Retro Gaming

[Lianachan]

At the weekend, I found my original rubber keyed 1982 ZX Spectrum in a box with about 100 games for it. The joys of helping to clear out your parents loft, I guess. Anyway, I was absolutely delighted - because I still play a lot of Spectrum games on my PC using an emulator.

I also have 200Mb of my hard drive put aside as a fully configured Commodore Amiga, complete with games installed onto "it's" hard drive, and quite a selection of Atari ST, Commodore VIC-20 and C64 emulators and software. Oh yes, and a DOS emulator for playing all my old PC games nicely in XP.

Does anybody else enjoy a spot of nostalgic gaming?

(Edited afterthought - Americans might not be too familiar with the Spectrum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_Spectrum), as I don't think it was a huge success there?)

[Moose]

I never saw a Spectrum, coming from a relatively sheltered home in a very small town, but I have heard of them.

Yeah, I get the urge to retrogame from time to time. Sometimes I wish I'd kept my Atari 2600 and TRS-80. Ah well, there's always emulation.

[Doodler]

I've only picked up one. A Sega Genesis emulator and Shadowrun. Most of my gaming exposure is PC oriented, andI would love a reliable software that would let me play some old DOS games without the speed of the newer processors making gameplay insane.

[Walrus]

I prefer the original machines myself. I have a Commodore VIC-20, Commodore 64, Commodore Plus/4, Commodore 128D, Amiga 1200, an Apple IIe, Atari 400, Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari XE, Atari Lynx, Atari Jaguar, Sega Master System, Sega Nomad, Sega Saturn, a TRS-80 CoCo, Magnavox Oddysey^2, and a Colecovision. All working last time I checked. I've also got a few pongs, including one made in the USSR. I love the old games, although they're much harder to find than they were just a few years ago.

I've never seen a Spectrum- they were fairly rare in the US, people had Commodore and Atari computers instead. They were sold here via Sears in 1983, though. Actually, most people I knew had Apple II series machines. I was in awe of the Apple IIgs back in the day, I really wish I could find one (I have an Apple CD SC stowed away for the day when I create the ultimate Apple II setup.) Anyone have an Apple II FastSCSI card that they want to let go of?

[Nowhere Man]

About as retro as I've gotten is to install a Windows Doom engine and revive the old WAD files -- Doom, Doom II, and Ultimate Doom.

But in the intervening 5+ years since I last played them, I find that I am much more prone to FPS* sickness than I was before :sick:. About 20 minutes or so at a stretch is all I can take now :sad:. Maybe it's because the play is a bit faster than the old computer.

Fred

*First-person shooter

[Kelfazin]

When I get the Olde-Tyme gaming itch I usually head for the old text-based adventure games like Leather Goddesses of Phobos, (http://www.csd.uwo.ca/Infocom/lgop.html) Wishbringer (http://www.csd.uwo.ca/Infocom/wishbringer.html), or Spellbreaker (http://www.csd.uwo.ca/Infocom/spellbreaker.html)


Bedroom
You're standing in your bedroom, which is small but comfortable. A closed
door leads south into the living room. In a corner of the room sits a bedside
table. Under the pillow on your bed is the magical stone, Wishbringer.

>TAKE WISHBRINGER
Taken.

>GO SOUTH
The bedroom door is closed.

>OPEN THE BEDROOM DOOR
Okay, the bedroom door is now open.

I love em :)

[Trebuchet]

I always used to tell people I preferred the text-based games because they had better graphics. The programmers couldn't compete with what the words conjured up in my head. That's a bit less true now but I think it still holds.

[Swift]

Like Doodler said, my game playing has all been PC. I have a ten year old game (DOS based) called Ascendancy which I still like to play once in a while. It does run, but I've not been able to get the sound to work in a DOS window under Windows (it had beautiful background music).

[Halcyon Dayz]

XP stinks with older games. :evil:

[paulie jay]

I enjoy blasts from the gaming past, but prefer the original acrade games like Pacman, Galaga, Galaxian, Asteroids and the like. I use the MAME emulator to play these.

[Van Rijn]

When I get the Olde-Tyme gaming itch I usually head for the old text-based adventure games like Leather Goddesses of Phobos, (http://www.csd.uwo.ca/Infocom/lgop.html) Wishbringer (http://www.csd.uwo.ca/Infocom/wishbringer.html), or Spellbreaker (http://www.csd.uwo.ca/Infocom/spellbreaker.html)

I love em :)

Yes! I was sad when Infocom died. I liked the original Adventure (not from the Infocom guys), Zork and many of the other Infocom games. I was annoyed when the graphical adventure games took over and have only played a couple that I thought were worth bothering with - they are usually a frustrating exercise in pixel hunting. All too often I would need hints because it would turn out that you had to click on just the right, but seemingly random dot ... it was completly counterintuitive and I hated them.

Now even the graphical adventures have largely faded away . . .

My first computer was an Apple II+. I still own it and run an emulator with Apple games sometimes. There were many arcade style games. I can't say enough about my old Apple - I was one of the few who used their computer from home to dial into the university computer (I used a Hayes 300 Bps Applemodem). Much easier than trying to find a terminal there. Assembly class was easy after learning 6502 assembly. I really studied the software and hardware on that machine. It was surprising how much of that knowledge of a little computer could be applied in other environments.

[Lianachan]

For old DOS games in XP, I use DOSBox (http://dosbox.sourceforge.net/news.php?show_news=1), with D-FEND (linked to from the above site) as a front end. Very easy to use, and I've not met anything it won't run nicely yet. Recommended.

Olde wurlde adventure gaming for me usually consists of The Hobbit on the Spectrum or Indiana Jones and the Fate Of Atlantis and The Secret Of Monkey Island on the PC or Amiga. I don't think you really get adventure games as we used to know them anymore, do you? Grim Fandango was probably the last (and one of the best) of them.

(Edited afterthought - the LucasArts adventure games (and Beneath A Steel Sky) are best played using ScummVM (http://www.scummvm.org))

[enginelessjohn]

I found an ST emulator for my PDA a while back, and spent many a happy hour while working out my redundancy notice on my old job playing Pirates!.....

Cheers
John

[Nicolas]

I used to play a lot of old games, but lately I'm not doing a lot of gaming anyway. HL2 and HL1: source. Does HL1: source count? :D

The retro games I used to play the longest were Stunts and Slicks 'n' Slide, games I played for years. I might hook up one of our 8 bit Sega Master System 2's to the TV here in the future :).

I'm a bit young for the oldest (game) computers, but I have played quite some Commodore 64 in the past and lots of Philips VideoPac (that one is nutters :D). I did not own these myself though, so I have never played them since.

[mid]

Spectrum emulator + Spindizzy, 3D Deathchase and Jetpac = happy mid.

[Lianachan]

Spectrum emulator + Spindizzy, 3D Deathchase and Jetpac = happy mid.
Agreed. The aforementioned box from the loft contained both the cassette and cartridge versions of Jetpac.

:dance:

[Lianachan]

I found an ST emulator for my PDA a while back, and spent many a happy hour while working out my redundancy notice on my old job playing Pirates!.....

Cheers
John

I've just discovered you can get ScummVM for the PalmOS. Furtive (and hopefully lunchtime) Monkey Islanding here I come! Cheers for the idea.

[farmerjumperdon]

Once in a while I'll play against the kids if they'll put the Atari Anthology disc in their X-Box.

Problem though is that some of the games are REALLY tough because the controls don't have the right responsivenss. Seems that anything with a paddle is nearly impossible. You move the knob just a touch and the paddle goes screaming across the screen.

Anybody know if there is a fix for that? I asked a guy at Circuit City and he said there wasn't, that you just get used to it and it'll seem normal. NO WAY.

[Moose]

Lianachan, you get a virtual kiss on the cheek, or a trophy, or... or something! I had no idea about the Scumm emulator (Full Throttle!!!), and while I did know about DosBox, I didn't know they'd added support for Privateer since the last time I looked. *does happy dance*

[ToSeek]

I have a backgammon game for my Mac that is still playable. It's so old that it's designed for the tiny screen of the original Macs: the window jams itself in the upper left-hand corner, and everything is black-and-white.

[Eroica]

I used to have a Commodore 64. China Miner was my favourite game. I reached level 22 or so before I realized I had a problem. It was seriously addictive. And the music! Scott Joplin's Maple-Leaf Rag is still rattling about in my brain!

Another game I loved was Hunchback.

The first computer game I ever played was a very basic text-based adventure game called Altair 4. I never did complete it. I still lie awake at night trying to work out where I was going wrong! (If anyone remembers this game I would love the solution!)

Ah, those were simpler times....

[mid]

farmerjumperdon - unfortunately, I don't know a way to alter the paddle problem on the XBox Atari Anthology, sorry.

I do however have a proper paddle for my PS2 (and via an adaptor for the PC), so I solved it that way. Which doesn't really help you much, I admit.

[sts60]

I have the U.S. version of the Spectrum in my desk drawer: the Timex Sinclar ZX-81. I even have the 16K RAM expansion! Bow to my technological superiority!

Walrus, that's a heckuva museum you have there. Is the Colecovision the same as the Coleco "Adam" - a machine in which the system power supply was in the printer, and you had to plug the rest into the printer to turn it on? I played with one of those once.

Also, for retro tastes, there are the Atari Flashback / Retro machines which plug directly into the TV.

[Lianachan]

I have the U.S. version of the Spectrum in my desk drawer: the Timex Sinclar ZX-81. I even have the 16K RAM expansion! Bow to my technological superiority!

Ah - that was the US version of the ZX81, which preceeded the Spectrum. The Spectrum was significantly more powerful..... 16k or 48k RAM! 3.5MHz processor!

I haven't seen a real ZX81 for years. I've no idea what happened to mine.

[Lianachan]

The first computer game I ever played was a very basic text-based adventure game called Altair 4. I never did complete it. I still lie awake at night trying to work out where I was going wrong! (If anyone remembers this game I would love the solution!)


Oh, go on then. since it's you (http://c64.tin.at/_single_files/altair_4.sol.txt).

[Swift]

You are in a maze of twisty passages, all alike.
;)

[Walrus]

The Colecovision was a home videogame console, while the Adam was a home computer based on the same architecture. I've never seen an Adam, personally, but it existed in two versions- as a standalone unit and as an add-on for the Colecovision. The Adam could play Colecovision cartridge games, and some Coleco games were released in beige cartridges that matched the Adam. The Colecovision/Adam was made out of off-the-shelf parts, including a Z-80 processor. The Adam was probably the mistake that buried Coleco, as they were unreliable and highly disreputable. The non-standard tape drives were particularly notorious. I got my well-preserved Colecovision for $3.95 last year at a thrift store (score!). My favorite game for it is Illusions, a bizarre game based on the drawings of M.C. Escher.

[farmerjumperdon]

So are the real relics in this thread the games or the people?

And I still can't get the darn smilies to go anywhere but the title bar.

Dagnabit newfangled technology!

[Kelfazin]

The other Olde-Tyme "game" I used to love to play was getting out the BASIC programming books and spending 7 hours typing in code to make a ball bounce around the old green monochrome screen on our brand new Panasonic Sr. Partner! (http://www.digibarn.com/collections/systems/panasonic-sr-partner/)

I once had a program that, when you entered your weight, would tell you how much you would weigh on all the different planets. That was pretty cool :)

[Philip A]

www.firebox.com have a good range of plug and play retro games. I have lost a lot of life to Sensible Soccer and Cannon Fodder recently.......

[Lianachan]

www.firebox.com have a good range of plug and play retro games. I have lost a lot of life to Sensible Soccer and Cannon Fodder recently.......
I was playing Sensible World Of Soccer: 1996-97 and the hard drive installed version of Canon Fodder on WinUAE last night!

[Parrothead]

I've been playing some centipede, millipede, lunar lander, asteroids etc. on my pc lately. I couldn't resist picking up a box of cereal back in December after noticing it came with a "80 classic Atari games" cd. It's not quite the same, but it is fun to play some of these games again. I have pac-man, Ms. pac-man, Galaga (or is it Galaxia), Pole Position, Frogger, Space Invaders and Dragon's Lair on other assorted discs.

[Taks]

Does anybody else enjoy a spot of nostalgic gaming?i have, in the recent past, with my all time favorite "Tales of the Unknown: The Bard's Tale" on commodore 64. the PC version is interesting in that it screams through the dialog options during fights. i remember walking away from one particular battle (four groups of 99 baddies) that took anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes to complete that now takes under a minute... man.

of course, i can only get soooo nostalgic before i bore anymore.

taks

[jumbo]

I play M.U.D.S from time to time. You manage a muds team (mean ugly dirty sport) made up of convicts of various races. Humans (all rounders) whizzles (fast but weak reptiles) hartwinders(salamander things) in a medieval world. its like a cros between rugby and war. The aim is to get the flonk (a small stupid pterodactly that acts as a ball) into the barrel over the other side of the oppositions monster infested moat. Players can win by being first to score 7 flonks or killing all of theopposing team (either by beating them up or knocking them into the moat to be eaten).
You choose where the team stays and can bribe refferees or even the flonk and buy and sell players, take them to taverns etc.
Very odd but great fun.

I also still play frontier (though its mainly FFE now). Cryos Dune gets unearthed every now and again.
Some old flightsims like red baron and knights of the sky and f19 stealth fighter get played too.

[Eroica]

Oh, go on then. since it's you (http://c64.tin.at/_single_files/altair_4.sol.txt). Thank you, thank you, thank you! You have just saved me countless sleepless nights. :clap:

UP SLOWLY (lobby), UP SLOWLY, OUT (north/south corridor on floor 1), This was where I went wrong. I never realized you could go up slowly in the elevator. It makes a big difference. Now all I need is a C-64 to finish the darned game.

Aha! (http://c64.tin.at/)

United Kingdom and Ireland retailer Argos have become the first store in the world to make the Commodore 64 DTV available to consumers.

:dance:

[enginelessjohn]

I've just discovered you can get ScummVM for the PalmOS. Furtive (and hopefully lunchtime) Monkey Islanding here I come! Cheers for the idea.

I've got a collection of iPaqs (given to me or through work. I've never actually spent my own cash on one...) so I was running CastCE, which seemed pretty stable.

Cheers
John

[Lianachan]

Thank you, thank you, thank you! You have just saved me countless sleepless nights.
You're more than welcome, glad to be of service.

Aha! (http://c64.tin.at/)
Alternatively, seall seo (http://www.viceteam.org/). That's what I use for vintage Commodore goodness.