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The Glory Days of DOS - My Computer Game Collection

 
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March 30, 2008 03:37 PM
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Peter Redmer

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While other fine youths were out playing football, or hanging out with their friends, I was building computers, programming BBS's, and spelunking 256 color dungeons on my 386. Sad then, but chic now :)

I'm proud of my collection of vintage computer games. It's not that big at the moment, but I have some pretty great titles in there. I even have a few that are still in the shrinkwrap.

I also went on a buying spree some years back, when the advent of CD-ROM made it easy for publishers to repackage "classic" DOS games and dump them on CD's. Snapping these up was one of the best decisions I ever made, as it has now made it easy to re-enact my childhood (which hasn't really ended, by the way.)

I've built a DOS Box specifically for playing these old games in their native environment, and I had to take some pictures of games playing live. The DOS Box has a 486 DX/2 66 chipset with an original Sound Blaster board, which was really expensive at the time, but was the ultimate in compatibility.

Perhaps over time I will add to this gallery with more pictures of vintage DOS games, but it will take some time, as I have upwards of 100 or more, I'm sure... I focused on a few of my favorites for now!

Peter Redmer
Administrator
Visit my blog, "Caffeinated Pixels"
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Discussion:    Add a Comment | Comments 1-8 of 8 | Latest Comment

Matt Whitlock Avatar
  Administrator
April 2, 2008 3:15 PM

Definitely some classics in there. I see you were an Ultima fan, a series I never much got into myself. KOEI's Romance of the Three Kingdoms is cool to see! I've put more hours than I care to admit playing KOEI's Nobunaga's Ambition for the NES, which (believe it or not) I was just playing a few weeks ago. If that's not sad, I don't know what is.

The inclusion of Commander Keen is brilliant. Anyone who bought a Gravis Joystick or Joypad back in the day has played that one (for those who didn't, Commander Keen was included with it).

Couldn't agree more on Dynamix, and it's cool you called them out specifically. I think they were way ahead of their time on several fronts. Anyone who's played Willy Beamish would understand.

Also nice to see that I'm not in the "Keeping a DOS box running" club. I have several actually, and enough parts to keep an old box alive for the purpose of playing old PC games. I've played a bit with some DOS emulators to run some of these classics, but nothing works as well as having genuine ancient hardware for this stuff!

Mind Over Matt'er - Technology musings, opinion, and more straight from TechLore's head geek.

Peter Redmer Avatar
  Administrator
April 2, 2008 3:29 PM

You mean one of these?  :)

Peter Redmer
Administrator
Visit my blog, "Caffeinated Pixels"
Follow Me on Twitter

pardizzone Avatar
Member
April 3, 2008 7:36 PM

Wow... these bring back memories. I played them all back in the day and still have most of them in a box in my closet (with some old pcs to run them). I was a BIG Sierra/Dynamix fan (as I told Pete in a conversation, I used to be in one of the first Internet Flying Squads and flew Red Baron on the Sierra Network via 9600 Baud modem) and also played every Ultima that came out (including the last one). Now I'm gonna have to dig them out and get the old pcs running again. Oh and I have the original soundcard (Adlib card) around here somewhere. Thanks alot, my wife ain't gonna be happy!!!!

"everything will be ok in the end. if it's not ok, it's not the end" - unknown

Peter Redmer Avatar
  Administrator
April 3, 2008 8:07 PM

Glad I could be of service :) Trust me, you'll thank me when you start playing those oldies... they have just such a different feel from games now. Hard to explain, but they have an allure I can't resist.

I'd like to know which ones you decide to resurrect. If you have some cool pics we'd love to see them!

Peter Redmer
Administrator
Visit my blog, "Caffeinated Pixels"
Follow Me on Twitter

pardizzone Avatar
Member
April 3, 2008 9:10 PM

Now that you have me thinking about them, I'm gonna have to pull out my old Wing Commander games. One of the best game series ever made... When I first tried playing back then, the machine didn't have enough memory (386 16Mhz w/1Mb Ram). I had to put a 2Mb Expanded Memory card (full length, double sided card hand populated with IC ram chips) and rum QEMM just to get enough free base memory to run it. Man, you really got me thinking of the old days.....

"everything will be ok in the end. if it's not ok, it's not the end" - unknown

Peter Redmer Avatar
  Administrator
April 4, 2008 9:18 AM

I have to mention that I also loved the Wing Commander series, and at the time, it brought my PC to a grinding halt, and I had to wait for an upgrade as well.

What I loved the most was the storyline and (I believe) branching mission structure.  Depending on your actions or the results of the mission, I believe the storyline would change.

There was nothing more satisfying than bringing down one of the huge Kilrathi warships with those slow torpedoes.  I was so proud of myself... but my wingman died! 

Peter Redmer
Administrator
Visit my blog, "Caffeinated Pixels"
Follow Me on Twitter

pardizzone Avatar
Member
April 4, 2008 10:38 AM

He/she had to die, it was part of the story arc. Me and a friend replayed that mission about 25 times to try and save her (I believe it was Angel that died) and we did it but she still died right after the ship was destroyed.

And I loved that game so much, I bought the collection when it was released and it was made to run on the newer machines. I even have the WC4 release that came in the full size "Movie Reel Can". I'll see if I can dig it out and take some pics of it.....

"everything will be ok in the end. if it's not ok, it's not the end" - unknown

Matt Whitlock Avatar
  Administrator
April 4, 2008 11:42 AM

Peter Redmer said: You mean one of these?  :) 

Those are exactly it! I've got two... mint condition and with the little screw in joysticks!

Mind Over Matt'er - Technology musings, opinion, and more straight from TechLore's head geek.

Discussion:    Add a Comment | Back to Top | Comments 1-8 of 8 | Latest Comment

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