On Mon, 08 Apr 2024 17:09:57 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
On Mon, 8 Apr 2024 09:27:05 +0200, Kyonshi <gmkeros@gmail.com> wrote:
On a related note: what's the oldest media (tape, floppy, cd-rom,
cartridge) you still have for a game?
Quick glance....
I think the oldest for me on the PC at least is tied between Wizardry
1 and Might & Magic 1 - Copyright 1987 - 5 1/4 Floppies.
But the oldest I can quickly tell is Questron on the C-64, 5 1/4
Floppies, Copyright 1983
But I have a lot more C-64 games stored away in bins in my garage,
including many Infocom titles. They are probably even older.
I have to admit I never properly used 5 1/4 floppies. I was a child of
the 3.5 era. We had one or two 5 1/4 floppies floating around the house,
we just never had a drive to even use them.
On Wed, 10 Apr 2024 12:12:51 +0200, Kyonshi <gmkeros@gmail.com> wrote:
I have to admit I never properly used 5 1/4 floppies. I was a child of
the 3.5 era. We had one or two 5 1/4 floppies floating around the house, >>we just never had a drive to even use them.
I am old enough that I started with a tape drive.
Mike S <Mike_S@nowhere.com> wrote at 12:50 this Wednesday (GMT):
On Wed, 10 Apr 2024 12:12:51 +0200, Kyonshi <gmkeros@gmail.com> wrote:
I have to admit I never properly used 5 1/4 floppies. I was a child of
the 3.5 era. We had one or two 5 1/4 floppies floating around the house, >>> we just never had a drive to even use them.
I am old enough that I started with a tape drive.
Wow, that is old.
Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote at 14:24 this Tuesday (GMT):
On Mon, 8 Apr 2024 22:30:02 -0000 (UTC), candycanearter07 >><candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> wrote:
If single-game handhelds count, I think I have some Tiger >>>Electronics-esque ones somewhere. Otherwise, probably one of my NDS >>>cartridges..
Ooh, I hadn't considered those.
I'm not sure it's older than my "Hitchhiker's Guide" disk, but it's
ofthe same era: I have an Nintendo "Game & Watch" with an LCD screen
where Mickey Mouse tries to catch eggs (a gift from a well-meaning
relative).
Sounds cool!! I also forgot I used to have a leapfrog.
This one I found way later. I remember I was choosing between Daggerfall
and this one, and chose the Battletech game because they wanted full
price for Daggerfall years after it came out.
But well, I think they just found some stuff when cleaning their storage
and decided to put it all out.
It wasn't like this was even a proper computer store, this was a
department store with a small computer section. Which, come to think of
it, didn't actually survive until today.
On Tue, 9 Apr 2024 15:20:12 -0000 (UTC), candycanearter07
<candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> wrote:
Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote at 14:24 this Tuesday (GMT):
On Mon, 8 Apr 2024 22:30:02 -0000 (UTC), candycanearter07 >>><candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> wrote:
If single-game handhelds count, I think I have some Tiger >>>>Electronics-esque ones somewhere. Otherwise, probably one of my NDS >>>>cartridges..
Ooh, I hadn't considered those.
I'm not sure it's older than my "Hitchhiker's Guide" disk, but it's
ofthe same era: I have an Nintendo "Game & Watch" with an LCD screen
where Mickey Mouse tries to catch eggs (a gift from a well-meaning
relative).
Sounds cool!! I also forgot I used to have a leapfrog.
It absolutely wasn't. It was a game-of-last-resort, only played
because I didn't have any other portable electronic game. It wasn't
just that the gameplay was tedious - you had to move your character
into one of four positions, mapped to one of the four keys - it was repetitive as well, with recognizable patterns. Its only challenge was
that it kept going faster and faster.
But it was pocket-sized, quick to start, and had amazing battery life.
Also it was the only portable I had. So it got played. Just never
really enjoyed.
So where do we draw the line between "oh man, that game is old!",
meaning it is visually or mechanically distinct from 'modern' games? >Obviously this is a very subjective and there will always be
exceptions to the rule, but how far back before you consider a game
'old' and notably different from a modern title?
Where would you put this division between 'new' and old? Do you find >PS3/XBox360/2010 PC games still eminently playable? Do you draw the
line at anything older than 10th generation? Do you turn your nose up
at anything not released this year? Where does 'old' begin for you?
On Mon, 8 Apr 2024 09:27:05 +0200, Kyonshi <gmkeros@gmail.com> wrote:
On a related note: what's the oldest media (tape, floppy, cd-rom,
cartridge) you still have for a game?
On Mon, 08 Apr 2024 17:09:57 -0400, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action,
Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
On Mon, 8 Apr 2024 09:27:05 +0200, Kyonshi <gmkeros@gmail.com> wrote:Sega Genesis cartridges. They're in the basement with a v1.0 Sega
On a related note: what's the oldest media (tape, floppy, cd-rom, >>cartridge) you still have for a game?
Genesis. c 1991.
I have IMGs of some of my old 3.5" PC floppies, but they're all post
1991.
I may have some C=64 5.25" around here somewhere, but I doubt it's still >readable. If I could find that, that would be the oldest.
Where does 'old' begin for you?
Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote at 14:54 this Wednesday (GMT):
But it was pocket-sized, quick to start, and had amazing battery life.
Also it was the only portable I had. So it got played. Just never
really enjoyed.
Fair. I didn't know what a good game was for a few years, so I had a
ton of shovelware DS games.
Also anything that plays in 800x600 or 1024x768 (and does anyone remember >1280x1024?) as a base res, or starts you up in 640x480 and gives you the >option to increase to the 4:3 res of your choice.
On Wed, 10 Apr 2024 15:40:10 -0000 (UTC), candycanearter07
<candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> wrote:
Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote at 14:54 this Wednesday (GMT):
But it was pocket-sized, quick to start, and had amazing battery life.
Also it was the only portable I had. So it got played. Just never
really enjoyed.
Fair. I didn't know what a good game was for a few years, so I had a
ton of shovelware DS games.
It's true!
Even I, back when I was a younger person and only had as many games as
could be counted on a single hand, any game would get played and
replayed because a) I didn't know what made a good game from a bad
one, and b) I only had a limited selection anyway. I'm sorry, younger
me, but "Sierra's 3D Helicopter Simulator" was /not/ a good game, and
all that time you spent with it was better spent elsewhere.
But on the flip side, having a library of [number redacted] - and
having played a significant percentage of those games - isn't without
penalty either. I can too easily see the similarity in mechanics and
tropes, this lack of novelty makes it harder to enjoy new games which
simply ape older games just because those games were popular. There's
a reason I bitch about the lack of novelty in games so often! I don't
really wish to return to my days of callow youth when I didn't know
any better - I rather enjoy my grumpy cynicism - but it would make me
be able to look less critically at the crap Ubisoft regularly shits
out ;-)
On Wed, 10 Apr 2024 16:00:14 -0500, Zaghadka <zaghadka@hotmail.com>
wrote:
Also anything that plays in 800x600 or 1024x768 (and does anyone remember >>1280x1024?) as a base res, or starts you up in 640x480 and gives you the >>option to increase to the 4:3 res of your choice.
Yeah, that's another good delineation: if a game can't do widescreen,
it automatically feels old to me. It's really hard for me to play
fencepost'd games on a modern monitor; I have to REALLY enjoy the game
to keep playing at that point. I'd almost certainly be looking for a wide-screen hack (or, at the very least, an option to play the game in
a window, which I oddly find less offensive than 4:3 fullscreen)
before continuing.
I grew up playing emulators, so I don't really care that much.
Thenagain, I was scared of fullscreen games :)
On Thu, 11 Apr 2024 16:00:09 -0000 (UTC), candycanearter07 <candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> wrote:
I grew up playing emulators, so I don't really care that much.
Thenagain, I was scared of fullscreen games :)
I still have that fear when it comes to full-screen games from the Win9x/early XP era. They were so... FRAGILE when it came to running in full-screen (or, more importantly, when you tried to alt-tab out of
them). Back in the '95 days, switching away from a full-screen game
could lock up your computer (these days, the older game might lock up,
but you're PC will keep running fine otherwise. That's progress, I
suppose).
On 4/12/2024 6:14 PM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
On Thu, 11 Apr 2024 16:00:09 -0000 (UTC), candycanearter07
<candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> wrote:
I grew up playing emulators, so I don't really care that much.
Thenagain, I was scared of fullscreen games :)
I still have that fear when it comes to full-screen games from the
Win9x/early XP era. They were so... FRAGILE when it came to running in
full-screen (or, more importantly, when you tried to alt-tab out of
them). Back in the '95 days, switching away from a full-screen game
could lock up your computer (these days, the older game might lock up,
but you're PC will keep running fine otherwise. That's progress, I
suppose).
I've had the same problem with at least 2 of the recent games I played, >Deathloop and Dragon's Dogma. Both would hard freeze the game if you
left it paused in fullscreen. Even not alt-tabbing, a few minutes and
it would freeze. I had to run both in windowed for them not to freeze.
On Thu, 11 Apr 2024 16:00:09 -0000 (UTC), candycanearter07
<candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> wrote:
I grew up playing emulators, so I don't really care that much.
Thenagain, I was scared of fullscreen games :)
I still have that fear when it comes to full-screen games from the Win9x/early XP era. They were so... FRAGILE when it came to running in full-screen (or, more importantly, when you tried to alt-tab out of
them). Back in the '95 days, switching away from a full-screen game
could lock up your computer (these days, the older game might lock up,
but you're PC will keep running fine otherwise. That's progress, I
suppose).
Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote at 01:14 this Saturday (GMT):
On Thu, 11 Apr 2024 16:00:09 -0000 (UTC), candycanearter07 >><candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> wrote:
I grew up playing emulators, so I don't really care that much.
Thenagain, I was scared of fullscreen games :)
I still have that fear when it comes to full-screen games from the
Win9x/early XP era. They were so... FRAGILE when it came to running in
full-screen (or, more importantly, when you tried to alt-tab out of
them). Back in the '95 days, switching away from a full-screen game
could lock up your computer (these days, the older game might lock up,
but you're PC will keep running fine otherwise. That's progress, I
suppose).
Nah, I was way more irrational. Was outright scared bc I couldn't close
it as easily. Then again, I mostly play games in windowed mode nowadays
bc it's easier to have other windows open in the bg.
On Sat, 13 Apr 2024 18:10:02 -0000 (UTC), candycanearter07 ><candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> wrote:
Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote at 01:14 this Saturday (GMT):
On Thu, 11 Apr 2024 16:00:09 -0000 (UTC), candycanearter07 >>><candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> wrote:
I grew up playing emulators, so I don't really care that much. >>>>Thenagain, I was scared of fullscreen games :)
I still have that fear when it comes to full-screen games from the
Win9x/early XP era. They were so... FRAGILE when it came to running in
full-screen (or, more importantly, when you tried to alt-tab out of
them). Back in the '95 days, switching away from a full-screen game
could lock up your computer (these days, the older game might lock up,
but you're PC will keep running fine otherwise. That's progress, I
suppose).
Nah, I was way more irrational. Was outright scared bc I couldn't close
it as easily. Then again, I mostly play games in windowed mode nowadays
bc it's easier to have other windows open in the bg.
That's a sensible method.
I, on the other hand, just plug in more and more monitors and make
everything full-screen. ;-)
On Sat, 13 Apr 2024 08:44:01 -0700, Justisaur <justisaur@yahoo.com>
wrote:
On 4/12/2024 6:14 PM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
On Thu, 11 Apr 2024 16:00:09 -0000 (UTC), candycanearter07
<candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> wrote:
I grew up playing emulators, so I don't really care that much.
Thenagain, I was scared of fullscreen games :)
I still have that fear when it comes to full-screen games from the
Win9x/early XP era. They were so... FRAGILE when it came to running in
full-screen (or, more importantly, when you tried to alt-tab out of
them). Back in the '95 days, switching away from a full-screen game
could lock up your computer (these days, the older game might lock up,
but you're PC will keep running fine otherwise. That's progress, I
suppose).
I've had the same problem with at least 2 of the recent games I played,
Deathloop and Dragon's Dogma. Both would hard freeze the game if you
left it paused in fullscreen. Even not alt-tabbing, a few minutes and
it would freeze. I had to run both in windowed for them not to freeze.
Those are rarer for me. Although I do worry about leaving the game
paused long enough for the screensaver to kick-in, since some games
don't play well when another application grabs hold of the 3D
renderer. So I almost always make sure to save/quit-to-desktop if I
know I'm going to be away from the computer for a while.
But at least it isn't BSODing and taking down the whole PC like would
happen in the Win9x days.
I haven't used a screen saver in so long I don't remember when the last
time was. I do have the power settings to turn off the screen after 15 >minutes, but it was happening in less than 5 minutes.
On Mon, 15 Apr 2024 07:59:22 -0700, Justisaur <justisaur@yahoo.com>
wrote:
I haven't used a screen saver in so long I don't remember when the last >time was. I do have the power settings to turn off the screen after 15 >minutes, but it was happening in less than 5 minutes.
Yeah, screensavers are quite pointless, especially since computers
come out of suspend so quickly. There's no necessity to them anymore,
so it's no surprise that most people don't use them. In fact,
Microsoft has made it pretty hard even to get to screensaver settings
in Windows 11. Arguably, they're even counter productive, since they
waste electricity. But they're pretty. ;-)
On Mon, 15 Apr 2024 07:59:22 -0700, Justisaur <justisaur@yahoo.com>
wrote:
I haven't used a screen saver in so long I don't remember when the last >>time was. I do have the power settings to turn off the screen after 15 >>minutes, but it was happening in less than 5 minutes.
Yeah, screensavers are quite pointless, especially since computers
come out of suspend so quickly. There's no necessity to them anymore,
so it's no surprise that most people don't use them. In fact,
Microsoft has made it pretty hard even to get to screensaver settings
in Windows 11. Arguably, they're even counter productive, since they
waste electricity. But they're pretty. ;-)
On Mon, 15 Apr 2024 07:59:22 -0700, Justisaur <justisaur@yahoo.com>
wrote:
I haven't used a screen saver in so long I don't remember when the last >>time was. I do have the power settings to turn off the screen after 15 >>minutes, but it was happening in less than 5 minutes.
Yeah, screensavers are quite pointless, especially since computers
come out of suspend so quickly. There's no necessity to them anymore,
so it's no surprise that most people don't use them. In fact,
Microsoft has made it pretty hard even to get to screensaver settings
in Windows 11. Arguably, they're even counter productive, since they
waste electricity. But they're pretty. ;-)
On Mon, 15 Apr 2024 07:59:22 -0700, Justisaur <justisaur@yahoo.com>
wrote:
I haven't used a screen saver in so long I don't remember when the last
time was. I do have the power settings to turn off the screen after 15
minutes, but it was happening in less than 5 minutes.
Yeah, screensavers are quite pointless, especially since computers
come out of suspend so quickly. There's no necessity to them anymore,
so it's no surprise that most people don't use them. In fact,
Microsoft has made it pretty hard even to get to screensaver settings
in Windows 11. Arguably, they're even counter productive, since they
waste electricity. But they're pretty. ;-)
On Wed, 10 Apr 2024 12:11:23 +0200, Kyonshi <gmkeros@gmail.com> wrote:
This one I found way later. I remember I was choosing between Daggerfall
and this one, and chose the Battletech game because they wanted full
price for Daggerfall years after it came out.
But well, I think they just found some stuff when cleaning their storage
and decided to put it all out.
It wasn't like this was even a proper computer store, this was a
department store with a small computer section. Which, come to think of
it, didn't actually survive until today.
Ah, the joys of raiding a clearance sale to pick up all the old games
you missed out the first time.
(And the inevitable befuddlement when you see - as with your
"Daggerfall" example - that they're weirdly still charging full price
for a few of those ancient titles)
Honestly, given the choice of "Crescent Hawk's Revenge" and
"Daggerfall" - and despite everything I said about "Revenge" earlier -
you made the better choice. "Revenge" wasn't a fun game, but the
developers had a vision of what they wanted the game to be, and I
think they achieved it. "Daggerfall" was just a mess of unrealized
potential and bad design, held together with buggy code.
If single-game handhelds count, I think I have some Tiger
Electronics-esque ones somewhere. Otherwise, probably one of my NDS cartridges..
On Mon, 8 Apr 2024 09:27:05 +0200, Kyonshi <gmkeros@gmail.com> wrote:
On a related note: what's the oldest media (tape, floppy, cd-rom,
cartridge) you still have for a game?
I still have a 5.25" floppy disk for Infocom's "Hitchhiker's Guide to
the Galaxy" for the Apple II lying around somewhere. I've no idea if
it still works, though. According to Mobygames, that dates it to as
far back as 1984 (although, honestly, I can't remember how 'new' the
game was when I purchased it).
On PC, that honor probably goes to "Ultima VI" (1990). I imaged (and
then discarded) most of my floppy disks years ago in order to make
space and only kept the disks for a handful of favorites. The Ultima
games definitely fall into that last category.
But I think the oldest video game 'media' I still have are the faded
pages ripped from some magazine that listed the Basic code that made
up a really primitive 'Star Trek' game. I dutifully typed it out into
my 8-bit and was immediately disappointed by the results. The disk I
saved the code to is long gone, but for some reason I hung onto the
magazine pages. It's yellowed and crinkly and probably missing a page
or three, but it's still buried in the closet somewhere...
Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote at 17:48 this Monday (GMT):
I use xscreensaver bc I like how they look :)
On 4/15/2024 8:53 PM, candycanearter07 wrote:
Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote at 17:48 this Monday (GMT):
I use xscreensaver bc I like how they look :)
there's some nice ones in there, but I think nothing new has been added
the last decade or so?
It kind of went away. People don't set them anymore.
On 4/15/2024 8:53 PM, candycanearter07 wrote:
Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote at 17:48 this Monday (GMT):
I use xscreensaver bc I like how they look :)
there's some nice ones in there, but I think nothing new has been added
the last decade or so?
It kind of went away. People don't set them anymore.
Kyonshi <gmkeros@gmail.com> looked up from reading the entrails of the
porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs say:
On 4/15/2024 8:53 PM, candycanearter07 wrote:
Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote at 17:48 this Monday (GMT):
I use xscreensaver bc I like how they look :)
there's some nice ones in there, but I think nothing new has been added >>the last decade or so?
It kind of went away. People don't set them anymore.
It's no wonder with us all using flat screens of some kind.
CRTs were _very_ prone to burn in, LCDs and such far less so.
I don't even turn em off anymore, much less use a blank screen
screensaver, and the one LCD is at least 10 years old, not even a trace
of burn in.
A CRT of that age, on all the time, with the same images, icons etc,
would be showing burn in.
Screen savers died as a thing cause we just don't need them anymore.
They're the modern day buggy whip, once everyone had em and used em, now
it's just the Amish types. I dare say there are still folks out there
with CRT monitors.
You know it just occurred to me that even saying CRT might get confusing these days, since there's another meaning to those letters now (Critical
Race Theory vs Cathode Ray Tube.)
Xocyll
oh, wait wait, I just remembered something I have.
My mum at one point brought this computer home which her boss had
mustered out: >https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Kosmos_cp1.jpg
It barely would count as a game though, it's a programmable learning >computer and a few of the listings in the manual are for games (dice
games, roulette, etc.).
Of course the main problem was that it was really complicated and really >basic. The machine only had RAM, no inbuilt physical drives, and only
had a 6 digit display.
On Mon, 15 Apr 2024 13:48:07 -0400, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action,
Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
On Mon, 15 Apr 2024 07:59:22 -0700, Justisaur <justisaur@yahoo.com>I have an entire folder of old screen savers. Some of them are no longer >compatible with Windows.
wrote:
I haven't used a screen saver in so long I don't remember when the last >>>time was. I do have the power settings to turn off the screen after 15 >>>minutes, but it was happening in less than 5 minutes.
Yeah, screensavers are quite pointless, especially since computers
come out of suspend so quickly. There's no necessity to them anymore,
so it's no surprise that most people don't use them. In fact,
Microsoft has made it pretty hard even to get to screensaver settings
in Windows 11. Arguably, they're even counter productive, since they
waste electricity. But they're pretty. ;-)
It is amazing how fast "3DPipes" (from NT4) chugs along in this day and
age.
Unfortunately, while when you preview "3D Bubbles," it leaves the screen
up, when it actually runs, it still blacks the whole screen out. Hasn't >worked right since at least Windows 8. It's my favorite.
It's also a toss-up how they will deal with multiple screens.
On a related note: what's the oldest media (tape, floppy, cd-rom,
cartridge) you still have for a game?
I still have a 5.25" floppy disk for Infocom's "Hitchhiker's Guide to
the Galaxy" for the Apple II lying around somewhere. I've no idea if
it still works, though. According to Mobygames, that dates it to as
far back as 1984 (although, honestly, I can't remember how 'new' the
game was when I purchased it).
On PC, that honor probably goes to "Ultima VI" (1990). I imaged (and
then discarded) most of my floppy disks years ago in order to make
space and only kept the disks for a handful of favorites. The Ultima
games definitely fall into that last category.
But I think the oldest video game 'media' I still have are the faded
pages ripped from some magazine that listed the Basic code that made
up a really primitive 'Star Trek' game. I dutifully typed it out into
my 8-bit and was immediately disappointed by the results. The disk I
saved the code to is long gone, but for some reason I hung onto the
magazine pages. It's yellowed and crinkly and probably missing a page
or three, but it's still buried in the closet somewhere...
On Tue, 16 Apr 2024 09:52:11 +0200, Kyonshi <gmkeros@gmail.com> wrote:
oh, wait wait, I just remembered something I have.
My mum at one point brought this computer home which her boss had
mustered out:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Kosmos_cp1.jpg
It barely would count as a game though, it's a programmable learning
computer and a few of the listings in the manual are for games (dice
games, roulette, etc.).
Of course the main problem was that it was really complicated and really
basic. The machine only had RAM, no inbuilt physical drives, and only
had a 6 digit display.
Just the base machine looks oddly fascinating. It's the sort of thing
I wish I might have had access to in the early days of computing. It
probably would have given me a leg-up on programming. Who knows, I
might have become the next John Carmack! ;-)
I'm sure CRT's will continue to be well known..
I still have a box full my old Commodore 64 games in their original >packaging. The oldest game in that collection would be the Commodore
version of the Infocom game Suspended. The oldest media I have though
would be a floppy for the C64 version Lode Runner, but I don't think I
have the box for that.
I'm not sure what the oldest PC game media I have is. I have 5.25"
floppies for Command HQ, Dragon Wars, MegaTraveller 1, and SSG's Panzer >Battles. I believe Panzer Battles is the oldest of these games in terms
of release date, but I would purcased them all a few years after they
were released.
I have the Commodore 64 versions of both of these games, in their
original boxes, but the Hitchhicker's Guide to the Galaxy is missing
some of feelies.
I'm not sure why I kept them but I have a copy of the November and
December 1983 issues of Compute!. It was robably because they were
unusally thick issues for the magazine at the time. I don't think any
of the type-in programs included were particularly interesting.
Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
On a related note: what's the oldest media (tape, floppy, cd-rom,
cartridge) you still have for a game?
I still have a box full my old Commodore 64 games in their original packaging. The oldest game in that collection would be the Commodore
version of the Infocom game Suspended. The oldest media I have though
would be a floppy for the C64 version Lode Runner, but I don't think I
have the box for that.
I'm not sure what the oldest PC game media I have is. I have 5.25"
floppies for Command HQ, Dragon Wars, MegaTraveller 1, and SSG's Panzer Battles. I believe Panzer Battles is the oldest of these games in terms
of release date, but I would purcased them all a few years after they
were released.
Not sure, when was the last time you actually saw one?
Megatraveler, there's a game I liked I haven't thought about in a long time. Are you sure at least MegaTraveller wasn't 3.5" it was released
in 1990 as far as I can tell, and that seems a bit late for 5.25"? But
I could be wrong, that's 34 years ago.
Megatraveler, there's a game I liked I haven't thought about in a long
time. Are you sure at least MegaTraveller wasn't 3.5" it was released
in 1990 as far as I can tell, and that seems a bit late for 5.25"? But
I could be wrong, that's 34 years ago.
Nah, 1990 still was in the 5.25" time. They only faded from view a few
years later. I remember when we bought our first 486 in... 1993? we had
the choice between one with a 3.5" and one with both 3.5" and 5.25", and
my dad took the one without the 5.25" drive. To my consternation,
because I thought those disks looked kinda cool, and my uncle had a huge >collection of games on them already.
(and for what it's worth, here is an ebay offer for a sealed 5.25" copy
of the game: https://www.ebay.com/itm/235038004341)
On 4/16/2024 6:30 PM, candycanearter07 wrote:
I'm sure CRT's will continue to be well known..
Not sure, when was the last time you actually saw one?
I mean, my kids know they existed, but mostly from movies and stuff.
Kyonshi <gmkeros@gmail.com> wrote at 11:08 this Wednesday (GMT):
On 4/16/2024 6:30 PM, candycanearter07 wrote:
I'm sure CRT's will continue to be well known..
Not sure, when was the last time you actually saw one?
I mean, my kids know they existed, but mostly from movies and stuff.
Today.
Yeah, that's another good delineation: if a game can't do widescreen,
it automatically feels old to me. It's really hard for me to play
fencepost'd games on a modern monitor; I have to REALLY enjoy the game
to keep playing at that point. I'd almost certainly be looking for a wide-screen hack (or, at the very least, an option to play the game in
a window, which I oddly find less offensive than 4:3 fullscreen)
before continuing.
candycanearter07 <candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> wrote:
Kyonshi <gmkeros@gmail.com> wrote at 11:08 this Wednesday (GMT):
On 4/16/2024 6:30 PM, candycanearter07 wrote:
I'm sure CRT's will continue to be well known..
Not sure, when was the last time you actually saw one?
I mean, my kids know they existed, but mostly from movies and stuff.
Today.
Same. Still have them, but not in used.
On 4/18/2024 1:01 PM, Ant wrote:
candycanearter07 <candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> wrote: >>> Kyonshi <gmkeros@gmail.com> wrote at 11:08 this Wednesday (GMT):
On 4/16/2024 6:30 PM, candycanearter07 wrote:
I'm sure CRT's will continue to be well known..
Not sure, when was the last time you actually saw one?
I mean, my kids know they existed, but mostly from movies and stuff.
Today.
Same. Still have them, but not in used.
I somewhat regret getting rid of my Sony Trinitron monitor, older games
and consoles looked far better on it than modern LCDs. Unfortunately space, and the weight of the thing with all the moves was a problem and
it's long gone.
On Wed, 17 Apr 2024 20:36:49 +0200, Kyonshi <gmkeros@gmail.com> wrote:
Nah, 1990 still was in the 5.25" time. They only faded from view a few
years later. I remember when we bought our first 486 in... 1993? we had
the choice between one with a 3.5" and one with both 3.5" and 5.25", and
my dad took the one without the 5.25" drive. To my consternation,
because I thought those disks looked kinda cool, and my uncle had a huge
collection of games on them already.
(and for what it's worth, here is an ebay offer for a sealed 5.25" copy
of the game: https://www.ebay.com/itm/235038004341)
Yeah, my copy of Might and Magic 3 has a Copyright date of 1991 and it
came on 5.25 floppies.
Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> writes:
Yeah, that's another good delineation: if a game can't do widescreen,
it automatically feels old to me. It's really hard for me to play
fencepost'd games on a modern monitor; I have to REALLY enjoy the game
to keep playing at that point. I'd almost certainly be looking for a
wide-screen hack (or, at the very least, an option to play the game in
a window, which I oddly find less offensive than 4:3 fullscreen)
before continuing.
So do you play your old games in a window them? Or on a CRT?
Thinking back, I've played Crudader: No Remorse somewhat recently, as a
DOS game it probably ran at 640x480 so I'm pretty sure I ran it scaled
to full screen with fence posts. The posts just faded away as I played.
On 4/18/2024 1:01 PM, Ant wrote:
candycanearter07 <candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> wrote: >>> Kyonshi <gmkeros@gmail.com> wrote at 11:08 this Wednesday (GMT):
On 4/16/2024 6:30 PM, candycanearter07 wrote:
I'm sure CRT's will continue to be well known..
Not sure, when was the last time you actually saw one?
I mean, my kids know they existed, but mostly from movies and stuff.
Today.
Same. Still have them, but not in used.
I somewhat regret getting rid of my Sony Trinitron monitor, older games
and consoles looked far better on it than modern LCDs. Unfortunately space, and the weight of the thing with all the moves was a problem and
it's long gone.
On 4/18/2024 2:54 PM, Mike S. wrote:
On Wed, 17 Apr 2024 20:36:49 +0200, Kyonshi <gmkeros@gmail.com> wrote:
Nah, 1990 still was in the 5.25" time. They only faded from view a few
years later. I remember when we bought our first 486 in... 1993? we had
the choice between one with a 3.5" and one with both 3.5" and 5.25", and >>> my dad took the one without the 5.25" drive. To my consternation,
because I thought those disks looked kinda cool, and my uncle had a huge >>> collection of games on them already.
(and for what it's worth, here is an ebay offer for a sealed 5.25" copy
of the game: https://www.ebay.com/itm/235038004341)
Yeah, my copy of Might and Magic 3 has a Copyright date of 1991 and it
came on 5.25 floppies.
Now that was a great game.
I only got it on CD-Rom though.
I was always a "Might & Magic 2" fan myself. Played it to death on an
8-bit computer. It was an absolutely ridiculous game, with ridiculous encounters (in particular, I remember fighting off hundreds of
'Cuisinart'* monsters, each of which did hundreds if not thousands of
points of damage per attack. Finally having a party able to not only withstand those attacks but nuke them en masse with magic spells was
/such/ a satisfying experience). The visuals were a noticable step-up
from the first game (which was surprisingly text-heavy). The new skill
system made the game feel more like a tabletop RPG, the automap was a
very welcome QOL improvement, and the huge open-world was the Skyrim
of its era; so much to explore, so many hidden things to discover, so
many quests to do!
But by the time "Might & Magic 3" rolled around (1991), I was pretty
much done with the franchise. It's combat-heavy game-play and
tile-based presentation felt very old school when compared to
contemporary CRPGs like "Ultima 6" or even (the then venerable) "Pool
of Radiance"). "Underworld: The Stygian Abyss", which would release
less than a year after "Might & Magic 3", was the final straw,
cementing the fact that the franchise was officially behind-the-times
(at least in my eyes). And if I really wanted to play a tile-based dungeon-crawler, the "Eye of the Beholder" games had a freshness to
them that the Might & Magic games lacked.
But I'll never forget the joy of smashing cuisinarts. ;-)
As for disks... the early 90s were the definite transition period
between 3.5" and 5.25" disks. I just have to look into my collection
of games; "Underworld" came on 5.25" 1.2MB floppies, but my copy of
"Wing Commander II" was on 3.5" 1.44MB disks. Not only did many games
release in different SKUs, each individually marked with what sort of
disk could be found inside the box, but pretty much every game also
included a 'disk exchange card', with instructions on how you could
swap your 3.5" disks for 5.25" floppies (or vice versa) for a minimal
charge.
Floppy disks were a surprisingly costly part of game development in
the 90s, and ate up a significant chunk of the profits for publishers.
Disks were expensive and - even purchased in bulk - could cost
anywhere from 50 cents to 2 dollars US! So with a game that shipped on
8 floppy disks, that might mean $10 of that might be spent on media
alone! The weight of all those disks also made it more expensive to
ship the games too. It's one of the bigger reasons why publishers were
so quick to switch over to CD-ROM, even when the game didn't really
need all that much storage space; it was a huge cost-saving for them.
On 4/20/2024 4:21 PM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
I was always a "Might & Magic 2" fan myself.
I only started with 4, then got 5 (and enjoyed the experience of putting >both of them together to make the combined world; that was one expansion >which totally held the promises it made), then moved to 3.
I all got
them as cover discs on some magazine that only existed for selling old
games to people (Bestseller Games). I spent a lot of time in games from
that magazine, and I didn't mind they were older because at least they
were running fine even on my antiquated computer at the time.
Floppy disks were a surprisingly costly part of game development in
the 90s, and ate up a significant chunk of the profits for publishers.
Disks were expensive and - even purchased in bulk - could cost
anywhere from 50 cents to 2 dollars US! So with a game that shipped on
8 floppy disks, that might mean $10 of that might be spent on media
alone! The weight of all those disks also made it more expensive to
ship the games too. It's one of the bigger reasons why publishers were
so quick to switch over to CD-ROM, even when the game didn't really
need all that much storage space; it was a huge cost-saving for them.
I never thought about that, but that actually is totally true. I thought
it was mostly the convenience, but yes, just shipping one disc instead
of 8 was certainly cheaper, even with the higher prices for CDs back then.
I still remember that some publishers went overboard and started to ship >some games on multiple CDs (FMV games mostly, which everybody forgets
for good reason)
I never thought about that, but that actually is totally true. I thought
it was mostly the convenience, but yes, just shipping one disc instead
of 8 was certainly cheaper, even with the higher prices for CDs back then.
I still remember that some publishers went overboard and started to ship >some games on multiple CDs (FMV games mostly, which everybody forgets
for good reason)
My copy of EverQuest II came on 10 CD-ROMs. It was also available on
two DVD-ROMs and while I had a DVD-ROM drive back then I went with the
CD version because I knew it was probably the most we'd ever see a game release on.
Floppy disks were a surprisingly costly part of game development in
the 90s, and ate up a significant chunk of the profits for publishers.
Disks were expensive and - even purchased in bulk - could cost
anywhere from 50 cents to 2 dollars US! So with a game that shipped on
8 floppy disks, that might mean $10 of that might be spent on media
alone!
On 4/18/2024 1:01 PM, Ant wrote:
candycanearter07 <candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> wrote: >>> Kyonshi <gmkeros@gmail.com> wrote at 11:08 this Wednesday (GMT):
On 4/16/2024 6:30 PM, candycanearter07 wrote:
I'm sure CRT's will continue to be well known..
Not sure, when was the last time you actually saw one?
I mean, my kids know they existed, but mostly from movies and stuff.
Today.
Same. Still have them, but not in used.
I somewhat regret getting rid of my Sony Trinitron monitor, older games
and consoles looked far better on it than modern LCDs. Unfortunately
space, and the weight of the thing with all the moves was a problem and
it's long gone.
Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> looked up from reading the >entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
say:
<snip>
Floppy disks were a surprisingly costly part of game development in
the 90s, and ate up a significant chunk of the profits for publishers. >>Disks were expensive and - even purchased in bulk - could cost
anywhere from 50 cents to 2 dollars US! So with a game that shipped on
8 floppy disks, that might mean $10 of that might be spent on media
alone!
First floppy disk I ever bought: 5.25" 160k SS/SD
(Single Sided / Single Density.)
$10
That was in 1981 or 1982, I forget which now.
I do NOT miss the weight of CRT TVs and monitors.
I do NOT miss the weight of CRT TVs and monitors.
The /only/ thing I miss about CRTs is that you could put things on top
of them. Files. Disks. A keyboard. It was a useful storage area; out
of the way enough that you weren't cluttering up your immediate
work-area, but still accessible enough that you could grab stuff from
atop it at need.
On Mon, 22 Apr 2024 14:30:06 -0400, Xocyll <Xocyll@gmx.com> wrote:
Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> looked up from reading the
entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
say:
<snip>
I can't say I /miss/ floppy disks, but I do miss the form factor.
There was something very reassuring about those slender cassettes
(especially 3.5" disks); a solidity and presence that said, "Yes, I am
here holding your data". Slotting the disk into the drive and getting
that reassuring 'clunk' was quite satisfying too. Smaller form-factors
- like thumb-drives - never quite recaptured that. I think it's why I
loved ZIP disks (and its competitors, like LS120 super-floppies) so
much.
On 4/23/2024 10:44 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
On Mon, 22 Apr 2024 14:30:06 -0400, Xocyll <Xocyll@gmx.com> wrote:
Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> looked up from reading the
entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
say:
<snip>
I can't say I /miss/ floppy disks, but I do miss the form factor.
There was something very reassuring about those slender cassettes
(especially 3.5" disks); a solidity and presence that said, "Yes, I am
here holding your data". Slotting the disk into the drive and getting
that reassuring 'clunk' was quite satisfying too. Smaller form-factors
- like thumb-drives - never quite recaptured that. I think it's why I
loved ZIP disks (and its competitors, like LS120 super-floppies) so
much.
At least they were much harder to lose than the numerous USB thumb
drives I've got now, and all fit in the same container the same way.
On 4/24/2024 4:25 PM, Justisaur wrote:
On 4/23/2024 10:44 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
On Mon, 22 Apr 2024 14:30:06 -0400, Xocyll <Xocyll@gmx.com> wrote:
Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> looked up from reading the >>> entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
say:
<snip>
I can't say I /miss/ floppy disks, but I do miss the form factor.
There was something very reassuring about those slender cassettes
(especially 3.5" disks); a solidity and presence that said, "Yes, I am
here holding your data". Slotting the disk into the drive and getting
that reassuring 'clunk' was quite satisfying too. Smaller form-factors
- like thumb-drives - never quite recaptured that. I think it's why I
loved ZIP disks (and its competitors, like LS120 super-floppies) so
much.
At least they were much harder to lose than the numerous USB thumb
drives I've got now, and all fit in the same container the same way.
it also was harder to put them in the wrong way round more than once,
unlike usb drives which you have to try in at least three different ways until they work as they should
Kyonshi <gmkeros@gmail.com> wrote:
On 4/24/2024 4:25 PM, Justisaur wrote:
On 4/23/2024 10:44 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
On Mon, 22 Apr 2024 14:30:06 -0400, Xocyll <Xocyll@gmx.com> wrote:
Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> looked up from reading the >>>>> entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs >>>>> say:
<snip>
I can't say I /miss/ floppy disks, but I do miss the form factor.
There was something very reassuring about those slender cassettes
(especially 3.5" disks); a solidity and presence that said, "Yes, I am >>>> here holding your data". Slotting the disk into the drive and getting
that reassuring 'clunk' was quite satisfying too. Smaller form-factors >>>> - like thumb-drives - never quite recaptured that. I think it's why I
loved ZIP disks (and its competitors, like LS120 super-floppies) so
much.
At least they were much harder to lose than the numerous USB thumb
drives I've got now, and all fit in the same container the same way.
it also was harder to put them in the wrong way round more than once,
unlike usb drives which you have to try in at least three different ways
until they work as they should
USB-C fixed that though. :P
On 4/24/2024 5:25 PM, Ant wrote:
USB-C fixed that though. :P
Upped it to 5 different
 ways?
On 25/04/2024 02:05, Dimensional Traveler wrote:
On 4/24/2024 5:25 PM, Ant wrote:
USB-C fixed that though. :P
Upped it to 5 different
ways?
The USB-C on my phone is a bit rubbish as the port has a habit of
collecting dust which means the cable gets a bit loose and prone to
falling out. Every few months it's out with the specially crafted
toothpick and for an extra clean the compressor I use with my airbrush.
On Mon, 22 Apr 2024 14:38:29 -0400, Xocyll <Xocyll@gmx.com> wrote:
I do NOT miss the weight of CRT TVs and monitors.
The /only/ thing I miss about CRTs is that you could put things on top
of them. Files. Disks. A keyboard. It was a useful storage area; out
of the way enough that you weren't cluttering up your immediate
work-area, but still accessible enough that you could grab stuff from
atop it at need.
Although God forbid something you put on top of the monitor fell
off... and then you'd have to shift the bastard device to get to your
lost documents.
The closest I've gotten, in this age of flat-screens, to that lost >functionality was when I bought a little drawer for my tower computer
that slotted into a 5.25" external drive bay. ;-)
JAB <noway@nochance.com> looked up from reading the entrails of the porn >spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs say:
On 25/04/2024 02:05, Dimensional Traveler wrote:
On 4/24/2024 5:25 PM, Ant wrote:
USB-C fixed that though. :P
Upped it to 5 different
ways?
The USB-C on my phone is a bit rubbish as the port has a habit of >>collecting dust which means the cable gets a bit loose and prone to >>falling out. Every few months it's out with the specially crafted >>toothpick and for an extra clean the compressor I use with my airbrush.
That's all my complaint with the new computer, instead of the case
having the USB on the front, it's on the top, where it would be
guaranteed to fill up with dust until it became non-functional if I
didn't have the external CD/DVD covering the hole.
What retarded ass monkey thought that was a good idea?
And it's not some brand-x it's a fucking corsair 4000d.
Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> looked up from reading the entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
say:
On Mon, 22 Apr 2024 14:38:29 -0400, Xocyll <Xocyll@gmx.com> wrote:
I do NOT miss the weight of CRT TVs and monitors.
The /only/ thing I miss about CRTs is that you could put things on top
of them. Files. Disks. A keyboard. It was a useful storage area; out
of the way enough that you weren't cluttering up your immediate
work-area, but still accessible enough that you could grab stuff from
atop it at need.
The only thing that got "stored" on top of a CRT (monitor or TV) at our place, was the cat.
Kitties loved CRTs for the delicious heat they produced.
Although God forbid something you put on top of the monitor fell
off... and then you'd have to shift the bastard device to get to your
lost documents.
The closest I've gotten, in this age of flat-screens, to that lost
functionality was when I bought a little drawer for my tower computer
that slotted into a 5.25" external drive bay. ;-)
So you almost created that age old tech support tales of the cup holder (putting a coffee cup on the extended cd-rom.)
My monitor sits on a little "hutch" which is actually the top case of an ancient desktop XT, turned back to front - old burned dvds in cases underneath (and the new sound bar) and pills/watches/rings/etc on top.
I used to put the CRTs on it to lift them high enough so I wasn't
looking down at them, the lcds put much less strain on it, but then
those old cases were strong enough to stand on easily.
I swear new case material is so thin you could bend it if you sneezed in
it's general direction.
On 4/24/2024 5:25 PM, Ant wrote:
Kyonshi <gmkeros@gmail.com> wrote:
On 4/24/2024 4:25 PM, Justisaur wrote:
On 4/23/2024 10:44 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
On Mon, 22 Apr 2024 14:30:06 -0400, Xocyll <Xocyll@gmx.com> wrote:
Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> looked up from
reading the
entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs >>>>>> say:
<snip>
I can't say I /miss/ floppy disks, but I do miss the form factor.
There was something very reassuring about those slender cassettes
(especially 3.5" disks); a solidity and presence that said, "Yes, I am >>>>> here holding your data". Slotting the disk into the drive and getting >>>>> that reassuring 'clunk' was quite satisfying too. Smaller form-factors >>>>> - like thumb-drives - never quite recaptured that. I think it's why I >>>>> loved ZIP disks (and its competitors, like LS120 super-floppies) so
much.
At least they were much harder to lose than the numerous USB thumb
drives I've got now, and all fit in the same container the same way.
it also was harder to put them in the wrong way round more than once,
unlike usb drives which you have to try in at least three different ways >>> until they work as they should
USB-C fixed that though. :P
Upped it to 5 different
 ways?
JAB <noway@nochance.com> looked up from reading the entrails of the porn >spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs say:
On 25/04/2024 02:05, Dimensional Traveler wrote:
On 4/24/2024 5:25 PM, Ant wrote:
USB-C fixed that though. :P
Upped it to 5 different
ways?
The USB-C on my phone is a bit rubbish as the port has a habit of >>collecting dust which means the cable gets a bit loose and prone to >>falling out. Every few months it's out with the specially crafted >>toothpick and for an extra clean the compressor I use with my airbrush.
That's all my complaint with the new computer, instead of the case
having the USB on the front, it's on the top, where it would be
guaranteed to fill up with dust until it became non-functional if I
didn't have the external CD/DVD covering the hole.
What retarded ass monkey thought that was a good idea?
And it's not some brand-x it's a fucking corsair 4000d.
On 4/24/2024 6:05 PM, Dimensional Traveler wrote:
On 4/24/2024 5:25 PM, Ant wrote:
Kyonshi <gmkeros@gmail.com> wrote:
USB-C fixed that though. :P
Upped it to 5 different
ways?
They just made it so small it's hard to align to get in at all.
At least it's better than micro-usb which is both directional, and small >enough that you had to get a good look to see which way it went in and
hard to align.
On 4/25/2024 12:50 AM, Xocyll wrote:
I swear new case material is so thin you could bend it if you sneezed in
it's general direction.
Cheaper to make, encourages re-purchases, pure profit!
On Thu, 25 Apr 2024 07:39:34 -0700, Dimensional Traveler
<dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
On 4/25/2024 12:50 AM, Xocyll wrote:
I swear new case material is so thin you could bend it if you sneezed in >>> it's general direction.
Cheaper to make, encourages re-purchases, pure profit!
Not that a lot of those older cases were so good either. A lot of them
used really cheap plastic that snapped at the littlest of pressure.
Yes, Compaq home PCs from the late 90s and early 2000s, I'm looking at
you!
That's all my complaint with the new computer, instead of the case
having the USB on the front, it's on the top, where it would be
guaranteed to fill up with dust until it became non-functional if I
didn't have the external CD/DVD covering the hole.
What retarded ass monkey thought that was a good idea?
And it's not some brand-x it's a fucking corsair 4000d.
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