 said:
Well you could just try it

What harm can it do?

kola said:
Your PC isn't going to blow up trying

LOL.. Yeah I know dat..

I was just thinking would the install overwrite more current drivers and generally screw things up. Don't fancy having to do a fresh install just to get things back. I know I can always create a backup or restore point first but it's still potentially a pain.

Are there any similar up to date flight sims that are worth a go.

TheVoice · 22 Dec 2013 at 11:12

Games don't install drivers.

DampDog · 22 Dec 2013 at 11:14

TheVoice said:
Games don't install drivers.

Sorry drivers is a poor choice of words. My meaning was will "older" games replace newer versions of say Direct X. Do they just install what they think necessary rather than checking to see if the system has newer versions?

shauncr91 · 22 Dec 2013 at 11:19

Just run it, if it doesn't work try compatability mode?

Winky_The_Winking_Turtle · 22 Dec 2013 at 11:21

DampDog said:
Direct X versions?? Dunno just asking

...

Anyway, your best bet is just searching for that specific game on Google, with "win 7" tagged on at the end. Or using compatibility modes is another safe bet.

DampDog · 22 Dec 2013 at 11:37

Ok, thanks for the help.. (I know I'm a whoose, just thought I'd ask)

Merry Xmas, hope Santa has few PC bits for you in his sack..

Kosmiche · 22 Dec 2013 at 13:28

I can testify that il2 1946 works perfectly on windows 7, not sure about older versions of the game though.

Mathius · 22 Dec 2013 at 13:38

its my understanding that if a game wants to install direct x files it will only install what is required or missing from your current direct x version...it won't downgrade your version.

Run as Admin and Compatibility Mode for XP normally fix any problems.

DampDog · 22 Dec 2013 at 14:18

Eames said:
I can testify that il2 1946 works perfectly on windows 7, not sure about older versions of the game though.

Cheers, sure I've just seen that on Steam going cheap. Thanks.

HangTime · 22 Dec 2013 at 22:13

DampDog said:
Are you asking for trouble running older games on an up to date PC??

No, personally if a game uses D3D and runs on XP or later then I'm fairly confident it will work on a modern PC, albeit perhaps needing some tweaking. I tend to worry more about game that are DOS based or use a different rendering API.

You may get the odd game that doesn't work but it is pretty rare in my experience.

maddness · 22 Dec 2013 at 22:16

I loved Flight Unlimited you could give it a try ~~and possibly screw up your PC for real~~

bloodiedathame · 22 Dec 2013 at 22:22

I recently thought that you could try running XP or Win 95/98 as a VM on a 7 or 8 build... Not tried it myself but should work...

Bart_Hunt · 22 Dec 2013 at 22:31

Or try getting your 'older games' at stores like gog.com then they come with sort of a client, when the os they worked on is old. I have my Master of Orion 2 from GoG, download included dosbox. Works fine with no problems at all.