Is There A Market Here For Older Computers for Adventure Games?

Hi GB's!

Not sure if this is the correct forum for this but here goes...

I was wondering if there were people here that would be interested in getting an older computer system to play the DOS based computer games.... I may have access to a few older cpu's for a pretty good price..... Would anyone here want to
acquire one? I have heard from many people that they wished they still had an older computer to play some adventure games on since newer computers with faster processors and Windows installed have difficulty running some games....so I was just curious....

I may be interested....do you have any details about the systems??
thanks...

Hi Snow Moon......
I'm interested too! Any details you have would be greatly appreciated.
Cynch

Oh I would think there would be a great market.

I had a sweet little 486 with CD Rom and SB card, but I had to use some parts to fix and save my main PC when it got ill.

CYE

Laura

I've been wondering along these lines a bit myself these past three or four days. Not being of a "business man" type I wouldn't have the first idea about pricing and marketing. I do, however, know we must first consider the details of what such a computer should consist of. Even at that, my past experience with "slow" games is Windows95 and a P166 CPU. Do not even remember what type of Video Card or Sound Card I used back then. Barely knew how to install a game back then, let alone know how it worked.

So......why not everyone with knowledge of the older games (my first was MYST several years ago) post their ideas of what a DOS or Windows95 type game (with a slow CPU) would require in a PC? And what you think it would be worth. Don't forget.....it cost to ship these things.

I find a lot of old used PCs for sale about a half mile from here and I've seen them range from $13 to $35 but that doesn't mean they don't need some work done on them. Naturally, they're all marked as "AS IS"! We do have one advantage in this. The guy who prepares them for sale lives across the street from me and with his help we might could get something going on this. It all depends on the demand and then what is available.

Some input on this and I'll see what can be done from here, if anything.

I would love to have one that would play the Win95 games I can't currently play on my Win98 system.

Wow........ I guess these responses answer my question....... I don't have any specs on the computers right now. The person who has these cpu's is pretty computer illiterate, so I am waiting to talk to her computer guru so he can give me the specs on them.... It will probably be a couple of weeks before I find out anything, and I will post here when I do....

The only problem I see with this is the shipping fees. I looked into buying an old computer from a source in another city for about $40, but it would have costed me about another $50 to ship it to my home.

Is there such a thing as a pure DOS game machine? I mean one that you would NOT have to reconfigure for each game, could just load the CD and play? <img border="0" title="" alt="[Confused]" src="confused.gif" />

ahhh, Granny, there-in lies the problem. Even with just DOS, there was always some tweaking going on.

Being a DOS baby, I remember that if you didn't have a SoundBlaster card, you would have to monkey with the sound as quite a few games were optimized for SB and nothing else. Sure, sound cards claimed they could emulate SB, but the game didn't always agree. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Razz]" src="tongue.gif" />

And then there's that ugly EMS memory...

Hi.

One of my sons in law just built me an "old" Win.95 computer

He went asearching and gradually gathered all the necessary bits - making sure, of course, to bear in mind that nuisance factor..."compatability" <img border="0" title="" alt="[Cool]" src="cool.gif" />

I should now be able to play Dementia and possibly other games that won't run in anything but Win.95
And it will also come in very handy for the older DOS games that need a slower CPU.

I really recommend having an older style machine if you can possibly get one as I dare say it won't be THAT long before they, and/or the parts necessary to build one, just become totally unavailable

Cheers.

Mad

I just purchased a Dell Optiplex GXPro 200 for about 70.00, installed WIN 95b and have had great luck running older games like Synnergist, Shivers, Armed and Delirious and Azrael's Tear on it. This one is the last model before MMX Pentium. Has the original Pentium chip but there are OptiPlex GXPro's with the MMX Pentium chip as well. Fast enough for mid to late 90's games but strongly backwards compatible. I loaded Azrael's Tear and Alice Interactive on a very old 486 I had borrowed before buying the Dell and both games just crawled so watch out for that. You want some speed. I liked the Dell so much I bought a second one (38.00 on e-bay not including shipping) for parts. Here's a link that talks about older computers from a gamer's POV.
http://www.oldskool.org/ Look on the list at the left and click on "compatiblity".

The Dell has a command that lets you slow the system from 200 mhz to 8 mhz on the fly for those times when you need a really slow CPU and don't want to stop and mess with Turbo, MoSlo or CPU Killer. Someone should buy up a pallet of those old Dell 200's and sell them to old game gamers. This has exhausted my expertise on the subject so I'll shuddup now.

Mike

Mine was a a 50Mhz and pentium upgradeable. Started out with Win 3.1 and upgraded to Win'95. Had soundblaster on it that came with a cd player. Only had 8M ram on it (started with 4)and some of the games needed 12 or 16M ram. So might want to keep that in mind. Needed to make a boot disc for many of the dos games.

Wow, Scout....that sounds like just the ticket.

As I've mentioned before, I still have my old 166MHz and can play nearly any older DOS or early Windows game. I've never had any work done on it and its still in there working nearly every day, after six years. Here are the sys specs for this loyal little gem of a machine:

SONY Model PCV-100
166MHz Pentium w. MMX
Hard Drive - 2.5 GB
Standard Ram - 32 MB EDO RAM
L2 Cache Memory - 256 Pipeline Burst SRAM
Video RAM - 2 MB EDO
MPEG - MPEG1 Digital Video (Matrox)
Graphics - 3D acceleration
Sound - 3-D SONY SRS Surround
CDROM - 16X

There's the basic specs. I do have to tweak the sound with some older games, but have been able to play almost every older DOS/Win95 games with very few exceptions. If you can find one of these in good shape....I'd sure recommend it!

As far as value is concerned, these old machines are becoming sort of like a classic car. The value to someone who already has one, well, it is probably nearly "priceless." I wouldn't part with mine! However, the true market value is likely down in the basement!

Love, Witchen =O)

Witchen, you just described my ONLY gaming computer. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Razz]" src="tongue.gif" />

Needless to say, I haven't played any games released over the last 2 years!

Hi ya', Fongo......Well, we have a lot in common then. When you are able or get around to upgrading to a new system, hang on to that little soldier! LOL

Love, Witchen =O)

Two weeks ago I too bought a Dell Optiplex GXPro 200 after reading the OldSkool article. Ebay, $70 + $20 shipping across the US. However, I knew it came with no OS (meaning nothing on the HD); not a "power-on, load up the games!" solution.

Scout: I loaded WIN98 & spent days gathering/installing comp-specific video, SB16 and cd drivers from the internet. Still uncertain about configuring my first onboard, and first true-blue SB for DOS games...I'm used to PCI & "emulation." Did WIN95 automatically detect & load drivers? Perhaps I made a mountain out of a mole hill

I'm still running Win95b (PII 300, so I'm not that far removed from "OldSkool" <img border="0" title="" alt="[Razz]" src="tongue.gif" /> ) and when I've loaded new video/sound cards it will detect it and load generic Windoze drivers. If I want to load the drivers that accompanied the card, then I install those from the included CD or disk.

Hi Yapette,

Not sure about WIN 98 but all I did was boot to the CDROM drive with a floppy, insert the WIN 95 CDROM and hit setup. WIN 95 seemed to have all the drivers the Optiplex needed. I did download CTMOUSE, a nifty small footprint mouse driver into my root directory but that was it. I never had to fool with sound or video drivers at all. Everything I needed seemed to already be in the OS. Maybe it's different with WIN98 or maybe there is something I didn't do and don't know about yet. THAT happens alot!! Is it running now? Have you played any games on it yet?

Toger: When Dell's site described comp-specific drivers included on a CD/pre-installed on the HD (which of course I didn't have), I HAD to find & load 'em. Yes, windows detected hardware & loaded drivers but as I recall, didn't insert lines in autoexec/config for loading in DOS. I was searching for "install.exe"-ables that would automatically do that for me (less chance for error...mine )

Ooops, Scout posted while I was writing.
Hmmm, let's see...mind you, I haven't played all these games yet, the fun was getting 'em loaded.

Freddy Pharkas: couldn't get speech in DOS, reinstalled windows version, worked fine initially, then Freddy began zooming across the screen even w/ Turbo.
Orion Conspiracy: DOS, had fits getting enough memory for speech, finally OK.
TimeQuest: Gave me fits in DOS. Music OK but game wouldn't recognize SB for sound effects so they played on the PC speaker.
Lure of the Temptress: Perfect in DOS.
Buried In Time: OK, but it's windows.
Gateway: Perfect in DOS, but don't know about sound effects yet.

Worst bug-a-boo so far: windows refuses to let me use Start/Shutdown to MS-DOS...locks every time. Finally made a desktop icon of command.com (which meant I had to add lines in icon's autoexec/config for mem/sound/cd .

P.S. I also use ctmouse when I need more mem in DOS.

Wow, I'd be very interested in getting a hold of an older machine like the Dell OptiPlex with Win95b on it. My current machine is a 350MHz with Win98. Works for a lot of games but certainly not all. I also plan on getting a modern machine shortly as well. Jeez, where to put all these machines?

If you want my advice (and I'll give it anyway), dont bother with an old comp.
I built one, not long ago, cost me about £80 to get all the bits. (pissed me right off because it was still better than my first PC and that cost me over £2500)
Anyway, the nightmare began when I tried to get dos video,soundcard and CD drivers, what you will find is that you can get the hardware but getting the original dos software is impossible. Nowadays you have to make do with generic stuff.
Thats the other problem, once you get it up and running with all the generic drivers you will find that no matter how good you are at cramming all the stuff into high memory (if I've lost you there really forget about it) the programs are just to big and most stuff will not run without 590-600kb of high memory.
Then theres problems with EMS/XMS the reconfiguring you need to do to make each game work is phenomenal. Trust me one this, upgrade your OS to Windows XP, download VDMS and most or your problems will be over.
I've just about had every old game I've got working with full sound in this enviroment.
If anyone needs any help just mail me, or post a message.

interesting, Arch.......and what exactly is VDMS?? I don't have a computer with XP yet - but am considering either getting an old one to play my old games on or a new one with XP. I don't know which way to go yet........but you've got me thinking!

Check out this link for info and download on VDMS, its great, but only works on XP,2000 or NT.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/vdmsound/

Running an emulator is certainly an option here (though the price tag is higher than the second hand PCs on offer.) An emulator means you don't have another box sitting around which may wear out.

Connectix offer their Virtual PC emulator both on Macs and PCs.

Regards, Peter.

If anyone is going to get a market up and going get me a 200 or 300 MGHz with W95! Would want to know that whomever is selling these older computers has refurbished them. I wish Dell would do something like this.

Love IT!!!!!!!!!!

But.....all about have great questions.that would mean that I would have to have 2 computers...would it work on a high spped data line? Or would I have to go back to phone line again..BAH Hum Bug ! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Confused]" src="confused.gif" />
Hanksdog

Hi hanksdog - that's what everyone is talking about - getting a second older computer so you can play the old games without jumping through all the hoops that the new, faster, supposed better computers make you do.

I have an old 133 and do not use it for internet access - it's only for playing old games.

That's what i want to get, Syd....something like what you have. Or the 166 like Witchen has. Wish I knew of someone trying to get rid of an oldie..... why oh why didn't i keep my old 75 mhz?? It would have been great for all those old DOS games i have. Why was I always in such a hurry to get what's newer and faster? bad move......

Hi all,
I was lucky enough to get a Dell Optiplex GX Pro 200 used from ebay for about $50.00 plus shipping. It came with a boot-up disk, and I loaded it with Win95. It works great! I do not have it hooked up to the internet-it's only for playing old games, but the people I got it from say it's perfectly able to do that. The old games work great on it, ones that wouldn't work on my newer system with my upgraded vid and sound cards. When I had problems setting it up, cause I'd never done anything like this before, I called them and they helped me over the phone and gave me great assistance. I think they were from Louisiana, and were selling many other units. I'm really happy with it, and can reccommend them highly.
Andrea
Currently playing Tex Murphy UAKM

Andrea.......do you think these people would have more computers left to sell?? I've never done the ebay thing before - and am a little afraid to. But i'd really love to get my grubby little paws on an older computer to use just for old games.
thanks.....Liz

Hanksdog: my Optiplex has a NIC, I didn't believe the Ebay description until it arrived. Plugged in a cable modem cord (we're networked for 4 computers using broadband), comp configured itself (total mystery to me) & I was onto the internet via broadband. So...it depends on whether the comp has a NIC & you can always install one

Hi Liz

I am so very glad I saved this little computer [probably the main reason is that when I first bought it it cost me $3600] <img border="0" alt="" title="" src="graemlins/woozy.gif" />

The specs are:

P133
16 megs of ram
1.6 gig hard drive
1 meg video card that's VESA 1.0 compliant (I can play Angel Devoid and Ark of Time)
SB16 sound card (bought it off of ebay for $10)
16X CD Rom
W95

I have been able to play every old game I have - even got Kyrandia 1 to run with sound

Syd......that sounds exactly like what i need. I can play neither Angel Devoid or Riddle of Master Lu on my present computer, and have bald spots on my head from trying to get them to work. Maybe i'll get lucky and find someone who wants to get rid of an old puter - if i don't scare them away with the state of my hair!!!

I installed Win 95b on my Dell Optiplex GX Pro 200. The only drivers I downloaded from the net were the ones for its SB16 sound card. I didn't get system specific drivers from Dell. I got
sbw9xup.exe (update of SB16 Windows drivers) and 95dosapp.exe (DOS drivers for Win 95/98 for Creative SB16 and AWE cards). I can't remember if I needed ctcmbbs.exe or not. I know I used it on one of my computers, but it may not have been the Dell. You need it if your computer is not a Plug 'n Play system.

These driver sets are downloadable from
http://www.americas.creative.com/support/welcome.asp?RD=download

I decided to test the slow-down command on my Optiplex and stuck in the oldest game I have, The Black Cauldron, a Sierra/Disney game from 1985. This game has slow, normal, fast and fastest settings for the character's walking speed. Fastest on a 200mhz machine is a blur. I toggled to 8mhz using a CNTRL-ALT-\ command and it slowed right down without a hiccup and without leaving the game. Very nice.

Scout, I was amazed to hear that your Optiplex computer has a built in slow down command. That is so neat! I have never heard of anything like that before. Maybe I need to trade up from my 486. It plays all the old stuff but it is pretty slow.

Pokey,

I know, it was very cool. I think it's only on those early Dell models but I'm not sure. Really a nice option when you have an oldie but goldie loaded up. I only wished I had loaded Dinotopia on the Optiplex instead of my main computer when it floated to me. Then I wouldn't have had all that difficulty jumping off the cliff onto the bird's back. And yeah, the other nice thing is it has a Pentium Pro chip and a 200mhz processor and thus will run quite nicely with the later windows games. I like mine a lot, as you have probably figured out all on your own.

Mike