Arelith

I was googling for retro games, but then realized how easily I can wined up in a dodgy place. So, I'm curious, does anyone here have any tips where to download packages of retro games? Specifically, classic games that helped define the gaming culture?

You see, I'm a game designer (yes, a professional game designer), currently researching the feel of games; virtual sensations supplied through proprioception which is created from simulated space and a sense of real time feedback...or, in simple terms "what feelings you feel when playing a game". Proprioception is just a fancy word for immersion.

The reason I am asking you guys is, well...free research! Also, I'd hate to download something again and end up opening something I shouldn't...again. How was I supposed to know a printer driver installation would end up corrupting my browser?

Anyway, I'm looking for games like Asteroids, Donkey Kong, Mario Brothers or anything else that helped shape how we make and play games. I know this is a lot to ask and I will do my own research of course, just thought it would be cool to ask.

AND not to stray off topic comepletely


Literally the first thing I played as a Human being. NEVER got inside the temple, but loved jumping around.

just kidding



OT: Never got to play any of those games due to my age, as the guy above mentioned, would love to try them if someone can guide me on how to download.

For the PC there are lots of abandonware sites, like Abandonia, that have games from the 80's and 90's.

Also, GOG has lots of great games from late 80's to early 2000's for sale at cheap prices. Also lots of screenshots of interfaces, play, etc. They have a few REALLY old ones for free too. (PC/MAC games).

There is one very big caveat about trying to play old games on modern systems. Most of them will not work under Windows or any other modern OS without an emulator for the original OS they were written for. Places like GOG that sell retro games take that hassle out of it because they are retrofitted to work on modern OS's. But if you get them from abandonware sites, you have to learn how to use an emulator like DOSBOX, which can get a little technical.

Where I would not buy retro games from is a large digital store like Steam. I"M not a fan of Steam and you get better support from places like GOG.

Doom and Doom 2 are my games of choice when at uni and away from a nice shiny desktop PC.

Black Wendigo wrote:But if you get them from abandonware sites, you have to learn how to use an emulator like DOSBOX, which can get a little technical..

DOSbox 101, using Xcom UFO Defense as an example.

1) Install DOSbox (nurrr).
2) Install the Dos game in an easy to remember folder, at the root of your desired hard-drive/partition. Ideally the path would look like this: d:\xcom
3) Open Dosbox.
4) Type 'mount d d:\xcom'
5) Type 'UFO'.

...play the game (although for Xcom I recommend download OpenXCom for use on Windows 7 and above).


Retro-games worth playing:

Quest for Glory series
Command and Conquer and Red Alert, both are available for free, and Command and Conquer has a fan-made patched version out there.
X-Com (Shocker)
Fallout 1 & 2
Age of Empires
Alpha Centauri
Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight
Quake
Duke Nukem 3D

Thanks, I'll try out Dosbox. Always wanted to try the classics such as Fallout, my old teacher would never shut up about it (it usually lead to the pointless argument that Fallout Tactics wasn't actually a Fallout game).

Also, I don't suppose anyone would believe that I played this?


No?...Yea, I wouldn't either.
Because I didn't.

Theres been some great games mentioned. SNES had alot of really great games
Link to the Past
Final Fantasy 2&3 (IV & VI)
Chrono Trigger
Secret of Mana
Super Metroid

All of those are really great games. You didn't get much better than that on SNES
If you're willing to branch out to Sega Genesis, its the same level of graphics, and had alot of highly underrated games that were really good.
Phantasy Star IV was probably THE best RPG ever released by sega

One other I'd suggest for SNES is Ogre Battle. Its kind of FF Tactics meets RTS

Oh yeah, people looking for old games could take a look at Archive.
They recently started archiving other content than just web.

Arther Goodmane wrote:Always wanted to try the classics such as Fallout,

Fallout FIXT. I highly recommend this standalone version. It crashed sometimes on Windows 7 (It is an alpha, afterall), but in general, ran without any compatibility issues.

If you have Fallout 2, I highly recommend this Restoration Project.

Here's Command and Conquer and it's video's, fan-patched and updated for modern OS. EA also released it's prequel Red Alert and Sequel Tiberian Sun at some point but I don't have easy links to those.

I still have my ancient Amiga 500 heh. Favourite game ever is Lords of the Rising Sun. Old feudal Japan strategy and action game. It is still to this day the most challenging game I ever played, it was also the first game I ever played I think.

Ressurecting an old thread here as I discovered that one of my favourite old Amiga D&D like strategy games has an online version.

I haven't had a chance to play it, and with all the development work probably won't, but Sword of Aragon was a hybrid of turn based strategy and RP where one played (and levelled) an D&D class leader, and fielded with them with a mixture of other characters (heroes) and military units.

This is its wikipedia entry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sword_of_Aragon

The online version is 'aragon online', and from a glance has close to zero players. The fun I once had playing this left me feeling inclined to plug it on our forums. Nostalgia does funny things to one's critical facilities, so it might be terrible. Still, if anyone does give it a try I'd love to hear how it plays.

Heretic & Hexen! Quality.

i'd love to get my hands on another C64 and play spelunker again. Loved the hell out of that game

I'm sure most of us who play Arelith know this, but there are LOTS of great retro games you can buy for cheap from places like GOG and even Steam. The advantage to buying the game is that you do not have to deal with emulators, many of the games that were console only have PC versions (final fantasy notable), and any game breaking bugs that have been discovered after the fact that keep old games from running on new hardware get fixed. Well sorf of - enough to make the games playable again. (People are not going to fix someone else's game when they port it or anything like that).

More on topic:
I found a game called Wizard of Wor which I had forgotten existed. Used to play this in an arcade. I doubt many people will remember this now obscure game that used to be par for the course when it came out.

As of late:

I played final fantasy 9 and 10 when they came pout for the PC. I have not been able to warm up to FF 10/2 ( i think that's what it is called Comes with the 10 PC port). Would love to see I think it is 11 that was the last single player game before they went online and then came back to single player?

I'll say this. THere are a lot of really weird retro games out there. Some of which I did not consider so weird originally because they were status quo when they came out.

Used to play this for hours and hours.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Realmz

Back on the AOL days I would just DL custom content/characters/scenarios over a 14.4 modem, it was a blast. The game was more of a RPG engine and that's really why I had so many hours into it.

Also lmao the website is still there? http://rlmz.org/downloads.html

Try the demo?

https://youtu.be/1_nyl46nqXw?t=258

There's a video

NES
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

SNES
Final Fantasy II (IV)
Zelda: A Link to the Past

PC
Baldurs Gate Saga
Hexen II
Betrayal at Krondor (with story by Raymond E. Feist!)

Arcade:
Dragon’s Lair (Fact? : All my Arelith characters were just different iteration of Dirk The Daring)
Rastan
D&D: Shadow Over Mystara

Bashagain wrote:NES
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

SNES
Final Fantasy II (IV)
Zelda: A Link to the Past

PC
Baldurs Gate Saga
Hexen II
Betrayal at Krondor (with story by Raymond E. Feist!)

Arcade:
Dragon’s Lair (Fact? : All my Arelith characters were just different iteration of Dirk The Daring)
Rastan
D&D: Shadow Over Mystara

Okay...I believe I approve of this list so much it hurts. I shall name my next child "bashagain".

Does Warcraft 3 counts as retro? 'cause I spent all of my teen years on that.

Lemmings!

I played final fantasy 9 and 10 when they came pout for the PC. I have not been able to warm up to FF 10/2 ( i think that's what it is called Comes with the 10 PC port). Would love to see I think it is 11 that was the last single player game before they went online and then came back to single player?

FFXI was online, so FFX was the last before that. FFXII was single player also, though it seemed to me to have a more MMO-style leveling feel (that is, slow af compared to other single player FF games)

Does Warcraft 3 counts as retro? 'cause I spent all of my teen years on that.

It was released one month after NWN.

Lorkas wrote:

Does Warcraft 3 counts as retro? 'cause I spent all of my teen years on that.

It was released one month after NWN.

Ultimate games of my teenage:

Gradius, R-Type and Life Force pretty much.

Also Mario Paint on SNES.

I spent a lot of time on my Sega Mega Drive and Sega Saturn.

Never got tired of Streets of Rage, Golden Axe, Shinobi.

Sonic, of course.

The Panzer Dragoon series was amazing in so many ways and I wish they made a new one.

Baku Baku was silly and addictive.

On the PC, Commando Behind Enemy Lines is still one of my favorites ever.

Also sunk a lot of hours into Heroes of Might and Magic III



The dorkiest thing I have ever played, though, starting in my early teens and during almost a decade, was a Lord of the Rings text based rpg/strategy/pvp thing, that we played through mIrc chat windows and commands. Even now, looking back, it seems silly but I have fond memories of that. It was actualy in that game that I first played a dwarf named Borin, and he was king of Erebor for a couple of years.