spec me a retro pc!

MuGeN

MuGeN

MuGeN

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Mooching... in your house
i'm looking to build a retro pc for playing games such as:

doom2
quake
monkey island 1 & 2
dungeon keeper 2
discworld
tomb raider 1

so in terms of graphics, the range would be from monkey island through to quake

what sort of spec should i be looking for (got some components in the loft that could be salvaged), but i'm not sure how far back i should go in terms of technology, or even what operating system to use...

any ideas?
 
I'm thinking win98se, early geforce/3dfx voodoo. That sort of age......then at least you can log onto OCUK inbetween gaming without too many problems!

Boost your post count and get into the members market, there's probably a wealth of old hardware to get for little moneys!
 
See if you can get virtual pc, if you have classic operating systems you can install onto virtual pc then go forth on to using classic applications...

Unless you're dead set on building a classing pc. :p
 
Bah, just install Win 98 SE on Virtualbox. It'd be easier than maintaining and powering a whole system just for that when there's no real benefit from doing so.
 
Well, i'm on a mac so if I go virtual it would be VMWare, but I don't think it'd handle it (I'm only on a Macbook which can just about play Warcraft 3 natively) - The other option is bootcamp which means I could actually install my operating system of choice and have it run properly rather than virtually, but wouldn't there be problems with drivers etc?
 
Is 3d hardware acceleration possible under a virtual machine? (i know most games of the era had a software render mode, but GL quake WAS fun.)
 
Ah youve got me thinking now, used to really enjoy Dungeon Keeper!

I found Tiberian Sun in a drawer the other day, it wouldnt install as its 16 bit :(
 
I'd source out some legendary lecagy components if I were you. I'd go for Voodoo2 12Mb SLI/Celeron 300a/Win98SE/SB AWE 64 GOLD etc...
 
i spose it'd be best to run it through a CRT monitor too but i can't really fit one anywhere as much as i'd want to...

res that low just looks carp stretched out but looked ok on CRT for some reason...
 
MuGeN said:
i spose it'd be best to run it through a CRT monitor too but i can't really fit one anywhere as much as i'd want to...

res that low just looks carp stretched out but looked ok on CRT for some reason...
Click to expand...

If you want to run at 800x600 you should use a monitor that can do 1600x1200. (20.1 inch 4:3, usually) This way each pixel will be represented by 4 on the new screen, thereby avoiding terrible scaling issues.

640x480 is harder, as they didn't tend to make 1280x960 LCDs. Maybe using Scitech display doctor (powerstrip these days) you could do a custom res modeline to make the pixels land on multiples of a 1280x1024 screen with black border at the top......
 
just get a totally bottom of the range cheapo modern cpu (single core athlon 64 / celeron) and it should be more than man enough to software render all of those titles. integrated gfx support open gl / d3d if needed and a pci voodoo2 can offer glide if its really needed.

stick to 512mb of ram with win98 and you can boot to dos for anything that wont run natively. the only issue would be sound: older games often have fits with newer cards. and old soundblaster pro is a good bet if you can get one.

as or displays, you should be able to disable full screen stretch in display drivers for lcd's - i checked its DEF there on ati cat 8.11's...
 
Can I ask why you need a new machine at all? Just recently I played through all the Monkey Island's (On #4 now), and had no problems. (Usually If I do with older games just change compatibility mode to 98)
 
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There's something great playing on the real deal, though, as an earlier poster said.

Reading this thread has made me hugely nostalgic for my old IBM Aptiva with a 266mhz K6 and a terrible onboard graphics solution. I remember being able to play the original Unreal on it, though.

If it still worked I'd definitely dust it off and play some Elite II or the Horde.
 
Thoth said:
There's something great playing on the real deal, though, as an earlier poster said.
Click to expand...

I don't see the point. I can see it with regards to an Atari ST or something like that, but just building a low spec PC and sticking a legacy OS on it does not carry the same nostalgia (for me at least).

As far as PCs running a Microsoft OS go, if it looks the same and plays the same then I really can't see the point. This is especially true in the case of scumm games.
 
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